This site exists to reveal truth about God and salvation. The truth that you find here is meant not only for the mind and to enlighten your understanding but meant to transform you so that you become like Christ.
• Know that God knows what you need and He will provide
31)Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’
32)For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
The third prescription to cure anxiety is to KNOW! Know that your heavenly Father knows what you need. He knows exactly what you need.
Many times in Scripture the word “believe” is used as a synonym for the word “knowing”. We see this in Romans 6.
What must I know?
I must know that God is omniscient. I must keep this truth, as it were, in my heart. I must remind myself of it constantly. I must know that God sees everything. God knows everything of everyone. And God is not ignorant of my every need. God knows me intimately. He knows my thoughts from afar. He knows what I am going to say and think before I do (Psalm 139). He knows me through and through. He knows me better than I know myself. He knows all my medical conditions, he knows what medicines and pills I am taking. He knows my future. He has plans for me as a child of God. He has prepared beforehand the good works that I should walk in (Ep 2:10). He knows my needs, my debts, my sins, my struggles, my fears, my talents, my liabilities, my weaknesses, my gifts, my everything, my family. He knows everything. And if he knows, and if he is my Father and He is loving and good, why are you anxious? This knowledge, this knowledge of who God is changes everything. He knows me, he knows my needs, and as a Father, he will provide for me, because he not only knows me, he cares for me, he loves me, I am his child in Christ.
Stock up your mind with knowledge about God, his love, his omniscience, and know and believe God will care. Learn more about God, study God’s attributes. Meditate on God!
• Consider the lilies of the field, faith in God’s love and care
28) Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
29)yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30)But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
The second prescription is to CONSIDER
This is the second imperative, or command.
What must I do, to get delivered of anxiety?
Consider the lilies of the field. God clothes them, more beautifully than Solomon in all his glory, more gloriously than anyone can be clothed in this world. More exquisitely than anyone can be clothed in the world. God created beauty and God created the flowers and the lilies and the wild lilies and the roses. Consider, that means, think deeply about, ponder, meditate if you will, consider. Think about God’s works of creation, how he sustains and beautifies creation.
Look at the plants.
Who causes them to grow?
Who sends the rain?
Who causes oxygen and nitrogen to be in the air?
Who causes the wind to blow?
Who causes bees to pollinate plants and for seeds to be scattered across the world?
Who?
Who created different kinds of seeds, seeds of plants, flowers and roses? Who created this clothing of the lilies?
Was it chance?
Did it all happen by chance?
Not at all!
God did it!
Consider the power and wisdom of God! Consider God! Consider his insight and sustaining hand and his hands of care and love over creation! CONSIDER!
If God clothes the lilies and flowers of the field, will he not much more clothe you, you who are made in the image of God, you who are more valuable than gold and silver, for whom Christ died, and gave his life, his last breath!?
Will he not much more clothe you and care for you and sustain you and provide for you, clothes and food and money and all that you need! Consider!
Consider!
Think!
Consider creation.
Consider the Creator! Consider! Think! Let your mind be renewed by the word of God.
Consider and believe! Believe that God will clothe you as well. Because you are more valuable than lilies and flowers and plants.
The Prescription: Five strategies to overcome anxiety
So here follow five prescriptions from Jesus to cure your anxiety
• Look at the birds of the air, faith in God’s providence
• Consider the lilies of the field, faith in God’s love and care
• Know that God knows what you need and He will provide
• Believe that if you do seek first God’s kingdom He will provide
• Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
• Look at the birds of the air, faith in God’s providence
Verse 26 starts with
26)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27)And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
What must I do to get rid of anxiety? I assume I speak to Christians, because if you are not a Christian the first thing you must do is repent of your sins and believe in Christ. What I am saying here, refer to Christians. Again, what must I do to get rid of anxiety? Jesus says: LOOK! Pay close attention to the birds of the air. See and observe carefully how the Creator is caring for nature. Have you ever gone out in your yard and listened to the birds and pondered how God cares for them? God feeds them. God provides for them. Not only for the birds but for the whole of creation. He feeds the beasts of the fields. He cares for the leopards, the impala’s, the oxen, the whales in the sea, the sharks and thousands and thousands of species and insects and so much more. He does that through creation and how He has created the world, the sun, giving light and energy to the world, by positioning the earth at the exact distance from the sun so that life could be possible on earth. The insects and animals and fish and birds and reptiles and the amphibians do not worry and are not anxious about food and about tomorrow. Not at all. They are peaceful. They are not worried. Yes, because they cannot worry. But the point being God cares for them, and if he does, he will care for you, because you are more valuable as a child of God than they are.
