If you have your Bibles, open them. Open to Matthew
chapter 4. And Junior Church can be dismissed.
Thank you. Matthew 4, and we'll just look at
one verse this morning as our text, and we'll
be looking at various texts. And I know some
of you are thinking, we finished Matthew 6 a
few weeks ago, are we going backwards? And now
I want to explain something this morning that
I trust will be a help. And I think if we can
understand this, it'll unlock a lot of Bible
understanding. Because I think there's a lot
of confusion, particularly what is meant on this
topic of the kingdom. In Matthew 4, 17, Jesus
says, or the word of God says, from that time,
Jesus began to preach and say, repent. Why? For
the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Would you bow
with me and ask God to help? Heavenly Father,
we take a few moments and we humble our hearts
this morning. And even in the quietness of the
moment, Lord, would you help us, Lord, to be
still before you. Father, Lord, the most dangerous,
arrogant thing would just be to rush through
and think that, Lord, we of our own natural inclination
and our own natural faculties could understand
your word. But unless the Spirit of God brings
insight and illumination, Lord, it will not profit.
Lord, your word will go forth in power, and it
does not ever return void, but it always accomplishes
the work that you've sent it to do. And so, Lord,
this morning, your people are gathered. They're
your people. They're the sheep of your pasture.
And, Lord, they need to be fed from on high.
And so, Lord, God, the true bread is Christ.
Would you feed them Christ this morning, Lord,
as we open the pages of Holy Scripture? And,
Lord, God, would you instruct us out of it? We
pray this in Jesus' blessed name. Amen. So I
think it is incumbent upon us as preachers, it
is our job, I should say, to be clear and even
more so to be precise when we preach. I mean,
the language and the vocabulary that is used
really ought to help illumine the text and it
should never detract from the text. Yet, if we're
not careful, sometimes we will use words and
we will take for granted that everyone knows
what is being talked about. There's a certain
Christian vernacular, if you will. For example,
oftentimes you'll hear us talk about an old covenant
and a new covenant, and we're just assuming that
everyone here would understand what is meant
by the word covenant. Well, for the past couple
weeks, we were in Matthew 6, and we've been hearing
and we've been focusing on that chapter 6, verse
33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness,
with all these things promised to be added unto
you. But there's an underlying assumption that
we all know what is meant by the kingdom of God.
If you are to seek first and that is your ultimate
aim and priority in life, then we understand
or we take for granted, well, what are you seeking
after? We often talk of kingdom priorities or
kingdom living or kingdom responsibilities as
citizens. But what exactly is the kingdom of
God? If I were to ask you to explain it to someone
else, how would you explain the kingdom of God
to them? Now think in your mind for just a moment
how you would answer that question. How would
you explain it? If you have five minutes, explain
the kingdom. But it's not as easy as we may think.
Now, there are some things that make it easy,
but overall, we want to make very clear this
morning, what do we mean when we're talking about
the kingdom of God? In its simplest form, the
kingdom, the word kingdom, simply means rule.
So the kingdom of God is the reign of God. It's
not primarily a place and it's not primarily
a people, but it's the reign of God. Now you
have a people formed by the kingdom of God. But
so we can talk about there's a group who've been
called out from the world who live under his
reign. Now the New Testament speaks of the kingdom
being ruled over by God with Christ as its king.
So the church is understood as the seed. That's
very important. The beginning of the kingdom.
It is a community, a body, where God's reign
is present and where his will is made known.
So we talk about the kingdom, and this is where
it can get a little obscure. The kingdom is both
a present reality. It is here. It's experienced
through faith and repentance, living under the
will of God. But the kingdom is also a future.
It's the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan and
the end of time. It's the consummation of all
things that occurs when the Lord Jesus Christ
returns in glory. But what do we mean by that?
Now the word kingdom in Greek is basileia. You
might see the word basilica. It comes from that
word. And that's just an ancient Greek word.
And here's what it means. Kingdom, reign, or
sovereignty. Now when we talk about the kingdom,
just as we talk about salvation, we talk about
it in three tenses. Think about our salvation.
