1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,820 And so Matthew four, verse 12 says, 2 00:00:03,820 --> 00:00:07,060 when he heard that John had been arrested, 3 00:00:07,060 --> 00:00:09,200 he withdrew into Galilee. 4 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:13,500 He left Nazareth and went to live in Capernaum by the sea 5 00:00:13,500 --> 00:00:16,400 in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 6 00:00:16,400 --> 00:00:18,120 This was to fulfill what was spoken 7 00:00:18,120 --> 00:00:19,860 through the prophet Isaiah. 8 00:00:19,860 --> 00:00:22,460 Land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali 9 00:00:22,460 --> 00:00:25,060 along the road by the sea, 10 00:00:25,060 --> 00:00:28,000 beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles, 11 00:00:28,000 --> 00:00:31,920 the people who live in darkness have seen a great light. 12 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,700 And for those in the land of the shadow of death, 13 00:00:34,700 --> 00:00:37,120 a light has dawned. 14 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:39,260 From then on, Jesus began to preach, 15 00:00:39,260 --> 00:00:44,260 repent because the kingdom of heaven has come near. 16 00:00:44,260 --> 00:00:46,620 As he was walking along the sea of Galilee, 17 00:00:46,620 --> 00:00:49,800 he saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter 18 00:00:49,800 --> 00:00:51,620 and his brother Andrew. 19 00:00:51,620 --> 00:00:53,960 They were casting a net into the sea, 20 00:00:53,960 --> 00:00:56,000 for they were fishermen. 21 00:00:56,000 --> 00:01:01,000 Follow me, he told them, and I will make you fish for people. 22 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:04,100 Immediately, they left their nets and followed him. 23 00:01:04,100 --> 00:01:06,760 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, 24 00:01:06,760 --> 00:01:09,600 James the son of Zebedee and the brother John. 25 00:01:09,600 --> 00:01:12,120 They were in a boat with Zebedee, their father, 26 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,260 preparing their nets and he called them. 27 00:01:15,260 --> 00:01:17,120 Immediately, they left the boat 28 00:01:17,120 --> 00:01:19,060 and their father and followed him. 29 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:22,720 Now Jesus began to go all over Galilee, 30 00:01:22,720 --> 00:01:24,120 teaching in their synagogues, 31 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,260 preaching the good news of the kingdom, 32 00:01:26,260 --> 00:01:29,560 healing every disease and sickness among the people. 33 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:32,700 Then the news about him spread throughout Syria. 34 00:01:32,700 --> 00:01:35,760 So they brought to him all those who were afflicted, 35 00:01:35,760 --> 00:01:39,400 those who suffered from various diseases and intense pains. 36 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:42,760 The demon possessed the epileptics and the paralytics 37 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:44,560 and he healed them. 38 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:49,560 Large crowds followed him from Galilee, the Decapolis, 39 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,260 Jerusalem, Judea, and beyond, the Jordan. 40 00:01:53,260 --> 00:01:54,460 This is God's word. 41 00:01:58,460 --> 00:02:02,220 If you have, well, let's start that over again. 42 00:02:02,220 --> 00:02:07,220 So again, we're in the Kingdom Life series 43 00:02:07,660 --> 00:02:10,860 and this is our launch back into the book of Matthew. 44 00:02:10,860 --> 00:02:13,620 And like I said, we're gonna spend about eight weeks here 45 00:02:13,620 --> 00:02:15,820 and hopefully we'll learn a little bit 46 00:02:15,820 --> 00:02:19,060 about what it means to be kingdom citizens. 47 00:02:19,060 --> 00:02:23,620 If you do not have a king, you do not belong to a kingdom. 48 00:02:26,060 --> 00:02:30,700 If you have a king you belong to the kingdom. 49 00:02:32,020 --> 00:02:33,520 I'll say that one more time, 50 00:02:33,520 --> 00:02:37,260 if you do not have a king you do not belong to a kingdom. 51 00:02:39,060 --> 00:02:43,560 If you have a king you belong to the kingdom. 52 00:02:45,480 --> 00:02:46,720 I'm on my mind, 53 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:51,720 We're gonna answer some questions as we go back 54 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,820 into our time in Matthew under this heading of Kingdom Life. 55 00:02:55,820 --> 00:02:58,060 We're gonna be looking at what does it mean to have a king 56 00:02:58,060 --> 00:03:01,300 and to belong to the king and kingdom? 57 00:03:01,300 --> 00:03:04,460 Or how does one become a citizen of this kingdom? 58 00:03:04,460 --> 00:03:07,420 What are the citizenship requirements? 59 00:03:07,420 --> 00:03:10,680 What are the ethics and values of this kingdom? 60 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:13,020 How are we to live in light of them? 61 00:03:13,020 --> 00:03:15,620 We were introduced to the anointed one 62 00:03:15,620 --> 00:03:17,780 when we first started our series in Matthew, 63 00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:20,420 the Messiah King who was anticipated by the people 64 00:03:20,420 --> 00:03:23,980 of Israel for hundreds of years before his appearing. 65 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:27,940 If you guys recall, at his birth, 66 00:03:27,940 --> 00:03:32,220 we witnessed that kingmakers, magi from the east, 67 00:03:32,220 --> 00:03:36,260 came and brought prizes or brought gifts 68 00:03:36,260 --> 00:03:40,220 and worshiped this newborn king. 69 00:03:40,220 --> 00:03:44,380 We learned that his front runner, John the Baptist, 70 00:03:44,380 --> 00:03:47,140 who was also predicted and anticipated 71 00:03:47,140 --> 00:03:49,580 for hundreds of years before his arrival, 72 00:03:49,580 --> 00:03:53,580 shows up on the scene and he's baptizing people 73 00:03:53,580 --> 00:03:57,580 in the Jordan River and calling all of Israel to repent, 74 00:03:57,580 --> 00:04:01,460 to shoo, to turn back to God and prepare 75 00:04:01,460 --> 00:04:04,220 for Israel's coming king. 76 00:04:04,220 --> 00:04:07,020 And Jesus the Messiah, he comes to John 77 00:04:07,020 --> 00:04:09,420 and identifies with the people of Israel 78 00:04:09,420 --> 00:04:12,500 if you remember the story of the baptism of Jesus. 