Preparing For The Kingdom

Part 1

Whatever view we hold concerning the way the Second Coming of our Lord will occur, the great need is to be ready for His appearing. There can be no substitute for readiness or alertness and knowledge of what is promised without the resulting preparation of heart and mind.

To paraphrase 2 Peter 1: 12‑13, "Although you know these things, I won't hesitate to keep reminding you of them, as long as I am in this rapidly deteriorating tent. Because it's only right to stir up your memories as long as I am with you." And to stir you up, is now the point: to stir you not only into thinking about how our heavenly Father is preparing to bring in His Kingdom of righteousness and how you are getting ready for it. But also into reflecting about how we're actually putting those thoughts into action.

The return of our Lord is an event that, as far as the church is concerned, should be regarded as something that may occur at any moment. Some may say that there's much to happen before He comes for the church but later on we'll see why we should — as we're repeatedly exhorted in the scriptures — be watching, looking, and ready for his return.

Preparing

In Mark 13:34-37 we're told that Jesus said that we should, listen carefully to what He has to say, then watch and pray, because we don't know when He's coming. It will be, He said like "a man going away, leaving his house, and giving authority to his servants, and each man's work to him, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. Then you watch, for you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, at evening, or at midnight or at cockcrowing, or early; lest he come suddenly and find you sleeping. And what I say to you, I say to all. Watch." (MKJV) So, if we want to have the Honour and privilege of being with our Lord and being a part of his Bride — the Church of the Firstborn — then we have to make ourselves ready: we must be prepared.

Preparing can be defined as getting ready for a coming event which is expected, or planning a course of action to be taken so that we can achieve a desired result. The prophets had foretold the coming of the Messiah. Jesus at the end of His first advent promised that He will come again. But before that glorious event occurs we're to be transformed into the likeness of Christ so that we may be found worthy to be a part of His Church. Not that any can do this in their own strength: but because we have shown our willingness to follow His will in every aspect of our lives we will, through the undeserved grace of our heavenly Father, be considered to be worthy to be granted the privilege of ruling with Christ in God's future heavenly Kingdom.

Now, in whatever we're going to do, the preparation is most important. There's not much point in planting a packet of seeds in the garden if you don't dig and clear the ground first. Unless first of all you properly prepare the ground then it's quite possible that the seeds won't come up. Even if they do manage to start to grow, the weeds that you didn't bother to clear away will probably choke them.

Our Lord said much the same thing when He told the parable of the Sower, which recorded by Matthew 13. As the farmer scattered his seed some of it fell on stony ground and was eaten by birds. Some onto shallow soil so that although it sprouted it withered in the first drought. Some fell amongst weeds, which choked their growth and only some fell into good ground and produced a crop.

The seed He was talking about was the seed of the word and the ground was the mainly hard earth of men's hearts. He was telling us that unless we prepare the soil of our hearts, by getting rid of the hardness, which stops the seed of His word from taking root in us. That if we don't carefully dig out the weeds of worldliness that will choke the new growth. Unless we clear away the stones of materialism, which prevent the seed from being able to put down a good root system. Then the seed of His word will wither and die in the first spiritual drought, because we are relying on material things to sustain us, not the word of the Lord.

What we should be doing, he said, was to be clearing the ground of our hearts. Clearing from it everything that could be a hindrance to the growth of the seed, then fertilising it with study of God's word in the scriptures, so that no trouble that arises can stop the seed of the word from growing.

Our Heavenly Father's Preparation

But we aren't the only ones who are to prepare for the Kingdom. Our Heavenly Father has been preparing for the coming Kingdom of Righteousness since before this world began. We can see the development of that plan in the earlier books of the Bible: a plan which HE gradually made clearer to us through the prophets as the centuries passed, that He would send a redeemer. One who, in the words of Simeon was to be God's Salvation which he had prepared before the face of all the peoples, a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of Your people Israel (Luke 2.30‑32).

