WEBVTT 00:00:02.060 --> 00:00:05.799 If you have your Bibles, open them. Open to Matthew 00:00:05.799 --> 00:00:10.919 chapter 4. And Junior Church can be dismissed. 00:00:11.820 --> 00:00:43.939 Thank you. Matthew 4, and we'll just look at 00:00:43.939 --> 00:00:45.479 one verse this morning as our text, and we'll 00:00:45.479 --> 00:00:47.799 be looking at various texts. And I know some 00:00:47.799 --> 00:00:49.460 of you are thinking, we finished Matthew 6 a 00:00:49.460 --> 00:00:51.979 few weeks ago, are we going backwards? And now 00:00:51.979 --> 00:00:54.679 I want to explain something this morning that 00:00:54.679 --> 00:00:57.579 I trust will be a help. And I think if we can 00:00:57.579 --> 00:00:59.979 understand this, it'll unlock a lot of Bible 00:00:59.979 --> 00:01:01.969 understanding. Because I think there's a lot 00:01:01.969 --> 00:01:05.109 of confusion, particularly what is meant on this 00:01:05.109 --> 00:01:08.950 topic of the kingdom. In Matthew 4, 17, Jesus 00:01:08.950 --> 00:01:11.769 says, or the word of God says, from that time, 00:01:11.810 --> 00:01:16.950 Jesus began to preach and say, repent. Why? For 00:01:16.950 --> 00:01:22.090 the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Would you bow 00:01:22.090 --> 00:01:29.459 with me and ask God to help? Heavenly Father, 00:01:29.500 --> 00:01:31.719 we take a few moments and we humble our hearts 00:01:31.719 --> 00:01:34.420 this morning. And even in the quietness of the 00:01:34.420 --> 00:01:36.260 moment, Lord, would you help us, Lord, to be 00:01:36.260 --> 00:01:40.620 still before you. Father, Lord, the most dangerous, 00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:42.700 arrogant thing would just be to rush through 00:01:42.700 --> 00:01:45.099 and think that, Lord, we of our own natural inclination 00:01:45.099 --> 00:01:47.680 and our own natural faculties could understand 00:01:47.680 --> 00:01:50.680 your word. But unless the Spirit of God brings 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:53.159 insight and illumination, Lord, it will not profit. 00:01:53.950 --> 00:01:56.290 Lord, your word will go forth in power, and it 00:01:56.290 --> 00:01:59.310 does not ever return void, but it always accomplishes 00:01:59.310 --> 00:02:01.909 the work that you've sent it to do. And so, Lord, 00:02:01.930 --> 00:02:03.769 this morning, your people are gathered. They're 00:02:03.769 --> 00:02:05.950 your people. They're the sheep of your pasture. 00:02:06.489 --> 00:02:08.509 And, Lord, they need to be fed from on high. 00:02:08.889 --> 00:02:10.930 And so, Lord, God, the true bread is Christ. 00:02:11.389 --> 00:02:13.409 Would you feed them Christ this morning, Lord, 00:02:13.430 --> 00:02:15.949 as we open the pages of Holy Scripture? And, 00:02:16.030 --> 00:02:17.810 Lord, God, would you instruct us out of it? We 00:02:17.810 --> 00:02:22.189 pray this in Jesus' blessed name. Amen. So I 00:02:22.189 --> 00:02:25.969 think it is incumbent upon us as preachers, it 00:02:25.969 --> 00:02:29.250 is our job, I should say, to be clear and even 00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:31.810 more so to be precise when we preach. I mean, 00:02:31.830 --> 00:02:34.129 the language and the vocabulary that is used 00:02:34.129 --> 00:02:36.569 really ought to help illumine the text and it 00:02:36.569 --> 00:02:40.590 should never detract from the text. Yet, if we're 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:42.729 not careful, sometimes we will use words and 00:02:42.729 --> 00:02:44.710 we will take for granted that everyone knows 00:02:44.710 --> 00:02:47.110 what is being talked about. There's a certain 00:02:47.110 --> 00:02:49.530 Christian vernacular, if you will. For example, 00:02:49.650 --> 00:02:51.870 oftentimes you'll hear us talk about an old covenant 00:02:51.870 --> 00:02:54.669 and a new covenant, and we're just assuming that 00:02:54.669 --> 00:02:56.909 everyone here would understand what is meant 00:02:56.909 --> 00:03:00.430 by the word covenant. Well, for the past couple 00:03:00.430 --> 00:03:04.030 weeks, we were in Matthew 6, and we've been hearing 00:03:04.030 --> 00:03:06.129 and we've been focusing on that chapter 6, verse 00:03:06.129 --> 00:03:10.069 33, seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, 00:03:10.150 --> 00:03:12.729 with all these things promised to be added unto 00:03:12.729 --> 00:03:15.710 you. But there's an underlying assumption that 00:03:15.710 --> 00:03:18.069 we all know what is meant by the kingdom of God. 00:03:18.990 --> 00:03:21.090 If you are to seek first and that is your ultimate 00:03:21.090 --> 00:03:23.330 aim and priority in life, then we understand 00:03:23.330 --> 00:03:25.530 or we take for granted, well, what are you seeking 00:03:25.530 --> 00:03:29.069 after? We often talk of kingdom priorities or 00:03:29.069 --> 00:03:32.210 kingdom living or kingdom responsibilities as 00:03:32.210 --> 00:03:36.830 citizens. But what exactly is the kingdom of 00:03:36.830 --> 00:03:40.689 God? If I were to ask you to explain it to someone 00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:43.889 else, how would you explain the kingdom of God 00:03:43.889 --> 00:03:46.449 to them? Now think in your mind for just a moment 00:03:46.449 --> 00:03:48.740 how you would answer that question. How would 00:03:48.740 --> 00:03:50.180 you explain it? If you have five minutes, explain 00:03:50.180 --> 00:03:53.599 the kingdom. But it's not as easy as we may think. 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:55.680 Now, there are some things that make it easy, 00:03:55.719 --> 00:03:58.819 but overall, we want to make very clear this 00:03:58.819 --> 00:04:01.620 morning, what do we mean when we're talking about 00:04:01.620 --> 00:04:05.099 the kingdom of God? In its simplest form, the 00:04:05.099 --> 00:04:07.840 kingdom, the word kingdom, simply means rule. 00:04:08.580 --> 00:04:12.250 So the kingdom of God is the reign of God. It's 00:04:12.250 --> 00:04:14.490 not primarily a place and it's not primarily 00:04:14.490 --> 00:04:17.350 a people, but it's the reign of God. Now you 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:20.350 have a people formed by the kingdom of God. But 00:04:20.350 --> 00:04:22.970 so we can talk about there's a group who've been 00:04:22.970 --> 00:04:26.529 called out from the world who live under his 00:04:26.529 --> 00:04:30.730 reign. Now the New Testament speaks of the kingdom 00:04:30.730 --> 00:04:35.370 being ruled over by God with Christ as its king. 00:04:36.329 --> 00:04:41.269 So the church is understood as the seed. That's 00:04:41.269 --> 00:04:44.110 very important. The beginning of the kingdom. 00:04:44.269 --> 00:04:48.689 It is a community, a body, where God's reign 00:04:48.689 --> 00:04:51.449 is present and where his will is made known. 00:04:52.329 --> 00:04:55.269 So we talk about the kingdom, and this is where 00:04:55.269 --> 00:04:58.069 it can get a little obscure. The kingdom is both 00:04:58.069 --> 00:05:01.629 a present reality. It is here. It's experienced 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:05.230 through faith and repentance, living under the 00:05:05.230 --> 00:05:10.069 will of God. But the kingdom is also a future. 