Ambassadors of Jesus Christ in the Last Days
One of the great topics of every generation of the Church is this: “What is our relationship to the world that we are living in?”
On the surface, Scripture seems to have a contradiction. After all, the Apostle Paul tells us:
“Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing” (Romans 13:1-6).
The Apostle Peter echoes this:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Peter 2:13-15).
But then Peter gives us this example:
“When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them, 28 saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.’ 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:28-29).
People who live in a land with good rulers may not understand the last verse. Luther and many others, for example, understood the top verses to mean there can never be any conflict between the state and the church, because God appears to have ordained the state, just as he ordained the church, so they can never be in opposition to each other. This was one of the greatest struggles of the Lutheran pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer when Nazi’s took over his country and began murdering Jews and Christians.
On the other side of the coin, people who live in nations where rulers persecute the Church and cause harm to the innocent may find the first two verses difficult to understand. How can you obey rulers who impose immoral, corrupt, and horrific laws that cause terrible evil in the land? And there are plenty of people around the world who struggle with that.
How can they both be true? How can we obey and submit to governing authorities and their laws, but then, at the same time disregarding the laws of the rulers when we maintain that we must obey God and not them them? It seems that there is a contradiction between the first two verses and the last one. Can Scripture contradict itself? Does God contradict Himself? No. And the Scriptures are God-breathed through men of His choosing. God's Word does not contradict itself
Whenever we have a troubling question in Scripture or come across what looks like a contradiction, we need to humble ourselves and take a step back and give it over to the Lord, asking Him to enlighten our understanding through His Spirit. We can look into commentaries and the teachings of trustworthy saints, but we must wait on the Lord to help our understanding.
So, is there a way the verses above can be reconciled? The answer is Yes, and to see how, let’s look at 3 questions: 1. In God’s eyes, what is our relationship to the kingdoms of the world? 2. How does God see us relating to His Kingdom of Heaven? 3. As Believers why are we in the world and not in heaven? Let’s dive in.
1. How does God see us in the world?
The answer to this question depends on where you stand with Him. Before the Church was reconciled to God, we were lost to God and exiles from Heaven. And we were in bondage to the world, literally as child slaves:
“So we too, when we were children, were held in bondage under the elementary principles [spirits] of the world” (Galatians 4:3). What are these “elemental principles of the world”? “However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are not gods” (Galatians 4:8).
This makes perfect sense, because John explains that the whole world is ruled by the evil one: “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19).
The devil himself made this undisputed claim when he showed Jesus “all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6 And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give You all this domain and its glory, for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I want’” (Luke 4:5-6).
Paul describes the devil as the “god of this world”:
“And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they will not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your bond-servants on account of Jesus” (2 Corinthians 4:3-5).
So, the Scriptures are clear that before the Church was reconciled to God, we were child slaves, belonging to the spiritual forces of darkness that rule the entire world for the time being.
But if you have been reconciled to God through His Son, God refers to all people of faith with different language to describe them in their relationship with the world:
Scripture calls the people of faith Sojourners, Aliens, Strangers, and Exiles in the world.
Alien – a stranger, a legal alien (one who obeys the laws).
Sojourner – a stranger in the land, someone who is living there temporarily, living side-by-side with citizens, but not citizens themselves.
Exile – Someone forced to leave their homeland and live in another land for some reason.
Let’s find where these words are found in Scripture:
David prays and says to God, “For we are strangers before You and sojourners, as all our fathers were. Our days on the earth are like a shadow, and there is no abiding (hope, prospect)” (1 Chronicles 29:15).
“All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14 For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15 And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them” (Hebrews 11:13-16).
In describing Believers, Peter uses the language of someone passing through the world: “If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth” (1 Peter 1:17). This always makes me think of a short-term apartment lease.
2. How does God see us relating to the Kingdom of Heaven?
Before we knew God, we were slaves to the god of this world (not even citizens) and strangers and aliens to Heaven, but after being reconciled to God through Jesus Christ, we are changed. In that moment, it switches – we become strangers and exiles to the world and citizens of Heaven of the Kingdom of Heaven.
