Are you living today by the ways of the world or by the ways of the kingdom of God? In whom or in what do you trust – in the world or in Christ? We can claim what we want in that regard but it’s the way we live that tells the true story. We can live like the world lives, helping ourselves at the expense of others or we can live like people in the kingdom live, helping others at our own expense. We can depend on ourselves to win the day as the world does or we can learn to depend on God to win the day as do those living in the kingdom. The choice is yours and mine.

We’ll begin this morning in Mark 10:32-45. Please turn there in your Bibles. In this passage Jesus is going up to Jerusalem the final time before His crucifixion. His disciples are fearful because they know that the Jews want to kill Jesus and are amazed because He is going anyway. Then in words of great significance, the Lord tells His twelve disciples of what is to come.

Sounds pretty clear, doesn’t it? And you would think they would have been sobered by these words. But that’s not the case.

35 And James and John, the two sons of Zebedee, came up to Him, saying to Him, "Teacher, we want You to do for us whatever we ask of You." 36 And He said to them, "What do you want Me to do for you. 37 And they said to Him, "Grant that we may sit in Your glory, one on Your right, and one on Your left." 38 But Jesus said to them, "You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?" (The cup and the baptism He referred to were references to His coming suffering and death.] 39 And they said to Him, "We are able." And Jesus said to them, "The cup that I drink you shall drink; and you shall be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized. [Please keep that verse in mind as we continue.] 40 "But to sit on My right or on My left, this is not Mine to give; but it is for those for whom it has been prepared." 41 And hearing this, the ten began to feel indignant with James and John. 42 And calling them to Himself, Jesus said to them, "You know that those who are recognized as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them; and their great men exercise authority over them. 43 "But it is not so among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant; 44 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be slave of all. 45"For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

This rather blatant attempt of James and John to secure places of special honor in the coming kingdom and the subsequent indignation of the other ten disciples who had the same self-centered desires, shows us once again just how poorly these men grasped the nature of Christ’s coming kingdom before the Holy Spirit came upon them on Pentecost. Here Jesus was speaking some of the most serious words of His earthly life – how He was about to be arrested and condemned by the Jews and turned over to the Gentiles for crucifixion – and what was going through their minds? They were scheming about how they could use their special positions with Him to secure places of prominence. This is a prime illustration of someone with the mindset of the kingdom (Jesus) versus those with a mindset of the world (at this point, the disciples.) These two mindsets are diametrically opposed. One is Christ-centered, the other is self-centered. In the kingdom of God the greatest person is the humble man or woman who serves the most people. In the kingdom of the world the greatest person is the arrogant man or woman with the most people serving him or her. Sadly, like James and John here, far too many church going people continue to think the way the world thinks. In the world the prime motivator is self and the religion of many is self-centered.

This contrast – this difference between the way things are done in the world versus the way things are done in the kingdom of God is what I want to focus on with you this morning in our continuing verse by verse series called Acts of the Apostles.. I’ve called today’s message, Two Kingdoms – Two Ways of Living. The text we’ll consider is Acts 11:27–12:23. Please turn there now.

Mark 10, which I just read, and Acts 12, which we’ll consider, are linked by a common event. In Mark 10:39 Jesus said to James and John, "The cup that I drink you shall drink…." This was a prediction that if they continued to follow Him, these two would suffer just as He was about to suffer. Now, more than a decade later in Acts 12, part of that prediction is fulfilled. One of the two, James is arrested and put to death.