But the command is clear, it is an imperative, LOOK! Observe! Take time, and pay attention every day if you must! Go into nature, and observe the ants and the birds and the frogs etc. LOOK at them, God has created them! And if God cares for his creation, he will also care for you! Because you are more valuable than they! That is the first thing, Go and LOOK. Observe nature and believe in God’s sovereign care! God cares! Look how He cares!
I can’t think of a more important question to ask you than this one. I’m not asking whether you have enough food, or whether you have children that behave well, or not, or whether you have a good wife or husband, or not, whether you have enough money or a good job, or a happy life. These things are not necessarily unimportant or peripheral things in our lives. However, I am more concerned about the state of your soul. Too long you have put the topic of God and eternity out of your mind. I want to know whether your soul is right with God. Are you right with God? Do you have peace with God? If you die tonight are you sure you will be with God and see his glory in heaven? Do you have the favor of God on your life? Or are you running away from Him? Are you living for yourself? For your own happiness, for your own pleasure and comfort? Is your life centered around God or around money and possessions or alcohol and parties or your own self?
The Scriptures say, “we all are like sheep, we have all gone our own way” (Isaiah 53:6). The Scriptures, the Bible, reveal that we are spiritually dead in our sins, we are dead to God and alive to our sins (Ephesians 2:1-3). The Bible says, those who are in the flesh, those who are controlled by the sinful nature, cannot please God (Romans 8:7). You see, the world has a pattern, and those of the world are following its pattern, its ways. Those who are of the world are enemies of God. Those who love the world, does not have the love of God in them. Those who love the world, those who are lovers of themselves and pleasure, those who are preoccupied with what money can buy, will perish. Jesus said, we cannot serve God and money at the same time. We will either love the one and despise the other (Matthew 6:19-24). Unless you understand that you were created by God and for God life will never make sense to you. You are not here on earth, to become the best version of yourself, you were created on earth for God, to know Him, love Him, fear Him, worship Him, obey Him and to trust in Him (Deuteronomy 10; Matthew 22:36-40).
Your heart will remain restless unless it finds rest in God (Saint Augustine). You will remain unsatisfied and without hope unless you find hope in God. The Bible makes it clear, that we all have sinned against God (Romans 3:23) and because of our rebellion and sins (lies, idolatry, covetousness, thefts, blasphemies etc) we deserve God’s justice (Romans 2:1-10). And his justice demands that we die, die in this life, and die for eternity in hell. God is holy and cannot have union with sinners who hate Him. The Bible says, “the punishment of sin is death” (Romans 6:23), and “the soul that sins must die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Someone needs to tell you this. Unless you find peace with God, unless you get right with God, your sins will drag you to hell, and God will condemn you to die forever in hell(Revelation 20:11-15). Hell is a place of suffering, a place of outer darkness, where people will be in agony, where there will be no rest, and where the fire to torment them will never be quenched (Mark 9:41-49). All who refuse to come to Christ and be saved will gothere and God’s just sentence will be executed on them.
