Sometimes when we hear the phrase, “the kingdom of God”, we may not be able to find the relation. Yes, we know that God rules over the world, we know that we’re going to the kingdom of God in eternity, but the things that are very real to us are our daily needs. We have to wake up early in the morning to get to work. We have to beat the traffic, squeeze into the MRT, and face challenges at work. Some of us are threatened with retrenchment, have bosses difficult to serve, office politics, economic problems, children and marital problems. These things are so real to us; every day we have to battle with these things.

On the other hand, we can’t feel and touch the heavenly kingdom. When we hear of this in church, we find it difficult to connect it to our daily lives. But this is something we have to think about because the kingdom of God is ultimately the reality. This is why when God deals with His people in the Bible, you read of these stories of real people whom we can connect with. You look at Moses - when he was born, his parents had to hide him because the people of God had no kingdom of their own. They went into Egypt because a long time ago, their descendant, Joseph, brought the people there. Over the centuries, they grew. Their lives were different from those of the Egyptians and they didn’t interfere with each other.

After a while, the Egyptians saw that the numbers grew and they started to fear and oppress them. The Israelites became slaves and that’s around the time when Moses was born. The Egyptians wanted to kill the male babies by throwing them into the river. Moses was kept for three months and his mother couldn’t keep him anymore. Which mother would abandon her baby? She left Moses in a basket and left him at the river. This is something real; it’s something to do with family life. We can identify with it. When God tells us of His kingdom, there are stories like that of Moses.

Moses, when he grew up, was passionate about his people but his people rejected him. He had to flee from Egypt. Although he was adopted to be a prince, deep inside he knew he was a Hebrew although his people were slaves. That compulsion led him to want to save his people. The first thing he had to do was to flee from his palace, his people. When God called him back to deliver his people, he went through a lot of heartaches. Finally, God made a kingdom for His people in the land of Canaan. But after a while, the kingdom split into two - 10 in the north and 2 in the south. Very quickly, these 10 tribes were wiped out. There was the Assyrian empire which is very huge. They took the Israelites into captivity. Not long after, the two tribes were also taken captivity. A new captivity, the Babylonian, took over the Assyrians. They were very strong and wiped out the two tribes. Israel never came back to establish their kingdom. Even during the time of Jesus, they were under Roman’s rule and they didn’t like it.

You may think that this is nothing to do with us - we’re not Israelites.

Not too long ago, there was the Japanese imperialistic expansion. Our forefathers (some still alive today) have gone through the Japanese occupation. All that they went through left a deep mark on them. The current Singapore generation is so blessed.

Look at Hong Kong today, we cannot say who is right and who is wrong because everyone is wrong. However, the situation is so real to them to the point that they’re willing to create unrest. What is real may not be real, but it’s real to the person. In their heads, it’s so real. People who are suffering from mental illness and depression, those situations are so real. To us, we think it’s not but it’s REAL TO THEM. So, they behave the way they behave.

The people in Hong Kong today are pitiful. There are some people there who don’t want to oppose the Hong Kong’s government, but the society is too chaotic and they have to live under such situations that they don’t want. They can’t help it because they live there.

Brothers and sisters, we are so blessed. Have you ever thought - how do we ensure that we remain in this blessed situation? We must not be complacent. We must understand the things that are happening and why they are happening.

To cut a long story short: the real reason may not be apparent to you, but the real reason is that men disobeyed God. God’s rule over the world has been rejected by men. Although it’s not apparent, we NEED to understand this because this is the root of the problem. If we don’t get to the root of the problem, we’ll face the same situations.

Today the speaker will share with us the gospel of Luke. Luke also wrote the Acts of the Apostles. When we read these two books together, we can understand very much of the kingdom of God - how it started and developed.

Announcing the kingdom of God is the very message of the gospel. When we hear the word “gospel” we think about going to heaven. This is the endpoint, but what effectively is the gospel? We know it means “good news,” but what’s the good news? What is it announcing? We read Luke 9:2;

‘He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. ‘

6;

‘So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.’