We were saved. The Bible says we are being saved.
The Bible uses the term we will be saved. We
have been justified. We are being sanctified.
We will be glorified. So also the kingdom of
God has three tenses. The kingdom has come. The
kingdom is here. And the kingdom will come. So
that's still very murky, if you will. The kingdom
of God came in the word incarnate, in the incarnation
of God as Christ took on flesh. It is here now
in seed form in the church, and it will come
in ultimate fulfillment and fruition when the
Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory. Now the key
to keep in mind is because the way we use kingdom,
we think of geopolitical realities. But the kingdom
is not a place. It's not like an earthly kingdom.
There is not one country on earth in which the
kingdom of God is located. That's not true. So
that's why this concept can be a little bit confusing.
Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule
of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe.
So we would say God rules over what? He rules
over all. He rules over the cosmos. He rules
over the created order. God is king. And that
is a true statement. Narrowly speaking though,
the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule in the
hearts and lives of those who willingly submit
to his authority. And that is why we can say
right now, present tense, the kingdom of God
is synonymous with the true church on earth.
It's a spiritual reality. But even that's a mixed
bag. Why? Because the visible church, when I'm
preaching, here's my assumption. That the group
will be comprised of both we and tares. There
are believers and there are unbelievers, I assume,
in this congregation this morning. So we talk
about the kingdom of God being synonymous with
the church. That's a mixed bag, but we have to
leave it there because Jesus said at the final
harvest, he said he's going to send his angels,
he will tell the reapers, gather the tares, that
is the weeds, gather them first, bind them in
bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat
into my barn. So when we're talking about the
kingdom, those who have come to Christ in faith,
and repentance, those who confess him as Lord
are part of the true kingdom of God. Now, one's
position in the kingdom of God is demonstrated,
is proved, is manifested in the way in which
he lives. Genuine faith in Christ will always
be accompanied by good works. Good works don't
save, they're not meritorious, but they are present
with true faith. Which is why Jesus said some
really difficult sayings that we need to listen
up to. In Matthew 7, we'll be looking at that
in a few weeks. This is the very end of the Sermon
on the Mount. Jesus said, not everyone who says
to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom
of heaven. Just because you say he's Lord does
not mean you're coming into his kingdom. But
the one who does the will of my Father who is
in heaven. Now that does not make it salvation
by works. True salvation works. True salvation
does the will of his Father. In 1 Corinthians
6, the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at
Corinth, full of problems, and he says this,
Do you not know that the unrighteous will not
inherit the kingdom of God? And by the way, kingdom
of heaven, kingdom of God, synonyms. They mean
the same thing. Sometimes we'll hear the word
kingdom of Christ. He said, the unrighteous don't
enter in the kingdom of God. They don't inherit
it. And he's talking to the church and he says,
don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters,
nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor
revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom
of God. Don't be deceived. That's not my word.
That is the word of the living God. So the kingdom
of God, this is the realm of salvation, right?
And those whose lives are characterized by rebellion
to God, doesn't mean that a Christian would never
commit one of these things, but those whose lives
are marked by rebellion to God are not part of
his saving reign. Presently, the kingdom of God,
as we said, it's spiritual. It's in the hearts
and lives of those who have confessed Christ
and has come to him as Savior. But it's also
a future reality. It will be a physical reign.
When? When Christ returns in glory and he rules
over the entire earth. And the Old Testament
prophets, if you go back to them, that's the
day that they're often prophesying about. Prophets
such as Isaiah and Daniel, they foretold the
coming of a messianic king who would establish
God's reign of peace. God's reign of justice
and God's reign of righteousness on the earth.
They wrote about it all the time. And these prophecies,
they first and ultimately find their fulfillment
in Jesus Christ. So when Jesus came, the second
person of the Trinity, the Son of God takes on
flesh, he comes to the earth, and he inaugurated
the kingdom. Inaugurated. He began it through
his life, death, and resurrection. So the kingdom
is inaugurated. It's already, but it's not yet
consummated. It's not yet come to its final form.
