My Christian Testimony (video)

THE Christian Reformed Church of Australia came into being in the early 1950s. It was formed primarily by Dutch migrants and their offspring who did not wish to become part of the Presbyterian Church of Australia (1901) on account of that denomination’s tolerance of Freemasonry, which, at that time, was prevalent in her midst! 

 I didn’t know I was a theologically “reformed” Christian until I sat in the Reformed Church in Toowong! The first time I was there, I was thumbing through one of their hymnbooks before the Sunday morning service of worship began. It had a copy of the Heidelberg Catechism in it. As I read the Catechism, tears began to fill my eyes! I thought to myself, “If these people believe what is written in their Catechism, then I have arrived home!” The Catechism spelled out, in warm pastoral language, what Christians believe. There was no guessing. It was written down for all to read. I asked if I could take it home to study it. The favour was granted. (Excerpted from my From Mason to Minister book)

Watch my wee Testimony video... 

POLITICS & RELIGION

 

Politics & Religion

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Whoever came up with the idea that we should never bring up politics or religion in conversation is a genius, an evil genius! Let’s see, we’re not supposed to talk about what the best way is for people to live together as God has revealed it to us in His Word. Why? Because it may cause division? In other words, we’ve just to shut up about these things! But I put it to you, it is precisely because of this ludicrous idea that there is so much tension, yes, even among some Christians.

I did a random online search for the words religion and politics. Here’s a typical generic definition for both:

 

Religion: The belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship.

Politics: The activities of the government, members of law-making organizations or people who try to influence the way a country is governed.

Let’s see if I’ve got this. I’ll try to summarize those definitions of religion and politics in one brief sentence: As a Christian, I’ve not to discuss how the Triune God of the Bible wants me to influence the way my country is governed! Why not? Oh, its because it may interfere and even hinder the way that the evil genius who invented the daft idea that religion and politics ought to be avoided in conversation. This is anti-Christian! Yet, tragically, even some Christians apparently believe this kind of tosh.

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As you may or may not know, Christians are magnificent at complicating the simple. Staying on our subject of religion and politics, let’s consider a couple of lines from the “Great Commission.”

Jesus says to His Church, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt. 28:19-20 NIV. I used the NIV because that seems to be the most popular version used today).

Talk about making the simple complicated? That word “baptizing” has caused endless disputes among Christians over its meaning and its related mode. However, let’s focus on the words “disciples” and “nations” seeing as this relates directly to those two verboten subjects, religion and politics, i.e., the belief in the God of Scripture and how He wants countries governed.

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First, disciples. Is this word simply referring to the word nations in the Great Commission or the more complicated idea of people who comprise these nations? Is it about making all nations disciples, just as Jesus had done with the nation of Israel back then? Or does Jesus mean that His Church is also to make the rest of the nations into what He had made the nation of Israel, i.e., a discipled nation, (you know, the olive tree that already is Israel and now the simple idea is that the other nations are to be discipled too, i.e., ingrafted into the same tree? Or is this too complicated?)

Second, nations. Like the Hebrew nation, the ethnics, the Ethnoi, i.e., the non-“Jewish” nations, are to become part of the same entity, as the Gospel goes forth from Jerusalem also into the various nations of the world to leaven the whole batch of dough as it were.

Bottom line? We’ll let that great Bible commentator Matthew Henry (1662-1714) help us to keep it simple. We’ll let him sum it up for us. (Please look up Matthew Henry’s Commentary online for the full version of the following on Matthew 28):

 

The commission which our Lord Jesus received himself from the Father. Being about to authorize his apostles, if any ask by what authority he doeth it, and who gave him that authority, here he tells us, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth; a very great word, and which none but he could say. Hereby he asserts his universal dominion as Mediator, which is the great foundation of the Christian religion. He has all power…

How far his commission is extended; to all nations. Go, and disciple all nations. Not that they must go all together into every place, but by consent disperse themselves in such manner as might best diffuse the light of the gospel. Now this plainly signifies it to be the will of Christ, First, That the covenant of peculiarity, made with the Jews, should now be cancelled and disannulled. This word broke down the middle wall of partition, which had so long excluded the Gentiles from a visible church-state; and whereas the apostles, when first sent out, were forbidden to go into the way of the Gentiles, now they were sent to all nations. Secondly, That salvation by Christ should be offered to all, and none excluded that did not by their unbelief and impenitence exclude themselves. The salvation they were to preach is a common salvation; whoever will, let him come, and take the benefit of the act of indemnity; for there is no difference of Jew or Greek in Christ Jesus. Thirdly, That Christianity should be twisted in with national constitutions, that the kingdoms of the world should become Christ's kingdoms, and their kings the church’s nursing-fathers…