79 00:04:12,500 --> 00:04:17,500 He comes to John and he himself enters the water, 80 00:04:17,780 --> 00:04:20,460 enters the water and receives baptism, 81 00:04:20,460 --> 00:04:24,140 not repenting of his own sins or sins that he had committed, 82 00:04:24,140 --> 00:04:29,140 but identifying with the sin and brokenness of his people. 83 00:04:30,260 --> 00:04:32,620 As Jesus comes up from the water, 84 00:04:32,620 --> 00:04:37,620 the Father God speaks and the Holy Spirit descends on Jesus. 85 00:04:37,620 --> 00:04:40,860 This was Christ's anointing ceremony. 86 00:04:42,300 --> 00:04:46,060 This is my beloved son with whom I am well pleased. 87 00:04:47,060 --> 00:04:48,460 And what happens next? 88 00:04:49,700 --> 00:04:52,340 Jesus is led by the Spirit to the wilderness 89 00:04:52,340 --> 00:04:54,140 for a time of testing. 90 00:04:56,060 --> 00:04:59,380 God's call, as each one and each and every believer 91 00:04:59,380 --> 00:05:03,900 will experience, God's call in us saying yes, I will to him, 92 00:05:03,900 --> 00:05:07,860 is always followed by a time of testing. 93 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:12,300 This is to prove the genuineness of our response 94 00:05:12,300 --> 00:05:13,380 to God's call. 95 00:05:14,460 --> 00:05:15,940 Maybe some of you experienced that 96 00:05:15,940 --> 00:05:18,100 when you answered the call to follow God. 97 00:05:19,260 --> 00:05:23,260 The time of testing that came. 98 00:05:23,260 --> 00:05:25,420 Hungry and thirsty from his fasting, 99 00:05:25,420 --> 00:05:28,580 Jesus is tempted by the accuser himself, the devil, 100 00:05:28,580 --> 00:05:31,060 to abuse the calling that he has received 101 00:05:31,060 --> 00:05:33,060 for selfish purposes. 102 00:05:33,060 --> 00:05:35,900 He tempts Jesus to act as if God is there 103 00:05:35,900 --> 00:05:38,460 to serve his needs only. 104 00:05:38,460 --> 00:05:42,460 And he tempts Jesus to avoid suffering at all costs. 105 00:05:42,460 --> 00:05:46,980 Use what's at your disposal to avoid God's mission. 106 00:05:48,420 --> 00:05:51,100 But Jesus passes the test by relying on the strength 107 00:05:51,100 --> 00:05:54,340 of God's love and the power of God's word. 108 00:05:54,340 --> 00:05:57,100 And it is here at that moment that we pick up the scripture 109 00:05:57,100 --> 00:05:59,340 in what we read earlier. 110 00:05:59,340 --> 00:06:01,260 And what's interesting is from verse 11 111 00:06:01,260 --> 00:06:03,700 where that story ends, the temptation of Jesus 112 00:06:03,700 --> 00:06:07,340 in the wilderness, to verse 12 where we picked up here, 113 00:06:07,340 --> 00:06:10,220 that's a jump of a year and a half in time. 114 00:06:11,300 --> 00:06:12,980 A year and a half forward. 115 00:06:14,420 --> 00:06:17,180 And what was Jesus doing during this jump 116 00:06:17,180 --> 00:06:18,500 or this leap forward? 117 00:06:19,620 --> 00:06:21,700 To find that out, we would have to look elsewhere 118 00:06:21,700 --> 00:06:24,180 because Matthew has written his book in such a way 119 00:06:24,180 --> 00:06:26,300 that he's trying to communicate a message 120 00:06:26,300 --> 00:06:27,940 through the way he wrote it. 121 00:06:28,860 --> 00:06:31,060 And he's highlighting the things that are most important 122 00:06:31,060 --> 00:06:32,660 to communicate that message. 123 00:06:32,660 --> 00:06:34,740 And that's why we have, the beauty of why we have 124 00:06:34,740 --> 00:06:36,740 four gospels. 125 00:06:36,740 --> 00:06:38,660 Because we can hop over to Luke and find out 126 00:06:38,660 --> 00:06:41,700 what went on during this year and a half. 127 00:06:41,700 --> 00:06:43,700 Luke tells us that after Jesus was baptized, 128 00:06:43,700 --> 00:06:46,260 he returned to the region of Galilee. 129 00:06:46,260 --> 00:06:49,300 And he's a teacher who's going from synagogue to synagogue 130 00:06:49,300 --> 00:06:51,620 and he's loved there. 131 00:06:51,620 --> 00:06:53,100 They love Jesus. 132 00:06:53,100 --> 00:06:57,220 He's the hot stuff on the scene, teaching in the synagogues. 133 00:06:58,100 --> 00:07:00,220 And so Galilee is this large region. 134 00:07:00,220 --> 00:07:02,820 And to the east is the Sea of Galilee. 135 00:07:02,820 --> 00:07:05,260 And to the north and the west is Syria. 136 00:07:05,260 --> 00:07:08,300 And down to the south is Judah or Judea. 137 00:07:11,020 --> 00:07:13,380 Jesus is making his way from his baptism, 138 00:07:13,380 --> 00:07:14,460 if you remember on the map. 139 00:07:14,460 --> 00:07:17,100 He's at the Jordan River near Jericho, 140 00:07:17,100 --> 00:07:18,900 which is down near Jerusalem. 141 00:07:18,900 --> 00:07:23,500 And he's now making his way back up into the Galilean region. 142 00:07:23,500 --> 00:07:27,980 And on his way, he comes to Nazareth, 143 00:07:27,980 --> 00:07:30,220 the town where he grew up. 144 00:07:31,260 --> 00:07:33,180 It's in the southern part of Galilee. 145 00:07:34,220 --> 00:07:36,860 And when Nazareth, when he enters a synagogue there, 146 00:07:36,860 --> 00:07:39,660 he takes the scroll of Isaiah the prophet. 147 00:07:39,660 --> 00:07:41,660 They didn't have books, they had scrolls. 148 00:07:41,660 --> 00:07:44,620 And each one of these books would have been a scroll 149 00:07:44,620 --> 00:07:45,340 unto itself. 150 00:07:45,340 --> 00:07:49,180 He takes Isaiah the prophet and they had a reading schedule 151 00:07:49,180 --> 00:07:51,100 in the synagogues in the first century. 152 00:07:51,100 --> 00:07:52,620 In fact, we still have records of them. 153 00:07:52,620 --> 00:07:55,580 We know what they read on what days. 154 00:07:55,580 --> 00:07:59,740 It was issued to the synagogues. 155 00:07:59,740 --> 00:08:02,220 And it just so happened that on the day Jesus entered 156 00:08:02,220 --> 00:08:06,620 the synagogue in Nazareth, Isaiah nine is to be read that, 157 00:08:06,620 --> 00:08:08,940 or Isaiah 61 is to be read that morning. 