Here follows the good news. The Bible says, “the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ” (Romans 6:23). And “God so loved the world that He gave Jesus Christ that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). God made a way, through Jesus Christ, for you to escape the horrors of hell, and to have peace with God, for your sins to be forgiven, and for you to be right with God. 2000 years ago God sent Jesus Christ into this world. He lived in Israel. He was born of a virgin. He was God in human form, and He lived a life of perfection, he never sinned, (2 Corinthians 5:21). And after he performed many miracles, he gave his life as a sacrifice, to die in the place of sinners like you and I, and then after paying for our sins, he rose from the dead, conquering death, Satan and sin, and now He offers eternal life and forgiveness of sins for all who would turn (repent) from their sins and trust in Him alone for salvation. I urge you come to Christ and believe in His promise. You will not perish, but live if you come to Him and believe in Christ (John 7:37).
Come today, before it is too late, and let your sins be washed away!
Jesus diagnosed the problem of anxiety very plainly:
26)Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?
27)And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
28)And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin,
29)yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30)But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
Jesus says: your Heavenly Father feeds them(the birds), are you not of more value than they? And God clothes the grass of the field, will he not much more clothe you?
The reason why Christians get anxious is because they don’t understand how God cares for them. Their minds have not been renewed. They don’t have God’s perspective on things.They don’t believe in the sovereignty of God. The cause of anxiety is a lack of understanding of God and his nature. When we think and ponder on the nature of God, when we set our minds on God, we will have less anxiety. Therefore, the Bible says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:1,2). To believe God is sovereign means you believe God controls everything that comes to pass every single day and minute of the day in your own life and on every millimetre of this planet and in the universe and that he has wise plans and purposes for everything that happens in your life. Even if it means painful things and things that you can’t make sense of.
▪ A lack of trust
Jesus says: 30) “But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?”
The reason why we have anxiety over the future and our present situation is because we have little faith! We lack faith in God, we lack trust in God. And for us to believe in God, we ought to understand God and his ways. We don’t believe that God is sovereign over us. We don’t believe that God can get us out of our conundrums. We don’t believe God is in control. We don’t trust in God’s promises. Our minds are filled with other things, with love of money, with selfish ambition, with worldly pursuits and food, and drink and driving the best motorcars. Our minds are on the earth. We are earthly minded, not spiritually minded. That’s why we are fearful and anxious.
▪ A lack of focus
The reason why we are anxious is because our focus is not on God, but on other things. Our focus is on making much money, becoming rich, doing well for ourselves, our focus is not on the kingdom of God, but on the kingdom of self and comfort, on the kingdom of this world. Our focus is on Mammon. And Jesus, said it, you cannot serve God and Mammon at the same time. You must choose. When your focus in life is not God, then anxiety will haunt you sooner or later. It is inevitable.
3. The Prescription: Five strategies to overcome
So here follows five prescriptions from Jesus to cure your anxiety. I will look at each one in the following devotions.
• Look at the birds of the air, faith in God’s providence
• Consider the lilies of the field, faith in God’s love and care
• Know that God knows what you need and He will provide
• Believe that if you do seek first God’s kingdom He will provide
• Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
“”Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?”
Matthew 6:25-27 ESV
Jesus said three times in this passage, Matthew 6:25-34, “do not be anxious about these things” because believers are not like the heathen who don’t have hope. Believers in Christ have a Father in heaven.
In this series of 8 devotions I want to look at three things:
• What is anxiety?
• The diagnosis
• The prescription
1. What is anxiety?
i. It is a sin
We first of all have to call it what it is. Anxiety is not an unfortunate state of being, a necessary evil, which most of the human race must succumb to. It is not an inevitability, a sad state of affairs we must come to grips with as frail human beings. It is not just one of those things in life which we cannot avoid. Jesus Christ was never anxious, never panicky, never paralysed by anxiety. Yes, in Getsemany he sweated drops of blood, he knew what was coming, he knew of the cup he was about to drink, but he did not panick, he was not anxious, because he was in the centre of the will of God. He knew why he was born, to go to the cross.