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:14.639 It's the ultimate fulfillment of God's plan and 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.040 the end of time. It's the consummation of all 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:19.639 things that occurs when the Lord Jesus Christ 00:05:19.639 --> 00:05:23.500 returns in glory. But what do we mean by that? 00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:27.180 Now the word kingdom in Greek is basileia. You 00:05:27.180 --> 00:05:29.519 might see the word basilica. It comes from that 00:05:29.519 --> 00:05:31.839 word. And that's just an ancient Greek word. 00:05:31.879 --> 00:05:35.319 And here's what it means. Kingdom, reign, or 00:05:35.319 --> 00:05:38.279 sovereignty. Now when we talk about the kingdom, 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:40.879 just as we talk about salvation, we talk about 00:05:40.879 --> 00:05:43.420 it in three tenses. Think about our salvation. 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.980 We were saved. The Bible says we are being saved. 00:05:47.300 --> 00:05:50.800 The Bible uses the term we will be saved. We 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:53.560 have been justified. We are being sanctified. 00:05:53.959 --> 00:05:58.139 We will be glorified. So also the kingdom of 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:02.339 God has three tenses. The kingdom has come. The 00:06:02.339 --> 00:06:07.220 kingdom is here. And the kingdom will come. So 00:06:07.220 --> 00:06:11.120 that's still very murky, if you will. The kingdom 00:06:11.120 --> 00:06:17.500 of God came in the word incarnate, in the incarnation 00:06:17.500 --> 00:06:21.459 of God as Christ took on flesh. It is here now 00:06:21.459 --> 00:06:25.120 in seed form in the church, and it will come 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:28.639 in ultimate fulfillment and fruition when the 00:06:28.639 --> 00:06:31.709 Lord Jesus Christ returns in glory. Now the key 00:06:31.709 --> 00:06:33.949 to keep in mind is because the way we use kingdom, 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:37.089 we think of geopolitical realities. But the kingdom 00:06:37.089 --> 00:06:40.269 is not a place. It's not like an earthly kingdom. 00:06:40.389 --> 00:06:42.990 There is not one country on earth in which the 00:06:42.990 --> 00:06:46.930 kingdom of God is located. That's not true. So 00:06:46.930 --> 00:06:49.709 that's why this concept can be a little bit confusing. 00:06:51.389 --> 00:06:54.410 Broadly speaking, the kingdom of God is the rule 00:06:54.410 --> 00:06:57.930 of an eternal, sovereign God over all the universe. 00:06:58.909 --> 00:07:01.629 So we would say God rules over what? He rules 00:07:01.629 --> 00:07:04.189 over all. He rules over the cosmos. He rules 00:07:04.189 --> 00:07:07.990 over the created order. God is king. And that 00:07:07.990 --> 00:07:11.350 is a true statement. Narrowly speaking though, 00:07:11.449 --> 00:07:15.230 the kingdom of God is a spiritual rule in the 00:07:15.230 --> 00:07:18.170 hearts and lives of those who willingly submit 00:07:18.170 --> 00:07:21.689 to his authority. And that is why we can say 00:07:21.689 --> 00:07:24.410 right now, present tense, the kingdom of God 00:07:24.410 --> 00:07:26.610 is synonymous with the true church on earth. 00:07:27.240 --> 00:07:30.480 It's a spiritual reality. But even that's a mixed 00:07:30.480 --> 00:07:34.100 bag. Why? Because the visible church, when I'm 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:38.000 preaching, here's my assumption. That the group 00:07:38.000 --> 00:07:41.879 will be comprised of both we and tares. There 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:43.699 are believers and there are unbelievers, I assume, 00:07:43.980 --> 00:07:46.980 in this congregation this morning. So we talk 00:07:46.980 --> 00:07:48.980 about the kingdom of God being synonymous with 00:07:48.980 --> 00:07:51.160 the church. That's a mixed bag, but we have to 00:07:51.160 --> 00:07:53.500 leave it there because Jesus said at the final 00:07:53.500 --> 00:07:55.620 harvest, he said he's going to send his angels, 00:07:55.720 --> 00:07:58.339 he will tell the reapers, gather the tares, that 00:07:58.339 --> 00:08:02.560 is the weeds, gather them first, bind them in 00:08:02.560 --> 00:08:06.959 bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat 00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:10.860 into my barn. So when we're talking about the 00:08:10.860 --> 00:08:14.100 kingdom, those who have come to Christ in faith, 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:17.939 and repentance, those who confess him as Lord 00:08:17.939 --> 00:08:22.740 are part of the true kingdom of God. Now, one's 00:08:22.740 --> 00:08:25.860 position in the kingdom of God is demonstrated, 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:31.180 is proved, is manifested in the way in which 00:08:31.180 --> 00:08:35.039 he lives. Genuine faith in Christ will always 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:38.980 be accompanied by good works. Good works don't 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:42.799 save, they're not meritorious, but they are present 00:08:42.799 --> 00:08:46.769 with true faith. Which is why Jesus said some 00:08:46.769 --> 00:08:49.169 really difficult sayings that we need to listen 00:08:49.169 --> 00:08:52.009 up to. In Matthew 7, we'll be looking at that 00:08:52.009 --> 00:08:55.149 in a few weeks. This is the very end of the Sermon 00:08:55.149 --> 00:08:58.610 on the Mount. Jesus said, not everyone who says 00:08:58.610 --> 00:09:02.289 to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom 00:09:02.289 --> 00:09:05.370 of heaven. Just because you say he's Lord does 00:09:05.370 --> 00:09:08.590 not mean you're coming into his kingdom. But 00:09:08.590 --> 00:09:10.210 the one who does the will of my Father who is 00:09:10.210 --> 00:09:13.200 in heaven. Now that does not make it salvation 00:09:13.200 --> 00:09:18.100 by works. True salvation works. True salvation 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:21.539 does the will of his Father. In 1 Corinthians 00:09:21.539 --> 00:09:25.299 6, the Apostle Paul, writing to the church at 00:09:25.299 --> 00:09:28.399 Corinth, full of problems, and he says this, 00:09:28.960 --> 00:09:32.159 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not 00:09:32.159 --> 00:09:34.259 inherit the kingdom of God? And by the way, kingdom 00:09:34.259 --> 00:09:36.759 of heaven, kingdom of God, synonyms. They mean 00:09:36.759 --> 00:09:38.340 the same thing. Sometimes we'll hear the word 00:09:38.340 --> 00:09:41.389 kingdom of Christ. He said, the unrighteous don't 00:09:41.389 --> 00:09:42.730 enter in the kingdom of God. They don't inherit 00:09:42.730 --> 00:09:45.610 it. And he's talking to the church and he says, 00:09:45.649 --> 00:09:50.610 don't be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, 00:09:50.830 --> 00:09:55.210 nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 00:09:55.269 --> 00:10:01.570 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor 00:10:01.570 --> 00:10:06.090 revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom 00:10:06.090 --> 00:10:10.210 of God. Don't be deceived. That's not my word. 00:10:10.250 --> 00:10:13.909 That is the word of the living God. So the kingdom 00:10:13.909 --> 00:10:16.009 of God, this is the realm of salvation, right? 