The Gospel in Ten Words (21 page)

Every single
Christian thinks he or she has a handle on grace, even the ones who don’t. But
the proof of the pudding is whether they have received the gift of
righteousness. Paul said those who receive grace and righteousness reign in
life.
The test of a king
—
your sword in the stone, if you like
—
is whether you have taken hold of his righteousness. If you
don’t receive it you won’t reign. Instead you will toil like Adam and curse
what God has blessed. Even though you are free in Christ, you won’t live free.
You will bear the heavy yoke of manmade religion and become easy prey for the
spirit of intimidation. You will come under the demonic control of others. Something
like this happened in Peter’s life.

Along with Paul, Peter had a revelation that Christ died for all
people and not just the Jews. This revelation changed him. As he allowed the
heart of Christ to be revealed in his own life, Peter began to accept Gentiles
even to the point of eating with them.

However, when certain men from James came to Antioch, Peter drew
back from the Gentiles in fear. He separated himself because he was unsure of
his righteousness. “Am I right? Maybe I’m not. Those Judaizers look the
business. They’ve got titles. They’ve got theology and a list of scriptures
explaining why I am wrong. I had better listen to them.” Instead of standing up
for the Gentiles like a king, Peter stood with the critics like a schmuck and
Paul rebuked him for it (see Galatians 2:11
–
13).

The strange thing about Peter’s behavior is that he should have
known better. God accepts people from every nation and Peter knew this. God had
given him a dramatic rooftop vision featuring animals and sheets that somehow
made everything clear (see Acts 10:9
–28)
. But when push came to shove,
Peter abdicated his kingly role and took himself out of the game. He feared
those of the circumcision group because they were more confident of their
self-righteousness than he was of his righteousness in Christ Jesus.

Kings are confident and that confidence comes from knowing you are
righteous. When you know that God is for you
—
that he loves you, accepts you,
and is well pleased with you
—
it changes everything. You no longer hang back on the fringes of
the kingdom like a fraud and you no longer tolerate the grace-killing lies of
religion. You begin to reign. You begin to walk and talk like a child of the
Most High. You begin to live out your destiny.

You don’t need to go to King School to become a king. You just
need to see yourself as your Father sees you. You need to receive in your heart
what he has said, act on it, and leave the results to him.

The gospel declares that in him you are righteous. As you walk in
this revelation, your confidence will grow and you will start to exercise your
kingly influence. You will pray less like a beggar and more like a commander.
If someone in your family gets sick, something inside of you will respond, “Not
on my watch.” You will rebuke the sickness and appropriate by faith the healing
that Jesus paid for. And after you have seen one or two get healed
—
after you
have killed your lion and your bear
—
you will have the confidence to
start gunning for the giants that terrorize your land. Then you will be a king
indeed.

Kings are
problem solvers. They see giants and snakes, sickness and sin, and all the
other ills of the world as problems to tread upon and overcome. They understand
that for every earthly problem there is a heavenly solution. Kings are not
intimidated by the size of their problem because they have seen the size of
their God.

Kings don’t claim to have all the answers; they just know where to
find them. They possess a 24 hour access pass to the throne of grace where they
can go for help in their hour of need (see Hebrews 4:16). Holding fast to the
gift of his righteousness, these kings do not hesitate to come boldly in and
make their requests known to God.

Common folk live within the limits of the natural realm but kings
operate in a higher reality. They have an abiding sense that while we may be
losing sleep over our present needs, God is not. “He’s not trying to figure out
what to do. He already knows.”

Problems that stump ordinary men drive kings to pray. “Lord, I
don’t know the way to go but you do. Please show me the way.” It is the glory
of kings to search out a matter and they do this principally by asking for
wisdom and inspiration. Like King Jehoshaphat, they respond to the fog of
uncertainty by praying, “Lord, w
e do not know what to do, but our eyes are
upon you” (see 2 Chronicles 20:12).

Kings
bless those around them by releasing the resources of heaven in response to
earthly needs. At one level they confront the destructive works of the devil by
liberating the poor and needy, the sick and oppressed. But kings also exercise
influence by taking people places no one has ever been. Through creative
expression in the arts, sciences, business, and politics, kings bring the
culture of heaven to earth.

