Kingdom Upon Us

Acts 19:1-10

“While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?” “John’s baptism,” they replied. Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve men in all. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the Word of the Lord.”

The Kingdom of God had been reinstated in Jesus Christ, and the Lord Himself emphasised this more than any other of His prophets such as John the Baptist, this is what the Apostle Paul also preached (v. 8), and that’s why he had to supplement the teachings received from Apollos (v. 4), who stopped short at the one who prophesied, After me will come One more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. I baptize you with water, but He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:7-8).” St. Paul emphasised the Holy Spirit based on what our Lord Jesus Christ taught, He rabbinically said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5).” The prophet Daniel spoke of it: "In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever (Dan 2:44)”, and so the remnant have eagerly awaited, such as Joseph of Arimathea who came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus (Mark 15:43). The prophet Isaiah presented one of the most beautiful insights into this promised kingdom of God which approaches us in Christ and expands its territory through us in keeping with the Greatest Commandment and the Great Commission: “Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, Nor make a decision by what His ears hear; But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze, Their young will lie down together, And the lion will eat straw like the ox. The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper's den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters cover the sea (Isaiah 11:1-9).” This is back to the Garden of Eden, this is now made possible by the sacrifice of One Man, a Son, in another lonely garden called Gethsemane, who prayed to His Father: “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may Your will be done (Matt 26:42).” “Because of this obedience, God lifted Him high and honored Him far beyond anyone or anything, ever, so that all created beings in heaven and on earth - even those long ago dead and buried - will bow in worship before this Jesus Christ, and call out in praise that He is the Master of all, to the glorious honor of God the Father (Phil 2:9–11)!” And because of this same obedience, God’s glorious kingdom is upon us!