Let’s call anxiety what it is: sin. Evil. A fruit of unbelief in God. Many people around the world, even Christians, suffer from panick attacks, or anxiety attacks. These attacks are usually caused by what psychologist would call it, stressors, or trauma, or difficult circumstances. We are not saying that there are not logical reasons why people get anxious. There are horrific situations in life people have to deal with, uncertain times like the ones we live in today, that cause anxiety in many. But how is it that the Reformers of old, like Bishop Latimar and Ridley went to the stake, to be burned, by the Roman Catholic Church, with a song in their hearts? How is it that Paul the apostle while being in prison with Silas, after being beaten, sang songs to the Lord? I know that is supernatural, to be able to sing in times of suffering, but that is what God has called us to.
Anxiety is a sin. It is evil, because it displays distrust in God.
ii. It is a sickness
When anxiety takes hold of a person, and gets hold of a person, when fear grips a person to the extent that it immobilizes, it becomes a sickness. The soul that is perpetually anxious, is a spiritually sick person. Some people it seems can’t live without worrying about something. I have encountered people like that, it seems that they get drawn to anxiety, like a moth to a flame. It is as if they can’t live life without worrying about something. It becomes the new normal, or like a hobby and favorite past-time, to be in a state of worry. And we have to be careful not to be sucked into this state of worry and anxiety. When you have become accustomed to this state of worry, it will take some sort of a miracle to get out of it. Anxiety, in fact, takes control of people. The soul that is married to worry and anxiety becomes spiritually sick. In times like these, with the uncertainty about war in Europe or the possibility of nuclear war growing and our futures being uncertain, we must not succumb to this spiritual sickness. It can certainly cause a lot of damage to your spiritual life.
iii. It affects everything
Anxiety is of such a nature that it controls everything. You see everything as if through the lens of fear. If you are not worried about your livelihood then you become worried about your health, and if it is not your health, then it is your clothes, and if it not your clothes then it is being unattractive and if it not that, then worry about your job, then it is your wife or husband’s or child’s health or schoolwork. If it is not your family’s problems then it is politics, or the economy, if not the economy then retirement, if not retirement then something else. You cannot stop the worry. It seems you are on a rollorcoaster and you cannot get off. You see, because being worried is a kind of disease it affect everything in your life. Now I’m not saying we shouldn’t walk in wisdom and make plans for our future and take care for our families, and have a calling and a job or do family planning and save money, if you are able, for retirement, or pray for the country, but we must never separate these things into nice little compartments and divorce them from God and his perspective and providence.
Jesus repeated three times in this passage,
“do not be anxious”.
Take it to heart. Do not be anxious. He repeated these words to emphasise the fact that it is not His will for believers to live in a perpetual state of worry. May God help us all and deliver us all and May we know his peace from day to day and from hour to hour, the peace of Christ that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:4-7).