V2 says to preach the kingdom of God and v6 says to preach the gospel. Preaching the gospel is preaching that God rules. The good news is that God rules.

Why is the good news “God rules”?

When Jesus, John the Baptist, and the apostles preached the gospel, it was when God’s people were under foreign rule for over six centuries. So, the gospel relates to God’s rule overcoming the rules of the gentiles. This is a beautiful paradox; God overcomes the foreign rules. However, when God overcomes the foreign rules, foreign rulers do not become disadvantaged. The foreign nation God overcomes, God delivers His people from foreign nations. God is a benevolent ruler - when He saves His people from the nations, not only does His people benefit, the other nations also benefit. This is because God’s rule will extend over all the nations and God is a benevolent ruler. It’s better to be ruled by God than any other human’s dynasty. God’s peace will extend worldwide.

Who are the majority? They are the gentiles and non-Hebrews. Although He saves a small group of people over the small group of gentiles, the entire rule including the gentiles will be under God’s benevolent rule. In His benevolent rule, all problems will be resolved. There will be universal peace, happiness and very importantly, this is permanent. Everyone in His kingdom will permanently enjoy God’s blessings.

There are two parts to be shared this morning:

1. The nations
   Let’s look at Luke 2. After talking about the nations, the little flock will be discussed. We read Luke 2:30-32;

30 ‘For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
33 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”’

Here talks about an old man living under Roman rule and waiting for God. His name was Simeon. The Holy Spirit prompted him to go to the temple and at the temple, he saw the parents of Jesus with Jesus. In v28, he took Jesus in his arms, and gave thanks and praise to God. He was very old. To him, he had nothing else to live for but God kept him alive to see the deliverer who would deliver His people. When he saw Jesus, he said, “My eyes have seen your salvation.”

He says that Jesus is the salvation God prepared for all nations, for the whole world. This would be a light to bring revelation to the gentiles, and this is going to be the glory of God’s people, Israel.

What do these words mean? The word “gentiles” and “nations” in the Bible is the same. There’s no word for “gentiles” in the Hebrew and Greek Bible. It just means the nations because God’s people are special and are not reckoned the nation. So Israel is the nation. God says that Israel is going to be glorious amongst the people, amongst the nations. Jesus coming in the midst will be the light to the rest of the world and nations because He’s going to save Israel. Israel will be delivered and saved from their enemies. We look at Luke 1:69;

‘And has raised up a horn of salvation for us In the house of His servant David,’

“Raised up a horn of salvation for us”

V70;

‘As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, Who have been since the world began,’

This salvation is about Israel being saved from their enemies, v71;

‘That we should be saved from our enemies And from the hand of all who hate us,’

V74;

‘To grant us that we, Being delivered from the hand of our enemies, Might serve Him without fear,’

“Delivered from the hand of our enemies,” so that we can serve God without fear.

V79;

‘To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”’

Those who sit in darkness don’t just refer to Israel under foreign rule, but mainly to the whole world because the whole world sits in darkness and is under the oppression of the evil one. God saving the whole world and the gentiles are only but a sign, that God will save the entire world from the hands of Satan. The real oppressor operas us with sins and death. We suffer when we’re alive because of the consequence of our sins. We suffer eternally after we leave the world and God is going to save us from this. Now we understand why the gospel is the announcement of God’s rule - because Satan rules the world! God is going to wrestle the world away from him. The good news is God NOW rules. When we look around, at the nations and people around us, what do they represent? Do they represent big forces we cannot overcome? If we lived in a communist country, we may feel it more - Our churches are being torn down, our bibles burnt, our children prevented from attending RE classes. Then, our rulers represent evil oppressors.

If we lived under the threat of enemy nations, then the nations represent an evil we must protect ourselves from. It’s very difficult to get blessed Singaporeans to understand. Think about this - if we want to follow the way of God, look at the people around us. If you’re interested to grow the church in Singapore, look at the challenges. If we want to bring our children to God, look at the threat. If you think that Singapore is the place God has strategically put to preach the gospel, then let’s just talk about Myanmar. It’s so difficult.

