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And with it, persecution

Mark 10: 23 – 31

Rev. Peter R Green, Sunday morning, 15 Oct, 2006

LAST WEEK, I talked about how to speak and act as Christians in an unbelieving and increasingly self–centred world. We are approaching the end, and all the old certainties are collapsing.

Paul describes the trend in our day:

^{2TIM 3:1} But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. ² People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, ⁴ treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

How should we live in these times? Sociologists talk about radical self–interest. That is what Paul describes here. People who love themselves supremely and above everything else. They use the words of heaven but have the heart of hell.

The Psalmist also described it in Psalm 2:

^{PSALM 2:1} Why do the nations conspire

and the peoples plot in vain?

² The kings of the earth take their stand

and the rulers gather together

against the LORD

and against his Anointed One.

³ “Let us break their chains,” they say,

“and throw off their fetters.”

David may not have known about modern parliaments when he wrote, but the principles apply. Kings and rulers, presidents, prime-ministers — you think of it, and it is in there.

God’s creative principles are neglected, and self is placed on the throne.

“Let us break their chains,” they say. Justice, community, altruism are cast off in favour of self–love and love of what I can get for myself.

Some time ago, I spoke about Genesis and how God created us for community. Do you recall that God himself said, “It is not good for a person to live alone"?

Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, to an extent, Malcolm Frazer, George W Bush and John Howard there’s only one line — that society does not count and that the economy is all.

They are not conspirators dragging an unwlling public after themselves.They are doing it because the “Me” Generation of the 80s set the pace, and they now have 20–year–old kids who are going further than their parents did.

Remember three things in these times.

First, never forget that Jesus is coming again. We must live for the parousia.

Second, we must declare the kingdom of God with whatever power we can muster.

Third, we must make disciples wherever and whenever we can.

LIVING FOR THE PAROUSIA

That term, parousia, is a Greek word, and means “the coming” or “the being there” It refers to the coming of Jesus.

That old hymn says,

Mine eyes have seen the glory

Of the coming of the Lord.

That’s a hymn about the parousia of Jesus.

The Bible says some fantastic things. It says that Jesus rose from the dead. It says that he is returning some day, and that every eye shall see him.

I can’t prove that he rose from the dead. I can’t prove that he will come back. But I can show that there is no believable explanation for the empty tomb, other than resurrection. And I can show that Jesus is a reliable prophet, who predicted his death and resurrection. And I can show that some of the events predicted as signs of his near coming have been fulfilled, and I can show that several others seem to be being fulfilled.

I can show that the tomb was empty and that reliable witnesses said they saw him alive, and that people’s lives were dramatically changed as a result of their belief that they had met the risen Christ.

And I can show that, as Jesus predicted, Jerusalem was trodden underfoot by non-Jews until the Times of the Gentiles ended in 1967, when for the first time since 135AD, Jews retook control over the old City. I can show that Jesus predicted many events which occurred after his death and resurrection, which makes it more likely that he is right about his coming again. And I can show that, just as he predicted, there has been an increase in wars, rumours of wars, earthquakes in various places, famine and false religious teachings.

We must live in the light of the coming of Jesus. Not in fear. Not in despair at the evils of the world or at the possibility of persecution, but in confident hope that soon the King of Kings and Lord of Lords will return, will judge, will put everything right.

I said last week that Kevin Rudd, the Opposition Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs and Trade, has presented the only really hopeful approach to Christian social action in a needy world. The Coalition’s idea of bringing the Churches into cooperation with the Government will end up with the persecution of Christian dissent. The secular humanist approach of stifling all Christian voices will also lead to persecution of Christians by the people who speak loudest about toleration and justice.

But being co-belligerents in the struggle for social justice leads to mutual understanding and respect. It might happen in the short term, but not permanently. The Bible shows that it will not happen, because people don’t want an outspoken church, which confronts itself, confronts its enemies, and even confronts its friends. Jesus says that those who leave all to follow him, those who really live in the light of his coming, will receive recompense in this life and in the next, but will also suffer great persecution.

The nations do rage. The peoples do imagine a vain thing, because they want to break God’s fetters and cast his yoke away.

The theory was that Christians would avoid the times of trial of the end times, and that that would be the fate of Israel instead.

But Jesus says that this will happen to the elect, and in the New Testament, that means Christians.

We have to stand for truth, even when it costs us. I saw an interview with one of Australia’s former leading cricketters recently, and it emerged that he had campaigned very strongly for refugees over the years. It began with the Tampa crisis, the way all those refugees were rescued from their sinkig boat by the Tampa, and were kept away from Australia in defiance of international law by armed mlitary personnel. This man said, “That’s wrong!” and his partner said, “Evil flourishes when the good do nothing!” So he decided to do something.

Evil flourishes when the good do nothing; and, the more that evil flourishes, the more the Kingdom of God loses battles.

Jesus is coming again, and we need to be ready for him. That means, obeying his word when he says,

Occupy until I come — keep working until I return!

It means confronting evil and working for good until he gets here. It means suffering loss — but also gaining much — until he arrives.

PROCLAIMING THE KINGDOM

The question then arises, ”How do I go about keeping on with the task until Jesus gets here?”

