by Colin Stoodley

In recent days I have begun to observe something about the Kingdom of God in the earth. And it all began when I read Acts again towards the end of last year – actually I’ve read it at least once every year for a long time, but it was this year that I began to notice something which to me anyway, was significant.

Most of you who are leaders will have read widely enough to have heard of the idea that the earth is full of jurisdictions or spheres of influence. Specifically, a jurisdiction or sphere is a place where authority is vested and exercised. For example, Government is a jurisdiction and there are subsets of this kind of jurisdiction for cities, provinces, states and nations. The Church too is a jurisdiction or sphere and there are many examples of the way in which authority is vested and exercised within it that are mentioned in the Scriptures and part of how “church” is understood. The judiciary is a sphere too ( it is an Ezekiel like sphere within a sphere) and once again, there are a variety of ways in which authority is vested and exercised therein e.g. solicitors don’t do criminal cases.

What has fascinated me of late, is the way that the Kingdom advances through the missionary- church and into the various jurisdictions that fill the earth in order that the Kingdom may come. This missionary – church, releases its people (intentionally or otherwise) to move across from its own jurisdiction to new jurisdictions with its unique message. This message is a message of the King and His Kingdom and the application of the King’s will into the whole of human life expressed in this new jurisdiction or sphere. Actually it is essential that this transfer happens over and over again in order that the Kingdom should advance throughout human life on earth.

This requires an incarnational approach, in that we as the ambassadors of Christ, crossing personally into other jurisdictions (sent by the King) seek to announce the King’s agenda in order that this new jurisdiction might also adopt the King and His Kingdom and be transformed by it without necessarily becoming like those who brought the message. These same ambassadors sometimes stay within that jurisdiction a long time to exercise the King’s authority while others return again to their own sphere or jurisdiction only to become involved in another journey across the many jurisdictions in the earth.

Acts is full of this kind of thing. It seems to me that this is the pattern from the beginning for the advance of the Kingdom into every part of the world. Let me show you what I mean. But I would especially ask you to look out for the following elements in this pattern. First there is the work of the Spirit on people within the initial jurisdiction; then there is the crossing over itself which may be caused by any number of factors but always according to the purposes of God; then there is the planting of the Word in the new jurisdiction; followed then by the observation that those in the affected jurisdiction are transformed and their sphere also; finally these newly transformed people proceed to repeat the process itself across their own context and then into another jurisdiction that is parallel to it. It is important to note that the first jurisdiction is not necessarily the best one for doing this next task.

Let’s take Acts 2 as our first example. The disciples are the first jurisdiction of the Kingdom – gathered together and in prayer (Ac.1:13-14). This particular jurisdiction includes people of no social or political standing; they have no educational background or earthly authority but, they carry a unique promise – yet unfulfilled, and along with this promise they also carry within them the command of God (Ac.1:4-5,8). As yet they represent the only jurisdiction where this promise (of the King and His Kingdom) applies – they are the company of disciples.

This first jurisdiction is at this moment the key Kingdom jurisdiction in the earth – at least in terms of the transformation of human society as a whole. They are not living it yet, but it is their destiny. Once the Holy Spirit is poured out (Ac.2:1-4) the “switch” is thrown and the result is that those populating this first jurisdiction begin to cross into other jurisdictions (usually parallel to it) with a very new and challenging message which will carry enormous impact for personal and then societal transformation.

The next jurisdiction is mentioned in Ac.2:5. They are God-fearing Jews in Jerusalem to faithfully observe the Pentecost – many had been in Jerusalem since before the Passover. This group of people is a jurisdiction that is normally untouched by the members of the first Kingdom jurisdiction in the earth for these men were from the fringes of Jewish society. These men and women from the first jurisdiction are neither priests nor trained in the ministry of the Temple nor are they permitted to minister. In the usual course of events, these God-fearing Jews would not be ministered to by such a company of men and women. But this is the unique promise that is within all those born into the Kingdom – that we are no ordinary people.