158 00:08:10,860 --> 00:08:14,300 And so he picks up the scroll at the synagogue in Nazareth 159 00:08:14,300 --> 00:08:16,860 where he grew up and he reads, 160 00:08:16,860 --> 00:08:18,780 the spirit of the Lord is on me 161 00:08:19,660 --> 00:08:23,580 because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. 162 00:08:23,580 --> 00:08:27,180 He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives 163 00:08:27,180 --> 00:08:29,420 and recover of sight to the blind, 164 00:08:29,420 --> 00:08:31,100 to set free the oppressed, 165 00:08:31,100 --> 00:08:35,020 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. 166 00:08:36,140 --> 00:08:37,820 The crowd is in awe. 167 00:08:38,940 --> 00:08:41,340 Wow, what a great verse. 168 00:08:41,340 --> 00:08:42,780 Good time at church. 169 00:08:44,060 --> 00:08:47,420 Until Jesus says, today as you listen, 170 00:08:48,620 --> 00:08:50,940 this scripture has been fulfilled. 171 00:08:50,940 --> 00:08:52,780 And they go, what? 172 00:08:53,980 --> 00:08:54,780 Excuse me? 173 00:08:56,780 --> 00:08:58,300 What did Jesus just say? 174 00:08:59,180 --> 00:09:04,220 Did he just claim that the subject of Isaiah 61 is himself? 175 00:09:05,980 --> 00:09:09,980 The Messiah, the servant, the branch of David, the king? 176 00:09:09,980 --> 00:09:13,980 And the crowd begins to talk and ask and speak among itself. 177 00:09:13,980 --> 00:09:16,860 It's like, isn't that Jesus, Joseph's son? 178 00:09:16,860 --> 00:09:19,580 Isn't that Jesus, Joseph's son? 179 00:09:20,540 --> 00:09:23,820 Didn't he build a set of cabinets for us when he was a kid? 180 00:09:25,500 --> 00:09:27,900 That's Jesus, the carpenter boy. 181 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:31,500 Joseph's son, don't we know him? 182 00:09:31,500 --> 00:09:34,780 Isn't he the kid we saw growing up before our very eyes? 183 00:09:37,260 --> 00:09:40,780 Jesus, not to let an opportunity go to waste, 184 00:09:40,780 --> 00:09:43,340 kind of engages with them and basically says, 185 00:09:43,340 --> 00:09:44,780 you're gonna reject me too. 186 00:09:44,780 --> 00:09:48,540 And after that short exchange, they go from amazement 187 00:09:48,540 --> 00:09:52,140 to being absolutely enraged with Jesus. 188 00:09:53,340 --> 00:09:54,460 Who does he think he is? 189 00:09:54,460 --> 00:09:55,660 Blasphemer. 190 00:09:57,420 --> 00:10:00,140 And so they get up and they drive Jesus out of town, 191 00:10:00,140 --> 00:10:01,660 they bring him to the edge of the hill 192 00:10:01,660 --> 00:10:05,260 that the town is built on and they wanna throw him over. 193 00:10:05,260 --> 00:10:07,020 They wanna kill baby Jesus. 194 00:10:07,020 --> 00:10:09,820 Not a baby anymore, but he grew up around them. 195 00:10:10,460 --> 00:10:13,420 Jesus, Joseph's son, the carpenter, 196 00:10:13,420 --> 00:10:15,980 let's throw him off the cliff, kill him. 197 00:10:17,260 --> 00:10:18,620 The Bible says that Jesus is able 198 00:10:18,620 --> 00:10:20,460 to walk through the crowd and escape. 199 00:10:21,980 --> 00:10:25,980 And so we find that Jesus encountered great hostility 200 00:10:25,980 --> 00:10:29,660 on his pathway after his great anointing and temptation, 201 00:10:29,660 --> 00:10:33,660 and that leads to him getting out of dodge. 202 00:10:34,860 --> 00:10:37,500 When he heard that John had been arrested, 203 00:10:37,500 --> 00:10:40,700 the hostility around what God was doing is growing, 204 00:10:40,700 --> 00:10:43,340 not only with him, but with the whole world. 205 00:10:43,340 --> 00:10:45,740 Not only with him, but with John the Baptist. 206 00:10:46,700 --> 00:10:49,740 It says that he withdrew into Galilee, further into Galilee. 207 00:10:49,740 --> 00:10:52,540 He left Nazareth, which is at the south end of Galilee, 208 00:10:52,540 --> 00:10:55,100 and he moved to Capernaum by the sea, 209 00:10:55,100 --> 00:10:57,420 which is at the north part of the Galilean Sea, 210 00:10:57,420 --> 00:11:02,060 or the Sea of Galilee, away from Nazareth. 211 00:11:02,060 --> 00:11:04,380 And he sets up his ministry there. 212 00:11:04,380 --> 00:11:07,100 It's in the region of Zebulun and Naphtali. 213 00:11:07,100 --> 00:11:09,180 And again, in his typical Matthew style, 214 00:11:09,180 --> 00:11:11,260 he makes the connection for us 215 00:11:11,260 --> 00:11:13,660 prophesied in advance. 216 00:11:13,660 --> 00:11:15,660 In other words, this wasn't a surprise 217 00:11:15,660 --> 00:11:16,940 or a wrench in God's plan 218 00:11:16,940 --> 00:11:18,620 that people wanted to kill Jesus. 219 00:11:18,620 --> 00:11:23,660 This was God's plan all along. 220 00:11:23,660 --> 00:11:27,020 How often do we think that the plan of God 221 00:11:27,020 --> 00:11:31,660 is only in effect and intact if things are going well for us? 222 00:11:33,340 --> 00:11:36,980 And that any struggle or difficulty or opposition 223 00:11:36,980 --> 00:11:39,340 must mean God's plan isn't happening. 224 00:11:39,340 --> 00:11:42,140 This was God's plan. 225 00:11:42,140 --> 00:11:44,140 Matthew reminds us of that. 226 00:11:45,020 --> 00:11:47,900 It was spoken by the prophet Isaiah. 227 00:11:47,900 --> 00:11:50,300 Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, 228 00:11:50,300 --> 00:11:53,100 along the road by the sea, beyond the Jordan, 229 00:11:53,100 --> 00:11:54,380 Galilee of the Gentiles, 230 00:11:54,380 --> 00:11:58,700 though people who live in darkness have seen a great light. 231 00:11:58,700 --> 00:12:02,140 And for those living in the land of the shadow of death, 232 00:12:02,140 --> 00:12:04,620 a light has dawned. 233 00:12:04,620 --> 00:12:09,620 He's quoting here from the book of Isaiah 9, verse one and two. 234 00:12:10,940 --> 00:12:12,700 And so a little background is necessary. 235 00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:16,540 Zebulun and Naphtali, these were kids of a patriarch 236 00:12:16,540 --> 00:12:19,180 named Jacob of the people of Israel. 