1) GOD'S KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD, and therefore outlasts and overpowers all things.
As a child in primary school we said "The Lord's Prayer " every morning. Saying "your kingdom come" (Mark 6:10) is the simplest thing that even a small child can pray, yet it is so profound in consequence, when prayed with integrity.
Get real... Our power source does not run out if we trust in Christ.
In John 8:23 Jesus reminds us that his kingdom is not of this world. In Christ, God's kingdom literally comes down to us, in humility the one who formed the cosmos, is before all things and at the same time holds all things together (Col 1:17) is contracted in willing humility to the size of a single human cell. This is a mystery beyond understanding. It is also our pattern of submission, and willing sacrifice before glory. How is Christ "kept" as a child, protected, energised, educated, developed... the bible tells us that he escapes Herod by the path and power of God (Matt 2:12 2 Cor 10:13). God has all contingencies met and all escape routes planned. Christ develops to grow in stature before God and man in the power and provision of the trinity. This is the same trinity that Christ invites us into unfathomable fellowship with by his death, resurrection and inhabitation of our lives (John 10:25-30, John 17:15-19)
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by[d] the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified..
The Christian is by definition one who submits to Christ's kingdom. By accepting the one who came down to us, and who releases us from the power of a fallen existence and the death ridden environment of our own making, we see that his power is not an abstract force but a living relationship of live giving which by his Spirit comes to live in us and abide with us. We become co-workers with the regeneration and sanctifying missional work of God as he lives in us.
This is how Christians in the toughest of places not only keep existing, but thrive.
If only we could better comprehend the extent of the resurection power of the one who lives in us, our lives as Christians would be so transformed, and so transformational to others. It saddens me, as I survey comfortable Britain and comfortable British churches, that we think we are going through a tough time. That we think this season. In many ways this shows how we limit the power of God at work in us, Yes, heating a building and energy costs are increased, and covid was tough for many churches on a programtical level. For sure we live in a cynical age, and it is sometimes harder to share the good news of Christ in a context which is increasingly marginalising evangelicals as a radical sect of bigotry. But... there are many freedoms we enjoy which are unrivalled. Maybe the fact that there has been some change to the status quo to make us think a bit more outside of the box about how we do church reveals more about us and our inflexibilities than how great these challenges are in eternal reality. There are many unreached in the UK. There are many seeking a higher purpose in life, when despondency with mankind under its own steam is completely obvious and unquestionable. I heard this week of a young girl (devout and passionate atheist) who having lost her Father due to terminal illness has asked the question... "is there a good (authentic) church I can go to... just to listen and see what they say, understand why they feel the way they do ?) People are hungry for authenticity, hungry for an answer to addictions, hungry for a solution to life and death, hungry for treasure which this world does not know and can only be found in CHRIST.
OUR RELATIVE RESOURCES FROM GOD WHICH ALSO HELP PERSEVERANCE AND MISSIONAL ADVANCE:
In the U.K., Europe and U.S. We are materially well off (comparatively to the rest of the world). Fuel may be expensive but we have it in our cars, at the fuel pumps and at the end of our roads. Energy may be expensive but our winters and impractical moments are non real obstacles compared to Siberian winds, January snow drifts in Eastern / Northern European highlands, the winters of Eurasia, or the hostile desert nights of African nations. Add to that the fact that we have God's word in our own language. We may think we have practical challenges to doing church, but they are nothing compared to our fiends in Cuba or Afghanistan. When the church complains about little things, lets be honest... we see that we have lost the bigness of God, his cosmic power, our trust in him to sustain use keep us and equip us in his global mission.
Our power is from above not ourselves. Our perseverance's rests in him alone and not our situational logistics or ingenuity. We trust in his project management not our own, in all the resources of the hosts of heaven under the Lordship of the resurrected Christ. We have the eternal faithful word of God directing us into all truth and all wisdom, which can be opened at any time and in any situation. As we share Christ with neighbours (our knees knocking and no confidence in ourselves), or we share grace and compassion with those who hate the church, we can expect greater resources than we understand. All of heaven is with us. Christ commands all things. This is where true power and perseverance is shown, as we live with his priorities and provision in the gospel dimension and missional dynamic.
2) Self control which comes from Christ, limits our natural reaction to give up and reveals his supernatural encouragement to carry on.
Galatians 5:22-23 says... " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."
In the context of our theme, notice two things.
a) Firstly there is no limit to the power of God to work in us, (other than the limit or allowance we impose through not wanting to go his way). It is one thing to believe that God is unlimited in his power, it is another to depend on it in faith (Eph 3:20, Phil 2:13). As he leads us, lives in us and works in us, his unbounded superlative transcendent ability transforms our lives.
We can go so much deeper, much higher, much wider, much further with Christ in control of us than any of us has comprehended.
b) Notice secondly that the main obvious characteristics of a child of God are overflowing Joy (Χαρά) and love. This doesn't cease or get manipulated by circumstantial change, but grows and in a very real sense gets increasingly exposed in a world which has neither. Wherever the Spirit is present and at work there is both, and often over flowingly so, amongst believers when they live obediently during the hardest of times, and at work amongst unbelievers as the Sprit testifies to the truth of the resurrected Christ.
APPLICATIONS:
a) BE CLEAR THAT YOU WANT TO DEPEND ON AND GROW IN CHRIST - (NOT YOUR SELF SUFFICIENCY): Preparing to do this now for more christ reliance (in a season of comfort) is the best investment for the day of hardship.
Whatever our context and season of life, when we rely on physical circumstances (being predictable, or to our liking), when we depend on invented and artificial self driven resources to keep us going - our perseverance will always be limited and finite. We all age and get old. Our power is a diminishing power. We can fight its ignore it or admit it, either way the extent of the truth is unchangeable. Self control (as our world thinks) self energising, and being Christ controlled are poles apart. Trying to survive on our own temporary, limited, resources, will undoubtedly result in failure when all the unpredictability and variables of a fallen world hit us.