This redeemer would not only give His life to cancel the sin that had come into the world when Adam fell from grace. But He would also bring an end to death, which had resulted from that sin, and would, eventually, become ruler of the whole world, bringing man into a new and closer relationship with GOD.

This promised one was to be our Lord Jesus, who we're told was the Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world (Rev.13.8). A lamb that our Heavenly Father had prepared, — even before our earth had begun to take its first vague shape. A lamb that would give is life so that, through its shed blood, mankind could be saved from eternal death.

We're shown a picture of this saving grace in Exodus 12 when, on the night many millenniums ago, Pharaoh was forced to allow the Israelites to leave Egypt. On the tenth day of the first month of the year, each family of the Israelites were to take an unblemished lamb and keep it in their homes. Then God said that; "Ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it" (Exo.12.6-7) .This blood was to be a sign to the "angel of death" that no first-born male in that house either human or animal, was to die. In the same way, mankind will have to symbolically put the blood of JESUS who was; "The lamb slain before the foundation of the world" on to the doorposts and lintels of their hearts. Because we're told that "every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess" that JESUS is their LORD and King. Everyone will give Him their complete obedience because only by doing this, will that condemnation of death, placed on Adam and all his descendants, be lifted from them.

This shows us that really, Jehovah, is a loving Father, anxious to bring all His children back into the closeness of His family circle. HE isn't the one who will consign man to eternal death. It's man himself who will do so, if he refuses to change his sinful way of life and accept the generous free and completely undeserved gift of the Grace of GOD, which, in His love for mankind, our heavenly Father is offering.

John the Baptist

Jehovah's final solution to the question of sin became clearer when in Isaiah 40.3 it was prophesied, that there would be a voice crying in the wilderness, "prepare ye the way of the LORD" and, expanding on this, Malachi says; "I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming, says the LORD." (Mal.3.1 NLT). Then about four centuries later, these prophecies were fulfilled when, as Matthew tells us "John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying, "The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make His paths straight." Matthew 3.1‑3. (MKJV)

He came preaching a message of repentance, which was a complete change from the beliefs of most Jews who believed that, because they were the chosen people of GOD, then they would, automatically, receive HIS favour and had the right of entry into Heaven, no matter what they did.

John's message wasn't just a negative denunciation, of men's evil ways. It was a positive statement of the moral standards of Jehovah. He didn't just condemn people for what they were and how they lived: He challenged them to change the direction of their lives and be what they could be, rather than what they were.

Then he went further and preached that, having repented, they should be baptised to wash away their sins, because, it was said that, one was no good without the other. So John taught that they should repent, and through this repentance dispose of the defilement in their lives: and then they should be baptised to be symbolically washed clean.

He claimed no authority for himself, he only said, that he was the fore-runner of another and that "There is One coming after me who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down to loosen". (Mark 1.7 MKJV)

These teachings were all a part of his message that they should, "Prepare the way of the Lord." (Matt.3.3 MKJV) This was an allusion to a custom of the time, when all roads in the kingdom were known as "The King's Highway." They were all unsurfaced, with a few exceptions such as the approach roads to Jerusalem which, Josephus tells us that, Solomon had had paved with black basalt, to make the road easier for pilgrims and to "manifest the grandeur of his riches and government." These unsurfaced roads were not maintained so they soon became little more than rutted tracks. Because of this, when the king intended to travel to another part of his kingdom, he sent heralds on ahead to tell the people that the king was coming and with orders that the roads should be repaired and smoothed in preparation for the king's journey.

So John's message was that he was the herald, come to tell the people that they should prepare the way for the coming Messiah—Jesus Christ of the seed of David, the heir to David's throne. Not by clearing and smoothing out the roads of Israel, but by clearing away any obstructions and making the way smooth for Jesus to come into their hearts, by repenting of their sins and then being baptised to wash away the defilement left by those sins.