237 00:12:19,180 --> 00:12:23,580 And as such, each of his kids were allotted land 238 00:12:23,580 --> 00:12:25,740 in the promised land when the people of Israel 239 00:12:25,740 --> 00:12:27,820 came out of their slavery in Egypt 240 00:12:27,820 --> 00:12:29,420 and they entered into the land, 241 00:12:29,420 --> 00:12:32,540 all the sons of Jacob got a piece of the pie. 242 00:12:32,540 --> 00:12:36,220 Zebulun got his land, Naphtali got his land. 243 00:12:36,220 --> 00:12:39,180 They were two of the 12 tribes. 244 00:12:39,180 --> 00:12:41,660 And after the nation of Israel, 245 00:12:41,660 --> 00:12:44,300 like sometime later after King David and Solomon, 246 00:12:44,300 --> 00:12:48,140 the nation of Israel gets into this bitter infighting 247 00:12:48,140 --> 00:12:50,620 with the kids and who's gonna be king, 248 00:12:50,620 --> 00:12:53,500 and so a civil war breaks out in Israel. 249 00:12:53,500 --> 00:12:55,020 And as a result of the civil war, 250 00:12:55,020 --> 00:12:57,660 this kingdom that God had brought his people out 251 00:12:57,660 --> 00:12:59,660 to establish with the 12 tribes 252 00:12:59,660 --> 00:13:02,620 this kingdom is fractured and cut in two. 253 00:13:02,620 --> 00:13:05,500 And now you have a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom. 254 00:13:05,500 --> 00:13:08,620 The northern kingdom was often referred to as Israel, 255 00:13:08,620 --> 00:13:11,580 or sometimes as Samaria, and the southern kingdom 256 00:13:11,580 --> 00:13:13,740 as Judea or Judah. 257 00:13:15,260 --> 00:13:17,420 Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom, 258 00:13:17,420 --> 00:13:19,580 and so if you were a worshiper of Yahweh 259 00:13:19,580 --> 00:13:22,060 and you wanted to go to the temple to worship, 260 00:13:22,060 --> 00:13:23,500 but you were in the northern kingdom 261 00:13:23,500 --> 00:13:26,140 after the civil war, that was problematic. 262 00:13:26,140 --> 00:13:27,820 And that's why the kingdom was called 263 00:13:27,820 --> 00:13:30,940 the northern kingdom, and so it was problematic. 264 00:13:30,940 --> 00:13:33,340 And that's why one of Israel's northern kings 265 00:13:33,340 --> 00:13:35,100 decided to set up a couple of places 266 00:13:35,100 --> 00:13:38,140 to worship in the north that weren't God's temple. 267 00:13:38,140 --> 00:13:40,220 And this caused all sorts of problems. 268 00:13:40,220 --> 00:13:42,380 If you remember the woman that Jesus talks to, 269 00:13:42,380 --> 00:13:44,860 the Samaritan woman, she's talking about 270 00:13:44,860 --> 00:13:47,340 where she worships and where he worships. 271 00:13:47,340 --> 00:13:49,900 That problem persisted until Jesus' day. 272 00:13:51,100 --> 00:13:54,220 So as we hear in our series on Jonah, 273 00:13:54,220 --> 00:13:56,540 the people of Israel, they had lived in rebellion 274 00:13:56,540 --> 00:14:00,380 and they were in exile, and so he sends a foreign nation, 275 00:14:00,380 --> 00:14:03,820 God sends a foreign nation to discipline them 276 00:14:03,820 --> 00:14:08,820 as his children, to conquer them and lead them into exile 277 00:14:10,380 --> 00:14:13,100 as discipline on the northern kingdom of Israel 278 00:14:13,100 --> 00:14:15,420 in 721 BC. 279 00:14:16,540 --> 00:14:18,860 The kingdom of Assyria, one of the most wicked 280 00:14:18,860 --> 00:14:22,460 and deplorable kingdoms, conquers Israel 281 00:14:22,460 --> 00:14:24,220 and takes them into captivity. 282 00:14:24,220 --> 00:14:25,580 And as soon as they do that, 283 00:14:25,580 --> 00:14:27,740 they go out of the land, guess what happens? 284 00:14:28,700 --> 00:14:32,220 If there's free land that doesn't have anyone on it, 285 00:14:32,220 --> 00:14:33,340 other people take it. 286 00:14:34,540 --> 00:14:37,740 And a lot of other people came into the land 287 00:14:37,740 --> 00:14:40,140 that was once the people of Israel's, 288 00:14:40,140 --> 00:14:43,260 as well as Assyria themselves, 289 00:14:43,260 --> 00:14:47,020 having some control over it still, shipped people in. 290 00:14:47,020 --> 00:14:47,980 Because I don't know if you know, 291 00:14:47,980 --> 00:14:51,020 that's a really great way to conquer nations, 292 00:14:51,020 --> 00:14:54,060 is to kind of water them down by sending your own people 293 00:14:54,060 --> 00:14:55,740 and other nations in there 294 00:14:55,740 --> 00:14:57,740 until they lose their national identity. 295 00:14:57,740 --> 00:14:58,780 They don't know who they are 296 00:14:58,780 --> 00:15:01,580 and you've basically brought them all the way down. 297 00:15:01,580 --> 00:15:03,980 Assyria was no different and they did that often. 298 00:15:05,340 --> 00:15:09,420 And so, after they had been in exile, 299 00:15:09,420 --> 00:15:11,660 the tribes of Zebulun and Naphtali 300 00:15:11,660 --> 00:15:15,140 and their lands were all but lost, gone, 301 00:15:15,140 --> 00:15:17,180 never to be reestablished. 302 00:15:17,180 --> 00:15:19,820 And after the Babylonians defeat the Assyrians 303 00:15:19,820 --> 00:15:22,940 and the Medo-Persians defeat the Babylonians, 304 00:15:22,940 --> 00:15:25,500 many of the people of Israel who were taken off into exile 305 00:15:25,500 --> 00:15:28,180 are allowed to return to the land. 306 00:15:28,180 --> 00:15:30,700 But when they come back, what do they find? 307 00:15:30,700 --> 00:15:32,380 It's full of all kinds of peoples. 308 00:15:33,340 --> 00:15:34,300 All kinds of people. 309 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:36,940 And so, intermarriage begins to take place 310 00:15:36,940 --> 00:15:38,740 and other people take the places. 311 00:15:38,740 --> 00:15:41,700 And so, there's a watering down of culture 312 00:15:41,700 --> 00:15:45,500 as well as connection to their God and to his people. 313 00:15:45,500 --> 00:15:48,540 There are different worships of different types of gods 314 00:15:48,540 --> 00:15:50,500 and kinds of gods and idols. 315 00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:53,820 And so, the people in the north are less devout 316 00:15:54,860 --> 00:15:59,740 and less Israelite than in the region below, the south. 317 00:15:59,740 --> 00:16:03,820 So, around Galilee, that's what Jesus is working with 318 00:16:03,820 --> 00:16:07,140 when he moves into his place. 319 00:16:08,020 --> 00:16:12,540 To Jesus' day, Galilee was looked down on 320 00:16:12,540 --> 00:16:15,340 by the Jewish religious elites. 