Whose wrath? In the beginning God made the world and all that lives in it very good, but since the fall of man, when the first people, called Adam and Eve, who inhabited earth sinned, (disobeyed and distrusted God), God gave the world and humans over to futility, death, and corruption (Genesis 3). The world is not as it should be. There is a lot of evil things happening on this earth and they are all a result of sin. Our forefather Adam was our representative. Through Adam we all are born with a sinful nature, a nature that is hostile towards the things of God. We gravitate towards evil continually. Like a moth to flame, we are drawn to self-preservation, self-seeking, and self-gratification all the time. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). We are dead in our trespasses and sins and are called sons of wrath. God’s righteous wrath abides on all of humankind because of our sin and rebellion and the thousands of times we rejected God in our lives. If God was to judge us and condemn us to hell (the place where his wrath abides) he would be perfectly just. None of us deserve to be saved, or to be helped. We have all turned aside, each one to his own way (Isaiah 53). What is the wrath like? The wrath of God that He has appointed for lawbreakers and sinners, is His deserved punishment on sinners. Because God is eternal (He has no beginning nor end), his attribute of anger or displeasure is also eternal. So, God’s wrath is his eternal displeasure on sinners, and the expression of his just sentence on sinful people. His wrath has already been revealed on the wickedness of man in which he gives idolaters over to their sinful passions, to commit what is evil (See Romans 1:18-30). But although God’s wrath has already been revealed, more is to come and more will abide on the sinner once he/she dies. It is appointed for man to die once and then the judgement (Hebrews 9:27). The Bible, when speaking about the wrath to be revealed and the final judgment to come, speaks about eternal fire, a place where the worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched (See Mark 9:41-49; Matthew
5:28-32). God has appointed a place of suffering, called hell, where God’s grace and mercy will be completely taken away from sinners. It is a place where God, in all his fury, will unleash his wrath for all eternity on those who disobey and disbelieve in Him. It is a place of no escape where all humans will go who refuse to turn to Jesus Christ. How shall we escape the wrath of God? But 2000 years ago, God, because He is rich in mercy and because of his love for us, sent Jesus Christ to Israel. He was born of a virgin, miraculously conceived by the Holy Spirit, and then lived a perfect life on behalf of sinners. He came to represent humanity. Because He was God, he was able to never sin. He had a true human nature, but also a divine nature. He was anointed and baptized by the Holy Spirit at the Jordan river, from where he performed many mighty miracles: healing the sick, casting out demons, raising the dead and doing many acts of mercy. He preached that all must repent and believe the gospel. Jesus came to this world, to live a life of perfect righteousness and to give his life as a sacrifice. God, the Father, sent Him to die in the place of sinners, like you and I, to be a substitute for sinners. We had to die for our sins and bear God’s just wrath and judgment, but Christ came to die in our place to pay for our sins by his own blood, bear our punishment, the eternal wrath of God, in our place, so we can be forgiven of our sins and be justified by Christ’s righteousness. Jesus went to the cross 2000 years ago to pay for the sins of His people and then rose from the dead. In this way, God’s justice was satisfied, and his wrath set aside. Jesus conquered our greatest enemies, sin and death, and now offers forgiveness of sins and eternal life to all who would repent of their sins (idolatries, lies, theft, sexual immorality, hatred, blasphemy, coveting, etc.) and trust in Jesus Christ, who is the only Savior of the world. How do we escape and flee from the wrath and judgment to come? Flee to Jesus Christ for refuge! Come to Jesus Christ today, cast yourself on Christ in faith and you will be reconciled to God. Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart (Hebrews 3;7,8).
Jesus Christ died and rose again from the dead so that His people would be with Him in glory forever. This is the ultimate purpose of the gospel and why we evangelize. Jesus didn’t come to save people only for this life. He didn’t come into the world to give us salvation only for the here and now. He did not come to take us through this life on a bed of roses. In fact, the Bible tells us that we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered (See Romans 8:36); we must go through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God (Read Acts 14:22). The disciples are not above their Master. If Jesus was persecuted, so shall his followers be persecuted (Read John 15:20). We should not expect an easy path to heaven. The road to heaven is full of obstacles, hindrances, difficulties, temptations and obstructions! Jesus came to save us to be with Him forever. Listen to the apostle:
“Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised.
For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.” (1 Corinthians 15:12-13, 16-22 ESV)
Jesus came to conquer death. When He rose from the dead, He received a resurrected body, a spiritual body, that cannot die, that cannot sin, that cannot get sick and that cannot be destroyed. This is the purpose of God in salvation: that those who believe in Christ receive a glorified body and will be where Jesus is. As Jesus is, so shall we be (1 John 3:1). One day believers will see him face to face. They will be glorified, because they have been justified by the blood and righteousness of Christ. Those who have been justified will be glorified (Romans 8:30). But those who do not believe will also be resurrected in spiritual bodies at the last trumpet. all will be changed, but some are destined to everlasting condemnation: those who have not obeyed the gospel of Christ will be consigned to the lake of fire (Read Rev 20:11-15). And there they will be in torment forever. The wrath of God will abide on them that do not obey and believe the gospel (See John 3:36).
