Monday 19 January 2015

The Summer Kingdom

“I have seen a land shining with goodness, where each man protects his brother's dignity as readily as his own, where war and want have ceased and all races live under the same law of love and honour.
I have seen a land bright with truth, where a man's word is his pledge and falsehood is banished, where children sleep safe in their mother's arms and never know fear or pain.
I have seen a land where kings extend their hands in justice rather than reach for the sword; where mercy, kindness, and compassion flow like deep water over the land, and men revere virtue, revere truth, revere beauty, above comfort, pleasure or selfish gain. A land where peace reigns in the hill, and love like a fire from every hearth; where the True God is worshipped and his ways acclaimed by all.”
The quote above is from Stephen Lawhead's  book Arthur in his wonderful Pendragon Cycle.
It captures and summarises the glorious vision we are about the business of fulfilling. It is a vision of a Christian Britain and is Kingdom-oriented in two ways. Firstly, it is a Kingdom of God vision and secondly, it is about Britain being a kingdom.
For those of us who have allegiance to the Throne of David in our midst it has added poignancy and is imbued with more potency.
By Christian Britain we do not mean the battlefield of tenet and dogma that much of Christendom has become but both a hearkening back to what could be called the Ancient Faith yet also a looking forward to and entering in to the Philadelphia Age of the Church.
ExcaliburThe quote is, of course, about the Arthurian Vision for Britain and is thus distinctly Celtic for want of a better or more understandable expression.
There is no argument against it other than one of cynicism - it is an ideal to stretch for and aspire to even though our postmodern world would scream at its seeming futility.
For those who are more emboldened, it is a call to pray for God's Kingdom to come and be manifest in the midst.
By necessity it needs the intervention of YHWH in our nation's affairs. It needs the outpouring of His Spirit and a flooding of our world with the supernatural and miraculous.
It needs a shepherd king on the Throne of Britain and righteous ministers in our parliaments and councils.
It demands a turning back to God, not just a reverting back to old methods.
The vision is of an age where love of the brethren (Philadelphia) is hand-in-hand with honour to all men and both God and king are reverenced (see 1 Peter 2:17).
This is The Key Of David.
This is the purpose of God for our nation.
This is the answer for all ills.
This is the Word of the Living God to us at this hour.

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