There is a very simple principle in Luke 9:

LK 9:1 When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

The simple picture here is that the twelve were to preach the kingdom and heal the sick, and had power and authority to drive ot demons. That is, they were empowered and commissioned to declare the kingdom and to demonstrate the kingdom.

Do you really grasp the idea of God’s kingdom?

The coming of Jesus is the fulfilment of the Kingdom promise. Here the kingdom is glimpsed; there the kingdom will be complete. We proclaim the partial, looking forward to the final.

Jesus taught his disciples to preach that the kingdom was at hand. That’s an interesting term. It doesn’t quite mean that the kingdom has arrived, and it doesn’t quite mean that we have to wait for it.

Another expression that means the same would be, “The kingdom is handy.”

For example, when I was younger, I used to work on my old cars a lot, and sometimes one of my mates would come, and we would work together. I might be adjusting the tappets, and he might be tightening the brake cable, and he would call out from under the car, “Have you got an adjustable spanner handy?” And I would say, “There’s one in the toolbox — I‘ll pass it to you.”

The fact is that I didn’t have to send someone off to Repco to buy a spanner. It was there. But I didn’t have it in my hand — I had to get it out of the toolbox.

And that’s how it is with God’s kingdom. It is there, but it has to be accepted and taken up. There are other options. It is handy, it is at hand, but it is your responsibility and mine to respond to it and to discover its presence.

That is why healing and deliverance from demons is so much part of the message. Jesus proclaimed the kingdom and did these things: his disciples proclaimed the kingdom and did these things, What makes us think we should be different?

Healing and deliverance are primary evidence of the presence of God’s kingdom. They demonstrate the power and the authority of Jesus over natural and supernatural evil.

Let’s take that back to my opening statements. The evil in the world is both natural and supernatural. Men and women want freedom from God. They want to do it their own way. They don’t want God’s interference.

At the same time, there is spiritual evil driving this trend.

That’s what the book of Revelation means with its talk about the dragon and the beast and all that kind of thing. We have political powers and we have spiritual evil driving it. If you think about the Tampa thing, there was a human refusal to cooperate with international treaties; but there is a spiritual, demonic wickedness which holds the sick and the pregnant at gun point on an open ship’s deck and has no compassion for their suffering. There is a demonic wickedness that increasingly impels our nation, a wickedness where human rebellion against God intersects with spiritual evil.

When we stand against such things, we are witnesses to our belief that God is sovereign and that Jesus, the King of kings, will rule forever and ever. When we bring healing to the human spirit, when we cast out the demonic forces in the name of Jesus, we demonstrate the kingdom; we show that Jesus is the boss!

MAKING DISCIPLES

But let’s not imagine that these things can be divorced from making disciples.

You know, the modern church has made too many converts and not enough disciples. Jesus said,

As you go, make disciples of all people groups, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you, even to the very end of this era.

He didn’t say to make converts, because conversion is only the beginning.

Peter Costello said recently that women should have one baby for themselves, one for their husband, and one for Australia. In other words, he said that they should make babies — three each.

He didn’t want that to happen at all. He didn’t want babies for Australia, because babies are dependent. They absorb resources and they don’t give much economic benefit.

Mr Costello is around 50, and has about 15 years to go before his Parliamentary Pension fully kicks in. He was thinking about what happens if the economy goes sour and all those dollars don’t mean a thing. He will need lots of working Australians to support him. What he was saying was, “Mothers, pump out those kids so they will be grown up and able to support me when I am old.”

Making converts is like making babies, and too many churches are full of baby Christians who never reach their potential. Jesus wants mature Christians wo can impact on their world.

You know, it is ridiculous to go no further than making converts, because, frankly, making converts without ever getting disciples is pretty boring. It would be like delivering baby after baby with developmental problems, who will be confined to a nursing home until they die. Jesus wants us to be excited about conversions because that’s another productive Christian worker being born into the world!

When we make disciples, they learn how to win others, of course. They learn how to be filled with the Spirit. They learn how to heal the sick and cast out demons. They learn how to provide bread for the hungry, how to fight the enemy in the desert, how to tear down religious and social and political wickedness, not by military might, but by the power of logic, and laughter and, above all, love.

And they learn to lose everything, and to gain everything, and to face persecution and tribulation, because they live in the light of the return of their Lord.

Jesus is coming again: are you ready?

Jesus comes as the righteous Lord and the bringer of Judgment: will you stand?

Jesus calls us to make disciples: will we observe his command?

The signs are clear: the end is coming. There are signs in nature itself:

^{ACTS 2:19} I will show wonders in the heaven above

and signs on the earth below,

blood and fire and billows of smoke.

²⁰ The sun will be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood

before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

God sent his Son for good. He sends us in the same way. As we wait for Jesus to return, we can change the world; we can proclaim and reveal the Kingdom, and we can make disciples.

Let’s commit ourselves before Jesus our Lord to do so!

AMEN

© Peter R. Green 2006. Permission is granted for quotation in full for non-commercial purposes provided that authorship is acknowledged and this copyright notice is displayed with the text. Portions also copyright The Bible, NIV (Zondervan Ltd.)