That awaits a future time when he returns again
in glory. So when we're talking about the kingdom,
it depends what we're talking about. There is
a physical aspect, future, and there's a spiritual
aspect, present. So Christ will rule and reign
on the earth, and believers, we will also rule
and reign with him on this earth for eternity.
This is our hope. This is our future. A physical
earthly in the new earth existence yet without
sin. I was driving in this morning to church
and it was just beautiful before all the rain
came and now you start to see the buds on the
trees and I was just looking out at some of the
fields and I thought man how pretty creation
is. And then I thought but imagine what it's
going to look like when the stain of sin and
the curse has been lifted. Can you imagine how
beautiful this is going to be? That's our future.
But what I want to do now And I know this can
seem a little bit confusing, and I'm asking God
to help me here. I want to trace the development
of how God's kingdom, the idea, grows and changes
throughout the scriptures. There's been a lot
of people who have done a lot of work on this.
Ben Dunson wrote several articles, and I kind
of used him as a help here. But we're going to
start in the New Testament. And we're going to
work our way backwards to the Old. But let's
start at the New. Matthew chapter 3. Matthew
3. We've already preached through this. In those
days, John the Baptist came preaching in the
wilderness of Judea. John's the forerunner, right?
He's the herald sent before the Messiah. Well,
what was he saying? Verse 2. Repent, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. So he had a preaching
ministry, and it basically consisted of two parts.
Part number one. He called the people to repent.
Part number two, he announced that the kingdom
that had long been prophesied was at hand. Two
parts. Notice he doesn't spend any time trying
to explain the meaning of the word kingdom. He
simply tells the people who are listening to
him, it's here. It's at hand. Turn over one chapter
later, Matthew 4. You see it on the wall behind
me. Jesus, now Matthew 4, begins his public ministry
in Galilee, northern Israel. John's in southern
Israel. And he preached the exact same message
that John the Baptist had been preaching. Look
at verse 17. From that time, Jesus began to preach
and to say what? Repent. Why? For the kingdom
of heaven is at hand. So you have Jesus also
having a preaching ministry and he basically
had the same message. Number one, repent. It's
to prepare them for the kingdom. Number two,
the kingdom was at hand. It was here. But I want
you to notice, neither John nor the Lord Jesus
took the time to explain what is meant by the
word kingdom. Now, why wouldn't they? Because
who were they preaching to? Jews. They're preaching
to Israel. And those people would have naturally
and immediately known what was meant when Jesus
and John used the phrase kingdom of heaven. It
would be similar if I were to say today as an
American pastor preaching to an American audience,
if I start talking about the White House, you
don't assume that I'm talking about Nancy Collier's
house. You assume that I'm talking about the
place of the president. Why? Everyone understands,
as Americans, what is meant by the White House.
Same thing, Jesus and John. They are Jews preaching
to Jews, and they immediately would have known
what is meant by the word kingdom of heaven or
kingdom of God. And this idea was really pretty
prevalent throughout the entire Old Testament.
If you go back to the Old Testament, you find
the idea that God is king over all creation.
Psalm 10, verse 16. Go to that next slide. Psalm
10, 16. The Lord is king, and that's again Yahweh,
all caps. The Lord is king. Yahweh is king forever
and ever. Psalm 103. Yahweh, the Lord, has prepared
his throne in the heavens and his kingdom, that
is his reign, rules over all. What do we mean?
There's not anyone outside of the jurisdiction
of God. God reigns over all. That's what the
psalmist said. Psalm 95. For the Lord, for Yahweh,
is a great God and a great king above all gods.
So who's the true king? The Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh
is his name. God is king over the nations, but
he was king over a particular nation in a particular
way unlike the rest. He was particularly king
over Israel. Why? He chose them. He was in a
covenant with them. God was Israel's king in
a way unlike the other nations. And they still,
even Israel, looked around and they saw these
other nations had earthly kings and they thought,
that sounds good. Give us one of those. And you
see that in 1 Samuel 12. And the Lord sent Jeroboam,
Badon, Jephthah, and Samuel and delivered you
out of the hand of your enemies on every side.