What is the principal intention of this commission; to disciple all nations. Matheteusate —“Admit them disciples; do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations;” not, “Go to the nations, and denounce the judgments of God against them, as Jonah against Nineveh, and as the other Old-Testament prophets” (though they had reason enough to expect it for their wickedness), “but go, and disciple them.” Christ the Mediator is setting up a kingdom in the world, bring the nations to be his subjects; setting up a school, bring the nations to be his scholars; raising an army for the carrying on of the war against the powers of darkness, enlist the nations of the earth under his banner. The work which the apostles had to do, was, to set up the Christian religion in all places, and it was honourable work; the achievements of the mighty heroes of the world were nothing to it. They conquered the nations for themselves, and made them miserable; the apostles conquered them for Christ, and made them happy.

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Matthew Henry, would no doubt be familiar with the Geneva Bible first published in 1560 and with the more up-to-date (at least for him) 1599 translation which spells out what Henry has just elaborated on, “Go therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things, whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you alway, until the end of the world, Amen.” (Matt. 28:19-20).

So, before the simple became sooooo complicated, the idea was that Christians were commissioned to bring Christ’s religion and His politics to all the nations. Notice that Jesus says that we are not doing this on our own or in our own strength, for He says, “Lo, I am with you alway (sic), until the end of the world. Amen.” It is Christ who building His Kingdom. (We’ll leave what is meant by the “end of the world” for another time!) This is the simple easy-to-understand meaning of Christ’s Great Commission, make all nations disciples of Christ. Now, here’s a brief description of some of the complicated versions.

·       Why bother with the Great Commission. The whole world is going to burn up anyway!

·       What’s the use? Everything is going to grow worse. Tribulation!

·       Quick, try to make some converts because we are about to Raptured any day now and the pagans are going to be Left Behind, (as has been said since the early 1800s)!

·       Christ has two Kingdoms, one for the pagans and the other for Christians. Don’t ever confuse them! The former can rely on Natural Law and the latter God’s Law (but only the good bits!)

·       Separation of Church and State. Stay in your lane. Alter the Westminster Confession of Faith 1648 (especially the original Chapter 23, paragraph 3 Of the Civil Magistrate), which, with the Westminster Standards, united the four kingdom nations of Scotland, Ireland, England and Wales so that they were one in religion and politics, i.e., a United Kingdom under the rulership of Christ. We can’t have God’s justice minsters agreeing with God’s gospel ministers now, can we?!

And on and on it goes as the books written defending these positions pile up smothering the simplicity of Christ’s Great Commission.

Bottom line? Don’t listen to the suggestions of Satan to keep silent about “religion and politics.” Instead, clear out the clutter and get back to the simple understanding of the Great Commission, the same as the likes of Matthew Henry: “Do your utmost to make the nations Christian nations.”

Therefore, sorry dear Christian brothers and sisters but you’re going to have to talk to people about religion and politics. Christ has commissioned us to.     

HEALTHY PULPIT HEALTHY NATION

 Healthy Pulpit Healthy Nation

(Excerpted from my SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall)

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us

To see oursels as others see us!”

We agree with the Scottish poet Robert Burns: Seeing ourselves as others see us “wad frae mony a blunder free us.” But let’s say that some Power gave us the gift to see a whole nation as others see it. Wouldn’t that be something? Well, when the Almighty opens someone’s eyes he or she is able to see the nation, even the whole world, as Christians see it. We now enter into the world of worldviews.

Ted Baehr, the founder and Publisher of Movieguide, helps us to understand what we mean by the word “worldview” in the context of socialism. Says Ted,

A worldview is a way of interpreting reality. Although political ideologies are not technically worldviews, they often display attributes or qualities similar to worldviews. For example, the communist writer Karl Marx said that his communism was the ultimate humanism and advocated that humanist society should abolish religion, family, nation, and private property. That is one reason why Movieguide has a separate worldview content category for communism. Movieguide also shows readers when a movie merely has a moral or biblical worldview, as opposed to an explicit or implied Christian worldview.

