[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 14th of April, 2024. A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel:
https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]
The Apostle Luke wrote two books, both addressed to a person named “Theophilus”. That name literally means “loved by God”, or, a little more loosely, “friend of God”. We don’t know who Theophilus was, but in his Gospel account, Luke addresses him as “most excellent Theophilus”, a phrase usually applied to an important or esteemed person. From most accounts, Luke was a well-educated doctor, so would have been considered important and esteemed himself, and could probably include a number of other esteemed persons among his friends and acquaintances.
Anyway, Luke addressed two books to Theophilus. The first, his Gospel account and the book now bearing his name, detailed the life, acts, and teachings of Jesus during His earthly walk, ending with Jesus’ return to heaven. The second book is called the Acts of the Apostles – or, more simply, Acts – and it deals with the rise and growth of the early church. And it is the opening of this second book I’d like to look at this morning, for it answers a question that has been repeatedly asked for nearly 2000 years: When will Jesus come again?
Before we get into that, though, I want you to think about how many times Jesus spoke to His disciples, alone or with the multitudes, telling them about the Kingdom of God. In the opening chapter of his Gospel account, the Apostle Mark says that Jesus began His Galilean ministry by “preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God”.
And there were all the parables, where Jesus compared the kingdom of God to a pearl of great wealth or a field holding a great treasure, to the man who scatters seeds, even to mustard seed. He said only those like innocent children can enter the kingdom of God, and that it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter God’s kingdom. His first command to us all, then and now, was to repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. And on and on and on.
So maybe it won’t surprise us to see that Jesus was still telling His disciples about the kingdom of God even after His resurrection, before He ascended back into heaven. And we should also expect Luke to mention God’s kingdom in his account for Theophilus, since it was such an important topic for Jesus. Please listen and follow along to the opening of the second book Luke wrote to Theophilus, in the first 12 verses of the 1st chapter of his Book of the Acts of the Apostles, and I’ll be reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible this morning…
1 In my first book I told you, Theophilus, about everything Jesus began to do and teach 2 until the day He was taken up to heaven after giving His chosen apostles further instructions through the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after He suffered and died, He appeared to the apostles from time to time, and He proved to them in many ways that He was actually alive. And He talked to them about the Kingdom of God.4 Once when He was eating with them, He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before. 5 John baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”6 So when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking Him, “Lord, has the time come for You to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”7 He replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times, and they are not for you to know. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be My witnesses, telling people about Me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”9 After saying this, He was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see Him. 10 As they strained to see Him rising into heaven, two white-robed men suddenly stood among them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why are you standing here staring into heaven? Jesus has been taken from you into heaven, but someday He will return from heaven in the same way you saw Him go!”12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile.
--Acts 1:1-12 (NLT)
Let us pray… Heavenly Father, we thank You for the promise You made to us in Your word, that some sweet day Jesus will return and restore Your kingdom, our kingdom, on earth. You will make all things new and will live among us. We anxiously await that glorious day. Sadly though, Father, not everyone believes in You or Your promises. There are even many who believe in You, but do not accept that Jesus is Your Son, sent to save us from sin and eternal death. Please help us reach out to the non-believers of the world, sharing the Good News and showing Your love. Help us spread the message of salvation through Jesus to all we encounter. And please forgive us when we hesitate to serve You and our Lord, even though we have no good reason not to do so.
Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today. Thank You for the hope You give us through Your Son Jesus, a hope that will not fail. Help us share the Gospel, this Good News in our daily walk. This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.
An unknown author once wrote, "As a boy, I thought of heaven as a city with domes, spires, and beautiful streets, inhabited by angels. By and by my little brother died, and I thought of heaven much as before, but with one inhabitant that I knew. Then another died, and then some of my acquaintances, so in time I began to think of heaven as containing several people that I knew. But it was not until one of my own little children died that I began to think I had treasure in heaven myself. Afterward another went, and yet another. By that time I had so many acquaintances and children in heaven that I no more thought of it as a city merely with streets of gold but as a place full of inhabitants. Now there are so many loved ones there I sometimes think I know more people in heaven than I do on earth."
Charles L. Allen, in his book Home Fires, tells of a little girl taking an evening walk with her father. Wonderingly, she looked up at the stars and exclaimed; "Oh, Daddy, if the wrong side of heaven is so beautiful, what must the right side be!"
What is our view of heaven? We’ve been told that it is more beautiful and wonderful than we can even imagine, but some of us have pretty vivid imaginations. The land of milk and honey with streets of gold. According to our bible, though, we won’t live in heaven, exactly, at least not for long. For when Jesus returns and brings forth our new kingdom, it will be the new Jerusalem, coming down from heaven onto the newly reformed earth.
The Apostle John in his Book of the Revelation of Jesus tells us this new Holy City will be shining brilliantly like a jewel, the city wall made of jasper and the city itself of purest gold. The foundations of the city will be decorated with every kind of precious jewel, each gate made from a single pearl, the streets paved with gold. The city will need no sun nor moon for the glory of God will be its light and Jesus its lamp. And this will be our home.