The rest of the world have different challenges, so what does the nation represent? Evil forces we must run away and protect against? Evil forces we fear may attack our mission? Or do the nations respect the trophies God prepared for us?

The Jews had a very wrong concept about the nations and that’s why they couldn’t welcome Jesus when Jesus came into their midst. Nation, to them, is avoiding seeing them - the best would be if the world would be separated into Jews and the rest. That’s a very wrong paradigm. They have to shift their paradigm. That’s what the Christian faith is about we have to look at the nation as a trophy, that God wants us to get. We’re going to announce God’s rule over them. Jesus, when He came, came to experience what His people experienced for many centuries so that He can represent them. The same sufferings, and yet He could overcome and triumph over the nations. Look at Luke 18:31-33;

31 ‘Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.
32 For He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon.
33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”’

All these years, the people of God have suffered and so Christ will go through the same thing. The very big difference is this - although He will suffer to the point of death, on the third day He will resurrect. His resurrection will show that He has overcome the one who holds the power of death. The nations’ king is Satan, who holds the power of death. When He resurrects, He breaks free form the power of death. He becomes the king of kings.

The resurrection of Jesus provided for the opportunity of the remission of sins because He breaks free from the effect of sin, which is death. There is then no more power of sin to control those over who resurrect. Jesus now has the power to overcome death and sin. This is the benefit He is going to bring to the entire world. Not just to the problem of Israel (because they keep sinning against God), but more of the nations.

The people of God knew God’s world, but the nation didn’t know. Who’s more sinful? The people of God. Jesus is going to save the people of God out of their sins and after that, He’s going to save the rest of the people out of their sins. We read Luke 24:46-47;

46 ‘Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ‘

It begins in Jerusalem because it began with these people. These people will become an example for the people from Jerusalem and the gospel will be preached to all people. When people submit to God’s rule and be baptised, their sins will be forgiven. This is why in Acts 1, Jesus says the same thing. He tells the disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes to them, they’ll be His witnesses through Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the world. The Jews received salvation first, will enter the kingdom of God through the rule of Jesus Christ, then they become soldiers to announce God’s rule in the world. After that, there’ll be many who believe, but there’ll be others who rebel. In Luke 21:24;

‘And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.’

Now is the time where we preach the gospel. There’ll be the day that comes where the numbers of the kingdom of God are fulfilled. Then the enemies will come and surround us, but they’ll not overcome us. Jesus will come in glory. From Luke 21:27-31 we read that;

27 ‘Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
28 Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.”
29 Then He spoke to them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees.
30 When they are already budding, you see and know for yourselves that summer is now near.
31 So you also, when you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near. ‘

Here tells us that Jesus will come again in glory. When He comes in glory, in v31 says that when you see more and more people are turning to the gospel and the numbers are about to be fulfilled and people are persecuting Christians, then you’ll know the kingdom of God is coming. When Jesus comes again, the nation that will believe will believe and those that don’t believe will be destroyed. We turn to Psalm 2:8-9;

8 ‘Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”’

This is a prophecy about Jesus because v6-7 says;

6 ‘“Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.”
7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’

Zion is the same as Jerusalem. When the time comes, when the kingdom of God is fully realised, Jesus will come again and will dash the nations into pieces. But there’ll be those among the nations who believe and will be part of God’s kingdom. Prophet Isaiah puts it interestingly. We read Isaiah 19:22-25 mentions a few of these nations and we realise that these nations were formally enemies of Israel;

22 ‘And the Lord will strike Egypt, He will strike and heal it; they will return to the Lord , and He will be entreated by them and heal them.
23 In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians.
24 In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing in the midst of the land,
25 whom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.”’

Assyria was one of the greats enemies, but v23 says that the Egyptians will serve with the Assyrians. V25 is very beautiful, God says, “Blessed is Egypt… Israel my inheritance.” We are in the midst of seeing this being fulfilled. The nations, the gentiles, respected by Assyria and Egypt, will be part and parcel of God’s people.