 

Having been born of God’s Spirit how would a Christian view a nation? And how can people holding this view from many a blunder free it?

Take any Western nation. Western cultures are Christianised cultures. Some more. Some less: a lot less! To be Christianised doesn’t mean that everyone in the nation is Christian. It simply means that they are under the influence of the so-called Judeo-Christian ethic. In other words, the teaching of the Old and New Testaments, i.e., the Bible, permeates that culture – to a greater or a lesser extent.

Culture is religion externalised. Music, food, drink, mode of dress, politics, architecture, art et al are expressions of culture, of a nation’s religion. That’s why it is worth restating what we saw in an earlier quote articulated by John Eidsmoe regarding the overthrow of Scottish culture by the British after the Battle of Culloden,

 

All forms of Scottish culture, including the playing of bagpipes, the wearing of the kilt, and the speaking of Gaelic, were banned.[1]

However, unlike the British establishment at the time of Bonnie Prince Charlie, Christianity does not destroy culture. Christianity influences culture for the better. The City of Glasgow’s motto expresses this idea well: “Let Glasgow flourish by the preaching of Thy Word and the singing of Thy praise.”

Using the Bible as its blueprint, Christianity transforms culture, making it more wholesome. Christianity helps nations think Christianly. Therefore, on account of its positive influence, Christianity frees nations from making many blunders!

Christianity influences nations primarily from the pulpit, i.e., from preaching. The Bible is expounded from cover to cover, which is to say that the Gospel is proclaimed and the Law is explained each Lord’s Day from the pulpits of the faithful. As Jesus tells us, His church, with warning, that we are the salt and the light,

 

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. You are the light of the world. A city that is set on hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfil. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.[2]

The Gospel with the Law brings liberty to the people. The Law, properly understood and properly applied, enables the Christianised nation to retain its liberty. Healthy pulpit: Healthy nation.

Where the Gospel is stifled God’s Law is flouted. By Gospel we mean the Good News that Jesus Christ died for sinners. By Law we mean the Ten Commandments that shows that all of us are sinners – in need of the Saviour of sinners, Jesus Christ. Not only does the preaching of God’s Law expose us as sinners in need of salvation in Christ, but, (as well as showing Christians how to live their lives in demonstration of their gratitude to God for saving them), it also shows us how to restrain evil in our nation.

Christianity helps us to see the nation as God sees it and thus frees that nation from many a blunder!

Many pulpits in the West preach another gospel, which is not the Gospel. They preach what is known as the Social Gospel. The message of the Social Gospel has more to do with Marxism than the salvation of the individual by grace through faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ. Others preach a gospel that is devoid of God’s Law. Indeed, they preach against the Law, as if the Ten Commandments were something evil, something to be rejected! Either way, the Gospel is robbed of its power. In this limp condition it cannot transform the individual and certainly not the nation! Says Joel McDurmon,

Unless conservative Christians can present a forward-looking, optimistic vision for society, then they will continue to allow socialism and other unbiblical systems to succeed.[3]

Pray that God will raise up gifted preachers; preachers able to proclaim and explain the Gospel with the Law, so that the lives of the hearers will be transformed by its power, so that they will transform the nations in which the live. So that their culture will be a Christian culture. Yes, God redeems individuals, but by an individual at a time, He eventually redeems whole nations! May your culture be Christian!

Jesus says,

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you…[4]

Bottom line: Healthy pulpit: Healthy nation!

For a copy of my book see Amazon, eg, SOCIALISM: My Part in its Downfall : McKinlay, Neil Cullan: Amazon.com.au: Books

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[1] John Eidsmoe, Historical and Theological Foundations of Law: Volume 2, Classical and Medieval, (Expanded Second Edition, printed November 2016, Nordskog Publishing Inc., Ventura, California), 787.

[2] Matthew 5:13-18 (NKJV)

[3] Joel McDurmon, God versus Socialism: A Biblical Critique of the New Social Gospel, (American Vision Press, Powder Springs, Georgia, 2009), 33.

[4] Matthew 28:18b-20a. (Emphasis mine.)

THE SEARCH FOR GOD AND GUINNESS (Review)

A book about Guinness and God, what can I say? Here's a great book about how Christianity and its attendant Biblical Capitalism is supposed to work.