321 00:16:15,340 --> 00:16:20,300 It was a place of scoundrels, working class brawlers, 322 00:16:20,300 --> 00:16:23,620 fighters, and people who were not devout or lovers of God. 323 00:16:24,700 --> 00:16:28,780 That was noted by Jewish historian Josephus 324 00:16:28,780 --> 00:16:31,060 of the area of Galilee. 325 00:16:31,060 --> 00:16:33,780 And to that place, to the place that is despised, 326 00:16:33,780 --> 00:16:36,580 to the place of scoundrels and working class brawlers 327 00:16:36,580 --> 00:16:40,380 and fighters, Jesus relocates himself 328 00:16:40,380 --> 00:16:42,380 right into the middle of it. 329 00:16:42,380 --> 00:16:43,620 And not only does he relocate, 330 00:16:43,620 --> 00:16:46,780 and Matthew tells us he was destined to do that. 331 00:16:46,780 --> 00:16:51,020 It was prophesied that his ministry operation would move there. 332 00:16:51,020 --> 00:16:54,740 Among those people, Jesus will launch his ministry. 333 00:16:57,100 --> 00:16:59,820 To a people living in darkness, 334 00:16:59,820 --> 00:17:03,100 living in a spiritual wilderness, living without access, 335 00:17:03,100 --> 00:17:06,540 cut off from the religious institution of Jerusalem, 336 00:17:06,540 --> 00:17:09,500 to that people, a great light has dawned. 337 00:17:10,500 --> 00:17:14,060 And if you look a little bit later in Isaiah chapter nine, 338 00:17:14,060 --> 00:17:16,380 that great light is described. 339 00:17:16,380 --> 00:17:18,620 I hope you guys know this scripture. 340 00:17:18,620 --> 00:17:23,140 The great light that has dawned in Galilee of the Gentiles 341 00:17:24,220 --> 00:17:28,380 is a child who is born for us, a son who is given to us. 342 00:17:29,500 --> 00:17:31,300 And the government will be on his shoulders, 343 00:17:31,300 --> 00:17:34,060 and he will be named wonderful counselor, 344 00:17:34,060 --> 00:17:36,980 mighty God, eternal Father, Prince of Peace. 345 00:17:36,980 --> 00:17:39,300 His dominion will be vast, 346 00:17:39,300 --> 00:17:41,420 and his prosperity will never end. 347 00:17:41,420 --> 00:17:44,860 He will reign on the throne of David and over its kingdom 348 00:17:44,860 --> 00:17:48,020 and establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness. 349 00:17:48,020 --> 00:17:49,420 From now and forever, 350 00:17:49,420 --> 00:17:52,740 the zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this. 351 00:17:53,660 --> 00:17:55,980 The great light that has dawned, 352 00:17:55,980 --> 00:18:00,060 the prophecy of Jesus moving to Galilee, to Capernaum, 353 00:18:00,900 --> 00:18:05,420 is a prophecy of a Messiah King coming to a dark, 354 00:18:06,380 --> 00:18:10,900 spiritually blind place and bringing light. 355 00:18:10,900 --> 00:18:15,420 Nearly all of us in this room will spend our entire lives 356 00:18:15,420 --> 00:18:18,180 ministering and working among people 357 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:21,540 who have easy access to the gospel should they want it. 358 00:18:23,060 --> 00:18:24,900 But did you know that recent estimates say 359 00:18:24,900 --> 00:18:29,900 that only 30,000 people, 30,000 people, 360 00:18:29,900 --> 00:18:33,620 will minister to one half of the entire planet 361 00:18:35,300 --> 00:18:38,140 who have little to no gospel representation? 362 00:18:38,140 --> 00:18:42,300 30,000 Christians will go into the land of darkness, 363 00:18:42,300 --> 00:18:47,300 the shadow of death, with the light of Christ to bring it. 364 00:18:47,300 --> 00:18:50,100 You and I will minister to that other half, 365 00:18:50,100 --> 00:18:55,100 3.54 billion people who have access to it 366 00:18:55,100 --> 00:18:56,460 and are oftentimes rejected. 367 00:19:00,100 --> 00:19:02,620 It is significant that Jesus didn't launch his ministry 368 00:19:02,620 --> 00:19:04,740 with the elites in Jerusalem, 369 00:19:04,740 --> 00:19:06,380 but instead with the ragamuffins 370 00:19:06,380 --> 00:19:08,700 and underdog outcasts of Galilee. 371 00:19:09,820 --> 00:19:12,980 The outsider, the destitute and the marginalized 372 00:19:12,980 --> 00:19:15,460 will always be more receptive to the good news 373 00:19:15,460 --> 00:19:19,260 than the religious self-centered, self-righteous elites. 374 00:19:19,260 --> 00:19:20,420 Always. 375 00:19:20,420 --> 00:19:23,220 You want to know where to begin to minister 376 00:19:23,220 --> 00:19:26,060 to people with the gospel of Jesus Christ? 377 00:19:26,060 --> 00:19:28,980 You wanna know how do I take what is burning within me, 378 00:19:28,980 --> 00:19:31,660 this light, and take it out into a dark world? 379 00:19:31,660 --> 00:19:32,500 Just go. 380 00:19:33,500 --> 00:19:34,780 Go to the underdog. 381 00:19:34,780 --> 00:19:37,180 Go to the outcasts. 382 00:19:37,180 --> 00:19:38,500 Go to the marginalized. 383 00:19:38,500 --> 00:19:41,700 Find the needy and help them and give them the only thing 384 00:19:41,700 --> 00:19:44,060 that they really ever need. 385 00:19:45,180 --> 00:19:47,580 And like Jesus, you'll find receptivity 386 00:19:47,580 --> 00:19:48,820 like you've never seen. 387 00:19:50,460 --> 00:19:52,980 Jesus moves from Nazareth to Capernaum 388 00:19:52,980 --> 00:19:55,420 by the Sea of Galilee, and so the text tells us 389 00:19:55,420 --> 00:19:57,900 that from that time on, Jesus begins to preach 390 00:19:57,900 --> 00:19:59,780 the same thing that John was preaching. 