You dwelt in safety. God's doing a great job.
Verse 12. And when you saw that Nahash, king
of the Ammonites, came against you, you said
to me, no, but a king shall reign over us. When
the Lord, your God, was your king. So they're
looking around and they're like, hey, God's been
doing a great job protecting them, delivering
them, leading them. But now when a king comes
against them to fight, they're like, we need
an earthly king. So God condescended to their
request. God was king over Israel. He never stopped
that. But he would allow earthly kings to have
a role to play in his rule. Now this didn't start
with Saul. It started with Adam. In the very
beginning, you see Adam commissioned and he has
a kingly role. Now stay with me. He's not called
a king. But in Genesis 1, verses 26 -30, you
find that God gives Adam rule. He gives him reign
over what? Over the fish, over the birds, over
the cattle, over the insects, over all plant
life, over all the earth. Remember what's kingdom?
Rule. And that's what he had. Adam was to be
a subordinate king. Under the rule of the ultimate
king. So that's where it's starting. So in this
sense, God is going to reign over his creation
by and through a human agent, in this case, Adam.
What happened? Adam, the subordinate king, rebelled,
sinned against the ultimate one. And he forfeited
his right. But just because Adam failed, God
did not abandon his intention to rule over his
creation by virtue of a human king. So we keep
going forward in Genesis until we come to chapter
12. In Genesis 12, you have God making a renewed
commitment to rule the world, again, through
a human agent. And we find this with Abraham,
Genesis 12. Now the word is said to Abram, later
be Abraham. Get out of your country, from your
family, and from your father's house to a land
that I will show you. I will make you a great
nation. I will bless you. I will make your name
great. You shall be a blessing. Sounds like a
good plan. Now, five chapters later, Genesis
17, God then reaffirms what was said earlier
in verses 6 and 7. This is God speaking to Abraham.
I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will
make nations of you, and kings shall come from
you. And I will establish my covenant between
me and you and your descendants after you in
their generations for an everlasting covenant
to be God to you and your descendants after you.
Kings are going to come from the loins of Abraham
through his seed. And somehow through one of
his seed, the entire nation, all nations of the
earth are going to be blessed through him. This
kingly dominion was given to Adam, later given
to Abraham. But now there's one big difference.
Adam was given the responsibility to take dominion
over the earth. Adam, go and do it. But notice
now, Abraham, God says, I will do it through
you. Notice the text. I will make you exceedingly
fruitful. I will make nations of you. And I will
make kings come from you. What's going on here?
Adam was given the responsibility before sin
entered into the world. But that's now no longer
possible. Sin is entered, and that commission
is an impossibility unless God does it. This
dominion, this rule, this kingdom must be a gift
from God. Adam was called the son of God, and
he failed. Now this promise is to Abraham, and
his seed, which will ultimately be Israel, is
set to be God's new son. Israel is also called
a son of God. Adam is and Israel is. So now Israel,
going back to Saul, she's going to have some
earthly monarchs. Through her kings, she's supposed
to be a blessing to the nations and the reign
of God will extend across the earth through Israel.
Wonderful. She's exalted. She's poised to be
a kingdom of priests. She's called a holy nation.
She is to be a light of God's truth to all the
nations. Israel. is to make God, the true king,
known, spread his glory across the globe. She
fails. And we see this failure in her first king,
Saul. Saul was commissioned king, later dethroned.
Why? He was disobedient. But God wasn't finished.