Even if you're not a Guinness drinker, if you wish to be edified then read this book! Arthur Guinness (as did many of his descendants) reflected God's grace into his surrounding community as he applied the Protestant work ethic and built a God blessed successful business while caring deeply for the wellbeing of his employees.

With book in one hand and a glass of Guinness in the other I observed Mansfield, a qualified historian, skillfully articulate the story of beer from its dark and misty origins to its inspired perfection in Dublin.

I was as transfixed on this book as I am watching a freshly poured pint of Guinness settling in a glass! Intriguing! Refreshing!

This is a full-bodied and wholesome book in which God is glorified and Guinness is appreciated.

GROWTH ENHANCER (Now out in paperback)

Growth Enhancer

What is the chief end of man? To glorify God and enjoy Him forever. So goes Westminster Shorter Catechism Q&A 1.

If there has ever been a time to catechise our children, it is now. It has often been said that when the Westminster Shorter Catechism was produced it was for the instruction of children, but due to a real lack of Christian understanding nowadays, a Christian who knows the Catechism will sound like a graduate from the theological college!

This book is an exposition of the first twenty-eight Q&As (1-28) of the WSC (1648) – which catechism has been used by Presbyterians and others of the Reformed Faith to instruct their children in the basic teachings of the Bible for close on four centuries now!

Purchase a copy on Amazon wherever you are.

Growth Enhancer: Enlarging Westminster Shorter Catechism 1-28: McKinlay, Neil Cullan: 9798299079586: Amazon.com: Books

CHRIST OUR KING

CHRIST OUR KING

Westminster Shorter Catechism 26

Quest. How doth Christ execute the office of a king?

Ans. Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling, and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies.

Introduction

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            What would you do if you got to be king for a day? Now, we’re talking about a real king, not just a figurehead. What would you do if you ruled the world? There’s a line from an old song that springs to mind. If I ruled the world every man would be as free as a bird. Would that be the way of things for you if you ruled the world? Would you make everyone as free as a bird? But let’s think about this.

Where would your rulership be if you made every man as free as a bird – as the line from the song would have it? Wouldn’t every man’s freedom mean that they were no longer under your rulership? In other words, wouldn’t their freedom signify rebellion against your kingly rule over them? If you set all the birds free will not all the birds fly away from you?

When man rebelled in the Garden of Eden, he rebelled against God’s rule and law. Man sought freedom, freedom from God, freedom to interpret reality without God. We might say that when Adam sinned, he wanted himself and every man to be as free as a bird. But the reality is that the exact opposite happened when we sinned in Adam.

The great paradox is that freedom from God means bondage, bondage to the devil, the world, the flesh, and death. A major component of God’s plan of salvation as revealed in the Gospel is that Christ sets us free from our slavery to the devil, the world, the flesh, and death.

Indeed, in the Gospel we discover that the Godman Jesus Christ sovereignly rules the world. For the Gospel reveals that Christ sovereignly, by His Spirit, sets people free from the devil, the world (i.e., false philosophy, false religion, false thinking etc.), the flesh i.e., from serving self), and death. And, paradoxically, He sets them free to serve Him.

Christ Subdues Us to Himself

Now, we’re all no doubt familiar with the opening words of Psalm 110 where David, under inspiration of the Spirit, writes, “The LORD said to my Lord, sit at My right hand, till I make your enemies Your footstool” (Psa. 110:1; 1 Cor. 15:25; Heb. 10:13). We all know that, even though the psalm was written a thousand years previous, this is referring to Christ. We all know that here David under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is recording God the Father addressing God the Son as Mediator, in terms of His everlasting covenant.

David’s Lord (i.e., the One in whom David presently delighted) was the Angel of the LORD (Exod. 23:20-25), the Messenger of the Covenant, also spoken of by Malachi in Malachi “‘Even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,’ says the LORD of hosts” (Mal. 3:1). David’s Lord is the promised Seed of the Woman who was coming to crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). In simple terms, David’s Lord is the pre-incarnate Christ, i.e., the Word before He became flesh. That Seed of the Woman would come through David’s royal line. Therefore, the Son of God would, in the fullness of the time, become also the Son of David.

The Prophet Isaiah sums it up beautifully by the Holy Spirit where he says, “For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and His government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to order and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isa. 9:6-7).

So, with that in mind, we find the next couple of verses of Psalm 110 very illuminating. For in Psalm 110:2 we read, “The LORD shall send the rod of Your strength out of Zion. Rule in the midst of Your enemies.” So, we see then that the rod of Christ’s strength is to go forth from His kingly throne in Zion.

