Kingdom 102: His Assignment, Preach the Kingdom
The Lord Jesus was the perfect and obedient messenger. Preaching the Kingdom was His assignment. Everywhere Jesus went, He preached the Kingdom. I repeat; that was His assignment. The message of the Kingdom was so important that He instructed who they should go to and who not to go to. He also instructed them on what to say. By them I mean His disciples. These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: “Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of the Samaritans. But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give. Provide neither gold nor silver nor copper in your money belts, nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; for a worker is worthy of his food.
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! If we are to follow His teaching, His message is our responsibility to preach and teach. Not to do so means we have become disobedient to the King, and we will be held responsible for our actions.
The Lord Jesus' message wasn't the born again message that many may preach and dominate the Gospel preaching. In fact, in His entire recorded ministry while down here on earth, Jesus spoke only once about being born again and that was in the middle of the night, to a Pharisee named Nicodemus who had come to Him privately. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Keep in mind, being born again is the way into the Kingdom, it is the first step. Jesus is the door to the Kingdom. But the Gospel of the Kingdom involves much more. Not only did the Lord Jesus rarely speak about being born again, neither did He make these other themes the focus of His preaching or teaching: prosperity, healing, grace, purpose, baptism in the Holy Spirit, tongues, or many of the other things we preach so much about in today's society. Jesus taught about these things as He preached and taught the Kingdom. He demonstrated them in His day by day behavior in His ministry, but He didn't preach them. They were attributes of being in the Kingdom of God. That is a big difference. Remember, the Lord Jesus had only one message: the Kingdom of God. That was His assignment and He passed it on to us. His assignment is our assignment. When are we going to get a clue? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Please keep in mind; He left the earthly realm in order to complete the work that He began. He sits on the throne of heaven, directing that work through His ambassadors (representatives). Unfortunately, many of us don't really understand what He meant when He spoke of the Kingdom, sad but true! This is why we need to study closely His message so that we can teach it accurately and assist to fulfill His assignment in preparation for His return. Just as the Lord Jesus did, we need to proclaim that "the Kingdom of heaven is near", that God is working to restore us to our original and rightful place as His children, as heirs to His Kingdom and as rulers of the earthly domain. Remember, this earth will pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Matthew 10:5-15 John 3:1-8 Matthew 6:33 Mark 13:31
~~W.R. Luchie
“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. And when you go into a household, greet it. If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city! If we are to follow His teaching, His message is our responsibility to preach and teach. Not to do so means we have become disobedient to the King, and we will be held responsible for our actions.
The Lord Jesus' message wasn't the born again message that many may preach and dominate the Gospel preaching. In fact, in His entire recorded ministry while down here on earth, Jesus spoke only once about being born again and that was in the middle of the night, to a Pharisee named Nicodemus who had come to Him privately. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
Keep in mind, being born again is the way into the Kingdom, it is the first step. Jesus is the door to the Kingdom. But the Gospel of the Kingdom involves much more. Not only did the Lord Jesus rarely speak about being born again, neither did He make these other themes the focus of His preaching or teaching: prosperity, healing, grace, purpose, baptism in the Holy Spirit, tongues, or many of the other things we preach so much about in today's society. Jesus taught about these things as He preached and taught the Kingdom. He demonstrated them in His day by day behavior in His ministry, but He didn't preach them. They were attributes of being in the Kingdom of God. That is a big difference. Remember, the Lord Jesus had only one message: the Kingdom of God. That was His assignment and He passed it on to us. His assignment is our assignment. When are we going to get a clue? But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Please keep in mind; He left the earthly realm in order to complete the work that He began. He sits on the throne of heaven, directing that work through His ambassadors (representatives). Unfortunately, many of us don't really understand what He meant when He spoke of the Kingdom, sad but true! This is why we need to study closely His message so that we can teach it accurately and assist to fulfill His assignment in preparation for His return. Just as the Lord Jesus did, we need to proclaim that "the Kingdom of heaven is near", that God is working to restore us to our original and rightful place as His children, as heirs to His Kingdom and as rulers of the earthly domain. Remember, this earth will pass away. Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
Matthew 10:5-15 John 3:1-8 Matthew 6:33 Mark 13:31
~~W.R. Luchie