Posted by Michael Bunker
editor@lazarusunbound.com
“And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables: That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear, and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and their sins should be forgiven them” (Mark 4:11-12)
“But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you” (Matthew 12:28).
Saying that the Kingdom “is come unto you” proves the point at hand, that God was instituting a separate Kingdom on earth AT THAT TIME that would co-exist (albeit not peaceably) with the kingdoms of this world.
“Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew
The second sentence of this verse explains the first. Jesus is instructing the faithful to pray that the
There is much confusion regarding the
I believe that a closer look at this concept of two distinct Kingdoms (the
Having noted in the first two sections of this series the change in man brought about by a solemn recognition of God’s existence, His providence and sovereignty, and His prerogative and purpose, we must now turn our attention to the impact of willfully submitting to God’s government.
Once again, it is necessary that we reiterate that we have never denied that man has a will, and that he makes choices for which he is ultimately held responsible, but we do deny that the will of man is ever totally “free”.
Because we are unable to say it in any more clear and succinct way than has been said by wiser and abler men, I will post the statement on this issue from the London Baptist Confession of Faith of 1689, the confession that I strongly believe most closely adheres to the proper teaching of the scriptures:
LBCF on Divine
1. God the good Creator of all things, in His infinite power and wisdom, upholds, directs, disposes and governs all creatures and things, from the greatest to the least, by His most wise and holy providence, to the end for which they were created.
- God governs according to His infallible foreknowledge and the free and unchanging counsel of His own will;
- for the praise of the glory of His wisdom, power, justice, boundless goodness, and mercy.
2. Although in relation to the foreknowledge and decree of God, Who is the First Cause, all things come to pass immutably and infallibly; so that nothing happens to anyone by chance, or outside His providence, yet by His providence He orders events to occur according to the nature of second causes, either necessarily, freely, or contingently.
3. God, in His ordinary providence makes use of means, yet He is free to work outside, above, and against them at His pleasure.
4. The almighty power, unsearchable wisdom, and infinite goodness of God so far manifest themselves in His providence, that His determinate counsel extends even to the first fall, and all other sinful actions of both angels and men.
- This is not merely by a bare permission, but by a form of permission in which He included the most wise and powerful limitations, and other means of restricting and controlling sin. These various limitations have been designed by God to bring about his most holy purposes.
- Yet, in all these affairs, the sinfulness of both angels and men comes only from them and not from God, Who is altogether holy and righteous, and can never be the author or approver of sin.
5. The most wise, righteous, and gracious God often leaves, for a time, His own children to various temptations, and to the corruptions of their own hearts, in order to chastise them for the sins which they have committed, or to show them the hidden strength of corruption and deceitfulness still in their hearts, so that they may be humbled and aroused to a more close and constant dependence upon Himself for their support, and that they may be made more watchful against future occasions of sin. Other just and holy objectives are also served by such action by God.
Therefore whatever happens to any of His select is by His appointment, for His glory, and for their good.
So we uphold the ancient belief of all of true Christendom that God is sovereign, and we are ultimately responsible for our own choices and actions, knowing finally that God works all things to the final benefit of His elect according to His purposes and decrees – yet we are responsible, as best as we are able, for keeping and honoring God’s word and commandments, utilizing the resources and abilities that God has placed within us according to the light that God has offered us for guidance.
God’s actions towards His creatures, in relation to His Holy purpose, speak to us of his sovereignty, providence and prerogative, but His relational actions within His true church speak to us of His government.
It is evident that the early carnal religiousites hoped that Christ was come as a carnal King to physically rule and reign over the nations of the earth from
The new covenant instituted a new reality for God’s children. The converted were now positionally “in Christ” on resurrection grounds. All other institutions or national allegiances and obligations were wiped out and destroyed as national citizenship and allegiance was offered and transferred into the
BEHAVIOR AND SOVEREIGNTY
It is a mistake to believe that we are free moral agents, and that our freedom of will and choice is not regulated and limited in almost every way by God’s sovereign pre-existing decree. But it is also a mistake to conclude that obedience and disobedience are therefore equals, and that God violates the will in such a way that the truth of second causes is obliterated, and we are nothing more than puppets on earth. We have preached for some time now about the value and necessity of a Biblical Worldview. We believe that God has ordained a spiritual Kingdom on earth, and that this Kingdom has order and authority invested in it. We believe that separation from the world, so far as it is possible, is not only a commandment of Jesus, but it is a necessary facet of our lives and it is conducive to our well being and happiness on earth. God has stated in His Word that there are temporal punishments instituted for disobedience, just as there are great benefits (both spiritual and temporal) which are promised for obedience.
