AN UPSIDE-DOWN KINGDOM

MIKE CUNNINGHAM

AUGUST 20, 2006

This past May I preached a message in which I spoke about a very opinionated man who wanted to be a pastor more than anything in the world. He and his wife had become disenchanted with the local churches and were close to writing them all off. Nevertheless, a few years previously he had sensed that God was calling him into the Christian ministry. Ever since, he has had a burning passion to study the bible. So much so that he had been spending more time immersed in independent bible study than he had previously in following the Boston Red Sox and New England Patriots.

A week after my meeting with the couple I was able to pick up an excellent commentary which I believed would help him in his studies. What a waste of my hard earned money that turned out to be. As soon as I had given it to him, he quickly flipped through its pages, glanced at the back cover, shook his head from side to side and slid it across his dining room table back to me. Then with one of those know-it-all looks of disgust on his face which I was soon to learn was sort of like his trademark, he said: “thanks but no thanks. I don’t need this thing.”

Next he attempted to set me straight. Didn’t I know that Jesus promised the Holy Spirit Himself would lead us into all truth? Didn’t I believe that the Bible was God’s Word and that through it God speaks directly to us? What kind of a pastor was I anyway?

Regardless of what I said, there was no way I could convince the man that the commentary would be helpful. He kept insisting that the Holy Spirit doesn’t need help from any of those intellectual Bible scholars and theologians and neither does he.[1] If I had taken the man’s advice and not availed myself to excellent resources, I would have missed out on some wonderful insights I received this past week from a couple of authors and which I want to share with you folks this morning.

One of them is that, in the whole divine scheme of things, ministers of the Gospel are great in God’s Kingdom. I’ll explain what I mean in a moment but first:

2 Peter 1:1-5 (ESV) ¹ Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have obtained a faith of equal standing with ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: ² May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. ³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,

As I said in my May sermon: “Any Christian can learn everything they need to know in order to live his or her life in a manner which is pleasing to God by studying the Bible on their own. But if someone wants to be a pastor and teach other Christian’s spiritual truth they must avail themselves of all available resources, in order to add to their faith knowledge of Jesus Christ, and that includes reading books.

2 Timothy 4:9-13 (ESV) ⁹ Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. ¹² Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

Even an Apostle must read. Paul is inspired, and yet he {still] wants Books. He has been preaching for at least thirty years, and yet he {still] wants BOOKS. He had seen the Lord and yet he [still] wants BOOKS. He had a wider experience than most men, and yet he still wants BOOKS! He had been caught up into the third heaven, and he had heard things which were unlawful for man to utter, yet he [still] wants BOOKS! He had written a major part of the New Testament, and yet he [still] wants BOOKS!![2]

Reading books that have been written by men and women, some of whom have devoted their entire adult lives in the study of God’s Word in order to acquire enormous knowledge and to develop a deeper appreciation of the Love of Jesus for His people; and then sharing this knowledge with fellow believers, is a means God has used, and which He continues to use to bless followers of Jesus.

Before explaining what I meant when I said earlier that in the whole divine scheme of things ministers of the Gospel are great in God’s Kingdom, I would like to introduce another reality concerning the participants in the spiritual warfare we have been looking at since mid July. I have already spoken about the power of the indwelling Spirit living within every Christian. We have also considered the fierce unrelenting activity of those cosmic powers over this present darkness, those spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places that the Apostle Paul warned about (Eph. 6:10).

Today I would like to consider other spirit beings; each of whom have been diligently and persistently fighting Satan and his fellow demons for thousands of years. Angels are invisible spirits who have been created by God for His own glory. The Bible tells us that these holy spirits continually worship God and His only begotten Son. Listen to what the ancient Jewish Levites priests had to say about the angelic host.

Nehemiah 9:6 (ESV) ⁶ “You are the LORD, you alone. You have made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them; and you preserve all of them; and the host of heaven worships you.