“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Philippians 3:20).
“He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son” (Colossians 1:13).
“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household” (Ephesians 2:19).
Scripture is clear. We are citizens of Heaven. We pledge allegiance to God, not to man.
While we are no longer aliens and strangers in God’s kingdom, we have become aliens and strangers in the world – we no longer belong here. This is why the book of Hebrews declares that the people of Faith “confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth” (Hebrews 11:13b).
So, we don’t belong here – we belong in Christ’s Kingdom. But there’s a problem, right? We’re still here. Whoever heard of a citizen who stayed away from their own country? This leads us to the third question:
3. Why is the Church in this world, where we are strangers and aliens if we have citizenship in Heaven?
What is the point? We are Ambassadors for the Kingdom of God, serving in the kingdoms of the world. And this is the key to reconciling that apparent contradiction between Paul and Peter.
“Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God” (2 Corinthians 5:18-20).
Ambassador – def – a resident representative who peacefully appeals for the will of their home country and represents their interests in the place of their stationing. The Greek word Paul uses is “used in the ancient phrase, "I am on embassy to the Emperor, I am an ambassador" (Souter) – i.e. as someone respected as trustworthy (loyal, knowledgeable), especially in the opinion of those they know (belong to).”
An ambassador has a very specific office. They are charged with a ministry of reconciliation as peaceful representatives of their king in a foreign land.
Ambassadors are sent from their homeland to serve their king and government’s interests in a foreign land. They dwell in that foreign land as a minister of their homeland, a representative of their King or government. They live in this foreign land – they have a home and eat the food of that land, they take walks in its parks and use the services of the shops. They raise families in the foreign land. They do everything that a citizen would do, unless it is against the laws of their King.
Despite living in a foreign land, they are not citizens of it. They don’t belong to that people or its government.
It is important to note that an ambassador’s mission is not served by them antagonizing the rulers and leaders of that place. So, they are to respect the rulers and obey the laws of the land. If there is a speed limit on the highway, they would anger the rulers of the land if they disregarded the speed limit and they would cause dishonor to their king by their bad behavior. So an ambassador does well to obey the laws of the land and respect the rulers of the land where they are serving. If there are laws against making too much noise or parking rules, an ambassador should obey them out of respect. An ambassador represents his country and his king in word and in action in this foreign land. They are not citizens of that land, but they obey the laws of the land out of respect and to honor their King’s mission by being blameless where they have been stationed.
Disrespectful and lawless ambassadors bring shame on their own land and are removed with discipline.
This is why Paul and Peter instruct us to obey the governing authorities in the world. Not because we owe our allegiance to them as if we were their citizens and they are our king, but out of respect for our office as Ambassadors. Thus, an ambassador is to respect the laws of the land, so long as they do not require him to betray his government. If the king of the land you serve in requires you to move your car off the street when it snows, or obey a speed limit, or to not make bonfires in town larger than a certain size, an ambassador would do well to obey laws of the governing authorities (as if he were a citizen, even though he is not), because it is done for the good of all people. However, if the king of the land requires everyone living in that land to pray to his god or take an oath to himself as their ruler, or help him kill innocent people, an ambassador must respectfully decline obedience to those orders and dictates and laws of those rulers.
This then is how we reconcile the apparent contradiction we read in Scripture at the beginning. Let’s read those verses again now in the context of what we’ve learned about Ambassadorship:
Peter agrees:
“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. 15 For such is the will of God, that by doing right you silence the ignorance of foolish people” (1 Peter 2:13-15).
We see here that our obedience to the governing authorities of the land is in the context of those commands and laws that are for the good of all and do not violate the laws of our God, who is our King.
We’re not supposed to be disobedient and rebellious in general. And the Church submits, not because we owe allegiance to the kingdoms of the world or are their citizens, but for our King’s sake who has commissioned us to be His peaceful representatives for Him in the land.