Now we need to realize that John was shown an image more beautiful and glorious than anyone can imagine, and then he had to try to put what he had seen into words, even though he had no words for it. It’s like in other parts of the Revelation, where we can see what is described as possibly being the effects of nuclear warfare, or even space-based weapons in action, but John had no knowledge of such things so he had to describe them in words of his times, in a way his audience might understand them.
And so I think it is with heaven and the new Jerusalem. John had no words to adequately describe what he was shown, and neither would we. When we look at how beautiful God’s creation is that He gave us to live in now, we can’t even imagine how gloriously, wondrously beautiful His greatest creation will be for us to live in forever.
I once read some advice to a single person, and have since shared it with some of those folk who have become a little depressed in their search for a soulmate. And that advice is to stop looking all around, stop focusing on other things, and start running toward Jesus, focusing only on Him. As you run, if you happen to see someone running in the same direction, run alongside them, for that is the person you should be with. Focus on Jesus, seeking first the kingdom of God. Don’t let anything else distract you.
In our congregational reading we acknowledged that we must discipline ourselves to seek God’s kingdom. Self-discipline, self-determination, is key, because Satan will try every trick to draw our gaze elsewhere. Two of his favorite tricks are worry and guilt. He’ll make us feel guilty about things we really have no control over, or he’ll make us worry about anything and every little thing. Jesus tells us not to worry about what we might or might not have, but to set our sights on living righteously. Please listen to how the Apostle Matthew recorded this in chapter 6 of his Gospel account, verses 31 through 33, during Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount…
31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need.”
--Matthew 6:31-33 (NLT)
Live righteously and God will give us everything we need. At another time Jesus said the even though the birds do not labor, they still have plenty to eat because God sees to their needs, and we are more precious to Him than the birds, so He will see to our needs, too. Some people ponder over that word “righteous”, thinking it only refers to the very devout and pious, and certainly not to a sinner like me. Well, living righteously simply means living in a manner that is right in God’s eyes, doing the things He would have us do, serving Him by helping others, obeying His commands.
We’re all sinners – that’s why God sent Jesus to us – but we can still live righteously by turning from our sin and serving God. He will make sure we have what we need, so we’ll have no reason to worry. We just need to seek first - before anything else – first seek the kingdom of God.
As the disciples watched, the resurrected Jesus was taken up in a cloud, rising into heaven. Two white-robed men suddenly stood with them, explaining what just happened. Jesus had returned to heaven, but someday He will come back to the earth, and in the same manner that He just left.
Jesus had said the same thing earlier, while He still walked among us, that He would return in the clouds. And it is repeated in John’s Revelation, when Jesus calls His church to Him in the clouds. This is the promise we believers hang on, not that He will come in the clouds, but that He will call us home. And then, once He has judged the world, God will make all things new again, including our new home. This is the coming of His kingdom, our kingdom, what we have to look forward to. Please listen to what the Apostle John wrote of the coming kingdom in chapter 21 of his Book of the Revelation, verses 1 through 5…
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among His people! He will live with them, and they will be His people. God himself will be with them, their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then He said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”
--Revelation 21:1-5 (NLT)
When our kingdom has come, God will make His home with us. He will live with us and we will be His people. God Himself will be with us.
Family, this is beauty beyond measure, beyond our greatest imaginings – that God will be with us. Forget about precious jewels in the foundations of the city or streets of gold. These are things meaningful and desired in this life. When we have come into our kingdom, the only thing meaningful or precious will be the presence of God Almighty among us. Everything we know, everything we’ve experienced, everything we treasure in this life will be gone and forgotten, for God will make everything new. Write this on your hearts, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.
Just as He had done during His time on earth, after His resurrection, Jesus continued telling His disciples about the Kingdom of God. They were more concerned about the kingdom of Israel, and the return of its freedom and glory. Nowadays, people seem to obsess on America becoming greater than ever, although there are many differing viewpoints on how that should happen. But if we were wise, we would be more concerned about the kingdom that is yet to come, that has been promised us, that the "two white-robed men" alluded to as Jesus vanished into the clouds.
We have received the promised Messiah. We have received the promised Holy Spirit. And now we await the coming of the promised kingdom. We who believe pray that day comes sooner rather than later. Come, Lord Jesus, come. In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the Son of God, who came in the flesh to redeem us, who was raised from the dead into flesh and returned to heaven, and who is coming again to judge us all and then to usher in our kingdom with God. Amen.
Let us pray… Almighty God, thank You for the promises You made us, for they give us courage and hope as we face our greatest enemy and all that he throws at us. You provide for our needs, including the strength to face each day. Thank You, Father, for watching over us. Sometimes, Father, we become distracted and our focus slips. Sometimes we obsess over things and events in this life and lose sight of Your great kingdom. Please forgive us these times, Father. Help us prepare for our new life. Help us be more forgiving, more merciful in our dealings with others. And Father, guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will. And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.
Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own. Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live. And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.
Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…
Lord Jesus, You spoke often of the kingdom of God, trying to help us understand what wonder and beauty awaits us. You wanted us to focus more on this than on anything else. Thank You, Jesus, for being patient and constantly reminding us of what is yet to come. As we continue our walk through this life, please help us be more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, knowing that this is our Father’s will for us. Help us reach out to the non-believing world with the Gospel message, showing Your love through our love. Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.
Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises. Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares. Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings. Help us fend off his attacks. Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You. Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another. Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer. This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior. Amen.
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