391 00:19:59,780 --> 00:20:02,140 Repent because the kingdom of heaven 392 00:20:02,140 --> 00:20:05,660 has come near, and as John the Baptist's ministry 393 00:20:05,660 --> 00:20:08,500 comes to a close and wraps up, and his purpose 394 00:20:08,500 --> 00:20:11,060 on this earth, his calling, the reason for which 395 00:20:11,060 --> 00:20:15,820 he was born is fulfilled, Jesus' mission 396 00:20:15,820 --> 00:20:19,300 and ministry begin to rise, and he takes up 397 00:20:19,300 --> 00:20:23,140 the ministry of preaching, the kingdom of God. 398 00:20:23,140 --> 00:20:26,820 Get your life in order because God's king 399 00:20:26,820 --> 00:20:29,860 and the king's rule and reign are brought 400 00:20:29,860 --> 00:20:32,660 and the king's rule and reign are breaking 401 00:20:32,660 --> 00:20:34,700 into reality right now. 402 00:20:36,300 --> 00:20:38,100 That's a paraphrase of what he says. 403 00:20:38,100 --> 00:20:40,660 Get your life in order because God's king 404 00:20:40,660 --> 00:20:43,020 and the king's rule and reign are breaking 405 00:20:43,020 --> 00:20:44,860 into reality right now. 406 00:20:46,860 --> 00:20:49,060 And my friends, that message is as much for us today 407 00:20:49,060 --> 00:20:50,380 as it was for them. 408 00:20:50,380 --> 00:20:53,820 How will you respond to the king? 409 00:20:53,820 --> 00:20:57,660 And so the story of the gospel unfolds, 410 00:20:57,660 --> 00:21:00,820 and now there's a scene at the Sea of Galilee 411 00:21:00,820 --> 00:21:05,820 where Jesus approaches some brothers, Simon and Andrew, 412 00:21:06,260 --> 00:21:09,020 who are fishermen, and James and John, 413 00:21:09,020 --> 00:21:12,140 and he says to them, follow me and I will make you 414 00:21:12,140 --> 00:21:15,940 fish for people, and this is the beginning 415 00:21:15,940 --> 00:21:18,900 of Jesus' calling of his disciples. 416 00:21:18,900 --> 00:21:23,020 And this passage here shows a series of events 417 00:21:23,020 --> 00:21:26,180 that are a serious breach of protocol for his day, 418 00:21:26,180 --> 00:21:30,540 totally socially unacceptable in their custom. 419 00:21:30,540 --> 00:21:33,460 It was not proper for a rabbi in the first century, 420 00:21:33,460 --> 00:21:38,180 as Jesus was, to seek out and call his own disciples. 421 00:21:38,180 --> 00:21:41,620 That was beneath his status, below his class. 422 00:21:41,620 --> 00:21:44,140 That was not for a rabbi. 423 00:21:44,140 --> 00:21:48,020 No, a disciple would be required to request admittance 424 00:21:48,020 --> 00:21:51,460 into his rabbinical school, and a rabbi would accept it 425 00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:54,820 or deny it, usually after a thorough evaluation 426 00:21:54,820 --> 00:21:56,580 of the student's knowledge and acumen. 427 00:21:56,580 --> 00:21:58,820 Are you good enough to be my student? 428 00:22:01,180 --> 00:22:04,140 In this way, Jesus is actually acting more like a prophet 429 00:22:04,140 --> 00:22:07,140 than he is a rabbi, a prophet who is looking 430 00:22:07,140 --> 00:22:12,140 for his protege, who he will hand off his ministry to next. 431 00:22:12,820 --> 00:22:17,220 And so Jesus walks up to Simon, we know him as Peter, 432 00:22:17,220 --> 00:22:21,780 and Andrew, by the way, Simon is his Hebrew name, 433 00:22:21,780 --> 00:22:24,700 Peter is a Greek name, and Andrew is a Greek name, 434 00:22:24,700 --> 00:22:26,300 and so you can already see the influence 435 00:22:26,300 --> 00:22:27,780 of what's going on in Galilee. 436 00:22:29,500 --> 00:22:32,580 There's a dilution of their Israel-like-ness. 437 00:22:33,940 --> 00:22:35,540 And he says to them, follow me. 438 00:22:35,540 --> 00:22:38,380 And follow me literally means come behind me. 439 00:22:40,180 --> 00:22:42,300 It means get in line behind me. 440 00:22:45,180 --> 00:22:46,740 And for you and I who read that, 441 00:22:46,740 --> 00:22:48,460 or maybe even heard sermons on this before, 442 00:22:48,460 --> 00:22:52,140 it's really easy to read that as an invitation. 443 00:22:54,140 --> 00:22:58,860 We even say nowadays, invite Jesus into your heart, right? 444 00:23:00,260 --> 00:23:02,140 But that's not how it's written here. 445 00:23:03,460 --> 00:23:07,260 The forcefulness in the wording of what is written here 446 00:23:07,260 --> 00:23:12,100 in the Greek is this is a command with a promise. 447 00:23:12,100 --> 00:23:16,860 Follow me, and you will do this. 448 00:23:16,860 --> 00:23:20,780 And we read it as, oh, if I want to, if I feel up to it, 449 00:23:20,780 --> 00:23:24,300 Jesus is saying, come on, it's time to go. 450 00:23:25,980 --> 00:23:28,980 And he says, I will make you, you are going to become 451 00:23:28,980 --> 00:23:31,180 something from your time with me, 452 00:23:31,180 --> 00:23:34,300 something different than you were before. 453 00:23:34,300 --> 00:23:37,500 By spending time with me, I'm gonna make you fish for, 454 00:23:37,500 --> 00:23:41,180 and this is not gonna be just about acquisition of knowledge. 455 00:23:41,180 --> 00:23:42,380 You're not just gonna learn something, 456 00:23:42,380 --> 00:23:44,820 you're gonna learn to do something. 457 00:23:44,820 --> 00:23:47,220 You're gonna fish for people. 458 00:23:49,220 --> 00:23:53,180 In Jeremiah 16, 16, God actually calls out to fishermen. 459 00:23:53,180 --> 00:23:55,340 It says, he uses his metaphor, and it says that, 460 00:23:55,340 --> 00:23:57,780 I'm gonna gather up some fishermen, 461 00:23:57,780 --> 00:24:00,780 and they're gonna come help me bring judgment 462 00:24:00,780 --> 00:24:03,420 on Israel for her rebellion. 463 00:24:04,340 --> 00:24:07,140 Fishermen are gonna come and bring judgment 464 00:24:07,140 --> 00:24:12,140 on the rebellion of Israel, and Jesus is turning 465 00:24:12,180 --> 00:24:14,580 that around here, and he's saying, I'm calling you 466 00:24:14,580 --> 00:24:19,580 to save men from judgment, to fish for people. 467 00:24:20,140 --> 00:24:23,660 And what an adventure, what an opportunity, 468 00:24:23,660 --> 00:24:26,300 what a crazy turn of events for probably 469 00:24:26,300 --> 00:24:27,980 an otherwise mundane day. 470 00:24:29,180 --> 00:24:31,140 These guys are just fishing, and this guy comes up 471 00:24:31,140 --> 00:24:32,340 and says, follow me. 472 00:24:33,540 --> 00:24:36,900 Jesus is calling these guys into a new life 473 00:24:36,900 --> 00:24:38,740 and a new purpose altogether. 474 00:24:38,740 --> 00:24:42,100 And again, Luke tells us that Jesus had already 475 00:24:42,100 --> 00:24:44,020 met these guys before. 476 00:24:44,020 --> 00:24:45,980 They actually had an encounter before this time, 477 00:24:45,980 --> 00:24:48,300 but Jesus hadn't commanded or demanded anything 478 00:24:48,300 --> 00:24:51,900 of them before, only that he might show them something 479 00:24:51,900 --> 00:24:54,900 in the book of Luke, and you can find that out yourself. 480 00:24:54,900 --> 00:24:57,540 But now he comes with a demand, follow me, 481 00:24:57,540 --> 00:24:59,100 come behind me, get in line. 482 00:24:59,100 --> 00:25:00,740 It's no small demand either. 