GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 48)

Grace Thoughts

GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 48)

As a journalist I pay attention to all the words a person says – but I focus on the first words and last words because they often identify ‘purpose and perspective.’

First Words

When Jesus of Nazareth started His earthly ministry after facing the devil in the wilderness, the Gospels record these words –

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Matthew 4:17

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.’ Mark 1:15

Luke’s Gospel account says that when Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee – ‘news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all.’ One of the synagogues Jesus taught in was where He had been brought up in Nazareth. What did He say and do?

And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written: ‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.’ Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.’ So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, ‘Is this not Joseph’s son?’ Luke 4:16-22

The people who knew Jesus as a boy and young man were taken by surprise by what the Lord said. They saw Him as just a man because of their familiarity with Him. Jesus made a point to them that ‘no prophet is accepted in His own country.’ He then reminded them that God had worked through Gentiles in the past when His own people (the Jews) would not believe. Example – ‘And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian’ (Luke 4:27).

This caused ‘all those in the synagogue’ to be ‘filled with wrath.’ They ‘rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.’

Another good place to study the early days of the Lord’s teaching ministry is Matthew chapters 5 – 7. Known as the ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ Jesus demonstrated His authority and skill in handling God’s Word correctly – unlike the Pharisees and Sadducees. In the vein of ‘training to reign,’ you could look at this lengthy Message as ‘principles of the Kingdom.’ Notice how Jesus began with ‘blessings’ in chapter 5 and ended with ‘warnings’ in chapter 7. One of the last things Jesus said in the Sermon sums it up well –

Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. ‘But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.’ Matthew 7:24-27

It’s no wonder that the people were ‘astonished at His teaching’ because ‘He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes’ (Matthew 24:28-29). As you read through His sermons and parables, you’ll see how His words impacted the lives of people who supported Him and people who opposed Him. All of His words are important to someone wanting to ‘train to reign.’

Final Words

As you read through the Gospel accounts you will find how Jesus developed His Message and how it eventually led to His arrest, mock trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. What I’d like to do now is focus on the ‘final Words’ of Jesus.

Jesus met privately with His closest disciples (the apostles) on the night before He was arrested and crucified. You’ll find details in Matthew 26, Mark 14, Luke 22, and John chapters 14 – 17. All of the Gospel accounts are important to read, but I want you to pay special attention to John 14 – 16. It is the most extensive of all of the accounts and includes what I believe are the Lord’s prescription for how we should ‘train to reign.’

Here’s a short outline you can use for your study. I’m repeating this from the New King James Version of the New Testament –

The Way, the Truth, and the Life
The Father Revealed
The Answered Prayer
Jesus Promises Another Helper
Indwelling of the Father and the Son
The Gift of His Peace
The True Vine
Love and Joy Perfected
The World’s Hatred
The Coming Rejection
Jesus Warns and Comforts His Disciples
The Work of the Holy Spirit
Sorrow Will Turn to Joy
Jesus Christ Has Overcome the World
Jesus Prays for Himself
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
Jesus Prays for All Believers

What do you think of when you hear the word ‘reign?’ I think many of us see what the Lord’s disciples saw. They would sit on thrones next to Jesus as He and they ruled Israel and the world. There is a day when the Lord’s apostles will rule and reign with Him, but did that day come while the apostles were alive on the earth? No, in fact most were martyred. None of them reigned in this lifetime. That’s why Jesus told them what to expect before He went to the Cross –

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. But all these things they will do to you for My name’s sake, because they do not know Him who sent Me. John 15:18-21

These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me. But these things I have told you, that when the time comes, you may remember that I told you of them. John 16:1-4

After Jesus died on the Cross and rose from the dead, He spoke with His disciples again. Notice what He did and said, and consider how His Words impact the disciples’ training to reign –

Meeting two disciples on the road to Emmaus – ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! Ought not the Christ to have suffered these things and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24:25-27
Meeting His disciples in Jerusalem – ‘Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, ‘Have you any food here?’ So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Then He said to them, ‘These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.’ And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high.’ Luke 24:38-49
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing 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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Matthew 28:18-20
So when they had eaten breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Feed My lambs.’ He said to him again a second time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?/ Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed My sheep.’ John 21:15-17
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’ And He said to them, ‘It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.’ Acts 1:1-8

After spending forty days with His disciples, Jesus ascended from earth back to Heaven. He had glorified His Father and finished the Work He was sent to do (John 17:4). Jesus would later call Saul of Tarsus to become His apostle to the Gentiles and reveal many secrets to him. Jesus would also later visit the Apostle John and reveal more secrets to him about the Tribulation, Millennial Reign, Great White Throne Judgment, and the New Jerusalem. All of these events, recorded for us in the New Testament, are for our use in learning how to ‘train to reign.’

Free eBooks

You can download the first 13 chapters of this series here.

You can download chapters 14 – 24 of this series here.

You can download chapters 25 – 30 of this series here.

You can download chapters 31 – 39 of this series here.

You can download chapters 40 – 48 of this series here.

Next Time

In the next part of our series we will look at how the Holy Spirit ‘trains’ His people to ‘reign.’

Apostle JohnApostle PaulApostle PeterBible StudyChristianityGod's WordJesus ChristTrain to Reign Unknown's avatar

Published by gracelifethoughts

Founder & Director of GraceLife Ministries View all posts by gracelifethoughts

Spirituality Magazine

GraceLife Thoughts – Train to Reign (Part 48)