And when must we disobey the ruler? When they require us to betray the ministry we have been entrusted, demand we violate God’s Law (Ten Commandments, fruit of the Spirit, for example), or if they demand we disavow our King and His ways (think Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego or Daniel):
“When they had brought them, they had them stand before the Council. The high priest interrogated them, 28 saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this Man’s blood upon us.’ 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men’” (Acts 5:28-29).
And here we see how we reconcile these verses. An ambassador is to respect the rulers and laws of the land, so long as they do not require him to betray his own King and his own government.
In summary, as Ambassadors for Christ, we live far away from the Kingdom of Heaven, where we have our true citizenship, serving in the kingdoms of the world. We live as aliens, strangers, and sojourners on the earth. The mission of our posting is to promote reconciliation of these nations and the people to our God and His Kingdom, which is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Word of God.
What Are the “International Relations” Between Heaven and Earth?
As ambassadors for Christ, we ought to know the state of relations between the Kingdom of God and the world. What have those international relations looked like in the 2,000-year history of the Church?
This present Church age may best be described as a “cold war” between the Kingdom of Heaven and the kingdoms of the world, ruled by satan. What is a cold war?
During the 20th century, the most famous cold war was between the U.S.S.R and the United States. These two great nations were enemies, but although they worked against each other’s interests in the world, they never went to full-out war. During this Cold War, Soviet ambassadors lived in the US, serving the interests of Russia and US ambassadors lived in Russia and served America. The nations were enemies, but because they never declared open war against each other, the embassies stayed open and ambassadors served. That despite antagonism at times against ambassadors and spying on them and other acts of persecution. And violence was done as each side sought in proxy wars around the world as both nations sought to out-maneuver the other.
The analogy here is that although satan is an enemy to God, God allows him to exist for His purposes. And satan stirs up rebellion against God in the world and rules the great kingdoms of the world from the shadows. The Church serves as peaceful ministers of the Gospel in the kingdoms of the world, promoting reconciliation between rebels and God.
Our mission is very important in promote the reconciliation of man to God, because the grace period of the Church Age, this “cold war” between Heaven and the world will go hot, full-out war in the last days.
Now, something very important for us to understand here is that ambassadors only serve during times of peace and up until open war is declared. So while US ambassadors lived in Russia during the Cold War, if Russia had declared war on the US, our ambassadors would have been immediately recalled before war broke out. Their mission of peaceful reconciliation is concluded and they are called home, because now only violence will solve the disagreements between their homeland and the nation where they were stationed. Think of WWI and WWII history, for example.
How does this relate to the Kingdom of Heaven and the world? In God’s mercy and grace, He is patient with the rebellion in the world and the antagonism of His enemies. Why?
“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
That being said, Scripture is very clear that this “grace-period” will come to an end with open war between the kingdoms of the world and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. And at this juncture, God’s ambassadors of the Gospel in the world are no longer needed – their mission of peaceful reconciliation is over. Now the wrath of God’s righteousness will decide the outcome on the evil kingdoms of men.
This coming war is called the Great Tribulation in Scripture as Jesus explained:
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come….For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:14; 21-22).
This Great Tribulation is when the world declares open war in rebellion against God, and God responds by pouring out His righteous wrath upon the world. He starts out with “sanctions” that we read about in the book of Revelation (the “seals”, “trumpets”, and “bowls”) when God withholds His blessings, and as the world’s rebellion continues, He increases the sanctions against it. How does mankind respond?
“The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands so as not to worship demons and the idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk; 21 and they did not repent of their murders, nor of their witchcraft, nor of their sexual immorality, nor of their thefts” (Revelation 9:20-21).