What is the purpose of the making God known? It is to know Christ more fully. It is to see His glory and it is to enjoy His presence forever and ever in the new heavens and the new earth! God is going to make all things new! The old earth will be rolled back as a scroll, the elements of this earth will be dissolved by fire (See 2 Peter 3:10-14). The goal of making God known is that there would be an innumerable amount of people (Revelation 7:9) singing and worshipping God and serving Him in holiness. We will not be as glorious as Christ is, just as a flower is not as glorious as the sun which gives it light. We will be sustained and upheld by His glory. Even though believers will be glorious it will be different from God’s glory. Some people teach that we will be like gods in heaven, reigning over whatever God will give us. Yes, we will reign with Christ, but we won’t be Christ. There is only One God: The Father, Son and Holy Spirit and we exist through Him. God saved us for Himself and by Himself and for His glory. We must become less, and He must become more in our estimation.
Believers will be rewarded in heaven according to what they have done (1 Cor 3:9-12). Some will lose their reward and they will be saved as through fire. Others’ work will stand the test of God’s judgment. Nevertheless, none of the elect will miss out on heaven: each individual that God has chosen before the foundation of world to belong to Christ will be glorified. Each one that has been effectually called by Christ and has been justified, will be glorified (See Romans 8:30). There will be no “dropouts”. And those who will be rewarded for their work will not be proud and look down on others in heaven. Those who will not be rewarded for their work will not be jealous of those who built with gold and silver. For heaven is a world of love and there is no sin in the coming dispensation.
The purpose of evangelism and making God known is the sanctification and the glorification of the church. If this were not so, we as believers are of all men the most miserable. This is our hope and our joy: to be with Christ, to see and glorify Him; to be in glory with Christ, to be with God where He is all in all!
Christ died to sanctify His Bride and to present his bride, spotless and without sin, to God, (Read Eph. 5:21-26).
Will you be in glory with God?
Are you longing to be satisfied with Christ’s presence?
Are you waiting for Christ?
The reason why we evangelize is for the consummation of our salvation! Only God has the power to raise the spiritually dead and give them life. Only He has the power to change our corruptible bodies and give us spiritual bodies that cannot die. No eye has seen, and no ear has heard, and no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him! (See 1 Cor 2:9).
Christ is coming again! He is preparing a place for his children (See John 14:2). He will come and take His people to Himself. No one and nothing can thwart his purposes, His power, and His plans. Glory be to God!
When Jesus started His ministry on earth 2,000 years ago, he said, “repent and believe the gospel, for the kingdom of heaven is near” (Mark 1:15). Jesus spoke much about the kingdom of God. In Old Testament times we see glimpses of the kingdom of heaven shining through, when God spoke through prophets, when the Spirit anointed prophets and people repented of their sins, and when great miracles occurred and people were healed through the ministry of Elijah and Elisha. The Holy Spirit was undoubtedly at work throughout the history of the world, but at a lower ebb than before Jesus came. When Jesus was baptized with the Holy Spirit the kingdom broke through as never before. People were healed, demons cast out, the blind received their sight, the deaf were healed and the dead raised to life! As Jesus said, “but if it is by the Spirit of God, that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matthew 12:28 ESV).
Jesus said, unless a man is born again, born from above, born of the Holy Spirit, he cannot see nor enter the kingdom of God (Read John 3:3-7). The kingdom of God does not come with outward appearance, but it starts within the heart (See Luke 17:21). The kingdom of God does not come through military might, nor as a result of economic empowerment and technological advancement. All these things may be outward manifestations of God’s providence and his provision, but the kingdom of God, is a spiritual thing in its embryo form. Jesus said the Spirit moves where it wills, and one cannot observe this: he is like the wind. The Spirit’s work is immeasurable, as is the advance of the kingdom of God. His is an eternal kingdom, a kingdom that cannot be destroyed, because God cannot be destroyed! Of the increase of the government of the Prince of peace there will be no end (See Isaiah 9:6-8).