00:10:16.470 --> 00:10:20.710 And those whose lives are characterized by rebellion 00:10:20.710 --> 00:10:23.190 to God, doesn't mean that a Christian would never 00:10:23.190 --> 00:10:25.889 commit one of these things, but those whose lives 00:10:25.889 --> 00:10:29.450 are marked by rebellion to God are not part of 00:10:29.450 --> 00:10:35.129 his saving reign. Presently, the kingdom of God, 00:10:35.169 --> 00:10:37.330 as we said, it's spiritual. It's in the hearts 00:10:37.330 --> 00:10:39.149 and lives of those who have confessed Christ 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:41.529 and has come to him as Savior. But it's also 00:10:41.529 --> 00:10:44.929 a future reality. It will be a physical reign. 00:10:45.950 --> 00:10:50.330 When? When Christ returns in glory and he rules 00:10:50.330 --> 00:10:53.029 over the entire earth. And the Old Testament 00:10:53.029 --> 00:10:54.730 prophets, if you go back to them, that's the 00:10:54.730 --> 00:10:57.710 day that they're often prophesying about. Prophets 00:10:57.710 --> 00:10:59.970 such as Isaiah and Daniel, they foretold the 00:10:59.970 --> 00:11:02.809 coming of a messianic king who would establish 00:11:02.809 --> 00:11:05.419 God's reign of peace. God's reign of justice 00:11:05.419 --> 00:11:07.620 and God's reign of righteousness on the earth. 00:11:08.179 --> 00:11:11.720 They wrote about it all the time. And these prophecies, 00:11:11.720 --> 00:11:14.000 they first and ultimately find their fulfillment 00:11:14.000 --> 00:11:18.259 in Jesus Christ. So when Jesus came, the second 00:11:18.259 --> 00:11:21.460 person of the Trinity, the Son of God takes on 00:11:21.460 --> 00:11:24.279 flesh, he comes to the earth, and he inaugurated 00:11:24.279 --> 00:11:27.539 the kingdom. Inaugurated. He began it through 00:11:27.539 --> 00:11:31.960 his life, death, and resurrection. So the kingdom 00:11:31.960 --> 00:11:36.320 is inaugurated. It's already, but it's not yet 00:11:36.320 --> 00:11:39.779 consummated. It's not yet come to its final form. 00:11:39.899 --> 00:11:43.840 That awaits a future time when he returns again 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.539 in glory. So when we're talking about the kingdom, 00:11:46.700 --> 00:11:49.159 it depends what we're talking about. There is 00:11:49.159 --> 00:11:51.220 a physical aspect, future, and there's a spiritual 00:11:51.220 --> 00:11:54.299 aspect, present. So Christ will rule and reign 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:57.360 on the earth, and believers, we will also rule 00:11:57.360 --> 00:11:59.720 and reign with him on this earth for eternity. 00:12:00.879 --> 00:12:05.000 This is our hope. This is our future. A physical 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.519 earthly in the new earth existence yet without 00:12:09.519 --> 00:12:11.539 sin. I was driving in this morning to church 00:12:11.539 --> 00:12:13.919 and it was just beautiful before all the rain 00:12:13.919 --> 00:12:15.919 came and now you start to see the buds on the 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:17.799 trees and I was just looking out at some of the 00:12:17.799 --> 00:12:19.460 fields and I thought man how pretty creation 00:12:19.460 --> 00:12:22.019 is. And then I thought but imagine what it's 00:12:22.019 --> 00:12:23.659 going to look like when the stain of sin and 00:12:23.659 --> 00:12:26.600 the curse has been lifted. Can you imagine how 00:12:26.600 --> 00:12:29.360 beautiful this is going to be? That's our future. 00:12:30.419 --> 00:12:33.259 But what I want to do now And I know this can 00:12:33.259 --> 00:12:37.120 seem a little bit confusing, and I'm asking God 00:12:37.120 --> 00:12:39.519 to help me here. I want to trace the development 00:12:39.519 --> 00:12:43.279 of how God's kingdom, the idea, grows and changes 00:12:43.279 --> 00:12:46.759 throughout the scriptures. There's been a lot 00:12:46.759 --> 00:12:48.519 of people who have done a lot of work on this. 00:12:48.559 --> 00:12:50.840 Ben Dunson wrote several articles, and I kind 00:12:50.840 --> 00:12:53.159 of used him as a help here. But we're going to 00:12:53.159 --> 00:12:55.940 start in the New Testament. And we're going to 00:12:55.940 --> 00:12:58.600 work our way backwards to the Old. But let's 00:12:58.600 --> 00:13:02.139 start at the New. Matthew chapter 3. Matthew 00:13:02.139 --> 00:13:04.340 3. We've already preached through this. In those 00:13:04.340 --> 00:13:07.440 days, John the Baptist came preaching in the 00:13:07.440 --> 00:13:09.860 wilderness of Judea. John's the forerunner, right? 00:13:10.440 --> 00:13:12.980 He's the herald sent before the Messiah. Well, 00:13:13.019 --> 00:13:18.899 what was he saying? Verse 2. Repent, for the 00:13:18.899 --> 00:13:22.080 kingdom of heaven is at hand. So he had a preaching 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.980 ministry, and it basically consisted of two parts. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:27.799 Part number one. He called the people to repent. 00:13:28.139 --> 00:13:30.399 Part number two, he announced that the kingdom 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.940 that had long been prophesied was at hand. Two 00:13:33.940 --> 00:13:37.340 parts. Notice he doesn't spend any time trying 00:13:37.340 --> 00:13:39.779 to explain the meaning of the word kingdom. He 00:13:39.779 --> 00:13:41.360 simply tells the people who are listening to 00:13:41.360 --> 00:13:45.779 him, it's here. It's at hand. Turn over one chapter 00:13:45.779 --> 00:13:47.940 later, Matthew 4. You see it on the wall behind 00:13:47.940 --> 00:13:51.799 me. Jesus, now Matthew 4, begins his public ministry 00:13:51.799 --> 00:13:56.450 in Galilee, northern Israel. John's in southern 00:13:56.450 --> 00:13:59.370 Israel. And he preached the exact same message 00:13:59.370 --> 00:14:00.850 that John the Baptist had been preaching. Look 00:14:00.850 --> 00:14:04.830 at verse 17. From that time, Jesus began to preach 00:14:04.830 --> 00:14:08.730 and to say what? Repent. Why? For the kingdom 00:14:08.730 --> 00:14:11.909 of heaven is at hand. So you have Jesus also 00:14:11.909 --> 00:14:14.289 having a preaching ministry and he basically 00:14:14.289 --> 00:14:18.909 had the same message. Number one, repent. It's 00:14:18.909 --> 00:14:21.330 to prepare them for the kingdom. Number two, 00:14:21.409 --> 00:14:25.980 the kingdom was at hand. It was here. But I want 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:28.580 you to notice, neither John nor the Lord Jesus 00:14:28.580 --> 00:14:31.440 took the time to explain what is meant by the 00:14:31.440 --> 00:14:35.480 word kingdom. Now, why wouldn't they? Because 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:38.759 who were they preaching to? Jews. They're preaching 00:14:38.759 --> 00:14:41.289 to Israel. And those people would have naturally 00:14:41.289 --> 00:14:43.750 and immediately known what was meant when Jesus 00:14:43.750 --> 00:14:46.549 and John used the phrase kingdom of heaven. It 00:14:46.549 --> 00:14:48.429 would be similar if I were to say today as an 00:14:48.429 --> 00:14:50.730 American pastor preaching to an American audience, 00:14:50.870 --> 00:14:52.809 if I start talking about the White House, you 00:14:52.809 --> 00:14:54.789 don't assume that I'm talking about Nancy Collier's 00:14:54.789 --> 00:14:56.490 house. You assume that I'm talking about the 00:14:56.490 --> 00:14:59.049 place of the president. Why? Everyone understands, 00:14:59.309 --> 00:15:01.509 as Americans, what is meant by the White House. 00:15:02.269 --> 00:15:05.710 Same thing, Jesus and John. They are Jews preaching 00:15:05.710 --> 00:15:08.210 to Jews, and they immediately would have known 00:15:08.210 --> 00:15:10.590 what is meant by the word kingdom of heaven or 00:15:10.590 --> 00:15:14.289 kingdom of God. And this idea was really pretty 00:15:14.289 --> 00:15:16.009 prevalent throughout the entire Old Testament. 00:15:16.929 --> 00:15:18.850 If you go back to the Old Testament, you find 00:15:18.850 --> 00:15:22.309 the idea that God is king over all creation. 00:15:23.250 --> 00:15:27.789 Psalm 10, verse 16. Go to that next slide. Psalm 00:15:27.789 --> 00:15:31.850 10, 16. The Lord is king, and that's again Yahweh, 00:15:32.009 --> 00:15:36.370 all caps. The Lord is king. Yahweh is king forever 00:15:36.370 --> 00:15:41.509 and ever. Psalm 103. Yahweh, the Lord, has prepared 00:15:41.509 --> 00:15:44.250 his throne in the heavens and his kingdom, that 00:15:44.250 --> 00:15:47.370 is his reign, rules over all. What do we mean? 00:15:47.509 --> 00:15:50.429 There's not anyone outside of the jurisdiction 00:15:50.429 --> 00:15:53.990 of God. God reigns over all. That's what the 00:15:53.990 --> 00:15:58.009 psalmist said. Psalm 95. For the Lord, for Yahweh, 00:15:58.070 --> 00:16:01.570 is a great God and a great king above all gods. 00:16:02.889 --> 00:16:08.269 So who's the true king? The Lord, Jehovah, Yahweh 00:16:08.269 --> 00:16:13.409 is his name. God is king over the nations, but 00:16:13.409 --> 00:16:17.070 he was king over a particular nation in a particular 00:16:17.070 --> 00:16:21.509 way unlike the rest. He was particularly king 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:26.669 over Israel. Why? He chose them. He was in a 00:16:26.669 --> 00:16:30.289 covenant with them. God was Israel's king in 00:16:30.289 --> 00:16:34.429 a way unlike the other nations. And they still, 00:16:34.590 --> 00:16:36.429 even Israel, looked around and they saw these 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:38.370 other nations had earthly kings and they thought, 00:16:38.450 --> 00:16:41.730 that sounds good. Give us one of those. And you 00:16:41.730 --> 00:16:46.230 see that in 1 Samuel 12. And the Lord sent Jeroboam, 00:16:46.289 --> 00:16:49.230 Badon, Jephthah, and Samuel and delivered you 00:16:49.230 --> 00:16:50.830 out of the hand of your enemies on every side. 00:16:50.870 --> 00:16:52.710 You dwelt in safety. God's doing a great job. 00:16:53.110 --> 00:16:56.409 Verse 12. And when you saw that Nahash, king 00:16:56.409 --> 00:16:58.950 of the Ammonites, came against you, you said 00:16:58.950 --> 00:17:03.500 to me, no, but a king shall reign over us. When 00:17:03.500 --> 00:17:08.039 the Lord, your God, was your king. So they're 00:17:08.039 --> 00:17:09.920 looking around and they're like, hey, God's been 00:17:09.920 --> 00:17:11.819 doing a great job protecting them, delivering 00:17:11.819 --> 00:17:14.079 them, leading them. But now when a king comes 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:15.480 against them to fight, they're like, we need 00:17:15.480 --> 00:17:18.680 an earthly king. So God condescended to their 00:17:18.680 --> 00:17:21.720 request. God was king over Israel. He never stopped 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:24.339 that. But he would allow earthly kings to have 00:17:24.339 --> 00:17:28.700 a role to play in his rule. Now this didn't start 00:17:28.700 --> 00:17:33.779 with Saul. It started with Adam. In the very 00:17:33.779 --> 00:17:36.259 beginning, you see Adam commissioned and he has 00:17:36.259 --> 00:17:38.880 a kingly role. Now stay with me. He's not called 00:17:38.880 --> 00:17:42.579 a king. But in Genesis 1, verses 26 -30, you 00:17:42.579 --> 00:17:46.480 find that God gives Adam rule. He gives him reign 00:17:46.480 --> 00:17:49.819 over what? Over the fish, over the birds, over 00:17:49.819 --> 00:17:52.180 the cattle, over the insects, over all plant 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:55.539 life, over all the earth. Remember what's kingdom? 00:17:56.039 --> 00:17:59.039 Rule. And that's what he had. Adam was to be 00:17:59.039 --> 00:18:02.880 a subordinate king. Under the rule of the ultimate 00:18:02.880 --> 00:18:06.640 king. So that's where it's starting. So in this 00:18:06.640 --> 00:18:09.519 sense, God is going to reign over his creation 00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:12.960 by and through a human agent, in this case, Adam. 00:18:14.000 --> 00:18:18.759 What happened? Adam, the subordinate king, rebelled, 00:18:18.759 --> 00:18:22.599 sinned against the ultimate one. And he forfeited 00:18:22.599 --> 00:18:25.819 his right. But just because Adam failed, God 00:18:25.819 --> 00:18:28.700 did not abandon his intention to rule over his 00:18:28.700 --> 00:18:33.019 creation by virtue of a human king. So we keep 00:18:33.019 --> 00:18:35.019 going forward in Genesis until we come to chapter 00:18:35.019 --> 00:18:39.500 12. In Genesis 12, you have God making a renewed 00:18:39.500 --> 00:18:43.059 commitment to rule the world, again, through 00:18:43.059 --> 00:18:46.079 a human agent. And we find this with Abraham, 00:18:46.299 --> 00:18:49.779 Genesis 12. Now the word is said to Abram, later 00:18:49.779 --> 00:18:52.460 be Abraham. Get out of your country, from your 00:18:52.460 --> 00:18:54.220 family, and from your father's house to a land 00:18:54.220 --> 00:18:56.779 that I will show you. I will make you a great 00:18:56.779 --> 00:18:58.940 nation. I will bless you. I will make your name 00:18:58.940 --> 00:19:01.920 great. You shall be a blessing. Sounds like a 00:19:01.920 --> 00:19:04.579 good plan. Now, five chapters later, Genesis 00:19:04.579 --> 00:19:08.059 17, God then reaffirms what was said earlier 00:19:08.059 --> 00:19:11.460 in verses 6 and 7. This is God speaking to Abraham. 00:19:12.299 --> 00:19:15.039 I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I will 00:19:15.039 --> 00:19:18.140 make nations of you, and kings shall come from 00:19:18.140 --> 00:19:20.519 you. And I will establish my covenant between 00:19:20.519 --> 00:19:23.539 me and you and your descendants after you in 00:19:23.539 --> 00:19:26.299 their generations for an everlasting covenant 00:19:26.299 --> 00:19:29.480 to be God to you and your descendants after you. 00:19:30.599 --> 00:19:33.140 Kings are going to come from the loins of Abraham 00:19:33.140 --> 00:19:36.839 through his seed. And somehow through one of 00:19:36.839 --> 00:19:39.720 his seed, the entire nation, all nations of the 00:19:39.720 --> 00:19:42.259 earth are going to be blessed through him. This 00:19:42.259 --> 00:19:45.279 kingly dominion was given to Adam, later given 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:48.059 to Abraham. But now there's one big difference. 00:19:49.240 --> 00:19:52.460 Adam was given the responsibility to take dominion 00:19:52.460 --> 00:19:55.720 over the earth. Adam, go and do it. But notice 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:59.980 now, Abraham, God says, I will do it through 00:19:59.980 --> 00:20:03.460 you. Notice the text. I will make you exceedingly 00:20:03.460 --> 00:20:06.380 fruitful. I will make nations of you. And I will 00:20:06.380 --> 00:20:09.619 make kings come from you. What's going on here? 00:20:10.680 --> 00:20:13.519 Adam was given the responsibility before sin 00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:17.539 entered into the world. But that's now no longer 00:20:17.539 --> 00:20:21.089 possible. Sin is entered, and that commission 00:20:21.089 --> 00:20:27.529 is an impossibility unless God does it. This 00:20:27.529 --> 00:20:30.950 dominion, this rule, this kingdom must be a gift 00:20:30.950 --> 00:20:36.369 from God. Adam was called the son of God, and 00:20:36.369 --> 00:20:40.670 he failed. Now this promise is to Abraham, and 00:20:40.670 --> 00:20:43.650 his seed, which will ultimately be Israel, is 00:20:43.650 --> 00:20:48.579 set to be God's new son. Israel is also called 00:20:48.579 --> 00:20:52.839 a son of God. Adam is and Israel is. So now Israel, 00:20:53.039 --> 00:20:55.460 going back to Saul, she's going to have some 00:20:55.460 --> 00:20:57.920 earthly monarchs. Through her kings, she's supposed 00:20:57.920 --> 00:21:00.180 to be a blessing to the nations and the reign 00:21:00.180 --> 00:21:03.039 of God will extend across the earth through Israel. 00:21:04.460 --> 00:21:08.099 Wonderful. She's exalted. She's poised to be 00:21:08.099 --> 00:21:10.720 a kingdom of priests. She's called a holy nation. 00:21:10.859 --> 00:21:14.000 She is to be a light of God's truth to all the 00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:18.509 nations. Israel. is to make God, the true king, 00:21:18.589 --> 00:21:23.190 known, spread his glory across the globe. She 00:21:23.190 --> 00:21:27.170 fails. And we see this failure in her first king, 00:21:27.289 --> 00:21:31.490 Saul. Saul was commissioned king, later dethroned. 00:21:31.490 --> 00:21:35.190 Why? He was disobedient. But God wasn't finished. 00:21:35.849 --> 00:21:39.710 He is faithful. So he was still committed to 00:21:39.710 --> 00:21:43.529 his mission. He removes Saul, and he chooses 00:21:43.529 --> 00:21:46.390 the youngest son of Jesse. A shepherd boy named 00:21:46.390 --> 00:21:50.210 David. David is going to be king. And God's going 00:21:50.210 --> 00:21:52.529 to make a covenant with him very similar to the 00:21:52.529 --> 00:21:55.210 covenant he made with Abraham. But it's even 00:21:55.210 --> 00:21:57.849 more specific, if you will. And we read about 00:21:57.849 --> 00:22:02.609 this in 2 Samuel. God speaking to David. When 00:22:02.609 --> 00:22:04.349 your days are fulfilled and you rest with your 00:22:04.349 --> 00:22:06.769 fathers. Hey, David, when you die, I'm going 00:22:06.769 --> 00:22:09.349 to set up your seed after you who will come from 00:22:09.349 --> 00:22:12.609 your body and I will establish his kingdom. He 00:22:12.609 --> 00:22:14.799 shall build a house for my name. I will establish 00:22:14.799 --> 00:22:19.240 the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:22.380 his father and he shall be my son. Notice the 00:22:22.380 --> 00:22:25.220 son language. Adam's a son. Israel's son. Now 00:22:25.220 --> 00:22:27.460 there's a future son of David that's going to 00:22:27.460 --> 00:22:29.680 be God's son. If he commits iniquity, I will 00:22:29.680 --> 00:22:32.000 chasten him with the rod of men and the blows 00:22:32.000 --> 00:22:35.240 of the sons of men. Verse 15. But my mercy is 00:22:35.240 --> 00:22:37.880 not going to depart from him. But I did take 00:22:37.880 --> 00:22:40.420 it from Saul. That's God's prerogative to do 00:22:40.420 --> 00:22:43.299 so. Whom I removed from before you. But look 00:22:43.299 --> 00:22:49.759 at verse 16. Your house and your kingdom will 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:52.980 be established forever before you. Your throne, 00:22:53.119 --> 00:22:56.240 that's the kingdom there, will be established 00:22:56.240 --> 00:23:00.319 forever. So you have a promise. There's an eternal 00:23:00.319 --> 00:23:03.279 kingdom that God is going to establish through 00:23:03.279 --> 00:23:07.190 the line of David. God made this promise. He 00:23:07.190 --> 00:23:09.150 was promising David, I'm going to preserve a 00:23:09.150 --> 00:23:11.470 kingly line and it's never going to be removed. 00:23:11.930 --> 00:23:14.869 But as you keep going through the pages of scripture, 00:23:14.990 --> 00:23:16.569 you start out with Solomon. He looks like to 00:23:16.569 --> 00:23:19.950 be a shining example. But because of the multiplication 00:23:19.950 --> 00:23:23.450 of his wives, he soon fails. We see gross failure 00:23:23.450 --> 00:23:26.950 on the part of Israel's kings. All the kings 00:23:26.950 --> 00:23:31.549 that rule after David. What happened? Would God's 00:23:31.549 --> 00:23:36.009 promise fail? Israel. And her kings do fail in 00:23:36.009 --> 00:23:39.789 their mission. She was not a holy nation. She 00:23:39.789 --> 00:23:42.529 had not lived up to her commission to be a light 00:23:42.529 --> 00:23:46.349 to the nations. In fact, church, things got so 00:23:46.349 --> 00:23:49.250 bad, it looked as though there would be no kingly 00:23:49.250 --> 00:23:52.710 line left. If you keep reading, you find that 00:23:52.710 --> 00:23:55.710 Israel, the northern kingdom, the ten northern 00:23:55.710 --> 00:23:59.190 tribes, they go into exile into Assyria and they 00:23:59.190 --> 00:24:01.690 never return. We refer to them today as the ten 00:24:01.690 --> 00:24:04.319 lost tribes of Israel. But there's a southern 00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.039 kingdom made up of two tribes, and it's called 00:24:06.039 --> 00:24:08.980 Judah. So you have Judah. Well, what's going 00:24:08.980 --> 00:24:11.200 to happen to Judah? She is just as disobedient 00:24:11.200 --> 00:24:13.339 as Israel was. So God says, I'm going to send 00:24:13.339 --> 00:24:15.819 you into exile. And he sends her into Babylon 00:24:15.819 --> 00:24:20.259 for 70 years. But listen carefully. The promise 00:24:20.259 --> 00:24:23.359 to rule the world through that Davidic king was 00:24:23.359 --> 00:24:27.980 never erased. Adam failed. Israel failed. The 00:24:27.980 --> 00:24:30.680 kings of Israel failed. But God's promise would 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:34.960 not fail. God is going to rule the earth through 00:24:34.960 --> 00:24:38.960 a Davidic king, a son of David, just as he promised 00:24:38.960 --> 00:24:43.180 he would. He will establish his kingdom. So now 00:24:43.180 --> 00:24:45.799 you have the prophets, Isaiah and Daniel, and 00:24:45.799 --> 00:24:48.200 many others. They come on the scene, and here's 00:24:48.200 --> 00:24:50.920 what they're promising. Yes, Judah is in exile. 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:54.900 Israel's hope looks to be lost, but they're telling 00:24:54.900 --> 00:24:57.859 the people God's intention to rule the world 00:24:57.859 --> 00:25:02.140 through a son of David, it will continue. But 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:05.359 the human heart's too corrupt. Sin has deeply 00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:08.680 affected man. And he no longer can fulfill the 00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:12.779 divine intention. You know what is needed? A 00:25:12.779 --> 00:25:18.440 new exodus. A new exodus is needed. Not out of 00:25:18.440 --> 00:25:20.759 Egypt, but they do need to be delivered. God's 00:25:20.759 --> 00:25:22.720 people need to be delivered. And so in fact, 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.640 this exodus will not be a physical deliverance 00:25:25.640 --> 00:25:28.180 from physical enemies like the nation was delivered 00:25:28.180 --> 00:25:33.480 from Egypt. But this exodus will be a true deliverance 00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:37.319 for man's real problem, for man's real enemy. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:40.299 God is going to come and deliver them from the 00:25:40.299 --> 00:25:42.740 bondage of sin that lies in the heart of man. 00:25:43.559 --> 00:25:46.500 God is going to deliver his people by making 00:25:46.500 --> 00:25:50.519 them a new creation, giving them a new heart, 00:25:50.599 --> 00:25:54.680 and he will rule and reign over them. The prophets 00:25:54.680 --> 00:25:58.480 foretold of this good news. Isaiah wrote, O Zion, 00:25:58.799 --> 00:26:01.849 chapter 40, You who bring good tidings, get up 00:26:01.849 --> 00:26:03.630 into the high mountain of Jerusalem. You who 00:26:03.630 --> 00:26:06.170 bring good tidings. Good tidings is good news, 00:26:06.170 --> 00:26:09.869 and good news is what? Gospel. Lift up your voice 00:26:09.869 --> 00:26:13.630 with strength. Lift it up. Be not afraid. Say 00:26:13.630 --> 00:26:18.450 to the cities of Judah, Behold your God. Behold, 00:26:18.470 --> 00:26:20.549 the Lord God shall come with a strong hand. His 00:26:20.549 --> 00:26:23.869 arms shall rule for him. Who's coming? God's 00:26:23.869 --> 00:26:26.549 coming. Behold, his reward is with him and his 00:26:26.549 --> 00:26:29.799 work before him. One more passage here, Isaiah 00:26:29.799 --> 00:26:34.339 52. How beautiful upon the mountains are the 00:26:34.339 --> 00:26:37.079 feet of him who bring good news, who bring the 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:40.599 gospel, who proclaim peace, who brings glad tidings 00:26:40.599 --> 00:26:43.319 of good things, who proclaim salvation, who says 00:26:43.319 --> 00:26:49.579 to Zion, your God reigns. Notice the word. The 00:26:49.579 --> 00:26:52.319 Lord has made bare his holy arm in the eyes of 00:26:52.319 --> 00:26:54.440 all nations and all the ends of the earth shall 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:58.160 see the salvation of our God. All the nations 00:26:58.160 --> 00:27:00.480 are going to see it. Remember the promise to 00:27:00.480 --> 00:27:02.500 Abraham that all the nations are going to be 00:27:02.500 --> 00:27:05.880 blessed through you. Now if this prophesied kingdom 00:27:05.880 --> 00:27:09.660 is going to come as foretold, then it can only 00:27:09.660 --> 00:27:12.940 come because God himself comes to Israel and 00:27:12.940 --> 00:27:16.000 he will save and deliver his sinful people. And 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.059 then he's going to equip those people whom he 00:27:18.059 --> 00:27:21.140 has saved to take his saving reign, to take this 00:27:21.140 --> 00:27:25.460 good news, this good tidings, this gospel to 00:27:25.460 --> 00:27:28.069 the other most parts of the earth. Zechariah 00:27:28.069 --> 00:27:33.609 14, 9. And then the Lord shall be king over all 00:27:33.609 --> 00:27:36.990 the earth. In that day there shall be one Lord 00:27:36.990 --> 00:27:41.789 and his name one. Friends, this is the direction 00:27:41.789 --> 00:27:43.730 where we're headed. All history is headed here. 00:27:43.970 --> 00:27:47.650 One king ruling over all the earth in one kingdom. 00:27:48.309 --> 00:27:51.690 That's where we're headed. It is the kingdom 00:27:51.690 --> 00:27:54.819 that Daniel prophesied. He prophesied of a coming 00:27:54.819 --> 00:27:57.420 kingdom that's made, and he said, without hands. 00:27:58.200 --> 00:28:02.119 Daniel 2. And in the days of these kings, the 00:28:02.119 --> 00:28:04.319 God of heaven, now notice the language here, 00:28:04.640 --> 00:28:07.480 will set up a kingdom. God's going to set up 00:28:07.480 --> 00:28:09.759 a kingdom that will never be destroyed. Praise 00:28:09.759 --> 00:28:13.059 God, it's not. And the kingdom shall not be left 00:28:13.059 --> 00:28:15.819 to other people. It shall break in pieces and 00:28:15.819 --> 00:28:19.920 consume all these kingdoms. And this kingdom 00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:25.200 that God sets up, it will stand forever. How 00:28:25.200 --> 00:28:29.140 can this happen? All the other kings failed in 00:28:29.140 --> 00:28:33.400 their mission, including Solomon. How will it 00:28:33.400 --> 00:28:37.039 come to pass? They start prophesying of a future 00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:41.420 deliverer, a Messiah who's going to come. But 00:28:41.420 --> 00:28:44.400 here's how it's going to happen. God is going 00:28:44.400 --> 00:28:47.940 to set up his king. And Psalm 2 says exactly 00:28:47.940 --> 00:28:52.170 that. I have set my king, God speaking, I have 00:28:52.170 --> 00:28:56.049 set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare 00:28:56.049 --> 00:28:58.109 the decree. The Lord has said to me, you are 00:28:58.109 --> 00:29:01.589 my son. Today I have begotten you. And he's talking 00:29:01.589 --> 00:29:03.470 that son. Notice the son language, king language. 00:29:03.849 --> 00:29:06.569 Adam was a son. Israel was a son. They were also 00:29:06.569 --> 00:29:08.970 kings. And now God is saying, no, I'll set my 00:29:08.970 --> 00:29:11.509 own king. And this is my son. And he says, verse 00:29:11.509 --> 00:29:14.430 8, ask of me and I will give you the nations 00:29:14.430 --> 00:29:17.690 for your inheritance and the ends of the earth 00:29:17.690 --> 00:29:22.920 for your possession. Isaiah, he said that this 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:27.279 Messiah is going to come and suffer. And he wrote 00:29:27.279 --> 00:29:31.700 a lot about that. Isaiah 52, Isaiah 53. But Daniel 00:29:31.700 --> 00:29:33.460 says, yeah, but he's going to suffer. But he's 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:35.180 going to reign triumphantly. He's going to be 00:29:35.180 --> 00:29:40.779 the great king. Daniel 7. Look at the text. The 00:29:40.779 --> 00:29:42.599 suffering servant of Isaiah. This is why the 00:29:42.599 --> 00:29:45.220 Jews got so confused here. And you would too. 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:47.740 Notice Isaiah 53. He, we're talking about the 00:29:47.740 --> 00:29:50.650 Messiah. God sent one. He was taken from prison 00:29:50.650 --> 00:29:53.089 and from judgment. And who's going to declare 00:29:53.089 --> 00:29:55.410 his generation? For he was cut off, he was killed 00:29:55.410 --> 00:29:58.869 from the land of the living. Why? For the transgressions 00:29:58.869 --> 00:30:01.710 of my people he was stricken. They made his grave 00:30:01.710 --> 00:30:04.170 with the wicked, but with the rich at his death, 00:30:04.250 --> 00:30:06.009 because he had done no violence, nor was any 00:30:06.009 --> 00:30:09.710 deceit in his mouth. Verse 10. Yet it pleased 00:30:09.710 --> 00:30:12.069 the Lord to bruise him, his pudding to grief. 00:30:12.269 --> 00:30:18.450 We'll stop there. What? He's dead. It pleased... 00:30:18.640 --> 00:30:22.480 the Father, to crushing. And yet he's going to 00:30:22.480 --> 00:30:26.460 deliver people. That's what Daniel 7 says. You 00:30:26.460 --> 00:30:29.759 have a ruling king here. Daniel said, Well, I 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.259 was watching in the night visions, and behold, 00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:35.119 one like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds 00:30:35.119 --> 00:30:37.420 of heavens, he came to the Ancient of Days, and 00:30:37.420 --> 00:30:40.160 they brought him near before him. Then to him, 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:44.460 that Son of Man, was given dominion and glory 00:30:44.460 --> 00:30:48.680 and a kingdom. What's it look like? that all 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:51.160 peoples, nations, and languages should serve 00:30:51.160 --> 00:30:54.200 him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion. 00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.960 That's the same language God said to David, which 00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:00.920 shall not pass away, and his kingdom, the one 00:31:00.920 --> 00:31:06.400 which shall not be destroyed. God told Daniel 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:10.359 that through the Son of Man, he's going to establish 00:31:10.359 --> 00:31:14.119 his reign over the whole earth, and this kingdom 00:31:14.119 --> 00:31:17.640 will never pass away. So you can imagine Jews 00:31:17.640 --> 00:31:19.240 reading this, that's what they're expecting, 00:31:19.339 --> 00:31:22.000 some triumphant, some political deliverer. Of 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.019 course, there's a Messiah that's there, right? 00:31:25.339 --> 00:31:28.059 They could not reconcile in their mind, how can 00:31:28.059 --> 00:31:30.940 you have a ruling king in Daniel and you have 00:31:30.940 --> 00:31:33.660 a suffering servant, a suffering Messiah in Isaiah? 00:31:35.079 --> 00:31:37.920 And here's the point. They could not see that 00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:42.480 the victory that was promised to Daniel came 00:31:42.480 --> 00:31:48.140 through the suffering. Promised in Isaiah. Praise 00:31:48.140 --> 00:31:52.160 be to God. This is wonderful. Jesus will be the 00:31:52.160 --> 00:31:57.740 triumphant king. But only after he dies for the 00:31:57.740 --> 00:32:01.140 sins of his wicked people. The Old Testament 00:32:01.140 --> 00:32:05.099 ends with a prophecy that you have a coming Messiah 00:32:05.099 --> 00:32:07.480 who's going to set up a kingdom that's eternal. 00:32:08.839 --> 00:32:10.400 Now we go back to the New Testament, Matthew 00:32:10.400 --> 00:32:13.440 3. We're almost done. John the Baptist comes 00:32:13.440 --> 00:32:16.269 on the scene. 400 years of silence. John the 00:32:16.269 --> 00:32:17.950 Baptist comes on the scene and he's preaching 00:32:17.950 --> 00:32:23.609 what? Repent. The kingdom of heaven is here. 00:32:23.690 --> 00:32:26.710 It's at hand. What do you mean, John? How is 00:32:26.710 --> 00:32:30.390 it near? And this is what you guys are to put 00:32:30.390 --> 00:32:34.150 together. How is the kingdom near? Because the 00:32:34.150 --> 00:32:38.109 king had come. In Matthew 4, John entrusts us 00:32:38.109 --> 00:32:42.420 to Jesus. The kingdom of God had come in the 00:32:42.420 --> 00:32:46.000 person of the Lord Jesus. And Jesus then calls 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:51.079 Israel to repent. Why? The kingdom is here. Because 00:32:51.079 --> 00:32:54.359 the king is here. Christopher Morgan says, Jesus 00:32:54.359 --> 00:32:57.599 requires repentance to enter his kingdom community. 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:00.500 John and Jesus both preached it. Why? Since the 00:33:00.500 --> 00:33:03.299 present way of the world must be rejected and 00:33:03.299 --> 00:33:05.599 the new age of God's rule and its corresponding 00:33:05.599 --> 00:33:08.319 way of life embraced. God still requires repentance, 00:33:08.539 --> 00:33:11.960 folks. It's how you enter the kingdom. As such, 00:33:11.980 --> 00:33:14.180 repentance is not only the way into the kingdom, 00:33:14.299 --> 00:33:17.220 it's also the way of the kingdom. All of life 00:33:17.220 --> 00:33:21.740 is one of repentance. All of life. God is reigning, 00:33:21.819 --> 00:33:24.900 but his reign finds its fullest expression in 00:33:24.900 --> 00:33:28.960 his son, the Lord Jesus. Adam failed, but the 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:33.160 second Adam, Jesus, did not. Israel failed. But 00:33:33.160 --> 00:33:36.819 the true Israel, Jesus, did not. All the prophecies 00:33:36.819 --> 00:33:40.319 of a future eternal kingdom find an answer in 00:33:40.319 --> 00:33:46.119 Jesus. Ben Dunson. The Old Testament teaching 00:33:46.119 --> 00:33:49.480 on God's kingdom is the necessary context for 00:33:49.480 --> 00:33:51.299 making sense of Jesus' teaching and preaching, 00:33:51.500 --> 00:33:53.640 especially his announcement that the kingdom 00:33:53.640 --> 00:33:56.980 of God was at hand. The Jews Jesus preached to 00:33:56.980 --> 00:33:59.380 knew that God was king. They knew that he had 00:33:59.380 --> 00:34:03.109 always been king. What they did not know, was 00:34:03.109 --> 00:34:06.329 that the final, in time, saving reign of God 00:34:06.329 --> 00:34:10.449 announced by Israel's prophets was already breaking 00:34:10.449 --> 00:34:13.570 into the world in Jesus' own person and ministry. 