Yet, the Spirit has anointed that company of disciples to cross into this new jurisdiction (God-fearing Jews) and minister a new message – the message of the Kingdom. And this remarkable transfer will become a permanent feature of the Kingdom across all generations. The signs of the Spirit create the moment and Peter advances into the new jurisdiction with a new and amazing message that carries enormous divine authority (Ac.2:14-36). The effect was amazing (Ac.2:37) and Peter announces the promise of the Spirit to them exactly as it had been promised to himself (Ac.2:38-39). I know the words are different, but it is the same Spirit. The promise in this first jurisdiction has now been announced to a second jurisdiction and many of those in that second jurisdiction took up that same offer of the Kingdom (Ac.2:41) and formed a significant Messianic community (Ac.2:42-47a) which would eventually follow the command to witness that is embedded in the promise of the Kingdom.

The key here is that the two jurisdictions were parallel. That is, they shared some significant common ground which when accented by the work of the Spirit, led to the transformation brought by the Kingdom. Here was the Kingdom of God leaping as it were across normal human divides that are never crossed. It was a “kairos” moment and it has been repeated many times since and must be repeated more and more even in our own times!
Ac.2:47b needs separate comment. The community which had been drawn from the second jurisdiction and that from the first jurisdiction is now joined by faith into one new community expressing the Kingdom. But they are also very diverse with some real cultural differences and the permanent struggle begins in the Church to fully express the dynamism of the Kingdom begins immediately. It is to be known as the Church of Jesus

Christ whose aim is to engage other jurisdictions in a worldview challenge on a continuing basis. And momentum is the key. It is in actual fact, the proof for me that the Kingdom is present. As the story unfolds, the Kingdom advances both because of intentional and non-intentional human action but always with a remarkable momentum that is born in the working of the Holy Spirit. Mark. 4:26-29 outlines a parable about the Kingdom which I think is resounding here.

But what happens next is in some ways more amazing.

Acts 8:1-3 records a phenomena – a scattering of believers out of Jerusalem which was caused by a persecution of the followers of The Way by the Jewish authorities, led by their chief protagonist Saul of Tarsus. In most cases such persecution is seen as a negative and the potential end of a group. However, history shows that a unique factor of the Kingdom is that under pressure Kingdom people become more mobile and more effective rather than less mobile and less effective These believers were scattered to Judea and Samaria (Ac.8:2). In addition, Ac 8:4-40 tells the story of the remarkable revival led by Philip which itself is an example of jurisdiction transfer in the name of the King and His Kingdom.

I mentioned earlier that the initial group of believers carried in them a command and a promise concerning the task of bearing witnesses to Christ to the ends of the earth – Luke’s version of this is in Ac.1:8 and Matthews is recorded at Matt 28:19. But this new jurisdiction did not advance into any new jurisdiction intentionally and for a long time remained inert in Jerusalem in terms of its world transformational role. Now there existed the unique expression of the Kingdom upon the earth (the Church) which now comprised a group of believers who had known Christ personally, certain priests and members of the Sanhedrin as well as devout Jews from around the known world. But it did not automatically fulfill the plan and intent of God. Another action was required – this time as I have already discussed – a persecution.

Then something happened which must now happen again. The members of that first jurisdiction rightly saw themselves as “guardians” of the deposit left by Christ so they needed to confirm the veracity of what had occurred. The church under persecution has now transferred across into a new jurisdiction – into a new city (another jurisdiction). How was this being handled? What proved it was the real thing?

In this case as described in Ac.8:14-17 it was the presence and work of the Holy Spirit that was the proving that in fact a jurisdictional transfer of the Kingdom had occurred – unintentionally. The Gospel had leapt across into a new jurisdiction through the work of ordinary believers filled with the Holy Spirit and without any human planning intent.

Philip’s story also contains the contact with the Ethiopian (Ac.8:26-40) which together with the story of Peter and Cornelius (Ac.10:1-48) reveal the first major jurisdictional transfer of the Gospel and the Kingdom – that which is from Jew to Gentile. This would eventually find its fullest expression in the work of the Spirit among the believers at the Antioch Church. Members of this expression of Kingdom jurisdiction would launch out into multiple jurisdictional transfer releasing the Kingdom force across cultures, languages and jurisdictions that would end up making possible the transformation of the whole earth.