We live in a peculair world where people are fascinated and inspired by people endeavouring to persevere, yet at the same time hate those who do well against the odds. Consider ITV's "I'm a celeb": which started this weekend. On the one hand there is vitriol towards those who aren't good enough to participate (Matt Hancock) because they didn't persevere appropriately under their own restrictions in Covid. At the time of writing over 40,000 people feel strongly enough to sign one of many petitions that he shouldn't be allowed the privilege of being there. On another level people are eager for him to fail where others have succeeded. He is now being given " preferential treatment " to make sure he makes it in to the den of endurance. No doubt he will be voted for with some glee to face excruciating challenges and maybe face a humiliating early exit (unless of course people enjoy the perverse entertainment of him being tested to face more pain, just a little too much). It is a weird world of make believe we live in. Despite its proclaimed genre I'm a celeb is actually far from reality. Defenders and promoters may say it helps the profile of difficult issues, inspires us to persevere, and maybe there is some solace for someone, but from this perspective It does little good for anyone, and has nothing of worth to offer those in real situations of pain, who are trying to endure a fallen world without Christ.
Celebs encourage us to "be the best me possible" , but such a theory is often a code for self worship, commercialism and the proud western psycho babble which believes that the god of money, self energisation and self stroking praise can get us out of any and every situation. In many ways it has prompted a proliferation of YouTube channels which refine us to being me version 10.0.
With a day infant of new video posted this morning, we can endeavour to "tone our glutes fast", or listen to an army of life coaches which tell us that we don't need to ever fail again. In high street bookshops that remain there is the biggest section of diverse religious materials all suggesting that more ideologies we are influenced by the better and richer our lives will be. They define emotional wellbeing (which they call spiritual) as being full of as many diverse ideologies as possible, (regardless of the fact that none of them make sense with each other yet alone themselves). Yes, sitting with a costa and a book about Yoga in a warm space we may think we have found equilibrium and "freedom" in life, we may be able to buy some temporary seasonal comfort in hard times, by forgetting that we worship the god of money (and this is the reason the bookshop allows us to be there) and working our fingers to the bone will soon return to pay for the overpriced pleasure. In truth this is a prison of self many of our neighbours have a life sentence in. There are habits which lead us to heap guilt on ourselves for not being better, yet do nothing to avoid the fact that we are chained to ageing body in a fallen world - our goals are temporary not ultimate. There will be not ultimate success for our toned body. However long it lasts will be placed in a box underground to rot or cremated. Say it quietly in the bookshop as you enjoy your skinny latte and self help book... but "we are not invincible!".
Despite this inevitability, Christians (many of us) have bought into this escapism. We may be able to tell ourselves to pull our socks up in hard times, but even limited self perseverance for a prolonged season will not be accompanied by the divine Joy and love of a child of Christ. Something bigger, cosmological on a different scale is happening in you and me as we submit to Christ and all his ways... both joy and delight in him through the hardest of seasons, and profitable living which sees the kingdom of God grow in our lives now and leads us on into the life to come.
The great freedom for us comes the moment we sign our lives away and say to Christ / admit to him that he is only hope in our greatest of needs and inadequacies.
Matthew 16:24-26
"If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."
The great goal for the Christian is to be spent up and invested in Christ and not ourselves. In the one who beat life and death in a fallen world, there is the ultimate future. In him there is total and lasting liberty and joy, freedom from our many failures, joy and contentment that he who is our best in this life is eternal treasure and company in the next.
What promises to be be the worst day for us in humanistic history (especially if we are a yoga and eastern philosophy fanatic), is that day when we cease to exist (die) and everything we have invested is finished. We may hope that if the wind blows the right direction there will be reincarnation, and maybe we will be able to start again to do a bit better, but there is no guarantee, evidence or firm hope just a wishful desire that we in ourselves should find a way to be good enough.
This is in such stark contrast to the child of God, who is freed from self betterment, and given the perfection of Christ. The Christian longs for a better world, and in contrast our physical death in the safety of who Christ is (and what he has completed) proves to be our greatest day of freedom, as we are released from a fallen decaying body and like him are prepared for life with him forever. In many ways the day we realised what failures we are, and gave our lives to him (stopped living for this world or ourselves, and started to live in Christ and for Christ) has already marked our transition from a self made prison of sin, to living life to the full in true eternal liberty. Jesus promises you and me that he came in order that you might have life and have it to the full. (John 10:10). In this and all things he delivers.
All of us want good things to last forever - this is a good desire given by the fact that we are made in the image of God, but permanency does not come through human power trying to become divine, but the divine one true living God who became human.
b) BE SET AND CONTENT TO DEPEND ON HIS WILL AND INFINITE PROVISION FOR THE SEASONS OF HARD TIMES IN A FALLEN WORLD.
The Christian is energised by God and for God. The word of God has more wisdom in one ounce than the total tonnage of rubbish that this world has dumped and spouted from its own humanistic theories. The Spirit of God means that all the power of the resurrected Christ is at work in us by faith. How precious is God's presence in our lives, how much more careful and liberated in equal measure we should be in his presence.
Put more precisely, we are equipped to do the will of God which elevates all of his priorities and relegates our own. He resources us to do this. God's provision is not divorced from the life choices we make, there is human responsibility in this to submit to his purposes. Whilst submission does not guarantee a comfortable life (and in fact may result in the opposite) there is great certainty in knowing that all cosmic resources are lined up for those who follow the mission of GOD. In this there is true contentment, betterment, and liberty in the presence and company of Christ.
"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all."
Ephesians 1:16-21
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