This Kingdom of God, which would be brought about through the King of that Kingdom—namely, the Lord Jesus Christ, who had by now, as Philip was preaching in Acts 8, come in the flesh.
This is how the Lord Jesus Christ spoke, (as we’ve been reading as a church in the month of June) through Mark: “The time is fulfilled, the Kingdom of God is at hand; therefore, repent and believe in the gospel.” The Lord Jesus performed miracles, which did not have as their particular aim to trick or entertain or capture people, but rather to do good in this world and to work against evil. So, demons are cast out, sins forgiven, and diseases and disabilities healed.
Jesus said long ago—and so we’re quite overdue—that the time is fulfilled, and the Kingdom of God is at hand. He said that almost 2,000 years ago, he was telling folk to repent and believe in the gospel back then, so we should definitely do that now, before it’s too late.
Peter gave the very same message that we preached on Sunday night (at the Pentecost service): Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.
As Paul puts it in Acts 17, God commands all people everywhere to repent.
If you’ve never done that—if you’ve never left your sins behind, if you’ve never said, “I’ve got it all wrong,” if you’ve never asked God for a new life—do it now. And don’t just repent, but believe. Have faith. Trust in Jesus. Because the promise is that it’s those who believe in Jesus who do not perish but have eternal life.
The Bible is very clear: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you are one who will be saved.
Jesus himself said, “Believe in the light.” If you can see that this is true, believe it, so that you may become one of God’s children—sons of light.
It is not enough just to believe this in your heart and not do anything about it. You must repent and be baptised. Do not rest until you’ve received this baptism.
As Peter says, it is the ones who call upon the name of the Lord who shall be saved.
So receive the Kingdom like a child. Come to Jesus, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and he will give you rest.
Whoever comes to Jesus will not hunger. Whoever believes in him will never thirst.
Obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. Listen to him. Enter through the narrow door. However difficult you might find this, you must come. Do not harden your heart if you hear his voice today.
Be reconciled to God. I implore you, on behalf of Christ.
And if you are already in the Kingdom, continue in faith and obedience. Continue to abide in Christ. Continue to live as children of the Kingdom—not being conformed to this world, but be transformed. I intentionally put that in the present tense: we’re continuing to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. We have to continually seek God’s Kingdom first, and his righteousness.
We are to be involved in making disciples of all nations. We are to proclaim the gospel. Be God’s witnesses of his Son. We have to love one another. And we have to be holy, for God is holy.
We have to walk by the Spirit and be filled by the Spirit. We are to wait eagerly for the return of the King of this Kingdom. We have to serve others with humility.
When we say we confess our sins to God, there are plenty of examples in Scripture of those who mess up in their Christian lives and return to God. They ask once again, even after their baptism, to be washed thoroughly from their iniquities.
We confess our sins to one another. We ask each other for help in the Christian life. As we often say, we run the race with endurance, as is set out before us.