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         Zion is the Holy City, the City of God, which of course is the New Jerusalem (which is above, Gal. 4:26) of which the Church on earth is a visible, fallen, but being renovated, aspect. And don’t make the mistake of some in thinking we’re talking about the old earthly Jerusalem. No, we’re talking about the NEW Jerusalem, which is in Heaven – the heavenly Jerusalem. “Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…” (Rev. 21:2; cf. Gal. 4:25-26). So, the rod of His strength out of Zion, as spoken of by David in Psalm 110:2, is the call for obedience to Christ’s Gospel in the midst of His enemies.

Again, Isaiah speaks of this time when the Word would become flesh and dwell among us. For Isaiah, by the Holy Spirit, says of Christ, “But with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.” (Isa. 11:4).

So, we see then that “the rod of Your strength” (as spoken of in Psalm 110:2) is simply the Word of God coming forth from Christ. For the Word of God inscripturated is the Word of Christ who is the Word of God incarnate.

Now, we are about ready to see where we fit into the grand scheme of things. It is Christ by the power of His Spirit with His Word that makes us willing to obey. For notice what the Spirit through David in Psalm 110:3 says of Christ, “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power…”

The New King James Version uses the word “volunteers” which is a fair-enough translation. But I would have preferred that it be left as it is in the old King James Version. The KJV has, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power…” You can volunteer to join the army, or you can be conscripted. To be conscripted is to be forced to join, but to volunteer is to join freely.

To be sure, it is possible to volunteer for the wrong reasons, such as, ulterior motives. But those who enrol in Christ’s army enrol because Christ has set them free. For, before Christ sets the will free, fallen man is in bondage to the devil, the world (i.e., false philosophies etc.), the flesh, and death. And it stands to reason, that if you are in bondage to these things, then you cannot, which is to say that you will not, volunteer for Christ’s army. Why not? It’s because in your fallen condition you are at war with God. Your will is at war with God! Therefore, God has to declare peace with you before Christ can enlist you in His spiritual army.

The proclamation of the Gospel is God’s declaration of peace to all who repent and believe in it. At the heart of the Gospel message is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is spiritual. Therefore, the Gospel is foolishness to the spiritually dead. As the Apostle Paul says, “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). And he also says, “But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose mind the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Cor. 4:3-4).

So, we see then that the Gospel remains veiled to those who are in bondage to the devil, the world, the flesh, and death, unless Christ by His sovereign grace alone, sets them free. Indeed, Christ uses His Gospel-Word with the Spirit to set the prisoners free.

But He sets free only those whom the Father has given Him. For Jesus says, “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out” (John 6:37). Therefore, where David says of Christ in Psalm 110:3, “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power…” or, as in the better KJV rendering, “Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power…” we are to understand it to be speaking to those whose frozen hearts have been melted by the warmth of God’s grace. These find the grace of God irresistible. For, these have seen that they are deserving only of the fiery wrath of God forever on account of their sins. And they have seen that God has poured out that fiery wrath upon His only begotten Son on the cross so that they would not have to suffer His wrath body and soul forever.

In a word, in Christ’s life and subsequent death on the cross, all true Christians have seen the sinfulness of their sins, and the holiness of God who hates sin. Thus, the sovereign Christ has subdued them. He has given them a new will. They are now willing to obey Him. And they obey out of love and gratitude for the undeserved grace of God.

Again, consider the words of Psalm 110:3, “Your people shall be volunteers in the day of Your power…” This is the day of Christ’s power, even our own day. For did He not say, “All authority [i.e., power] has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.”? (Matt. 28:18-19a). And did He not say that His Church should be teaching the nations to observe, i.e., to obey, all things that He commanded?

So, we’ve seen then that Christ subdues us to Himself in that He makes us willing to obey Him. But what are the things He would have us observe? What are all things He commanded?

Christ Gives Us Laws for Our Guidance & Safety

Now, we mentioned a line from a song earlier, “If I ruled the world every man would be as free as a bird…” But we’ve noted that it is not you or I who rule the world; it is Jesus Christ who rules the world. And we’ve also seen that He has set us free from the devil, the world, the flesh, and death.

To be sure, we have yet to be fully perfected. But the devil, the world, the flesh, and death no longer rule over us. We are no longer in bondage to these things. That’s what we mean when we say that we’ve been set free by the Son. Jesus says, “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed” (John 8:36).