“And the fourth angel poured out his bowl upon the sun, and it was given power to scorch people with fire. 9 And the people were scorched with fierce heat; and they blasphemed the name of God who has the power over these plagues, and they did not repent so as to give Him glory. 10 And the fifth angel poured out his bowl on the throne of the beast, and his kingdom became darkened; and they gnawed their tongues because of pain, 11 and they blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pain and their sores; and they did not repent of their deeds” (Revelation 16:8-11).
God continues levying sanctions against the kingdoms of the world until finally, it is time for the invasion of Earth by Jesus Christ and His armies in Revelation 19:11-21, where Jesus descends to Earth and slays His enemies with “one little word.”
“And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a flame of fire, and on His head are many crowns; and He has a name written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His thigh He has a name written: ‘KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.’ 17 Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying to all the birds that fly in midheaven, ‘Come, assemble for the great feast of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of commanders, the flesh of mighty men, the flesh of horses and of those who sit on them, and the flesh of all people, both free and slaves, and small and great.’ 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies, assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse, and against His army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two were thrown alive into the lake of fire, which burns with brimstone. 21 And the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh” (Revelation 19:11-21).
Okay, so all that was to understand that there is a coming war and this concerns ambassadors.
Ambassadors and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture
Now, let’s back up to just before it begins. Let’s back up to the Biblical doctrine of the Rapture.
Since Jesus formed His Church to the present day, the Church has served as ambassadors for the Kingdom of Heaven, promoting the Gospel of reconciliation to God. They have done so in all the kingdoms of the world during this “cold war”, this age of grace, this church age, but as we saw, there is a coming day when the time of grace closes and this “cold war” goes hot.
Remember that ambassadors are recalled to their homeland before war begins. In the same way, the concept of the Pre-Tribulation Rapture fits perfectly in its placement and timing with the Church’s role as ambassadors. “Rapture” is a Latin word meaning “seized or caught away”, referring to Paul’s doctrine in 1 Thessalonians 4:17 when Jesus returns for His Church: “Then we who are alive, who remain, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.”
In this understanding, God is removing His Church from the earth before the Great Tribulation that comes upon the world, which at this point is in total and complete rebellion and the all-out judgement and sanctions of God against it during this time. God gets His representatives out because He is going to pour out his judgment upon it, just as in the natural world, where no king leaves his ambassadors in a nation he has declared war on.
This makes sense because the Great Tribulation is the time of the outpouring of God’s wrath upon the world, such that the peoples of the world day this:
“Then the kings of the earth and the eminent people, and the commanders and the wealthy and the strong, and every slave and free person hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and the rocks, ‘Fall on us and hide us from the sight of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of Their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?’” (Revelation 6:15-17)
“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, ‘Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God’” (Revelation 16:1)
But the Church (God’s ambassadors in the world), are not destined to experience the wrath of God, just like natural ambassadors:
“For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep, we will live together with Him” (1 Thessalonians 5:9-10).
Now, let’s see how the Pre-Tribulation Rapture harmonizes well with foreshadowing we find in Scripture. God gives us many pictures in His word that harmonize well with this teaching. Let’s take a moment to look at that.
Noah’s Ark
Many Biblical scholars have seen the story of Noah as a foreshadowing of the Rapture of the Church. Before God’s wrath came upon the earth, He “hid” Noah in the ark and shut Him in to rescue him from the wrath He poured out upon the world.
“Then the LORD said to Noah, ‘Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation…For in seven days I will send rain on the earth forty days and forty nights, and every living thing that I have made I will blot out from the face of the ground.’ And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him…In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights. On the very same day Noah and his sons, Shem and Ham and Japheth, and Noah's wife and the three wives of his sons with them entered the ark…The flood continued forty days on the earth. The waters increased and bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. The waters prevailed and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the face of the waters. And the water prevailed more and more upon the earth, so that all the high mountains everywhere under the heavens were covered…21 So all creatures that moved on the earth perished: birds, livestock, animals, and every swarming thing that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind; 22 of all that was on the dry land, all in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, died. 23 So He wiped out every living thing that was upon the face of the land, from mankind to animals… and only Noah was left, together with those that were with him in the ark” (Genesis 7:1-23).