Speaking of the Lord Jesus, we read:

Hebrews 1:1-5 (ESV) ¹ Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. ³ He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs. ⁵ For to which of the angels did God ever say, “You are my Son, today I have begotten you”? Or again, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son”?

These holy angelic beings delight in continually praising God. For instance, the Lord God asked Job where was Job when He spoke the world into existence and, 38:7 (ESV) ⁷ when the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Isaiah 6:3 (ESV) ³ And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” 4

Luke 2:13-14 (ESV) ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

Paul tells us that since the Resurrection every angel has known about the wonder of the Gospel. Furthermore, angels understand the Gospel infinitely better that any human being and they delight in this knowledge.[i] They are mighty and holy and they each possess incredible wisdom which they communicate to whomever the Sovereign Lord directs.[ii]

In an attempt to deceive and flatter a king, we read about a certain unnamed wise woman comparing the king’s wisdom to that of the angel of God.

2 Samuel 14:20 (ESV) ²⁰ In order to change the course of things your servant Joab did this. But my lord has wisdom like the wisdom of the angel of God to know all things that are on the earth.”

Without a doubt; angels are great in the Kingdom of God and so are Christian ministers. However, as great as the angels are they are infinitely inferior to the Lord Jesus Christ just as man is.

“The angels of heaven, [even though they are of] a superior order of being, and [although they possess] a more exalted nature and [have] faculties [which are] far greater than [those] of men; [are] all ministering spirits [that have been sent forth [by God] to minister to [humans who shall] be the heirs of salvation. [Bottom line;] in some respects [angels have been] made inferior to the saints in honor.”

The same is true of the angels of the churches, the ministers of the Gospel. Although Christian ministers hold a higher order and office [in the church] than other [Christians], they have been assigned by Christ to be, ministers and servants to others, and are therefore [considered] least of all.”[3]

Matthew 20:25-27 (ESV) ²⁵ But Jesus called them to him and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. ²⁶ It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, ²⁷ and whoever would be first among you must be your slave,

Matthew 23:8-12 (ESV) ⁸ But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. ⁹ And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. ¹⁰ Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. ¹¹ The greatest among you shall be your servant. ¹² Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Mark 9:35 (NIV) ³⁵ Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”

Picking up on the analogy Paul used in comparing the Church with the human body, Edwards writes, “Those parts that we [consider] more honorable and noble are, as it were, ministers to the more inferior members, to guard them, [and]to serve them as the Apostle {Paul] observes:”[4]

1 Corinthians 12:23-24 (AMP) ²³ And those [parts] of the body which we consider rather ignoble are [the very parts] which we invest with additional honor, and our unseemly parts and those unsuitable for exposure are treated with seemliness (modesty and decorum), ²⁴ Which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so adjusted (mingled, harmonized, and subtly proportioned the parts of) the whole body, giving the greater honor and richer endowment to the inferior parts which lack [apparent importance],

“God’s ways are all similar, and His dispensations harmonize with [each] other. “[Just] as it is between [men] that are of an inferior order of beings and the angels which… [possess more] exalted natures and degrees, and also between those Christian’s on earth who are of [an] inferior order [in the church], and those who are of a superior [order of beings because they] are ministers of Christ; so [it is] without [a] doubt also in some respects in heaven, between those who are lower and those that are of higher degrees of glory.”

“There, [in heaven], those that are [the] most exalted in honor and happiness, [even] though they [were considered higher] than the lest [Christian’s on earth], [were actually,] in some respects the least; [because they were] ministers to others and [were] employed by God to minister [for] their [people’s] good and happiness.”[5]

The apostles wanted to know who would be the greatest in His kingdom and Jesus told them, and then He went on to show them.

Matthew 20:28 (ESV) ²⁸ even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Luke 22:26-27 (ESV) ²⁶ But not so with you. Rather, let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. ²⁷ For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.