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         Does this mean that we are free to do as we like? Does this mean that we are free from God’s Moral law? No! It doesn’t mean anything like that at all. Yes, it does mean that we are free from the condemnation of God’s Law (Rom. 8:1). But we are being taught to observe all things Jesus Christ has commanded, aren’t we? Therefore, though we are as free as a bird, we are more like homing pigeons that have come home to roost in Christ.

The Man Christ Jesus and His kingdom is to us as the Prophet Isaiah says, “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a shelter from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land” (Isa. 32:1-2). We trust in Christ our Rock, the rock of our salvation; we rest in Him.

So, what does it mean to trust in Christ? What does it mean to rest in Him? Well, it means that we follow Him. And if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, then you are His disciple. And if you are His disciple, it means that you are being taught by Him.

Jesus says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31b-32). Therefore, our freedom is measured by how much Christ’s Word abides in us, and how well we abide in His Word.

Jesus invites us to take His yoke upon us. For He says, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light” (Matt. 11:30).

How can you not follow a leader who treats you the way Christ treats us? And yet He gives us commandments. But His Laws are for our guidance and safety. It’s as the psalmist says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Psa. 119:105). So, the One who rules the world, the One who has made you the Christian as free as a bird, would have you keep His commandments. As He says elsewhere, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

But what are His commandments that we might keep them to show our love for Him? Well, what Paul says to the Corinthians equally applies to us today, “Clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Cor. 3:3).

So we see then that Christ writes His commandments on the hearts of His followers. This was promised in the Old Testament and is fulfilled in the New. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts: and I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10).

Christ’s Kingship is spiritual, for He puts His laws in the mind, and writes them on our heart. This makes His rulership, even His kingdom, an invisible and spiritual kingdom. Therefore, the freedom we as Christians know, is a freedom like no other freedom. It’s not the freedom of a bird being released from a cage. For that just means that the bird is free to fly wherever it will.

But the kind of freedom that Christ has given us is not the freedom to fly wherever we will, but the freedom to will wherever we fly! For it’s our will that Christ has set free! Therefore, no matter where we go, we are free forever.

When Paul and Silas were in prison in Acts 16:25f., they were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight when something strange happened, “Suddenly there was great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed” (Acts 16:26).

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         The keeper of the prison thought that all the prisoners had fled for sure and he was about to fall on his sword and kill himself. But what other strange thing happened? “But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here’” (Acts 16:28). The point I make is that not even prison bars can take away the freedom Christ has purchased for us by His cross.

Paul and Silas stayed put even though they could have escaped to that place non-Christians call freedom. But Paul and Silas obeyed Christ instead. And they who were behind prison bars brought freedom to the one who was outside the prison, i.e., the prison keeper!

The ones within the bars released the one without the bars – a paradox if there ever was one. For it says in Acts 16:29f., “Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ So they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptised.”

In accordance with Christ the King’s “Great Commission” Paul and Silas made disciples of the prison keeper and all his family. They baptised them, and they taught them to observe all things Christ commanded.

Think about it, who were the real prisoners in this true story? Surely it was the prison-keeper and his family. We’re not told what Paul and Silas were praying for before the earthquake struck. Perhaps they were praying that the Lord would convert the jailer and his household? But let’s not miss the fact that that very night the jailer was delivered from death.

Indeed, that very night he was set free from the devil, the world, the flesh, and death. The keeper of the prison asked, “What must I do to be saved?” And he was told, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” The message is still the same today. Therefore, Christ’s Laws are not the stuff of prisons and bondage. Rather they are for our guidance and safety.

And let’s not miss the fact that to murder oneself is to break one of Christ’s commandments. “You shall not murder” applies to suicide as much as it does to unlawfully taking the life of another. Therefore, as Paul said to the jailer, “Do yourself no harm…”

The jailer and his household belonged to Christ, so He saved them. But note that the jailer had a change of will. He went from wanting to physically kill himself, to asking what he must do to be spiritually (which includes being physically!) saved.

Thus, we see the invisible and spiritual rulership of Christ in the hearts of people. For the keeper of the prison had a change of heart, a Christian conversion. Thus, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world. For those who truly belong to Him say along with Paul, Silas, and the jailer, the words of Isaiah, “For the LORD is our Judge, the LORD is our Lawgiver, the LORD is our King; He will save us” (Isa. 33:22).

