"So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us - one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection." (Acts 1. 21,22 RSV) These were the words of Peter just prior to Pentecost as he addressed what was becoming the nucleus of the early Church in Jerusalem. Many have discounted what happened at that meeting in choosing a disciple to fill the place left by Judas' defection but at least they set us an example by praying that the choice should be the Lord's choice. The important point from Peter's oration is his statement of the task before them as 'witnesses of the resurrection'. John the Baptist had been a herald of the Kingdom of Heaven and he said that it was at hand. It is not easy to explain exactly what he meant. Was this the Kingdom which the prophets had expected and predicted would come? What kind of Kingdom was this to be and was it all to come at once? Without looking too far ahead in history, how did John's words work out in practice during the lives of the apostles?

There must be a sense in which the Kingdom came at the time of Jesus. He likened the seed of the sower to the word of the Kingdom and then compared the Kingdom of Heaven to a field of grain (Matt.13.18, 24). Does this not make the Kingdom the work of Jesus and the Church now? Yet there was a sense in which Israel had been the kingdom or possessed the Kingdom and it was to be taken away from them (Matt.21.43). Yet since John had preached about the Kingdom everyone had entered it violently (Luke 16.16). Contrast this with the promise that those who are obedient to Christ will inherit the Kingdom. (Matt.25.34). The early Church did not sit down and make a meticulous study of the Kingdom so that they knew what to preach to the unconverted. They had one objective and that was to preach that their Lord had been resurrected. Some time later we have a record of the Greeks' response to Paul's preaching at Athens; "And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked, and others said 'We will hear you again of this matter'." (Acts 17. 32).

Two thousand years ago Paul, stood on Mars Hill and preached Jesus Christ to an audience of the world's great philosophers and learned men. The resurrection and the Kingdom were key points of his message and so he exhorted them to repent and believe on the name of Jesus Christ. "God…now commands all men everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on the which he will judge the world in righteousness" (vv 30,31). Christ is not only the solution to the troubles and woes of this life, He is also the hope and certainty of the life to come. Paul never forsook that faith or lost that enthusiasm. To the very end of a busy, arduous and oft-times intensely disappointed life, he kept his vision of the coming Kingdom clear and undimmed. One of his last utterances ended with the hope of the Kingdom upon his lips-"which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day, and not to me only, but also to all them that love his appearing". (2 Tim. 4. 8).

Paul was not the first to speak of the need for repentance to enter the Kingdom, for in the early days of the Church, Peter, speaking to the people of Jerusalem, had brought together these twin themes in the words "you… killed the Author of life whom God raised from the dead…. Repent therefore, and turn again that your sins may be blotted out that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord."

May be the seeds of these ideas were sown in the apostles minds as they listened to Jesus when He spoke to the people of Jerusalem recorded in John 5. 25-29 "I say to you the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live….Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in the tombs, will hear his voice and come forth". Later when He raised Lazarus from the dead, in conversation with Martha who had said "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" Jesus had replied "I am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me though he die yet shall he live and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die." (John 11.21-27)

In His words in John 5 Jesus encapsulates in one breath the work of the Kingdom in this life and in the age to come. Those who have heard the voice of the Son of God have been raised to newness of life and now experience the quality of life of the Kingdom. These are those who have really followed Jesus since Pentecost till this day and now live in the Kingdom and have eternal life They experience now the judgment of the Kingdom (1 Peter 4.17). All others of whom Jesus spoke have yet to be raised from the tomb and enter into judgment.

Those who have eternal life are those who know God (John 17.3). Such give adequate time to the devotional life which is so important to grow in the fruit of the spirit. Nevertheless, those who so live will have the burning desire of the Lord to let the light of the Gospel shine from their words and actions. Such will want to tell others of the wonder of God's love and assure unbelievers that our God has not forgotten the world and will not allow for ever destruction of human life on the Earth that was given to humanity as a home to enjoy. There can be no better way of giving that assurance than by a life lived out in real concern for the deprived and destitute of this world. No amount of preaching and prediction of future events will substitute for living the kind of life that Jesus actually lived while here on Earth. Can we forever ignore the fact that Jesus lived out His life in genuine concern for all whom He met? He made it clear, and the Apostles followed after some hesitancy, that His love for people, shown in action as much as in word, must cross all man-made barriers of race and nationality, of gender and age, of rich and poor. Knowing God, said Jeremiah, was concern for the poor and needy (Jer.22.16). It is worth noticing that in the Gospels Jesus spoke to such tenderly, gently and in a way that they knew their sins were forgiven.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not static; it doesn't rest on yesterday's glories or problems but is forever looking forward to new opportunities of service, new visions of what God is doing in the world now and be ready for what He will do tomorrow. This may not be quite what we expected nor what He will be doing in a week, a month or a year's time. We cannot go forward in our own strength or wisdom but those who have lived out today well, and used their talents and opportunities as He directs, will be alert and ready for the days to come. Such will be assured that come what may in the world or among God's people, they will be ready to move forward with Him. In the natural world all living things must move and progress and it's no different in the spiritual realm. We may not need signs and wonders, dreams and visions, although we would be foolish to believe these can never happen. But God takes us a step at a time and gives us a message in word or action that we are personally able to pass on. We need not fear, He will never press us to do something for which we are not properly prepared. But we must be alert and ready for His calling and His directive. It may not be the way our brother or sister is bidden to go nor the task or word they have been given. We may not, if we have Christ's love in our heart, criticize what they are doing for we are not the judge of another man's slave (Rom.14.4) and there is only one Head of Christ's Church. We may bear another's burden but we may not make that burden heavier by adverse comment.

So let us go forward in the strength and love and wisdom of the Lord, bearing our message bravely. It may meet with the kind of response that Peter had in Jerusalem on that first day of Pentecost. It may be similar to the reaction of the clever Athenians to Paul's great speech. But let us hail each opportunity of serving the Master with the joy that abounded among the early disciples. Let us tell others what He has said and done for us. "Whom shall we send, and who will go for us?" "Lord, here am I; send me." If the live coal has touched our lips we can go to "this people" in confidence; but we must go armed with knowledge of the message for the day, and that message is "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!"

(Seed thoughts and quotations from an article by AOH)

DN