“For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking
but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
(Rom 14:17, ESV)
Today I would like to use the story of Pilgrim’s Progress to describe the kingdom of God and to explore today’s scripture, Romans 14:17. In the book we meet one merchant looking for fine pearls, whose name is Christian. In his hand he holds a book, and he bears a great burden on his back. He opens the book and as he reads, he weeps and trembles and cries out, “What shall I do?” He returns home and shares what he has learned from the book with his wife and children. But they don’t believe a single word of what he says and looks at him as if he has lost his mind. They say, “Take some rest. A good night’s sleep will settle your anxious thoughts. You will be fine.” But Christian can’t sleep and says, “It’s worse and worse.” Finally, he starts the journey alone.
On the way he meets a fine gentleman, whose name is Worldly Wiseman. And the gentleman says “Christianity is basically a synonym for morality. You can get rid of your burden and enter the kingdom of God by living a good, moral life.” Unfortunately, Christian is persuaded by his advice. But as he approaches the hill that Worldly Wiseman showed him, it gets steeper and steeper. His burden seems heavier and heavier. Then, he realizes that it is impossible to proceed further. For this reason, the Apostle Paul says, “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking.” In Paul’s time there was some trouble in the church of Rome. They argued about food and special days: “You should not eat this, you should not eat that. You should observe this day. You should observe that day…” But Paul says, “That is not the kingdom of God. It’s not about forms or ceremonies or rituals. It’s not about what you do and do not do. It’s not about doing good. It’s not about being nice, respectable, moral. The kingdom of God is much greater, wider, deeper. It is inside-out, not outside-in. It is righteousness, peace, and joy produced by the Holy Spirit.”
Righteousness
Righteousness – it’s the first element of entrance to the kingdom. When Christian arrives at the house of Interpreter, the house owner leads him into a big parlor full of dust, as if it has never been swept. The Interpreter calls to a man and tells him to sweep. And the dust almost chokes Christian. The Interpreter then speaks to a woman to bring some water and sprinkle the room. As the woman does, the entire room is easily swept and cleaned. Christian asked, “What does this mean?” The Interpreter answers, “This parlor is the heart of a natural man. The dust is his sin and inward corruption. The one who began to sweep at first is the law, but she who brought water and sprinkled it is the gospel.” The harder we try to live a good, moral, conscientious life with our own efforts, the more it chokes us. But when we humbly believe the gospel, our hearts are easily made clean, just as the dust settled by sprinkling the floor with water.
In Luke 18 Jesus tells this story to some who are confident of their own righteousness – the story of the Pharisee and the tax collector. The Pharisee prays, “I thank God I am not like other men; I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get – how good I am, not like this miserable tax collector!” But the tax collector stands at a distance and dares not even look up to heaven. Instead, he beats his chest in sorrow, saying, “O God, have mercy on me, for I am a sinner.” Then, Jesus says, “I tell you, this sinner, not the Pharisee, returned home justified before God.” The Bible says, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). The Bible also says, “Can an Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots?” (Jer 13:23). The answer is NO. In other words, we cannot change our sinful nature. We cannot produce a clean and pure and righteous heart that we need to stand before God and spend eternity with him. We just cannot change ourselves, but our God is able! How? The answer is in 2 Corinthians 5:21: “God made him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Jesus became our sin; we became his righteousness. This is Christianity. This is the kingdom of God. We don’t enter the kingdom by what I am doing and what I am not doing. We don’t enter the kingdom by how much better I am than someone else. No! Instead, we do enter the kingdom as we repent just as the tax collector did; as we believe that Christ’s righteousness is given to us and we are made right with God.