So, having noted that Christ gives us a change of will, and having noted that Christ gives us His Laws for our guidance and our safety, let’s consider one other important twofold fact:

Christ Limits & Finally Puts Down All Who Oppose Him & Us

If we have been set free from the devil, the world, the flesh, and death itself, how come the devil, the world, the flesh, and death still give us so much trouble? Well, the short answer is that Christ is still in the process of conquering all His and our enemies.

There is the “already but not yet” tension of His kingdom on earth. This amounts to the fact that Christ’s and our enemies are being restrained somewhat at the moment until they are finally put down. In Psalm 110:1 we see what the Father says to the Son (i.e., Jesus Christ as the Mediator), “The LORD said to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.’” Then the Father says to Jesus Christ in verse 2, “Rule in the midst of your enemies.”

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    Paul the Apostle has Psalm 110 in mind where he writes, “For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Cor. 15:25). And likewise, the writer to the Hebrews, “But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool” (Heb. 10:12-13).

So, the question is: how and when are Christ’s enemies going to be made His footstool? For some reason some people think that His enemies and ours will never be subdued unless Christ returns to earth physically. Or to put it another way, some believe that it’s by Christ’s physical “Second Coming” that He destroys the enemies.

To be sure, Christ’s physical return will be the final and total end of sin and evil and all their effects on earth. However, does this view (i.e., the physical and final return of Christ) not drain somewhat the Gospel of its power? Does it not to a certain extent dim the lights of His Kingdom?

Surely Paul was not wrong where he says that the Gospel of Christ “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…” (Rom. 1:16). Therefore, if we ask the question: How is the Father changing His Son’s enemies into His footstool? We are compelled to answer: By the Gospel, which is the power of God to salvation.

What is it that set the spiritually incarcerated jailer free if it wasn’t the power of the Gospel of Christ? Is it not the Gospel in the hands of Spirit-filled preachers that sets the captives free from their bondage to the devil, the world, the flesh, and death? In other words, is it not the Spirit with the Word that limit or restrains and puts down or conquers the enemies of Christ?

What does Paul say in Romans? “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:10). Don’t miss what Paul is saying here. He is saying that we ourselves once were enemies of God. But something wonderful, something supernatural, has happened. We now have been reconciled to God, which is to say that God has made peace with us.

But how has God made peace with His enemies? It’s by His Son’s death, i.e., Christ’s death on a cross. And what is the message of the Gospel, even the Gospel of Peace? It’s the power of God to salvation. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.” So, it is through the message of the Gospel that Christ rules in the midst of His enemies.

And the Gospel is that which the followers of Christ willingly obey. They obey the Gospel willingly because, like the keeper of the prison, they have had a change of will. They have been granted a new and obedient will. For, the Lord has put His Laws in our minds and has written them in our hearts. That’s why the Apostle Paul is able to say, “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5).

Christ’s Kingdom therefore is indeed a spiritual kingdom. It is a kingdom of the mind. It is a kingdom in which Christ rules every single thought! For every single thought must come home to roost in Christ – whether that thought is outside or inside your head. Therefore, when we gather our thoughts they must be gathered in Christ.

Christ is our control centre. He is the King upon His heavenly throne of which our heart is a reflection. Christ is our General on the battlefield of the mind. There will be casualties on this battlefield, but we are urged, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).

And do we not pray in the Lord’s Prayer, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven? It is the will of our Great King that all nations on earth be taught to obey His teachings. Therefore, let’s say, not my will but Thy will be done.

The Apostle Paul met with much resistance and opposition as he sought to obey the “Great Commission.” But he says, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles [i.e., so that all the nations] might hear. Also I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!” (2 Tim. 4:17).

Conclusion

Christians, Christ subdues us to Himself. He gives us His Laws for our guidance and safety. And He, at the moment, limits, and will increasingly and then finally put down all His and our enemies – before He returns physically.

At the outset we asked the question: How doth Christ execute the office of a king? And we’ve seen something of the answer: Christ executeth the office of a king, in subduing us to Himself, in ruling, and defending us, and in restraining and conquering all His and our enemies. 

Quoted from my Growth Enhancer book. See Amazon for you copy: Growth Enhancer: Enlarging Westminster Shorter Catechism 1-28 : McKinlay, Neil Cullan: Amazon.com.au: Books