483 00:25:02,420 --> 00:25:06,860 There is more than just a call to a new rabbinic school here. 484 00:25:06,860 --> 00:25:08,940 This is the new king. 485 00:25:10,100 --> 00:25:12,100 This is what's most important about this, 486 00:25:12,100 --> 00:25:14,180 and as we talk about kingdom life, 487 00:25:14,180 --> 00:25:16,740 this is the new king who's shown up, 488 00:25:17,740 --> 00:25:19,820 not just another rabbi. 489 00:25:19,820 --> 00:25:22,180 The new king shows up and he's calling them 490 00:25:22,180 --> 00:25:25,340 to join as citizens in his kingdom. 491 00:25:26,820 --> 00:25:30,700 Become citizens of my kingdom, follow me. 492 00:25:30,700 --> 00:25:33,420 Not a religious institution or movement, 493 00:25:33,420 --> 00:25:36,260 not a system of belief or ritual practices, 494 00:25:36,260 --> 00:25:38,420 not going to church on Sunday morning 495 00:25:38,420 --> 00:25:40,220 to fulfill your religious duty. 496 00:25:41,940 --> 00:25:45,380 Come behind the king, join the kingdom, 497 00:25:45,380 --> 00:25:48,300 kingdom citizenship. 498 00:25:48,300 --> 00:25:50,020 That's the call. 499 00:25:50,020 --> 00:25:52,460 And in Luke 12, Jesus tells his disciples 500 00:25:52,460 --> 00:25:57,460 that the father delights to give his disciples 501 00:25:58,260 --> 00:26:00,300 the kingdom of God. 502 00:26:00,300 --> 00:26:03,540 It's theirs, he's giving it to them. 503 00:26:03,540 --> 00:26:05,980 The kingdom, kingdom life is for the disciples 504 00:26:05,980 --> 00:26:07,540 of Jesus Christ. 505 00:26:07,540 --> 00:26:11,300 It's theirs to live, and Jesus is calling disciples. 506 00:26:12,940 --> 00:26:16,580 Steven Gregg wrote a book called Empire of the Rising Sun, 507 00:26:16,580 --> 00:26:18,900 and in it, he has this quote. 508 00:26:20,580 --> 00:26:24,980 A kingdom is an entity in which one participates 509 00:26:24,980 --> 00:26:29,180 by loyalty to a supreme ruler who is obeyed 510 00:26:29,180 --> 00:26:34,180 in all areas of personal and civic life. 511 00:26:34,180 --> 00:26:36,620 Jesus goes on throughout the gospels 512 00:26:36,620 --> 00:26:38,740 to describe over and over again 513 00:26:38,740 --> 00:26:41,020 the cost of being his disciples, 514 00:26:41,020 --> 00:26:42,780 almost like he's discouraging you. 515 00:26:44,460 --> 00:26:46,580 I don't know if that's the experience you had 516 00:26:46,580 --> 00:26:48,900 when you met Jesus or when you met Jesus 517 00:26:48,900 --> 00:26:52,220 through a Christian organization or a church, 518 00:26:52,220 --> 00:26:54,380 but it's a very important thing to know. 519 00:26:54,380 --> 00:26:57,380 And I think that's the key to being a Christian. 520 00:26:57,380 --> 00:26:59,900 And I think that's the key to being a Christian. 521 00:26:59,900 --> 00:27:02,380 And I think that's the key to being a Christian. 522 00:27:02,380 --> 00:27:05,460 I don't know if you've ever been to a Christian organization 523 00:27:05,460 --> 00:27:07,300 or a church or with a believer. 524 00:27:07,300 --> 00:27:09,620 If you felt like, man, they really don't want me 525 00:27:09,620 --> 00:27:11,300 to accept this. 526 00:27:11,300 --> 00:27:14,180 But Jesus seemed to go out of His way to tell them, 527 00:27:14,180 --> 00:27:15,420 this is not easy. 528 00:27:17,220 --> 00:27:18,940 This is not easy believe-ism. 529 00:27:18,940 --> 00:27:21,740 This is not cheap grace, what's about to happen. 530 00:27:21,740 --> 00:27:25,020 You're joining a kingdom behind a king. 531 00:27:25,020 --> 00:27:26,900 It requires obedience. 532 00:27:26,900 --> 00:27:29,180 I know we love to say we're sinners, and we do fail, 533 00:27:29,180 --> 00:27:31,500 and that is true, we talked about that in confession. 534 00:27:31,500 --> 00:27:33,460 We talked about obedience. 535 00:27:33,460 --> 00:27:35,980 This requires absolute obedience. 536 00:27:35,980 --> 00:27:38,620 That's part of what it means to understand the gospel, right? 537 00:27:38,620 --> 00:27:40,820 It does require absolute obedience. 538 00:27:42,140 --> 00:27:43,580 And so when we talk about confession, 539 00:27:43,580 --> 00:27:46,460 or we talk about laying our sins before the Lord, 540 00:27:46,460 --> 00:27:49,940 it's because Jesus was perfectly obedient. 541 00:27:49,940 --> 00:27:53,460 It did require perfect obedience, we just couldn't do it. 542 00:27:53,460 --> 00:27:55,660 It doesn't mean we shouldn't. 543 00:27:55,660 --> 00:27:57,380 It doesn't mean we shouldn't try. 544 00:27:57,380 --> 00:27:59,820 The gift of salvation is free. 545 00:28:00,500 --> 00:28:02,900 The life of discipleship is hard. 546 00:28:04,260 --> 00:28:05,100 Hard. 547 00:28:06,220 --> 00:28:09,620 Over and over and over again, the scripture says, 548 00:28:09,620 --> 00:28:11,900 if you love me, you will obey me. 549 00:28:12,820 --> 00:28:13,660 Obey. 550 00:28:14,980 --> 00:28:16,900 You want to know if you love me? 551 00:28:16,900 --> 00:28:18,380 You claim my name? 552 00:28:18,380 --> 00:28:20,220 You say Christian? 553 00:28:20,220 --> 00:28:21,820 Look at your life, do you obey me? 554 00:28:22,980 --> 00:28:23,820 Do you obey me? 555 00:28:23,820 --> 00:28:25,780 Do you actively obey me? 556 00:28:25,780 --> 00:28:27,860 Obey me, because a kingdom, 557 00:28:27,860 --> 00:28:30,660 unlike a religious experience or institution, 558 00:28:30,660 --> 00:28:34,820 a kingdom is an entity that is participated in 559 00:28:34,820 --> 00:28:37,140 by loyalty to a supreme ruler 560 00:28:38,700 --> 00:28:40,900 who is to be obeyed in all areas of life. 561 00:28:43,220 --> 00:28:44,540 Jesus told his disciples later, 562 00:28:44,540 --> 00:28:49,540 every one of you who does not renounce all your possessions 563 00:28:49,780 --> 00:28:51,100 cannot be my disciple. 564 00:28:51,100 --> 00:28:53,340 If anyone wants to follow after me, 565 00:28:53,340 --> 00:28:57,100 let him deny himself, take up his cross, 566 00:28:57,100 --> 00:28:58,180 and come behind me. 567 00:29:00,580 --> 00:29:02,900 In that same book, Steve Gregg says, 568 00:29:03,980 --> 00:29:06,500 the true gospel is about, 569 00:29:06,500 --> 00:29:07,820 Nate, you got that up there? 