Let’s back up now and begin our text in Acts 11:27. Keep in mind this contrast between the kingdom of this world and the kingdom of God. Luke illustrates it for us by contrasting some of the early Christians with a diabolical man named Herod. The first contrast is seen as we compare:

Something that is done in the kingdom of God that differs from what is usually done in the kingdom of the world is what we see here: Christian people voluntarily reaching out to help others at their own expense. Sure, the kingdom of the world, at least here in the US, has welfare programs but often the money isn’t raised voluntarily like we see here. Such programs exist because people are forced by law to pay taxes. While this legislated benevolence is often called compassion, what it lacks is the voluntary aspect. Money is collected under threat of legal reprisal (you will go to jail if you don’t pay your taxes) and redistributed to those the state deems as needy. The problem is that while the initial intentions may be good, the state lacks the moral principles necessary to keep its programs on track. What has happened in the past with seemingly every such effort is that such programs have gone beyond their intent and spawned an attitude of entitlement in the recipients and corruption among those who handle the money. For the recipients, what was intended to help becomes a motivation killing lifestyle. The money often either becomes a political football or is dipped into by corrupt officials for their own use.

So called "compassion" in the kingdom of the world is forced. In contrast, compassion in the kingdom of God is voluntary, meaning that each individual gets to decide whether a need is genuine and worthy of contribution. Verse 29 shows us that aspect: "…each of them determined to send a contribution…."

When compassion is voluntary, meaning that we get to see the need and choose whether it is worthy of our help, we’re a lot more responsible with how the money is spent. Corruption isn’t as likely because no one is spending someone else’s money. And besides the tendency to be more careful in how we spend our own money, there are guidelines in the Kingdom of God for such things. One is the balance between the commands to help those who are truly in need and the Biblical principle that refuses to help freeloaders. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 3:10 that if a person isn’t willing to work he should not be allowed to eat. The voluntary giving in New Testament Scripture seems also to have been on an "as needed" basis rather than a constant levy. Families making up the church were expected to take care of their own ailing and aging members according to First Timothy 5:8. Only when there was no family did the church step in to help. According to First Timothy 5:9-16, widows under the age of 60 were encouraged to remarry and were not to be put on the list of those regularly supported by the church unless they had themselves lived lives of service to others. In Second Thessalonians 3:12 and Ephesians 4:28, members of the church were exhorted to lead disciplined lives and to work, not only to earn their own bread, but to earn enough extra so that they could share with others in need.

Two kingdoms, two ways of doing things, and those ways are very different. Let’s move on. We see the Antioch Christians who helped others at their own expense. Next we see:

"Herod the king" mentioned here was Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great who had ordered the slaughter of the infants at Bethlehem back in the days of the birth of Jesus. Morally no better than his grandfather, Herod Agrippa was also the brother of Herodias, the woman who asked for the head of John the Baptist on a platter. Not a nice family.)

Because the Jews were never easy to rule, it was to Herod’s advantage to pander to them whenever it suited his purposes. That is what we see happening here. If the Jews hated the Christians, then he would use his power to gain their favor by harassing the church. We’ve seen religious persecution in Acts. Here we see political persecution.

So James is arrested and apparently, quickly either beheaded or run through with a sword. While there is no indication of a charge brought here, it is most likely that there must have been some trumped up accusation used to authorize the arrest. And so, perhaps in a public execution, James, brother of John, drank the cup of His Lord’s suffering.

It turned out that the Jews were so pleased with the execution of James that Herod arrested Peter also and probably would have put him to death had it not been Passover week. You certainly cannot murder a man on a religious holy day now, can you? Why, that would be ungodly! No, if you are a religious man, you wait until after the holy day is over to do your murdering!

Herod represents the way things are done in the kingdom of this world so well. You look out for number one. Things are not done because they are right or true or good, they are done to get results, and the ends always are believed to justify the means. If killing an innocent man and leaving his wife a widow and his children without a father is what it takes, well, hey, survival of the fittest! The key word is self: self-will, self-seeking, self-aggrandizement, and self-promotion. Character doesn’t matter. All that matters are results. If the guy can make the masses happy, those who think this way usually don’t care how he does it. If he can make things happen in Washington, what he does in his personal life is none of our business. Statesmen cease to be statesmen and become crooked politicians for sale if the price is right. Everything is done for the photo op and the news cycle.

In a country like ours the man who wins under this system is usually not the good man with the most to offer. Rather it is the man with the best campaign strategy. Promise anything even if there is no way to pay for it. Break the campaign promises later when you’re safely ensconced. Isn’t it great to live under the rules of the kingdom of this world? Not!

