When Kingdoms Collide

When Kingdoms Collide

There are two kingdoms, the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of this world operates under laws and principles that are natural, not supernatural, Governments decree laws and the subjects of that kingdom obey the laws or suffer the consequences, which may be fines or jail time.

The kingdom of heaven, on the other hand, is not of this world. The kingdom of heaven operates under a different set of laws, the laws of God. God is the king of this kingdom and He can do whatever He wants to do.

When the rulers of this earth have acted cruelly or according to their own motives that will elevate them to their own eyes or in the eyes of the people, they may act unfairly to the servants of God. Such was the case in Acts 12 when King Herod arrested Peter. He did so to gain favor with the Jews. What his intentions were, we will never know. The Bible narrative says that he intended to bring Peter out before the people after the Passover of the Jews. It is possible there would have been a trial and Peter would have been sentenced to death, in the same way that the trial of Jesus ended in His crucifixion.

Peter was put in jail, chained and guarded by four squads of Roman soldiers, 16 guards in all. But the Christians were praying for his release.

God sent an angel to rescue Peter. The angel appeared by Peter and struck him in the side to wake him up. “Get dressed quickly and follow me,” was the angel’s command.

Peter’s chains immediately fell off, the first miracle. Then, when Peter was dressed, the angel led him past all of the Roman guards. Now, here is a mystery. Why didn’t they see Peter and the angel? Were they sleeping, or were Peter and the angel invisible? In any case, they walked past the guards undetected. This was the second miracle. Then, when they came to the gate of the city, the gate swung open on its own . . . the third miracle.

So, the kingdom of heaven invaded the earthly kingdom and easily prevailed over it. Peter, who was in jail awaiting trial was suddenly a free man.

What kind of power do we have as servants of the Most High God?

While serving in the Army at Fort Hood, Texas, I often visited an on-fire church in Waco, Texas. This was quite a peculiar church, housed in an old, humble building, that could have used some paint. The services were always full, and the presence of God was always there. This church had as many missionaries on the mission field as members sitting on their pews. As for its shabby appearance, Brother Glen Ewing, the pastor, told me that God had said, “Put my money in missions, not in fancy buildings.”

On one occasion, I visited Brother Ewing at his home, which was also an old house that could have used some paint. A young Christian at the time, I was eager to soak up any knowledge I could get from this wise, servant of God.

So, he began to tell me stories. One of the points he made was that our faith comes from the inner man, or the spirit, and often our mind gets in the way. Our spirit has plenty of faith, but when this faith is filtered through our natural mind, it is often sabotaged.

He then told me of a time he and his wife left the house to go somewhere. Realizing he had left something in the house he needed, he turned back to the house and in that moment, realized had left the keys in the house and locked the door. In an instant moment of revelation, he commanded the door to open, and it swung open . . . all by itself. (Remember in Acts 12, the gate swung open by itself for the angel and Peter.)

Brother Ewing said he didn’t think about it at all. He just quickly commanded the door to open. When the heavenly kingdom invades the natural kingdom of the earth, the laws of the earth have to give way to heaven’s supernatural power.

Do we realize what power we have because we are citizens of the heavenly kingdom?

We are not of this world, the Bible says. How many times have we passed up the opportunity for supernatural operation in this life, because we don’t use our God given faith?

So why doesn’t God move supernaturally on our behalf all of the time in this life and spare us heartache and trials that seem to hinder our going forward to victorious living.

God has chosen to work through our prayers, our obedience and our faith-filled initiatives. When we act in doubt and unbelief, it is impossible for God work in supernatural power. Sometimes however, He chooses to sovereignly work miracles in our lives, and we don’t understand why.

I think in His mighty all-encompassing love for us, He sometimes chooses to remind us of His presence through a sovereign miracle, but usually He is looking for us to move and live in faith, in unwavering belief that He will act supernaturally on our behalf when we take the initiative. Obviously, if Brother Ewing hadn’t commanded his locked door to open, then he would have had a big problem. How was he going to get into the house?

So, does He sometimes work miracles when we don’t ask for them?

Yes, of course.

Recently, a brother related to how he and his friends were driving back from a meeting in southern Minnesota. As they neared home, they realized that the trip had taken them far less time than it should have, even though they were driving the speed limit.

A few weeks later, Lorraine and I were driving back from a town about an hour and a half from home. As we neared Grand Forks, we looked at the clock and realized something very out of the ordinary was happening. The drive, which should have taken an hour and a half, had taken only about 50 minutes. Lorraine remarked that she didn’t remember going through a particular town along the way. I guess the car had skipped that town, but how? We didn’t experience anything strange, like the car lifting off the highway and flying though the air . . . nothing like that. It was obviously a miracle. The laws of heaven had superseded the laws of the earth.

So, let’s go back to the scenario of the angle and Peter, just walking out of the jail, where 16 soldiers were assigned to guard Peter. How did they walk past these soldiers undetected? I doubt very much that the soldiers were sleeping, because the penalty for letting a prisoner escape was death, and after Peter escaped, Herod had the soldiers put to death. Would you go to sleep on the job, knowing the penalty could mean death? I don’t think so.

The angel and Peter must have been invisible, or some other heavenly principle happened that we natural people would not understand.

Without going into great detail, remember this: the kingdom of heaven trumps the kingdom of earth. It is supernatural and superior in every way. You, the Christian pilgrim traveling through this dirty and unrighteous culture may be losing out on your rights and privileges, the privileges that go with being a member of the heavenly kingdom. Perhaps you need to awaken yourself anew to those privileges and walk and move in them. When we are in Christ, we live in all of the power and fullness of who He is. So, let’s live accordingly.

1 Samuel 25:29 says, “In Him we live and move and have our being.”

So, let’s live that way!