Conversion (as opposed to ‘regeneration’) is the entering into this spiritual
Regeneration is a sovereign work of God, and is inacted by the Holy Spirit in the elect by "quickening" or making alive that which was dead. In eternity, this happened at the cross, but in the world it happens at a particular time for each of us. We are literally "made alive". This is when the stony heart is replaced by a heart of flesh. There need be no physical EVIDENCE of this regeneration, but by being made alive, the mind is made able to look upon Christ and His way of doing things. We are enabled to SEE the
Conversion can, in some extreme cases, take place in an instant, but it usually takes some time. If you have not already done so, I suggest that you read "Pilgrim's Progress". Conversion is literally the process of entering into God's Kingdom, His government, and His way of doing things. The mind is converted piecemeal, in most cases, as we abandon the ways of the flesh and of our carnal mind and submit to the authority and sovereignty of God. Many of the elect out there are regenerated, but not converted. They may have taken steps in the right direction, and in some cases they might have, for a time, made genuine and remarkable progress towards mature Christianity, but they remain unconverted so long as they are not governed by the Bible as members of God’s Kingdom.
We need to be wary of any source that confuses these two important things, or even places them so close that they can be easily confused.
Many feel that since they "feel" regenerated, they have no need of conversion, when in reality, they may have experienced neither. All exhortations to “examine ourselves” are designed for our good in order that we might not be deceived about our condition. Although God is sovereign over salvation and He quickens whosoever He likes, He has also seen fit to utilize MEANS in order to convert the mind and to bring about Christian maturity. The means of Grace (the Gospel, the Bible, Preaching, Teaching, etc.) are to be utilized wisely by the true
I ask that God will day by day bring us under His government and into His Kingdom. We see the exhortation made by the Apostle Peter concerning the conversion of the elect to Christ. In this portion of scripture, we can see the delicate balance of truths involved in God’s Sovereignty and man’s responsibility:
“Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:2-11).
An entrance into the
THE KINGDOM OF THIS WORLD
It is evident that many (if not most) of God’s true children are still enslaved to the tyranny of this world. They operate according to fear and carnal lusts (fear of punishment and deprivation; lust for comfort, personal peace and security), rather than operating according to the commandments of God. State sponsored education, employment, religion, etc., replaces God’s way of doing things – so that we find many of God’s children still in a “far country”, having joined themselves to the people of the land for protection and provision.
All is confusion. All is vanity. While many of God’s true children languish as mind-prisoners, enslaved by the world, as is prophesied in the scriptures, we see that the devil’s children have taken on themselves the name of “Christianity”. The system of the antichrist (that carnal religion that is headed by the false shepherd in
Whereas the Charismatic is fooled into thinking that his emotion driven behavior is a sign of a spiritual working, in reality, he has merely changed the clothing on the Catholic idea that actions of the flesh are the focus of true religion. A “spiritual” lexicon is used to identify unbiblical carnal actions. Chattering unintelligibly is termed a “spirit language”, while falling over backwards is called “slain in the spirit”. The final evidence and judge for the so-called “truth” of these activities is in personal experience, not in the Bible. A “charismatic” in
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son” (Heb. 1:1-2)
Whereas the scripture begs us to test all spirits by the scriptures, the Catholic/Charismatic movement teaches people to test all things according to experience (or tradition, etc.). Where the Catholic believes that He has entered into the Kingdom by acting out certain behaviors which he is convinced evidences the presence of the Holy Spirit, the Charismatic agrees in the same principle, but only replaces one set of fleshly behaviors with another.
So we see that the kingdom of this world has a religion that it calls “Christianity”, and that that religion is easily identifiable by its identifying marks: It is carnal and fleshly. Its principle mark is co-operative redemption. It allows for the adherent to stay “of the world”, so long as minimum requirements (designed to perpetuate ‘church’) are maintained, and it offers a carnal altar whereby the recidivist sinner can “feel” cleaned after willful and purposeful sin.
The
True Christianity desires more than anything else the conversion of sinners to Christ. We humbly admit that only the regenerate may be converted, but we also must admit that God has not seen fit to show us beforehand who the regenerate are. So we say unto those who have been trapped and tricked into false so-called “Christian” worship, that you will evidence your regenerate state when you are converted to Christ. If you still live in a state of active sin and rebellion, you have every reason to fear the just judgment of God. You are commanded to “repent ye, and believe the gospel”, as an entrance into the
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ! Do so today! If you believe you are saved, but do not evidence the fruit of conversion, then pray earnestly that you might be converted to Christ! If you believe on Christ, but fear that you are not saved, then pray earnestly that you might be converted to Christ! Pray! You need not approach any “holy man” or go through any service; you are invited to enter into the Kingdom at no cost. Only enter in at ALL cost! If you are enslaved by the world, PRAY! If you cannot follow that which you know to be the way, PRAY!
“And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But rather seek ye the
The Kingdom is the purchased possession of the King, and He freely gives it to His little flock. So above all things, we encourage you strongly to be converted at all cost.
Seek the rest your soul requires, be converted.
Seek the Kingdom promised unto you, be converted.
Stand on promises that are made ONLY to you through conversion.
Reject the lies and deceptions of this world, be converted unto Christ.
I pray that God will strengthen you in the inner man, and that you will be converted unto Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour.
I remain your servant in Christ Jesus,
Michael Bunker