What a contrast between the Antioch Christians who helped others at their own expense and King Herod who helped himself at others’ expense! Two kingdoms – two ways of living. Let’s move on to another contrast, that of:

5 So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. [Note their dependence on the Lord.] 6 And on the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. 7 And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands. 8 And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." 9 And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street; and immediately the angel departed from him. 11 And when Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."

This was, by the way, the second time Peter was released from jail miraculously. We saw the first time back in Acts 5:19. Maybe that’s why Herod had Peter guarded by four squads of soldiers as Luke tells us back in verse 4!

Anyway, now released from jail, Peter makes a beeline for the place where the other Christians were.

I’ve always loved this story – not the part about Herod killing his own men to save face but the part where the people were so busy praying that they forgot to watch for the answer to their prayer! Sometimes we get the idea that those first century Christians were somehow more spiritual than we are today, or perhaps they benefited in some special way because they had witnessed so many miracles. But that simply isn’t the case. They had to learn to walk by faith just as we do today.

By the way, the "James" mentioned here in verse 17 was James the half-brother of Jesus, the man who would later play a key role in the Jerusalem conference in Acts 15. The James who was put to death by Herod was James the Apostle.

So what characteristics of the way things are done in the Kingdom of God are modeled here?

First, notice that they aren’t fighting or plotting Peter’s escape. They were praying. Though they had a hard time believing that God had actually answered their prayer, they were doing what the Lord commands for such occasions. Paul stated it in Philippians 4:6: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God."

People in the world don’t usually turn to God in time of trouble unless there is no other avenue of escape – and sometimes not even then. They either refuse to believe that God exists or relegate Him to the so-called "Man Upstairs" status in their thinking, as though He were just a crabby old man who lives on the second floor apartment. By contrast, those with the kingdom mindset pray to a living God who loves them and desires to hear and answer their prayers. And they see their prayers answered! They live knowing that no matter how bad things get, they can always bring their situation before the Creator of the universe and He will hear them. They depend on the Lord to win the day. Now by contrast, let’s look again at:

Herod’s ponderous plan to execute other Christians besides James blew up in his face. So what did he do? He did what many politicians do when the heat is on. He got out of town!

Like many politicians today, King Herod needed a little renovation of his public image. So in true politician form he diverted attention to something else. In today’s politics this is called "wag the dog."

What we have here is a bit of reverse pandering – people pandering to the politician. And ah! How good Herod felt to again be admired, even as a god. But things didn’t turn out the way he expected.

Two things to note about those last verses – both of them should sober us as we consider them:

So we see two kingdoms, two ways of living, and two final outcomes.

Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev once boasted that he would exhibit the last Soviet Christian on television by 1965. Khrushchev has since gone to give account of himself to the Judge of all mankind – the same place that Herod went after his session with the worms. The Supreme Soviet and his deadline for the extinction of Christianity in Russia have passed on. After the fall of the Soviet Union without a shot fired, believers were passing out Bibles in downtown Moscow. Throughout history, so-called big men have strutted across the stage of life defying God. Wedded to the ways of the world, they defied their Maker and lived the way they wanted. As Sinatra sang, did it their way. Now every one is dead, except those living today, and their kingdoms have vanished. For those remaining, it is only a matter of time before they too are ground beneath the unstoppable advance of God’s eternal kingdom. Psalm 145:13 promises, "Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endures throughout all generations."

Are you living today by the ways of the world or by the ways of the kingdom of God? In whom or in what do you trust – in the world or in Christ? We can claim what we want in that regard but it’s the way we live that tells the true story. We can live like the world lives, helping ourselves at the expense of others or we can live like people in the kingdom live, helping others at our own expense. We can depend on ourselves to win the day as the world does or we can learn to depend on God to win the day as do those living in the kingdom. The choice is yours and mine. But I remind you – the outcome is permanent. We have the remainder of our lives on earth to decide. What will it be?

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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