1. The little flock
   We don’t have to fear the nations, they’re God’s trophies God will give us. With the gospel, we shall conquer them. We are so little, TJC is so little. Some people doubt the concept of the one true church. We are so few and we are mainly made upon race. We’re not just limited in humans but other resources. With our knowledge, how are we to win the nations? We look back at Luke 12:32;

‘“Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. ‘

Jesus was walking to His disciples. Out of Israel, He had a following. He said, “Little Flock,” meaning there are few people. But He assured that the Heavenly Father will give them the kingdom. Before Jesus said that the Heavenly Father will give us the kingdom, why did Jesus conclude by saying this? Because His disciples were people like us - ordinary folks. They didn’t have much ambition, not very visually minded and broad and far in the perception of things. This whole passage starts from v22;

‘Then He said to His disciples, “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; nor about the body, what you will put on. ‘

“He said to His disciples” - the little flock refers to His disciples.

Life is more than food and the body more than clothing. What is Jesus trying to say? Why is life more important than food? Immediately, you can say that when you have a life, it’s more important than food. But we need to ask one more question: what is the purpose of your life? Just to eat your rice?

What God wants us to think is this: what is the value of human life? What’s the difference between humans and sparrows? What’s the difference between humans and the lilies of the fields? Sometimes we don’t spend enough time to think about this so we live like animals. Let’s consider this: Why is God keeping us alive?

Finally, Jesus says that it is to give you the kingdom. But first, He says that He knows our fears. The Father knows that you need rice, butter, these things. God provides for them. Then, He compares His disciples with the nations. Look at v30;

‘For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. ‘

That means Jesus wants His disciples to realise that they should be different from the nations. You should seek the KINGDOM OF GOD, not these things. Let those who don’t know God live for their present and physical bodies. Let them live to eat. For us, we have a heavenly life, we have a nobler purpose.

The people that Jesus chose were small in number and underprivileged. They were fishermen. Jesus was a carpenter’s son. Even up to the time of Paul, he said God chose the foolish people. There are not many who are powerful, but God wants to work through all the underprivileged people. That’s why when Jesus spoke the sermon on the mount, He said blessed are the poor, meek and persecuted. These are the underprivileged. Some were because of their own choice because they chose to follow the difficult path. In Luke 13:22-28;

22 ‘And He went through the cities and villages, teaching, and journeying toward Jerusalem.
23 Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them,
24 “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able.
25 When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’
26 then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’
27 But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’
28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and yourselves thrust out. ‘

Brothers and sisters, we are either the underprivileged one whom God wants to give the real blessings, or we forsake what we have to walk the difficult path. Our numbers will be few, but we are given a noble purpose in life. We need to ask ourselves: are we still figuring out personal battles? We all know that even in human history, those who had to defend their countries couldn’t even think about their interests. We have the kingdom of God to promote and to defend, but our hands are tied because we’re still fighting our battles, “My colleague made my life so difficult,” “Aiya my husband, my marriage is not good,” “My shares are plummeting”.

Whatever it is, they’re personal battles. Sometimes we struggle against our weaknesses. We have no time for God’s kingdom. Think about others; how about those battling with illnesses? With cancer? What is your little problem? What’s your little problem if your shares drop? Or that you can’t get along with your brother’s wife? Think about those with bigger problems. Yet, some of these people with bigger problems can think about the kingdom of God.

Not too long ago we heard of a story of an Indonesian boy. Before he passed, he brought so much glory to God. What about those in the missionary field who are jailed and persecuted?
We have members in areas where religion isn’t a freedom. Are we prepared to fight with them? We must get out of these personal situations and look at the bigger picture because ultimately, the solution is in the bigger picture. If we don’t jump out of our immediate concerns, we won’t be able to solve the real concerns (real concerns - the kingdom of God).

In Luke 8:9-10;

9 ‘Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?”
10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’’

Why is it given to them? Because they’re the ones who are interested to know. They asked what this parable meant. They wanted to know of the kingdom of God so that they’ll be able to teach the nations.

Brethren, this is about us. We are the little flock, but we shouldn’t fear. Don’t fear the nations. Don’t fear your struggles. Our Father knows we need these things and He is pleased to give us the kingdom.