He is faithful. So he was still committed to
his mission. He removes Saul, and he chooses
the youngest son of Jesse. A shepherd boy named
David. David is going to be king. And God's going
to make a covenant with him very similar to the
covenant he made with Abraham. But it's even
more specific, if you will. And we read about
this in 2 Samuel. God speaking to David. When
your days are fulfilled and you rest with your
fathers. Hey, David, when you die, I'm going
to set up your seed after you who will come from
your body and I will establish his kingdom. He
shall build a house for my name. I will establish
the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be
his father and he shall be my son. Notice the
son language. Adam's a son. Israel's son. Now
there's a future son of David that's going to
be God's son. If he commits iniquity, I will
chasten him with the rod of men and the blows
of the sons of men. Verse 15. But my mercy is
not going to depart from him. But I did take
it from Saul. That's God's prerogative to do
so. Whom I removed from before you. But look
at verse 16. Your house and your kingdom will
be established forever before you. Your throne,
that's the kingdom there, will be established
forever. So you have a promise. There's an eternal
kingdom that God is going to establish through
the line of David. God made this promise. He
was promising David, I'm going to preserve a
kingly line and it's never going to be removed.
But as you keep going through the pages of scripture,
you start out with Solomon. He looks like to
be a shining example. But because of the multiplication
of his wives, he soon fails. We see gross failure
on the part of Israel's kings. All the kings
that rule after David. What happened? Would God's
promise fail? Israel. And her kings do fail in
their mission. She was not a holy nation. She
had not lived up to her commission to be a light
to the nations. In fact, church, things got so
bad, it looked as though there would be no kingly
line left. If you keep reading, you find that
Israel, the northern kingdom, the ten northern
tribes, they go into exile into Assyria and they
never return. We refer to them today as the ten
lost tribes of Israel. But there's a southern
kingdom made up of two tribes, and it's called
Judah. So you have Judah. Well, what's going
to happen to Judah? She is just as disobedient
as Israel was. So God says, I'm going to send
you into exile. And he sends her into Babylon
for 70 years. But listen carefully. The promise
to rule the world through that Davidic king was
never erased. Adam failed. Israel failed. The
kings of Israel failed. But God's promise would
not fail. God is going to rule the earth through
a Davidic king, a son of David, just as he promised
he would. He will establish his kingdom. So now
you have the prophets, Isaiah and Daniel, and
many others. They come on the scene, and here's
what they're promising. Yes, Judah is in exile.
Israel's hope looks to be lost, but they're telling
the people God's intention to rule the world
through a son of David, it will continue. But
the human heart's too corrupt. Sin has deeply
affected man. And he no longer can fulfill the
divine intention. You know what is needed? A
new exodus. A new exodus is needed. Not out of
Egypt, but they do need to be delivered. God's
people need to be delivered. And so in fact,
this exodus will not be a physical deliverance
from physical enemies like the nation was delivered
from Egypt. But this exodus will be a true deliverance
for man's real problem, for man's real enemy.
God is going to come and deliver them from the
bondage of sin that lies in the heart of man.
God is going to deliver his people by making
them a new creation, giving them a new heart,
and he will rule and reign over them. The prophets
foretold of this good news. Isaiah wrote, O Zion,
chapter 40, You who bring good tidings, get up
into the high mountain of Jerusalem. You who
bring good tidings. Good tidings is good news,
and good news is what? Gospel. Lift up your voice
with strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say
to the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold,
the Lord God shall come with a strong hand. His
arms shall rule for him. Who's coming? God's
coming. Behold, his reward is with him and his
work before him. One more passage here, Isaiah
52. How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him who bring good news, who bring the
gospel, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings
of good things, who proclaim salvation, who says
to Zion, your God reigns. Notice the word. The
Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of
all nations and all the ends of the earth shall
see the salvation of our God. All the nations
are going to see it. Remember the promise to
Abraham that all the nations are going to be
blessed through you. Now if this prophesied kingdom
is going to come as foretold, then it can only
come because God himself comes to Israel and
he will save and deliver his sinful people. And
then he's going to equip those people whom he
has saved to take his saving reign, to take this
good news, this good tidings, this gospel to
the other most parts of the earth. Zechariah
14, 9. And then the Lord shall be king over all
the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord
and his name one. Friends, this is the direction
where we're headed. All history is headed here.
One king ruling over all the earth in one kingdom.
That's where we're headed. It is the kingdom
that Daniel prophesied. He prophesied of a coming
kingdom that's made, and he said, without hands.