God “did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly” (2 Peter 2:5). The Church is very much like Noah, for he was an ambassador also.
Noah preached for hundreds of years and everyone was free to enter God’s salvation and be saved from the judgement that was coming upon the evil and wicked world in open rebellion against God. But the time of grace and God’s patience came to an end. Just before the destruction came, God shut Noah and his family into His salvation, while shutting the world out of His salvation and pouring out His wrath upon them. After this, there were at least forty days of “tribulation” upon the earth before the waters prevailed and the depraved rebellion of man against God ended with their utter destruction.
Jesus warned that the world would suffer a similar fate in the last days – the Church (represented by Noah) would find salvation from the impending doom, but the world would perish in destruction: “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man” (Matthew 24:37-39).
The Church is very much like Noah: “By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith” (Hebrews 11:7). We too have been warned of events as yet unseen, and by our faith in Christ, the world is condemned to Tribulation and righteous judgement for all the evil it has done and purposes still.
Lot
The story of Lot is also a foreshadowing of the Rapture, for “if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes [God] condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if He rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment” (2 Peter 2:6-9).
Here, Peter is comparing the Church to Lot, who was rescued from a doomed city and taken out of the city before God’s wrath fell upon it. In the same way, the Church will be removed from the world before God’s wrath is poured out upon it.
The Holy Spirit, Ambassadorship, and the Pre-Tribulation Rapture
When Jesus returned to His Father, He sent to His Church the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, the Church cannot exist.
“He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge” (2 Corinthians 1:21-22). “In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of the promise, 14 who is a first installment [or “pledge”] of our inheritance, in regard to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory” (Ephesians 1:13-14).
Every Believer receives the Holy Spirit, and this unites us as one spirit with Jesus:
“Do you not know that your bodies are parts of Christ? Shall I then take away the parts of Christ and make them parts of a prostitute? Far from it! 16 Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, ‘The two shall become one flesh.’ 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him” (1 Corinthians 6:15-17).
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (John 14:16-18).
The Holy Spirit has a mission in the world through the Church:
“And He, when He comes, will convict the world regarding sin, and righteousness, and judgment” (John 16:8). Through the Church, the Holy Spirit convicts the world that sin exists and it separates man from God – that there is a problem. The Holy Spirit convicts the world that there is such a thing as righteousness and God expects mankind to be righteous. And the only way to be righteous before God (as in justified and sanctified) is to accept the free gift of salvation in Jesus Christ though faith in Him. Finally, the Holy Spirit convicts the world that judgement is coming to every person who has not repented of their sin and obtained righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ and been reconciled to God.
So, the Spirit is actively engaged in this ministry of conviction in the world through the Church. And history bears this out that as the Gospel of Jesus Christ spread, everywhere it went, the works of the flesh were restrained in the open. The ministry of the Spirit through the Church restrains the open rebellion of mankind during this Church Age. But rebellious mankind hates this conviction against their deeds and desires and hates this restraint on what it wants to do upon the whole world.
This then, is what the prophetic Psalm 2 is alluding to:
“Why are the nations restless and the peoples plotting in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 3 ‘Let’s tear their shackles apart and throw their ropes away from us!’ 4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then He will speak to them in His anger and terrify them in His fury, saying, 6 ‘But as for Me, I have installed My King upon Zion, My holy mountain.’ 7 ‘I will announce the decree of the Lord: He said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have fathered You. 8 Ask it of Me, and I will certainly give the nations as Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron, You shall shatter them like earthenware.”’ 10 Now then, you kings, use insight; Let yourselves be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with reverence and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way, for His wrath may be kindled quickly. How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!”
Here the world is conspiring to throw off the restraint of God’s Spirt and rebel against God and His Son, the Messiah – Whom He has chosen as King of the world. The call here is for the rebels to make peace with the God’s choice of King while they can, for this period of grace will not last forever and then you will endure His righteous wrath.