Our Preparation

Paul tells us that the way to make these preparations is to "Be mindful of things above, not on things on the earth".(Col.3.2 MKJV) We have to pay proper attention to some earthly things, such as doing our job to the best of our ability, but we should never put doing earthly things before our duties to our Lord. When we do keep our thoughts on earthly things we're, in effect, making an idol of them that could deprive us of our heavenly inheritance. So our aim should be to become more heavenly minded: not in a mystical sense, but in the way of practical, Christ-like godliness.

Our loving FATHER wants all men to be saved—He would have no man die. Jesus made this quite clear in two of HIS parables; first when He told how the Father, as soon as he saw the prodigal returning to him, ran—he didn't walk, he ran—to meet the wanderer. Jesus was telling us that it's the same with our Heavenly Father. He doesn't wait for the prodigal to come to Him on bended knee to beg forgiveness. But as soon as the errant one, of his own free will, turns his face back towards his heavenly home, God doesn't just move slowly towards the wanderer but in His delight He actually hurries to meet the one who went away and then celebrates that prodigal's return.

We are also told that if one of HIS flock of sheep drifts off, HE will search until the lost one is brought back to the fold and when that wanderer is brought back He rejoices. So, if our HEAVENLY FATHER is not satisfied with only 99 out of a flock of 100, He certainly won't be satisfied until He has done everything possible to prevent one of His children from harming themselves through self-will, disobedience or just plain stupidity.

In these two stories the prodigal is the one who deliberately follows a life that will take HIM away from the FATHER, whilst the sheep pictures the one who drifts away through sheer foolishness,—the one who doesn't think about consequences. The whole point of these stories is to show us that GOD is more understanding, more merciful, more forgiving, and that HIS love is far greater than any man's.

Building on firm foundations

Then again, our LORD'S story of the two builders was a way of showing us that we must get ready for the coming Kingdom. He tells us how we should think and live. Then He says that, if we listen to HIM, take HIS words to heart and then put them into practice, our life will be quite safe and it will withstand the storms of life as well as, in fact far better than, a house, which has been built on a firm foundation to withstand the storms and tempests of nature.

David must have been having similar thoughts when he wrote; "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do." (Psalm 11.3 MKJV) So we must make sure our house is built on the rock which is our faith in our LORD and Saviour, JESUS CHRIST. Then as long as we cling tightly to that rock all the storms that batter us as we go through life will sweep around the rock and leave us "Safe in the arms of JESUS." David had another word of reassurance to give to those who lay their foundations on JESUS, when, in the same psalm, he wrote; "For the righteous Jehovah loves righteousness; His face looks on the upright." (Psalm 11.7 MKJV)

Preparing a Spiritual Temple

Our Heavenly Father is preparing a Holy Spiritual Temple in which He will dwell, and we can be quite certain that He has set a time for the completion of HIS preparations. So far, this heavenly Temple, the Church, the Body of Christ, has been steadily growing for nearly 2,000 years, and from all the signs in the world it must be nearing completion: but even though GOD appears to delay, He is never inactive. HE is a GOD of order and of organisation. HE is never too early and never too late. Every member is being prepared according to his attributes. Their abilities are being sharpened and their powers ripened for their work of joy throughout the coming ages: a work that will bring a blessing to all the families of the earth. Then, at the appointed time, we shall arise, equal to the task.

1 Peter 2.4‑5 (MKJV) tells us that; "Having been drawn to Him, a living Stone, indeed rejected by men, but elect, precious with God; you also as living stones are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." Peter calls Christ a living Stone, a title that teaches His followers that He is their protection and security. Whilst Paul, at the end of the second chapter of his letter to the Ephesians says that Jesus is the foundation on which they are built. He is the chief Corner stone, which unites the whole number of believers into one perpetual temple, and bears the weight of the whole fabric, a foundation that is everlasting and precious beyond comparison. And to be built on Jesus, means to believe in him completely and to commit our life to Him.

To be continued

JH