Daniel 2. And in the days of these kings, the
God of heaven, now notice the language here,
will set up a kingdom. God's going to set up
a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Praise
God, it's not. And the kingdom shall not be left
to other people. It shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms. And this kingdom
that God sets up, it will stand forever. How
can this happen? All the other kings failed in
their mission, including Solomon. How will it
come to pass? They start prophesying of a future
deliverer, a Messiah who's going to come. But
here's how it's going to happen. God is going
to set up his king. And Psalm 2 says exactly
that. I have set my king, God speaking, I have
set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare
the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are
my son. Today I have begotten you. And he's talking
that son. Notice the son language, king language.
Adam was a son. Israel was a son. They were also
kings. And now God is saying, no, I'll set my
own king. And this is my son. And he says, verse
8, ask of me and I will give you the nations
for your inheritance and the ends of the earth
for your possession. Isaiah, he said that this
Messiah is going to come and suffer. And he wrote
a lot about that. Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53. But Daniel
says, yeah, but he's going to suffer. But he's
going to reign triumphantly. He's going to be
the great king. Daniel 7. Look at the text. The
suffering servant of Isaiah. This is why the
Jews got so confused here. And you would too.
Notice Isaiah 53. He, we're talking about the
Messiah. God sent one. He was taken from prison
and from judgment. And who's going to declare
his generation? For he was cut off, he was killed
from the land of the living. Why? For the transgressions
of my people he was stricken. They made his grave
with the wicked, but with the rich at his death,
because he had done no violence, nor was any
deceit in his mouth. Verse 10. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him, his pudding to grief.
We'll stop there. What? He's dead. It pleased...
the Father, to crushing. And yet he's going to
deliver people. That's what Daniel 7 says. You
have a ruling king here. Daniel said, Well, I
was watching in the night visions, and behold,
one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds
of heavens, he came to the Ancient of Days, and
they brought him near before him. Then to him,
that Son of Man, was given dominion and glory
and a kingdom. What's it look like? that all
peoples, nations, and languages should serve
him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.
That's the same language God said to David, which
shall not pass away, and his kingdom, the one
which shall not be destroyed. God told Daniel
that through the Son of Man, he's going to establish
his reign over the whole earth, and this kingdom
will never pass away. So you can imagine Jews
reading this, that's what they're expecting,
some triumphant, some political deliverer. Of
course, there's a Messiah that's there, right?
They could not reconcile in their mind, how can
you have a ruling king in Daniel and you have
a suffering servant, a suffering Messiah in Isaiah?
And here's the point. They could not see that
the victory that was promised to Daniel came
through the suffering. Promised in Isaiah. Praise
be to God. This is wonderful. Jesus will be the
triumphant king. But only after he dies for the
sins of his wicked people. The Old Testament
ends with a prophecy that you have a coming Messiah
who's going to set up a kingdom that's eternal.
Now we go back to the New Testament, Matthew
3. We're almost done. John the Baptist comes
on the scene. 400 years of silence. John the
Baptist comes on the scene and he's preaching
what? Repent. The kingdom of heaven is here.
It's at hand. What do you mean, John? How is
it near? And this is what you guys are to put
together. How is the kingdom near? Because the
king had come. In Matthew 4, John entrusts us
to Jesus. The kingdom of God had come in the
person of the Lord Jesus. And Jesus then calls
Israel to repent. Why? The kingdom is here. Because
the king is here. Christopher Morgan says, Jesus
requires repentance to enter his kingdom community.
John and Jesus both preached it. Why? Since the
present way of the world must be rejected and
the new age of God's rule and its corresponding
way of life embraced. God still requires repentance,
folks. It's how you enter the kingdom. As such,
repentance is not only the way into the kingdom,
it's also the way of the kingdom. All of life
is one of repentance. All of life. God is reigning,
but his reign finds its fullest expression in
his son, the Lord Jesus. Adam failed, but the
second Adam, Jesus, did not. Israel failed. But
the true Israel, Jesus, did not. All the prophecies
of a future eternal kingdom find an answer in
Jesus. Ben Dunson. The Old Testament teaching
on God's kingdom is the necessary context for
making sense of Jesus' teaching and preaching,
especially his announcement that the kingdom
of God was at hand. The Jews Jesus preached to
knew that God was king. They knew that he had
always been king. What they did not know, was
that the final, in time, saving reign of God
announced by Israel's prophets was already breaking
into the world in Jesus' own person and ministry.