But all this is just an introduction to a very large discussion. Let me finish this by trying to explain what it might mean to us now. What is the application for us in the 21st century?

We have at this time, several crucial jurisdictional transfers before us. The major one is one that is similar to that involving Peter and Cornelius and it will also take Spirit led timing and content built on what the Holy Spirit is doing on the other side of the transfer to be successful. I refer to the transfer from the Church of Jesus Christ into the Muslim world. Leaders like Stuart Robinson represent those who have crossed the jurisdictional barrier between western culture and that of Islam. His book “Mosques and Miracles” illustrates what is involved; what challenges exist and what opportunities abound. There will need to be more people crossing this jurisdiction in order for the Kingdom to move more purposively into Islam with the good news of Jesus. It will take many “moments” of Holy Spirit inspired ministry but there is already work being done by Crossway Baptist Church in Melbourne to cross over into the Muslim jurisdiction with the news of the King and His Kingdom. The fact that this is a jurisdiction means we must respect and honour it and certainly not demean it as of lower worth to that of our own.

Another of these crucial jurisdictions before us is the new age movement. Thousands of Australians are engaged in this movement; thousands buy the books, the crystals, seek the diviners and palm readers and adopt an extremely strong “spiritual” approach to life. Outside this jurisdiction, inside the Body of Christ, there are people like Lyn Thomas who lives in Brisbane and who crosses into this new jurisdiction by going to fairs and new age expos and offering prophetic ministry and dream interpretation as a means to bring the Kingdom into this jurisdiction. In 2005-2006 she and her team has led almost 100 people to Christ. The real challenge for her is finding churches to which she can send these new converts.

A third of these crucial jurisdictions that needs to be crossed is the one that exists across the many unreached people groups scattered across the earth. Unlike the previous two I have mentioned this transfer requires the commitment of a whole life literally living life the other jurisdiction. This requires language and culture skills that take time to develop and the offer of a life given over completely to God in the tradition of Hudson Taylor who went into China. But there people like D and Z (names withheld) who have done exactly that into a south east Asian nation and after almost ten years are seeing the Kingdom come!

Speaking nationally, there is a jurisdiction that is an urgent need of workers willing to transfer into another jurisdiction – into the Aboriginal people group. I suggest this as vital because to date I think we have attempted to cross this jurisdiction more as western missionaries seeking to “civilize” them rather than as Kingdom workers. However there are some examples of this jurisdictional transfer occurring. There is an Apostolic Church based in Roeburn in north west Western Australia. From this church there are Aboriginal believers venturing out across the deserts all the way to Alice Springs. They have a wonderful conversion rate. The church is pastored by a white Anglo-Saxon pastor who has given his whole life to this cause as his father had done before him. The kingdom is transferred now as all the ministry is done by aboriginal converts and leaders.

Jeff Christopherson (author of “Kingdom Matrix”) speaks of assumptions made about the Kingdom. One is that you can often get a hold of “church” and miss “Kingdom”; but when you get a hold of “Kingdom” what follows is a clear sense of “church.” Another of these assumptions is that there are only two Kingdoms – “at any given moment I am either building the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Darkness.” Then finally – it is possible to participate in church expansion and unintentionally be an agent for shrinking the Kingdom of God. But when I heard him speaking in mid-2006 this was the one that impacted me most – it is possible to unknowingly value the Kingdom of God before acknowledging the value of its Source – the King. When he concluded his speech he said “Jesus took the priesthood out of the Temple and into the world; Constantine put the priesthood back in the Temple; now the Spirit of God desires to take the priesthood once more out into the world!” This says, succinctly, what I believe the true of the King to be for our lives – to move into new jurisdictions with the King’s authority to see the Kingdom come on earth. And as always it centres on the prayer for more harvest workers for the harvest.

These are the notes from Session 5 of the recent Rediscovering the Kingdom of God Conference. CDs of this session are available for $9.95 plus postage. To order your copy please get in touch.