Peace
The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace. As Christian follows the narrow path, he reaches the foot of the hill. At the top of the hill there was a cross and a little below at the bottom was a stone tomb. As Christian comes up to the cross, his burden looses from his shoulders and falls off his back. Christian is so glad and overjoy and says, “He has given me peace by his sorrow and life by his death” (Isa 53:4-5). He looks and looks again until tears run down his cheeks. As he stands looking and weeping, three shining ones appear and greet him, “Peace be with you!” The first of the shining ones say, “Your sins are forgiven.” The second one strips Christian of his filthy rags and clothes him with new splendid garment (Zech 3:4). And the third places a mark on Christian’s forehead (Eph 1:13), and gives him a scroll with a seal on it. And he says, “Look on this as you run, and deliver it when you arrive at the gate of the Celestial City.” With thanksgiving and joy, Christian goes on his way singing:
Thus far did I come burdened with my sin,
No one could ease the grief that I was in,
Until I came here. What a place this is!
Blessed cross! Blessed sepulcher!
Blessed rather be the Man who there was put to shame for me!
I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace,
Resting sweetly in Jesus' control;
For I'm kept from all danger by night and by day,
And His glory is flooding my soul.
Peace! Peace! wonderful peace,
Coming down from the Father above!
Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray,
In fathomless billows of love.
- W.D. Cornell
The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy. As Christian and his companion, Faithful, approach the town, named Vanity, in that town is promoted a year-round fair called Vanity Fair. At this fair people sell such merchandise as houses, land, honors, promotions, titles, lusts, silver, gold, pearls and much more. The way to the Celestial City lies through this town of Vanity, and those who think they are going to avoid this city will still have to go out of the world. Since Christian and Faithful pay no attention to the merchandise, they are falsely accused and brought to the trials. In front of the people Faithful boldly speaks the truth in love. Finally, Faithful is condemned to be put to death by the cruelest method they can think of. First they scourge him, then they beat him, then they lance his flesh with knives. After that, they stone him with stones, then prick him with their swords, and last of all they burn him to ashes at the stake. Then Christian sees that at the moment of death Faithful is taken up into the chariot and carried directly to the Celestial Gate.
Worldly joy comes and goes. It totally depends on external circumstances. But the joy of the Holy Spirit is entirely independent of everybody and everything. It’s like streams of living water that flows from within us. So we can still rejoice in the midst of trials, because our joy does not depend on what is happening to us. God’s joy is always there. That is why Stephen, the Apostles, God’s martyrs and saints have been able to sing even to the end. The joy of the Holy Spirit is like undying fire. This joy cannot be quenched; it cannot be removed; it cannot be destroyed. We may be falsely accused, but God’s joy is there! We may lose our job, our health, our loved ones, and even our own life, but God’s joy is still there!
Blaise Pascal met God and was profoundly converted to Jesus Christ when he was 31. In his journal he said:
Since that day, he had carried this note all the time until he died 8 years later. In fact, it was found that he sewed this note into his coat. “Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.” Have you found this joy? Then now you live in the kingdom of God. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Worldly joy comes and goes. It totally depends on external circumstances. But the joy of the Holy Spirit is entirely independent of everybody and everything. It’s like streams of living water that flows from within us. So we can still rejoice in the midst of trials, because our joy does not depend on what is happening to us. God’s joy is always there. That is why Stephen, the Apostles, God’s martyrs and saints have been able to sing even to the end. The joy of the Holy Spirit is like undying fire. This joy cannot be quenched; it cannot be removed; it cannot be destroyed. We may be falsely accused, but God’s joy is there! We may lose our job, our health, our loved ones, and even our own life, but God’s joy is still there!
Blaise Pascal met God and was profoundly converted to Jesus Christ when he was 31. In his journal he said:
Year of grace 1654, Monday 23 November, feast of St. Clement . . . from about half past ten at night to about half an hour after midnight, FIRE. God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, not of philosophers and scholars. Certitude, heartfelt joy, peace. God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ. "My God and your God." . . . Joy, Joy, Joy, tears of joy. . . Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. May I never be separated from him!
Since that day, he had carried this note all the time until he died 8 years later. In fact, it was found that he sewed this note into his coat. “Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.” Have you found this joy? Then now you live in the kingdom of God. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
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