Kings
are unafraid to try new things and generally excel at all they do. It is no
coincidence that Israel’s greatest kings were also gifted soldiers, poets,
musicians, and administrators. Those who are accustomed to drawing on the
manifold wisdom of the Lord typically experience success in a range of fields.
Not content to be pigeonholed, kings make a habit of stepping out into new
ventures knowing that God has promised to bless
all
the work of their
hands (Deuteronomy 28:12).

The
people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. (
Daniel 11:32b,
KJV)

Kings
get their kicks by releasing the power of God into situations that defy human
management. It’s not that they are opposed to the means of men, it’s just that
flesh-based solutions strike them as inferior and slow. “You’ve suffered with
this problem for how long?! God can fix this right now!” Kings find natural
limits restrictive and stifling. They would much rather co-labor with the Lord
and bring glory to his name by doing the impossible thing. Total dependence on
the Lord is a king’s greatest strength and the secret to his success.

In
the natural the kings of his kingdom may appear to be normal people. They may
not look like much yet they live king-sized lives and do king-sized exploits.
They routinely alter the course of history for individuals and families,
companies and cities. Kings disciple nations.

The grace
of God is better than we think. Not only does it turn sinners into saints and
make dead men live, it is able to restore relationships, transform communities,
and bless entire countries. It is my conviction that as more people begin to
walk in the kingly ways of his grace, we will discover that God really is able
to do exceedingly more than we ask or imagine. We may be waiting for God to act
but a poor and needy world is waiting for us, his kings and priests, to release
through faith the royal riches of his kingdom.

Whether you are a housewife or a president, the primary way in
which you act as a king is by revealing the gospel of the kingdom. This does
not mean taking to the pulpit with a three point sermon followed by an altar
call. (Although if that’s your thing, go for it.) Jesus revealed the good news
of the kingdom simply by being himself. At synagogues, weddings, and lakeside
picnics, wherever Jesus went the kingdom went. Freedom, healing, joy, and
deliverance followed in his wake.

To reveal the good news of the kingdom requires that you do
nothing more than reveal Jesus. The King is inseparable from his kingdom. Bring
the Lord of Life to bear on whatever problem you are facing and you will
inevitably release grace
—
the
supernatural, history-changing influence of the Holy Spirit.

The gospel of the kingdom is a show and tell gospel. Jesus told
people good things about their God and then he delivered them from their
problems. He drove out demons with a word. He healed the sick and raised the
dead. He spoke to storms and confounded the so-called wisdom of those who
opposed him.

What Jesus did his disciples also did and what they did you can do
too. The same Spirit that helped them helps you. So how do we start?

Grace comes through
faith and faith must be acted upon if it is to be of any benefit. The easiest
way to express faith is to speak it. Words are powerful.
Words can be used to build up or tear down, guide or
misdirect, clarify or confuse. The right word spoken at the right time can
change the world.

Kings
exercise dominion primarily by speaking.
To paraphrase
Ecclesiastes 8:4, “the word of the king has power.” When God’s kings speak
God’s words, God backs it up with power.
This is not to glorify the word
spoken in faith but to draw attention to the Living Word who lives within you.
When you reveal Jesus,
your words are supernaturally
empowered to bring salvation to the lost and freedom to the captives. You can
drive out demons and heal the sick just as he did. In fact, Jesus promised that
those who believe in him would do exactly these sorts of things (Mark 16:17–18).

You may think, “But that’s not how things are done where I live.
I’ve never experienced the supernatural.” But you have. God called you out of
darkness and you came. Have you ever stopped to think about that? When you
responded to the gospel, a miracle took place. The actual words you heard may
have come from the mouth of
an evangelist or a friend but the Spirit of God spoke into
your heart, called you out, and you responded. Don’t you see? You are living
proof that word of the king has power. The gospel works; but only when it’s
told.