The Spirit of God cannot be contained, controlled, counseled or directed: one must simply submit to Him! And the Spirit of God is the One who encourages us to evangelize and preach the gospel! It is when there is a revival of preaching and praying that the kingdom of God breaks through! The kingdom of God is near when the word is preached, “faith comes by hearing the word of God” (Romans 10:17). We evangelize and pray and make it our aim to share the gospel so that God’s kingdom advances. He will always call people to evangelize and preach the gospel across the world because it is the means by which his kingdom grows.
The kingdom of God refers to the reign of God in the human heart and mind. It refers to the spaces and places where people submit to the Lordship and rule of Christ. The kingdom of God breaks through where there is humility and confession of sins and where the peace of God comes into a human soul! In short, it arrives and breaks through when Christ is honored and believed in and where people pursue righteousness. If you want to see what the kingdom of God looks like, look at Jesus. Look at his life. Consider his attitudes and affections. Take note of his work and look at the cross. Look at his perfect obedience to the law. Look at His mercy on sinners such as you and me. The great Samuel Rutherford said of our Lord: “Christ is a well of life, but who knoweth how deep it is to the bottom?” This is the Lord whose kingdom we speak of, and we are blessed to belong to it:
““Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven… Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3, 10 ESV)
“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
(Romans 14:17 ESV)
The kingdom of God started to break through significantly in this world at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit broke through in power. The kingdom of God advanced extraordinarily during that time; and throughout the twenty intervening centuries, it has been advancing more and more across the world. We hear of revivals in history and we know that God is working in many places at the same time. But there is more to come of the kingdom. There is more to experience of God! The curse still has its devastating effects in the world. Flesh and blood cannot enter the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50-58). Death has not finally been destroyed. We are waiting for more; we are waiting for the kingdom to be consummated and for Christ to hand over the kingdom to the Father (1 Cor 15:22-28). We can hardly wait as believers for God’s glory to destroy all sinfulness in the saints. We are living at the beginning of spring. The buds are showing, new life is emerging, but there is more to come.
We evangelize because without the regeneration of unbelievers no-one is going to experience the kingdom of God! Without faith in Christ, repentance of sins, or gospel proclamation going on in thousands of different ways, the kingdom will not advance. When we pray, “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done”, we must put on the shoes of readiness of the gospel of peace. Praying is not enough. One’s good deeds are not enough. Living a holy life to adorn the gospel is not enough. Open your mouth and speak the words! Confess with your mouth, that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is Savior; that He is the only Savior! We don’t share the gospel by doing good deeds. The only way the kingdom will advance is when the Holy Spirit uses our words and convicts and converts sinners!
Oh, may God grant us boldness and love to give out gospel literature, to pray and to evangelize the lost! There is no other hope for them but in the gospel! Go and find an unbeliever and tell them the old, old story of Jesus and His love! Go and find many, go and find crowds; go and tell it on the mountain; on the beachfront; in the inner city, in the schools and prisons and hospitals.
Go! Go! Go!
Cross borders, cross the sea, cross your culture and ethnic group. Forget your level of education, your gender and age group; go and tell people, tell them of the love of the Savior who died for sinners! Go and cross language barriers! Tell those who have never heard! The kingdom of Christ will advance through the obedience of those who lay down their lives for Christ and the gospel!
“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’” (Matthew 22:8-9 ESV)
Why do we want to proclaim the gospel? What is the purpose thereof?
To make Christ known. Yes!
Because we are commanded to do so by God. Definitely!
So that people can be born again by the seed of the word. Absolutely!
So that unbelievers may hear and receive faith and be justified and adopted into God’s family. We answer in the affirmative, amen!
