The
Kingdom Established
By
Ivan Q. Spencer
"And as they heard these things, He
added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately
appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And
he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come." Luke 19:11-13.
This
nobleman represents Jesus. He went into a far country to receive for Himself a kingdom and to return. He gave unto the servants
these pounds and said, “Occupy till I come.” God's people are especially interested in the appearing and establishing
of the kingdom in these days. Notice in this 12th verse this thought expressed, “To receive for Himself a kingdom.”
Here you have a real message. It tells us what it is; He and His mystical Body are the kingdom. He has gone into a far country
to receive this kingdom and He sent the Holy Ghost to establish it. The kingdom is not meat and drink, but righteousness,
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. We need to know something about the dealings and wooings of the Spirit of God in our individual
lives in order to come into this kingdom.
We
have some beautiful lessons in the Old Testament regarding the kingdom. In 1 Kings, Chapter Two, we have the passing of King
David, and the coming to the Throne of Solomon, his son. These two personalities represent two special characteristics of
the kingdom. David was a man after God's own heart and did fulfill His will. David represents to us the humiliation side of
the character of Jesus Christ, and his kingdom depicts the kingdom coming in through humiliation. Solomon represents the establishing
of the kingdom in peace. In other words, David's life represents to us that phase of the kingdom in this, our dispensation,
when it takes a warfare and battle to get into the place God has for us. Solomon represents to us that phase of the millennial
age when the kingdom is established and Jesus the Son of God, like Solomon the son of David, sits upon the Throne.
It
is wonderful how the Lord draws pictures; the Bible is literally full of them. David was passing off the scene of action;
Solomon was coming in to take his place in the kingdom. It is a period of transition. The old order must give place to the
new. We are in a similar transitional stage today. A new Pentecost must displace the old. The Latter Rain will have in it
the powers and qualities that will establish the kingdom. Now is the time. We are coming over into that period spiritually
when every enemy of the kingdom will be done away with and peace and prosperity and great blessing will reign. Our hearts
are all longing to make the move, to come out of the one into the other. We want to get the warfare over. We want to get every
enemy out of the way and have the full and complete view of the vision of the best of the kingdom that is ever before our
eyes, established with us and in us with our blessed Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as King of kings.
These
characters: Abiathar, Shimei, Joab, and others mentioned in 1 Kings 2, that have been allowed in the old order cannot come
into the new. We cannot estimate the damage our Pentecostal movement has suffered because of the characteristics found in
these men. Let us examine them.
The
names of these individuals are significant. Perhaps it would be well to go according to the Bible record of them. Let us start
with Joab. The name Joab means, “God is father.” There is in that name some high characteristics – characteristics
of the fatherhood of God. Joab was a great man, warrior, general. He would stand perhaps in David's kingdom like Winston Churchill
stood in the English kingdom – an outstanding character with great abilities. He had fought David's battles, had won
great victories. God used him in many instances. He was always loyal to David. He was David's sister's son. In spite of all
his great gifts and abilities, he never did seem to come into the vision David had. Because of this he did many things that
were wrong. He could not behave himself in peace time. The jealousy of his heart had to get into operation and do away with
Abner, that man that God had also mightily used to help David. In many an individual heart and life there are great possibilities,
but unless these are brought under divine control, beloved, there will be a failure. Joab has to be dealt with. The spirit
that was manifest in the life of Joab had to be dealt with before the kingdom could be established. “Let not his hoar
head go down to the grave in peace.”
We
do not realize all that this means, for usually we think of our weaknesses. Sometimes we do not think of the strong places
in our lives that hinder the purposes of the Lord in establishing His kingdom. In these days He is after those strong places
in our natures. Some of us have abilities and characteristics which are not fully developed, nevertheless they stand in God's
way. Sometimes the ability a person has can wreck a world. Take a look at Hitler. Jesus Christ was an example of a life given
over to the Spirit of the Lord. This brought great blessing to the world, because He submitted to be crucified through weakness.
The Lord is going to subdue these abilities. Glory to Jesus!
He
starts in with you and me in our strong places. That is what He is after today. You say, “Well Lord, I thought you were
going to pour out your Spirit and give us the Latter Rain revival.” Yes, wouldn't it be wonderful to have a Latter Rain
revival with a Joab or a Hitler in control? God is getting after humanity today to get rid of that kind of a thing. I want
Him to get after the strength of my nature. You know there is only a step between being a great blessing to the work or a
great curse. The difference is in the one who is in control.
Now
this priest, Abiathar. He is to be dealt with. 1 Kings 2:27. Go back into the history of this character and you will
see some of the things he did. His name means, “father of abundance.” He could hold out a lot of spiritual things
as a priest and be a father of abundance, but be a failure in the face of it all. Men of our day have visions of deep spiritual
things – marvelous insight, inspiration, and revelation that have come to their hearts and lives, but they sometimes
fail to break in the hands of God and are rebellious in spirit, so they turn and do the wrong thing. Solomon made this man
take an oath not to go out of the city. Abiathar had that in his nature that he could not be trusted. That rebellious, stubborn
nature had to break loose. His servants went out to a distant place, so he found an excuse to go out after them, and when
he did not keep the oath of the Lord, Solomon had him destroyed.
My
God, deal with stubborn spirits. We may be nice on the outside, but oh, to have a broken spirit, to really break in the hands
of the Lord and say, “Thy will not mine be done.” In every case, this is what it is going to take to come into
the kingdom. And I tell you, dear ones, every streak of stubbornness has to go if we get into the kingdom.
Shimei
means, “my fame, or my exaltation.” Who was Shimei? He was a servant to King Saul and lived in the kingdom after
King David came upon the throne. He watched every opportunity possible where he could cut across and do damage. One day there
was a usurpation in the kingdom. David was fleeing from Jerusalem with a handful of faithful men with him. Shimei saw him
coming and he threw stones at him and called him names: David was suffering at heart very severely. Then one of David's men
said, “Let me fall on him and kill him.” David said, “No, let him alone. Maybe the Lord let him do this
and as a result of it He will bless me.” He wanted a blessing from the Lord if it took a Shimei to bring it.
What
a difference in the spirit of Shimei and David. Stones cannot do any harm. When we get the victory over a thing like that,
the Lord will bless us. Who was he? Well, he was a popular fellow. Shimei will have to be dealt with. Do you see what God
is after today? Do you see why the Latter Rain does not come? Jesus said, “Occupy till I come.” God will deal
with these Joabs, Abiathars, and Shimeis.
Now
there is another little picture here. “But show kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of
those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.” 1 Kings 2:7.
What
does Barzillai mean? It means “Iron – strong,” speaking of the strength of character and nature. It looks
like Barzillai had lost his strength and had come to the place where his family was in need. “Take them to your table
and give them all they want,” was David's request of Solomon. Isn't that the way God deals with us? After all these
characteristics: These strong things, these stubborn things, these devilish things, in the nature of men that stand in God's
way are dealt with, He says, “Come on now, come and eat.”
Oh,
glory to Jesus! A wonderful salvation, is it not? Out of the natural into the supernatural. Out of a life of strength, of
natural force and ability into the weakness, the nothingness of our nature, but into the great strength and blessing and power
of the Almighty God. All these characteristics can be displaced with spiritual values. This yielding is not all just at one
time. It is day by day, sometimes little by little, breaking in God's hands, a letting go, becoming pliable to the Spirit
of God, coming over into the sway of the Holy Spirit so that this kingdom shall be established. Jesus is gone, a great nobleman
has gone into the far country to receive for “Himself a kingdom.” “Occupy till I come.”