00:34:14.269 --> 00:34:16.190 Do you remember when Jesus is casting out demons 00:34:16.190 --> 00:34:17.989 and he says, if I cast them out, you know that 00:34:17.989 --> 00:34:20.949 the kingdom of God has come? Why is he making 00:34:20.949 --> 00:34:22.989 that language? All his miracles are pointing 00:34:22.989 --> 00:34:27.070 to what fact? The king is here and he is subordinating 00:34:27.070 --> 00:34:31.230 all the enemies that existed against him. So 00:34:31.230 --> 00:34:33.309 what do we mean by kingdom? This has been a long 00:34:33.309 --> 00:34:37.969 answer, right? The kingdom is God's rule through 00:34:37.969 --> 00:34:41.750 his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So when you're 00:34:41.750 --> 00:34:43.670 talking about seeking first the kingdom of God, 00:34:43.789 --> 00:34:45.849 this means, church, and this is your commission, 00:34:46.030 --> 00:34:49.170 you seek Jesus and his will above all things. 00:34:50.269 --> 00:34:52.449 Seeking first the kingdom of God means this. 00:34:53.269 --> 00:34:55.690 prioritizing, and I mean prioritizing, God's 00:34:55.690 --> 00:34:59.050 values, God's principles in every aspect of our 00:34:59.050 --> 00:35:02.230 life. God takes a second seat to no one or no 00:35:02.230 --> 00:35:05.969 thing. Everything is subjected to him. Seeking 00:35:05.969 --> 00:35:08.409 the kingdom of God is praying that that future 00:35:08.409 --> 00:35:11.750 and final reign of the kingdom comes. That's 00:35:11.750 --> 00:35:13.789 why we pray with all the saints throughout all 00:35:13.789 --> 00:35:16.630 church history, even so come Lord Jesus, your 00:35:16.630 --> 00:35:19.289 kingdom come. It's here, but bring it in its 00:35:19.289 --> 00:35:23.190 fullest expression. But right now, it's a spiritual 00:35:23.190 --> 00:35:26.869 reality. It's in your heart. Jesus said in Luke 00:35:26.869 --> 00:35:29.389 17, 21, for the kingdom of God is within you. 00:35:30.690 --> 00:35:33.869 When you are living under the rule of Christ, 00:35:34.090 --> 00:35:37.869 friends, that's the kingdom of God. The Apostle 00:35:37.869 --> 00:35:39.989 Paul told us, for the kingdom of God, it's not 00:35:39.989 --> 00:35:42.130 eating and drinking. It's not a bunch of ceremonial 00:35:42.130 --> 00:35:46.070 regulations. What is it? Righteousness, peace, 00:35:46.309 --> 00:35:49.349 and joy in the Holy Spirit. It's the realm of 00:35:49.349 --> 00:35:54.000 the Spirit. The king has come and the king is 00:35:54.000 --> 00:35:56.900 coming again. And when he does, he will bring 00:35:56.900 --> 00:36:00.679 and establish this long anticipated, highly longed 00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:04.119 for kingdom with him. It is fullness expression. 00:36:04.440 --> 00:36:10.659 So we do pray, God, bring heaven to earth and 00:36:10.659 --> 00:36:13.840 bring your rule over all the planet. And when 00:36:13.840 --> 00:36:17.849 he does... Swords and spears will no longer be 00:36:17.849 --> 00:36:20.130 needed. As Isaiah said in chapter 2, they'll 00:36:20.130 --> 00:36:22.969 be beaten into plowshares. You don't need weapons 00:36:22.969 --> 00:36:26.929 of war anymore. Why? Because God's kingdom is 00:36:26.929 --> 00:36:30.349 ruling over all the earth. One day, friends, 00:36:30.590 --> 00:36:35.110 one day, God's kingdom will overtake the whole 00:36:35.110 --> 00:36:37.940 world. Russia and North Korea and the United 00:36:37.940 --> 00:36:40.380 States and Great Britain and Canada and any other 00:36:40.380 --> 00:36:43.099 country you want to name will all be subjected 00:36:43.099 --> 00:36:46.179 to the reign of the Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 00:36:46.179 --> 00:36:50.679 11, 15. The seventh angel sounded. There are 00:36:50.679 --> 00:36:53.519 loud voices in heaven. And I believe shouts of 00:36:53.519 --> 00:36:55.559 joy here. Because notice what they're proclaiming. 00:36:56.219 --> 00:37:00.619 The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms 00:37:00.619 --> 00:37:05.639 of our Lord and of his Christ. And he shall reign. 00:37:06.719 --> 00:37:09.639 forever and ever. Remember that promise to David, 00:37:09.719 --> 00:37:11.280 one of your seed, and that promise to Abraham, 00:37:11.400 --> 00:37:14.219 one of your seed? Jesus, the true son of David, 00:37:14.300 --> 00:37:16.900 has come, and he's going to reign over the earth 00:37:16.900 --> 00:37:21.159 forever and ever and ever. Why? Because God keeps 00:37:21.159 --> 00:37:25.699 his promises. So what do we pray? Even so, come 00:37:25.699 --> 00:37:29.659 Lord Jesus. Now what, friends, this is, we're 00:37:29.659 --> 00:37:32.380 closing, one minute here. There are only two 00:37:32.380 --> 00:37:35.059 kingdoms. There's a kingdom of man, there's a 00:37:35.059 --> 00:37:37.480 kingdom of God. The kingdom of man is known as 00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:39.320 the kingdom of darkness. The kingdom of God is 00:37:39.320 --> 00:37:42.119 the kingdom of light. The kingdom of man is the 00:37:42.119 --> 00:37:44.559 realm of destruction and eternal perdition. It 00:37:44.559 --> 00:37:47.800 is the realm of hell. The kingdom of God is the 00:37:47.800 --> 00:37:49.639 realm of salvation. It's the kingdom of salvation. 00:37:51.539 --> 00:37:53.699 You and I were born into the kingdom of man. 00:37:54.840 --> 00:37:57.139 You did nothing. You were born into that realm 00:37:57.139 --> 00:38:00.780 of darkness, that realm of destruction. To enter 00:38:00.780 --> 00:38:03.920 into the kingdom of God, you must be born again. 00:38:05.230 --> 00:38:09.309 You must. Oh, may God give you eyes to see Jesus 00:38:09.309 --> 00:38:11.409 and give you an understanding heart to understand 00:38:11.409 --> 00:38:14.789 what has been preached. Jesus said, most assuredly 00:38:14.789 --> 00:38:17.409 I say to you, unless one is born of water and 00:38:17.409 --> 00:38:21.309 the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom 00:38:21.309 --> 00:38:25.130 of God. May God bring the gift of the new birth 00:38:25.130 --> 00:38:28.190 to you this morning. We're going to celebrate 00:38:28.190 --> 00:38:30.349 today all those who are in this covenant with 00:38:30.349 --> 00:38:33.599 God. All those who belong to this kingdom of 00:38:33.599 --> 00:38:37.099 God and the realm of salvation, God invites us 00:38:37.099 --> 00:38:39.920 to share a meal with him, a covenantal meal, 00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:42.000 a foretaste of what we're going to experience 00:38:42.000 --> 00:38:45.320 in the kingdom when we feast with him. Today 00:38:45.320 --> 00:38:47.719 we will feast upon our Lord. And you are invited 00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:49.699 to come. If you know Christ as Lord and Savior 00:38:49.699 --> 00:38:52.340 and you've confessed him and you have been baptized 00:38:52.340 --> 00:38:56.000 in the name of the triune God, come today. Feast 00:38:56.000 --> 00:38:58.360 with your Lord and anticipate the day when we 00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:01.159 will do this in the final kingdom of God. Let's 00:39:01.159 --> 00:39:05.280 pray. Father, thank you. Lord, we love your word. 00:39:05.340 --> 00:39:09.159 It is rich. It is glorious. It is deep. It is...