570 00:29:07,820 --> 00:29:08,660 Thanks. 571 00:29:08,660 --> 00:29:11,020 The true gospel is about the rightful claims 572 00:29:11,020 --> 00:29:13,460 of the king and of his kingdom. 573 00:29:14,620 --> 00:29:17,860 Its emphasis is upon the parochial 574 00:29:17,860 --> 00:29:20,820 and the rightful claims of the king. 575 00:29:20,820 --> 00:29:23,900 The parochial is the prerogative of the king 576 00:29:23,900 --> 00:29:26,460 rather than the desires, preferences, 577 00:29:26,460 --> 00:29:28,540 or even needs of the sinner. 578 00:29:29,420 --> 00:29:30,500 That's worth repeating. 579 00:29:30,500 --> 00:29:34,020 Its emphasis is upon the prerogative of the king 580 00:29:34,020 --> 00:29:36,700 rather than the desires, preferences, 581 00:29:36,700 --> 00:29:39,100 or even needs of the sinner. 582 00:29:39,100 --> 00:29:43,260 In the kingdom of God, one sinful self-interest 583 00:29:43,260 --> 00:29:48,260 must be sacrificed to God's choice for one's life. 584 00:29:48,260 --> 00:29:52,060 Those who regard this as too great a sacrifice 585 00:29:52,060 --> 00:29:56,620 should not be lied to, coddled, or bargained with. 586 00:29:57,620 --> 00:30:00,940 They are simply not ready for Jesus. 587 00:30:02,460 --> 00:30:07,460 He will not change his terms to salvage their egos. 588 00:30:11,780 --> 00:30:15,140 This is most illustrated in the encounter 589 00:30:15,140 --> 00:30:18,900 between Jesus and the rich young ruler. 590 00:30:20,780 --> 00:30:25,780 Teacher, what good must I do to have eternal life? 591 00:30:26,500 --> 00:30:27,940 Tell me the good. 592 00:30:27,940 --> 00:30:29,100 I'll do whatever. 593 00:30:29,100 --> 00:30:30,540 I wanna have eternal life. 594 00:30:30,540 --> 00:30:31,780 What good can I do? 595 00:30:32,860 --> 00:30:37,340 And Jesus says, well, you keep all the commandments, right? 596 00:30:37,340 --> 00:30:38,460 You keep all the commandments, right? 597 00:30:38,460 --> 00:30:42,740 And the rich young ruler goes, well, which ones? 598 00:30:42,740 --> 00:30:45,580 Like there's 613 of them. 599 00:30:45,580 --> 00:30:47,420 All of them are just the 10 commandments, 600 00:30:47,420 --> 00:30:50,500 and Jesus starts listing off some of the main 10 commandments, 601 00:30:50,500 --> 00:30:51,980 the moral law. 602 00:30:51,980 --> 00:30:55,740 Don't murder, don't kill, don't lie, don't steal, whatever. 603 00:30:55,740 --> 00:30:59,980 And the rich young ruler says, I've done all those. 604 00:30:59,980 --> 00:31:04,100 I've done all those since I was a little kid. 605 00:31:04,100 --> 00:31:05,380 I obeyed the law. 606 00:31:06,700 --> 00:31:08,180 What else must I do? 607 00:31:09,700 --> 00:31:11,060 It says Jesus looked at him. 608 00:31:11,060 --> 00:31:16,060 Jesus looked at the rich young ruler and hated him 609 00:31:16,060 --> 00:31:17,940 because he was a rich man. 610 00:31:17,940 --> 00:31:19,260 No, it doesn't say that. 611 00:31:20,780 --> 00:31:24,220 It says Jesus looked at him and he loved him. 612 00:31:25,700 --> 00:31:28,300 And then he told him to sell everything he has 613 00:31:29,980 --> 00:31:34,180 because he saw your idol is your possessions. 614 00:31:34,180 --> 00:31:37,380 Your idol is what you have, 615 00:31:37,380 --> 00:31:41,220 and that will never bring the kingdom life to you. 616 00:31:42,380 --> 00:31:45,540 He loved him, and so he said, sell it all. 617 00:31:46,860 --> 00:31:47,900 Come follow me. 618 00:31:49,140 --> 00:31:53,140 And it says the rich young ruler hung his head 619 00:31:53,140 --> 00:31:57,100 and went away because he had such great wealth. 620 00:32:00,900 --> 00:32:04,220 Jesus is calling each one of us to follow him, 621 00:32:04,220 --> 00:32:07,580 to come behind him. 622 00:32:08,860 --> 00:32:12,260 But it is so much more than a mere intellectual assent 623 00:32:12,260 --> 00:32:13,900 to who he claims to be. 624 00:32:15,300 --> 00:32:20,020 It is a call, an imperative to join his kingdom, 625 00:32:20,020 --> 00:32:23,900 his mission, his way over every other way. 626 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:27,220 It comes with a promise, though. 627 00:32:28,420 --> 00:32:30,260 He's a good God. 628 00:32:30,260 --> 00:32:34,420 The promise is that we can spend all of our lives, 629 00:32:34,420 --> 00:32:38,060 all of our resources, all of our time, all of our energy, 630 00:32:38,060 --> 00:32:40,860 everything we have, we can pour it out 631 00:32:40,860 --> 00:32:42,980 for the lives of others, 632 00:32:44,180 --> 00:32:49,180 to fish them from the chaotic waters of sin and destruction 633 00:32:49,980 --> 00:32:53,180 and bring them into this kingdom of light. 634 00:32:54,820 --> 00:32:56,020 We can do that. 635 00:32:56,900 --> 00:32:58,220 We get to do that. 636 00:32:58,220 --> 00:32:59,460 We get to do that. 637 00:33:00,460 --> 00:33:02,020 We are honored to do that. 638 00:33:04,580 --> 00:33:07,660 This is what Christ spent his life on. 639 00:33:09,140 --> 00:33:14,140 Truly in every way, he spent his life, 640 00:33:15,580 --> 00:33:19,860 including his life, for us, to pluck us, 641 00:33:19,860 --> 00:33:23,660 to fish us out of the dark, chaotic, 642 00:33:23,660 --> 00:33:26,220 and destructive waters of sin, 643 00:33:26,220 --> 00:33:29,900 and to plant us in a kingdom of a good King. 644 00:33:32,300 --> 00:33:37,300 My time belongs to the King and the kingdom. 645 00:33:38,900 --> 00:33:42,100 My future belongs to the King and the kingdom. 646 00:33:42,100 --> 00:33:44,700 My money belongs to the King and the kingdom. 647 00:33:44,700 --> 00:33:47,540 My priorities belong to the King and the kingdom. 648 00:33:47,540 --> 00:33:50,740 My preferences belong to the King and the kingdom. 649 00:33:50,740 --> 00:33:54,140 My hopes belong to the King and to the kingdom. 650 00:33:54,140 --> 00:33:56,980 My desires belong to the King and the Kingdom. 651 00:33:56,980 --> 00:33:59,020 My family belongs to the King and the Kingdom. 652 00:33:59,020 --> 00:34:00,940 My wife belongs to the King and the Kingdom. 653 00:34:00,940 --> 00:34:05,940 My kids, my work, my life belong to the King and the Kingdom. 654 00:34:05,940 --> 00:34:24,940 A disciple of Jesus lives and dies for King and Kingdom.