The desire of the rebellious world is to remove God’s restraining influence upon the world (which is the Holy Spirit in the Church of the living God), so they can do everything they want – complete and total open rebellion and all evil uninhibited. There has been much rebellion against God and wickedness done in the world since the Church was formed, but the complete and total rebellion of the whole world against God has been restrained till today.
The wicked rulers and peoples plotting this rebellion will get their wish, but unfortunately for them, the removal of the Holy Spirit from restraining them will bring the greatest tribulation upon the world that it has ever seen. It will herald open war between Heaven and earth when God’s judgement and wrath is poured out on the world preceding Christ’s return to conquer and rule it. Where do we see the Holy Spirit’s restraint on the world and the coming rebellion of the man of Lawlessness?
“And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed” (2 Thessalonians 2:6-7).
With the removal of the Spirit’s restraint and conviction on the world, all sin and unrighteousness breaks out upon it as the man of lawlessness emerges.
“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come. 15 Therefore when you see the abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place—let the reader understand— 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 Whoever is on the housetop must not go down to get things out of his house. 18 And whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But woe to those women who are pregnant, and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 Moreover, pray that when you flee, it will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will again. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short” (Matthew 24:14-22).
The Holy Spirit’s ministry of conviction and restraint on the world is largely though the Church, who He inhabits. The Spirit unites us with Christ. He abides and remains in the Church (as Jesus said), so if the Holy Spirit is removed, we must go with it. For God will not take His Spirit from the Church and leave Her behind.
“I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, so that He may be with you forever; 17 the Helper is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him; but you know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you” (John 14:16-18).
We have been sealed by that Spirit as a pledge of our spiritual union with Christ. Just like ambassadorship, the Church will be “recalled” to the Kingdom of Heaven when the restraint of the Holy Spirit is removed, allowing the “man of lawlessness” to be revealed and lead the entire world into open rebellion and war against God.
Challenges for Ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven While Serving in the Kingdoms of the World
Now, let’s look at some challenges of being an Ambassador for Christ.
“And pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in proclaiming it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:19-20). 1st We are Ambassadors for Christ in every circumstance and situation. 2nd Paul asked for Prayer for boldness! Why would he ask that?
Well, it is so easy for the “worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the Word, and it becomes unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). It is not easy to maintain the integrity of our mission while we go about our daily activities in this “foreign” land. As we eat in it, sleep in it, shelter in its houses, the world’s demands can trouble us (fear) just as its diversions can attract us (love) – both undermining our focus on our mission. Our mission is to represent the interests of our King.
Let's look at both of these extremes.
Fear and Respect for the World
We know that when we’re serving in a country that is hostile to our King, it will be hostile to us if we act on our King’s behalf. We represent Him. So, why should we expect to be treated any differently? “If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18).
In the 1930s a French Ambassador named André François-Poncet was living in Nazi Germany, watching the Germans gearing up for war. He became very uneasy seeing the growing anger and hatred towards his country – the preparation for war, the angry words of politicians and leaders when speaking in Berlin, and witnessing the parades and protests in the streets. Living among such hostility must have put a lot of pressure on him to try and appease the German people in any way he could. For Andre it must have been very easy to fall under the influenced of the angry voices that surround his house every day, rather than the distant voice of his government hundreds of miles away. As an ambassador serving in a hostile place, it is a real temptation to compromise your mission to appease the interests, demands, and anger of the people around you.
FEAR of harm or death might really shake that the French ambassador’s boldness in serving his government – after all, were his government’s interests really worth more than his life? And like Paul, Poncet was imprisoned by the Nazi’s. He also was an “ambassador in chains”, and one wonders if he was “bold” to say what he ought to have said to his captors – “make peace with my government!” Or, because of the fear of death, did he remain quiet? One blessed distinction is that for the Ambassador of Christ, death is not the end, it means the beginning of eternal life and coming to our Homeland! This is why when faced with threats and anger and violence, we are instructed do “not fear their intimidation and do not be troubled” (1 Peter 3:14b). We must be BOLD in our representation of our King and not compromise the Word of His reconciliation because we fear man!