Do you remember when Jesus is casting out demons
and he says, if I cast them out, you know that
the kingdom of God has come? Why is he making
that language? All his miracles are pointing
to what fact? The king is here and he is subordinating
all the enemies that existed against him. So
what do we mean by kingdom? This has been a long
answer, right? The kingdom is God's rule through
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you're
talking about seeking first the kingdom of God,
this means, church, and this is your commission,
you seek Jesus and his will above all things.
Seeking first the kingdom of God means this.
prioritizing, and I mean prioritizing, God's
values, God's principles in every aspect of our
life. God takes a second seat to no one or no
thing. Everything is subjected to him. Seeking
the kingdom of God is praying that that future
and final reign of the kingdom comes. That's
why we pray with all the saints throughout all
church history, even so come Lord Jesus, your
kingdom come. It's here, but bring it in its
fullest expression. But right now, it's a spiritual
reality. It's in your heart. Jesus said in Luke
17, 21, for the kingdom of God is within you.
When you are living under the rule of Christ,
friends, that's the kingdom of God. The Apostle
Paul told us, for the kingdom of God, it's not
eating and drinking. It's not a bunch of ceremonial
regulations. What is it? Righteousness, peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's the realm of
the Spirit. The king has come and the king is
coming again. And when he does, he will bring
and establish this long anticipated, highly longed
for kingdom with him. It is fullness expression.
So we do pray, God, bring heaven to earth and
bring your rule over all the planet. And when
he does... Swords and spears will no longer be
needed. As Isaiah said in chapter 2, they'll
be beaten into plowshares. You don't need weapons
of war anymore. Why? Because God's kingdom is
ruling over all the earth. One day, friends,
one day, God's kingdom will overtake the whole
world. Russia and North Korea and the United
States and Great Britain and Canada and any other
country you want to name will all be subjected
to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation
11, 15. The seventh angel sounded. There are
loud voices in heaven. And I believe shouts of
joy here. Because notice what they're proclaiming.
The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms
of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign.
forever and ever. Remember that promise to David,
one of your seed, and that promise to Abraham,
one of your seed? Jesus, the true son of David,
has come, and he's going to reign over the earth
forever and ever and ever. Why? Because God keeps
his promises. So what do we pray? Even so, come
Lord Jesus. Now what, friends, this is, we're
closing, one minute here. There are only two
kingdoms. There's a kingdom of man, there's a
kingdom of God. The kingdom of man is known as
the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of God is
the kingdom of light. The kingdom of man is the
realm of destruction and eternal perdition. It
is the realm of hell. The kingdom of God is the
realm of salvation. It's the kingdom of salvation.
You and I were born into the kingdom of man.
You did nothing. You were born into that realm
of darkness, that realm of destruction. To enter
into the kingdom of God, you must be born again.
You must. Oh, may God give you eyes to see Jesus
and give you an understanding heart to understand
what has been preached. Jesus said, most assuredly
I say to you, unless one is born of water and
the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom
of God. May God bring the gift of the new birth
to you this morning. We're going to celebrate
today all those who are in this covenant with
God. All those who belong to this kingdom of
God and the realm of salvation, God invites us
to share a meal with him, a covenantal meal,
a foretaste of what we're going to experience
in the kingdom when we feast with him. Today
we will feast upon our Lord. And you are invited
to come. If you know Christ as Lord and Savior
and you've confessed him and you have been baptized
in the name of the triune God, come today. Feast
with your Lord and anticipate the day when we
will do this in the final kingdom of God. Let's
pray. Father, thank you. Lord, we love your word.
It is rich. It is glorious. It is deep. It is...