But how
can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know
who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can
they hear if nobody tells them? (Romans 10:14, The Message)

Not
everyone I talk to believes the gospel, but more people believe and are set
free when I talk than when I stay silent. If you are believing for the salvation
and healing of your friends but your faith doesn’t cause you to say or do
anything, it is useless faith. I don’t say this to condemn you. I want to
inspire you. You are a king and your words have power; so speak them.

As kings we can command blessing where there is curse, healing
where there is sickness, and life where there is death. In view of this, why
would you choose to stay silent?

Do you know why Adam lost his crown in the garden? He didn’t
speak. The king’s word has power but King Adam was speechless. He listened when
he should have spoken. This is a fatal mistake for a king. Don’t let the devil
spew his lies over your life. Jesus didn’t. When the devil challenged him in
the wilderness, Jesus spoke back. I doubt anyone received the attention from
the devil that Jesus did. Yet three short sentences from the Great King were
enough to silence that old snake.

David is another good example of a king who spoke. Along with the
rest of the Israelites, he heard the giant’s intimidating taunts. But while his
countrymen ran in fear, David spoke back. He rebuked the giant in the name of
the Lord and prophesied his downfall. He was just a boy but David had the heart
of king. He spoke from a higher reality and so became a conqueror.

The
anticipation of a future coronation precludes many believers from ruling and
reigning now. They think, “One day I will be crowned but not yet. I am not a
king. I am merely a humble servant in the courts of the Lord.” Why are you
standing in the courts when you could be seated in the throne room? This sort
of servant talk appeals to our religious pride but it is an abdication of our
true calling which is to be a priest-king.

You may say, “But I don’t know what a priest-king looks like. I
have never heard of one before.” Sure you have. Did you know the first priest
mentioned in the Bible was also a king? It was Melchizedek, “
king
of
Salem and
priest
of God Most High” (Hebrews 7:1). And what kind of king
is Jesus? He is a priest-king, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 5:6). In
other words, Jesus wears two hats. He is a priest who serves and a king who
rules.

A servant’s heart is appropriate for a priest, but a priest who is
not also a king will be powerless to deal with giant-sized problems. A
crownless priest will present an emasculated image of Christ. His gospel will
be weak and his kingdom will be all talk.

 Jesus is the servant-hearted king who served man by subduing the
enemy. His disciples did the same and as we allow him to express his kingly
life through us so will we.

Perhaps you are a bit awed by all this talk of slaying giants and
healing the sick. Perhaps you are worried that you may fail the king test and
leave the sword in the stone. Don’t panic. If you run instead of rule God won’t
reject you. Even David ran.

In truth, there will be times when ruling and reigning seems a
most unreasonable thing to do. It’s not an easy thing to believe for healing
when three doctors and two specialists have given a negative report. And the
sight of wheelchairs at the altar call may tempt even experienced ministers to
turn away and look for softer targets.
[72]

We celebrate David’s heroics but no one would have thought ill of
him if he had fled from the lion, the bear, and the giant. Indeed, he would
have been applauded for doing the smart thing. “Why fight a lion over a few
dumb sheep? David, you could have died!”

If you run from the lion or the bear no
one will think the
less of you. You will appear to be a very sensible, lion-avoiding person, and
God will still love you.

But
here’s the thing.
Why would you want to?

If
your child is sick or your spouse is being attacked by depression, why would
you choose to stand by and do nothing? The point is not that you
have
to
be a king but that you
get
to be a king. The same Spirit that enabled
David to slay lions and giants empowers you to rule and reign. You have options
the unbeliever lacks. You have the Holy Spirit. Given this phenomenal
advantage, why would you choose to act like a mere man or woman? It makes as
much sense as Superman riding the bus.

In
the Bible there were two men whose families were savagely attacked by bandits.
One of those men tore his clothes, sat down in the ash heap, and threw himself
a pity party. The other man encouraged himself in the Lord, then hunted down
and subdued his enemies. Guess which of these two men went on to become
Israel’s greatest king? Job was a superstitious, sacrifice-bringing navel gazer,
but David was a priest-king and a man after God’s own heart.
[73]

The good news is that in Christ you are too.