“No one in the kingdom of heaven ever descended [as] low as Christ did. [He] descended as it were into the [very] depths of hell. He [willingly] suffered shame and [His Fathers] wrath, and was made a curse [for His people]. He went lower in these things than any other [person] ever did. And He did this as a servant not only to God, but [also] to men.[6]

So great is His love for sinners such as you and me that Christ considered Himself lower than us. He still serves us while we sit around and enjoy the many blessings which He constantly provides. “[Even] though He is above all, in some respects he was inferior. Christ took [it] upon Himself to minister to us in the lowest service, which He [once] represented and typified by the action of washing the disciple’s feet”

The design of God in [ordering things this way] is to teach and show [us] that He is all, and we the creature [are] nothing, and that all dignity and exaltation belong to Him. Therefore those creatures that are most exulted shall in other respects be [the] least and [the] lowest.

Though the angels excel in wisdom and strength, and are advanced to glorious dignity, and are [also] principalities and powers, and kings of the earth, He makes them all ministers to them [humans]  who are much less than they, and are inferior [in] nature [and in] degree. [Likewise] the [Christians] who are most exalted in dignity are [those who] are servants to others.[7]

Although Jesus is above all, in some respects He became inferior when He come into our world as a Creature lower that the angels. “To prepare Christ for His exhalation above all, He was first brought lowest of all in suffering and humiliation.

Although the [Christians] are exalted to glorious dignity, [such as being] in union and fellowship with God Himself, [and although Christians] will be in some respects divine in glory and happiness, and in many respects will be exalted above the angels; [God has seen to it] that it would not be in themselves, but to a person named Jesus who is God, and they must be as it were emptied of themselves in order to [attain] it.[8]

This is what I was alluding to earlier when I said that in the whole divine scheme of things, ministers of the Gospel are great in God’s Kingdom. In fact, every Christian can become great in God’s kingdom. All he or she has to do is to practice being a servant to all.

Concerning the reading of books in addition to reading the bible in order to acquire knowledge and to develop a deeper appreciation of the love of Jesus for His people; in the introduction to the timeless classic Exposition of Job by the old Puritan Joseph Caryl the reader is advised: “Don’t skip over Caryl’s prefaces. He affirms the analogy of faith by stressing the need to compare Scripture with Scripture and refutes the notion that God does not use commentators and preachers to shed light on God’s Word throughout the generations. He acknowledges that human expositors, by no means infallible, are no better than spectacles for the vision impaired compared to the clear views saints will enjoy in the coming glory. But, he argues, “‘Tis no wisdom for a dim sighted man presently, to throw away his spectacles, though he be assured that within a while his eye-sight shall be cleared.”[9]

Jesus certainly wasn’t the kind of warrior messiah those first century Jews were hoping and praying for. On the contrary, He told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was in the very midst of them (Luke 17:21). He told Pilot that His kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36). Paul echoed that sentiment when he said: the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy (Romans 14:17).

The kingdom of God is hardly the kind of kingdom some people are looking for, with a conquering messiah who will set up a visible earthly kingdom and rule the world. By the things that Jesus taught and the wonderful examples He manifested in His daily walk; Jesus exemplified how the citizens of the kingdom of God ought to be living their lives every day. In the worlds eyes it’s an upside-down kingdom. But if you and I and every single Christian truly struggled to become Great in God’s kingdom; in the course of time, this world would be turned upside-down for the cause of God and truth.

[2] Paul’s Book’s by C. H. Spurgeon. From a tract which is available from Still Waters Revival Books, www.swrb.com.

[3] The Works of Jonathan Edwards, vol.2, The Banner of Truth Trust, reprinted 1992, p. 604.

[4] Ibid: p. 604.

[5] Ibid: p. 604.

[7] Ibid: p.605.

[8] “.

[9] Joel R. Beeke and Randal J. Pederson in the introduction on page V to Joseph Caryl’s Practical Observations on Job, 2001, Dust & Ashes Publications, Berkley Mi.  & Reformation Heritage Books Grand Rapids, Mi.

[ii] Psalms 103:20 (ESV) ²⁰ Bless the Lord, O you his angels, you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!

Matthew 25:31 (ESV) ³¹ “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne