“It’s frightening to think about how many people have not tasted the goodness of God and his salvation, not because Christians have not had opportunity to share, but because we have been so shallow in what we did share.”

– Thabiti Anyabwile, What Is a Healthy Church Member?, chapter 5.

Two weeks ago, I preached a survey of the entire Old Testament and showed that its unifying theme is the Mediatorial Kingdom of God. But does this theme also appear in the New Testament? Indeed it does, as we saw together on Sunday.

I believe the New Testament reveals three stages to the kingdom:

1. The Kingdom is Presented (Matt. 3:2; 4:23-24; 10:5-8). With the arrival of the promised Messiah, the establishment of His Kingdom was immanent. John, the disciples, and Jesus Himself all announced that the King had come, and called the people to repent and embrace their Messiah. Throughout His teaching and miracles, Jesus affirmed the exact same aspects of the Kingdom foretold in the Old Testament: spiritual, moral, social, religious, political, and physical. In sections like the Sermon on the Mount, He certainly emphasized the spiritual realities of His kingdom, but He never redefined the kingdom as something exclusively spiritual. He was building on all the Old Testament had already revealed about it.
2. The Kingdom is Rejected (Matt. 12:22-32; 13:10-13). From the very outset of His public ministry, Jesus aroused the suspicion and hatred of Jewish leaders. They challenged His authority, denied His claims, grew jealous of His following, resented His association with sinners, and rejected His call to humility and repentance. Tragically, God’s people rejected His appointed Mediator, even going so far as to call Him a collaborator with Satan! Hence, Christ declared judgment on Israel, and the fulfillment of the Kingdom was postponed. At this point, Jesus began using parables to teach previously unrevealed mysteries of the Kingdom.
3. The Kingdom is Postponed (Matt. 24:15-16, 21-23, 29-30; 25:31-34). As he approached His death, Christ laid out a clear timeline of future events. He said His second coming will be preceded by a time of unprecedented tribulation. Then, Christ will return in glory, judge the nations, and reign as the final fulfillment of the Mediatorial Kingdom. We still await this glorious promise! Only the timing of these events remains a mystery (Ac. 1:3, 6-8).

What does this mean for us today? How do we, the Church, fit into God’s glorious Mediatorial Kingdom if it has been postponed? I will teach next Sunday on some very specific applications to this doctrine, but for now, here are some general truths for meditation and discussion…

• We must study the Gospels, because the conditions to enter His Church and His future Kingdom are the same: faith, repentance, rebirth, poverty of spirit, meekness, etc.
• We must live with urgency in holiness and evangelism because of the immanence of Christ’s return, judgment, and reign.
• We can celebrate our new birth into the royal family of God. We are children of the King and heirs to all His glorious promises!
• We should realize that Christ is preparing us to rule together with Him. This should drive us to great stewardship and faithfulness. We will look at this more in depth next Sunday.
• We can thank God that we are already recipients of some of the blessings of the coming Kingdom. We already have forgiveness, eternal life, peace with God, the indwelling Holy Spirit, and God’s law in our hearts. These are the firstfruits of much more blessing to come.

(Sunday’s sermon has been uploaded to our podcast site and is available for free download or to listen online.)

May God help us apply His Word this week in our hearts, in our words, and in our actions.

You may not have heard about this, but a group of Jews called the Temple Institute have been diligently working for the last three decades to reconstruct all the furniture for the Temple. (I actually got to see the menorah when I visited Israel ten years ago.) Their hope is to one day rebuild the temple and reestablish sacrifices. Hmmm. Sounds like something I read in Revelation.

The Temple Institute will begin building the sacrificial altar on Thursday, Tisha B’av, a fast day when Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple some 2,000 years ago.

The sacrificial altar was located in the center of the Temple, and upon it the Kohanim (priests) offered the numerous voluntary and obligatory sacrifices commanded in the Bible.

The Temple Institute, which has already built many of the vessels for the Holy Temple, such as the ark and the menorah, has now embarked on a project to build the altar. Construction begins Thursday in Mitzpe Yericho (east of Jerusalem) at 5:30 p.m.

“Unfortunately, we cannot currently build the altar in its proper place, on the Temple Mount,” Temple Institute director Yehudah Glick said. “We are building an altar of the minimum possible size so that we will be able to transport it to the Temple when it is rebuilt.”

Even a minimum size altar will work out to be approximately 2 meters tall, 3 meters long, and 3 meters wide. Workers have collected around 10 cubic meters of rocks weighing several tons already.

The rocks were gathered from the Dead Sea area and wrapped individually to assure they remain whole and are not touched by metal, as the Bible requires.

“The Torah says that no iron tools should be used on the altar’s stones,” Glick explained. “The altar represents a connection to life and to the creation of the world. Iron is the opposite – it is used to build tools of war, death, and destruction.”

HT: Todd Bolen

A man visiting Iceland asked his taxi cab driver to show him their country’s most popular attractions. The cabbie drove for a little while and then pulled up alongside an old, large building.
“What’s this?” the visitor asked.
“It’s our library,” the cab driver announced proudly.
“No, you don’t understand. I want to see your country’s major attractions.”
“Ah, but this is one of our best attractions!”

I heard this story last week, and as far as I know, it’s true. Icelanders really take their books seriously. And they remind all of us that libraries are special.

We don’t often appreciate them today, but I for one still love public and school libraries. I love my childhood memories of being in the library. I love exploring new libraries in towns that I visit. And I simply don’t think the internet can ever completely replace the library. In fact, I believe the internet makes brick-and-mortar libraries more valuable to us.

Now, I must admit I haven’t spent much time studying in a library since seminary. Public libraries are often noisy places full of activity – more like a train station than a convent. But in one sense I’m glad they’re busy. That means people are using them. Just as a book in perfect condition is of no use, so a quiet and empty library is pointless. Libraries are meant to be public gathering places, where stuff happens and ideas are exchanged.

Here are ten reasons I love the library:

1. Free books. Of course, the highlight of any library is all the free books available to check-out and renew. Biographies. Novels. Technical manuals. History books. Audio books. For 3-6 weeks, that book is all yours. It’s like meeting a new friend. Enjoy it. Learn from it. Journal or tell others something about it. The author may open new worlds of imagination or share an idea that will literally change your life.
   
2. Interlibrary loan. In San Bernardino, it’s free to request books from other libraries in our same network. So, we have millions of additional titles available at no charge. Just ask the clerk, or place a hold from your home computer, and the library will call you as soon as the book arrives at your local branch. If there’s no waiting list, the book usually comes in a week or so.
3. Book sales. I love browsing the discard shelves and attending Friends of the Library sales. You never know what gems you will discover. We’ve accumulated many books and sets for our personal family library this way.
4. Periodicals. Nowhere else can you browse hundreds of magazines and check many of them out for free. I’ve used their Consumer Reports several times before making a big applicance purchase.
5. Internet. For those who do not have home internet access, you can have free access for a limited time at the local library. This is great for those who need to check their email, look for job openings, or do online research. (Of course, many people use them to play games, too).
   
6. Study areas. You’ll probably spend $4 on coffee to study at a Starbucks, but the library is completely free. Cozy chairs are often available for reading and working on your laptop, and tables abound for more in-depth research. Public libraries may be noisy, but these sounds are easily blocked out with a good pair of earplugs or a set of earbuds and some relaxing music
7. Special activities. Story time, free literacy programs, crafts, reading clubs, and other activities are often hosted at libraries. Last year, my wife and son got to meet Rachel from the Signing Time sign language video series at our local library.
8. Bulletin boards. The library is a helpful place to announce or learn about community events. Many have bulletin boards or a 3-ring activity binder.
9. Puppets. Our library has a special kids section, complete with bright colorful cushions and animal puppets. This makes it easier for parents and older siblings to browse, while making the library a fun place for even the youngest members of the family.
10. The park. Adjacent to our library is the city park. Rarely do we visit the library without a detour by the slides, monkey bars, and swingset. A great way to combine mental and physical exercise!