But there is more to evangelism than this! We evangelize the lost, and we evangelize the saved! The saved you say? Why the saved? Isn’t the gospel only for those who don’t know God? Not at all! The gospel is for the saved and the lost! For those who know Christ and for those who don’t know Christ. Why do I say this?
Listen to the apostle Paul speaking to the church in Corinth:
“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV)
Paul is saying to the church that they have received something. That is the gospel. He goes further. He says that the gospel that they have received is something that they stand in, present tense. It is something which makes them strong. It is their foundation. It makes them sturdy and firm. But he goes further: he says, “…and by which you are being saved”. This is remarkable! The gospel is not only there for one’s justification. It is not only there for one’s forgiveness. We are saved and we are being saved by the gospel and we will be saved by the gospel. By the gospel we are justified and strengthened and sanctified! We need the gospel all the time: every day.Why do we need it as believers? Every time you sin, you need the gospel! Because it is only through the grace of God and by the blood being applied to your heart, the blood of Jesus, that you have any hope of being cleansed and forgiven of your sins. The cross is the basis, the cross of Christ, the atonement of Christ, and the righteousness of Christ, is the only basis of assurance that our sins will be forgiven.
Many times, we think we outgrow the gospel; that the gospel is for elementary level Christianity. We assume we are in secondary school Christianity, or at College or Masters level! We suppose we have graduated from the gospel; now it is the healing ministry that we seek after; now it is about us becoming a success. Now it is about becoming important and a great person in the kingdom – someone of status! If this is the way you think, you have completely “lost the plot” concerning Christianity! The gospel and evangelism are never about you! It never was, nor will be. The gospel is not about our achieving our potential: it is rather about one beggar showing other beggars where to find food; about one sin-sick- soul showing another where to find medicine and healing. It is about searching for righteousness and finding it in Christ. The gospel is about finding the treasure that is worth more than all the gold and diamonds in the world and being ecstatic with joy about it – and then telling people about it. We are not the treasure, Christ is. We have not accomplished salvation, Christ has. He is dispensing salvation, not us. You and I are not raising the dead, Christ is!
The purpose of evangelism is the growth of the church and the strengthening thereof. This happens when we turn again to the glory of the gospel and adore Christ for forgiving our sins, by grace and through faith (Ephesians 2:8,9)! Remember, we did not have the strength to believe: we still don’t. We don’t have the intelligence or wisdom or wit to save or improve ourselves. The gospel is in any case not about improving oneself; it is about resting in God’s resources and Spirit to do what you cannot do. We are sanctified by the gospel, we grow thereby. We grow by grace and we get strong by grace! The power is not in us, but in God (2 Corinthians 12:9-11).
Take the medicine every day. Receive the grace. Feed on Christ. Drink from the Fountain of Salvation. Eat the Bread of Life. It is your sustenance, your life and hope. Christ has become to us, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30, 31). Let us boast then in him and not in our own resources or abilities!
“For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. (2 Corinthians 4:5-7 ESV)
We evangelize and make God known to help people get power and strength from God, so that they can become like Christ. The purpose of evangelism and the gospel is that Christ be magnified and exalted; it is that we come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God; it is that we grow into the fullness of the measure of the stature of Christ (See Ephesians 4:13).
The purpose of making God known is to be conformed to the image of Christ and no one else. We do not want to be conformed to political figures, nor to any kind of artistic, sport, or scientific genius. We evangelize to become holy and kind like Christ; righteous and generous like Christ and loving and humble like Him. We evangelize so that others can become like Christ: he is the means and the goal of evangelism. We grow together as the church. We want to evangelize so that we all come to the unity of the faith. We teach the gospel and proclaim it so that people can know the power of the resurrection of Christ! (Phil 3:10,11).
May God help us to have no lesser goal and no higher ideal than Christ. He is our strength, our song, and He has become our salvation (Psalm 118). Let us praise and boast in Him!
Sovereign Grace Fellowship - Chiang Rai 