Love and Sympathy for the World
At the same time, the world’s ways can attract us – its desires, interests, and pleasures are so thrilling and exciting! We can come to like and love its ways. Like an English Ambassador sent from the sooty streets and the chill London fog to serve in India with its spices, warmth, and color…and temple prostitution. There have always been temptations for diplomats to accept and partake in cultural activities considered acceptable in their host country, but which are crimes in their own land. No diplomat should get entangled in the cultural or political pursuits of the country he is posted. To do so would undermine his mission and misrepresent the interests of their government. We could easily substitute “Ambassadors” here and retain Paul’s meaning: “No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him” (2 Timothy 2:4).
In the late 1930s Nevile Henderson was made English ambassador to Berlin. He believed that sympathizing with Hitler would lead to peace and so he was determined to see the good in the Nazis and made "calculated indiscretions" in the pursuit of peace, compromising his representation of the best interests of Britain. He became very friendly with the Nazis. He could never have been more wrong – compromise never results in anything good.
The Ambassador for Christ is commanded not to “love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world” (1 John 2:15-16). “You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (James 4:4).
If Nevile Henderson had spent his time beseeching Hitler to make peace with Britain without compromising his nation’s best interests instead of trying to become friends with Hitler and advocate for the Nazi’s interests with his government, he might be held in better regard by history.
You see, anything that we FEAR in the world draws us into RESPECT for the “ruler of this world” (John 12:31b) and anything we LOVE in the world, draws us into SYMPATHY with the world’s sinful interests and motives and our loyalty will be divided. But “no one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other” (Matthew 6:24a).
Like Poncet may have felt, there are Churches today that have become very fearful of the world’s hatred for the ministry of the Word of God. They come to respect the world and are tempted to compromise their mission for fear they will be on the outs with the world and suffer persecution. They seek to appease the world by compromising the Word of God, “oh, there is no hell,” “everyone goes to heaven,” “Sure, shack up and don’t worry about getting married,” “we preach tolerance, not division” etc. But this requires them to compromise their mission for Christ. You can’t appease the world that hates God and work for Him!
Also, like Ambassador Nevile Henderson, many Churches have come to love and sympathize with the ways of the world, seeking out worldly strategies for improving revenue streams, accepting sinful behavior, self-promoting, and misrepresenting Christ in order to exact “positive” change in the culture – but really all they accomplish is the complete compromise of their given ministry of uncompromised reconciliation when they appease the “god of this world” and promote his interests.
Paul gives us a lot of guidance for our posting in this world: “set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2) —“do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is” (Romans 12:2a), so “be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Ephesians 5:15-16).
Ambassadorship is how we reconcile the command to respect governing authorities and live peaceably with all men and yet when push comes to shove, “we must obey God rather than men.”
Every year seems to be a new trial for the Church in our ambassadorship serving in a hostile world. Many churches who had preached for decades that we are always to obey the governing authorities are coming to understand the nuances in Peter and Paul’s words: “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God on the day of visitation. 13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.” (1 Peter 2:14).
“For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a servant of God to you for good” (Romans 13:3-4a). Yet where this is not so – where rulers are exercising illegitimate power over us to punish good and praise evildoers, Peter’s words trump all – “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29b).
The core question for us all as Ambassadors is: “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10 NASB).
Ambassadors bear great responsibility, having full authority to represent their King’s will in a foreign land. Hold fast, therefore, to His Word, which He committed to you, and “see to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ” (Colossians 2:8), for “I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Corinthians 11:3).
For this reason, apply yourself in your service, for you will give an account of it to your King: “we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
“Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession; He was faithful to Him who appointed Him” (Hebrews 3:1-2a), so you too, “whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve” (Colossians 3:23-24). Amen…and AMEN!
