WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.000 So in terms of being a fit and strong church, I'm going to be taking a change of tack where I want to talk to you a little bit 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:15.000 for a number of weeks around the Kingdom of God. What does it mean? I'll reference it just now. 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:21.000 But Jesus talked more about the kingdom of God than any other subject. 00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:28.000 There is an invitation to enter the kingdom. As a matter of fact, you cannot even be born again if you're not in the kingdom. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:33.000 And there is a kingdom that is overcoming other kingdoms. 00:00:33.000 --> 00:00:40.000 And I want to talk a little bit around that. And even this morning in worship, there was such a sense, isn't it, 00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:47.000 of the kingdom to come resting on us where God is glorified. I mean, I checked my time. 00:00:47.000 --> 00:00:54.000 I couldn't believe how much time had gone in worship. You almost cannot say you didn't sense God here this morning 00:00:54.000 --> 00:01:00.000 in his presence, in his glory, and he's absolutely amazing. So. 00:01:00.000 --> 00:01:08.000 So I'm going to be calling the series Understanding the Kingdom of God. And I just want to give a quick aside 00:01:08.000 --> 00:01:15.000 to many of you who are parked so far away you literally started walking half past eight to get here. 00:01:15.000 --> 00:01:19.000 We are working on something. Okay, half past seven, sorry. 00:01:19.000 --> 00:01:26.000 We are working on something. All right. I know the church is full, the parking is full, the kids church is full. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:32.000 We understand that. We are working on stuff and we will let you know as soon as we know. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:37.000 So just keep praying with us. But God is good. So I got a quote for you. 00:01:37.000 --> 00:01:46.000 A famous Swiss philosopher whose name is not important, said, beautiful people don't just happen. 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:52.000 Now, I'm sure some of you look at the mirror and think, rubbish, of course they do. 00:01:52.000 --> 00:01:57.000 But I want to say to you, beautiful people, not attractive people. 00:01:57.000 --> 00:02:04.000 Beautiful people don't just happen. Beautiful people are the kind who shine with an inner brightness. 00:02:04.000 --> 00:02:10.000 They seem to just radiate, isn't it? Now, these people don't happen by accident. 00:02:10.000 --> 00:02:17.000 They're formed. They're forged often in the fire and the challenges of life. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:25.000 You will often see the most beautiful people are those who have passed through and come through the other end 00:02:25.000 --> 00:02:30.000 with the grace of God literally radiating from them. 00:02:30.000 --> 00:02:37.000 They are the clear evidence they've become a people of love. They are, in my opinion, disciples. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Disciples are those who are immersed into the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus. 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:50.000 I think the biggest problem we have, I'm going to touch on two of them now in Christianity today 00:02:50.000 --> 00:02:57.000 is we're making disciples by teaching them to do certain things only. 00:02:57.000 --> 00:03:03.000 And the things we're doing isn't being undergirded. Or buttressed by the way you believe. 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:10.000 And I think people try to copy Jesus without having a revelation of the kingdom of Jesus. 00:03:10.000 --> 00:03:17.000 And I want to say to you that we need to put our trust in the person of Jesus himself. 00:03:17.000 --> 00:03:24.000 Not just believing in his death, believing in his life, not just believing in his substitution atonement, 00:03:24.000 --> 00:03:29.000 but in how to live with him in God's kingdom. 00:03:29.000 --> 00:03:35.000 And a little bit of that comes in the parables, the actual stories of Jesus. 00:03:35.000 --> 00:03:42.000 We have to place our confidence in Jesus to show us the way how to live with him step by step. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:48.000 And so I'm going to try, not today, but over the next little few weeks, I'm going to try and look at some of the parables 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:55.000 because they reveal the kingdom of God in ways that theology and doctrine just can't do. 00:03:55.000 --> 00:04:01.000 The parable seem very simple, don't they? If you read the parable, it's like, yeah, okay, I've got that one. 00:04:01.000 --> 00:04:06.000 But actually they're incredibly deep. They teach us two things. 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:12.000 They teach us the heart of the Father, and they teach us the ways of God. 00:04:12.000 --> 00:04:19.000 The parables that Jesus taught, and I'll talk a bit more detail about those at some point, 00:04:19.000 --> 00:04:26.000 but one minute you're listening to a story about a disobedient son wondering what to do with him. 00:04:26.000 --> 00:04:33.000 The next minute there is a father who lavishes upon a son that the rest of us would reject. 00:04:33.000 --> 00:04:40.000 And you're caused to look at it differently. There's the story of a farmer who pays the same wages 00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:46.000 to someone who came at the last hour of the day, to someone who worked the whole day. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:51.000 And God challenges your and my sense of fairness and justice. 00:04:51.000 --> 00:04:58.000 God talks about seeds that are sown, which is somehow how the word of God gets into you and breaks into your life. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:05.000 Parables are the doorway leading into the powerful reality of the kingdom of God. 00:05:05.000 --> 00:05:10.000 And I think once you hear them, they revolutionize you. 00:05:10.000 --> 00:05:17.000 They show you what's possible. So that's the one thing we need to talk about, is how are disciples made? 00:05:17.000 --> 00:05:24.000 It's not just what you do, actually. It comes down 100% to what you really believe, 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.000 because you act out what you believe, not what you pretend. It's the thing you hold on to. 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:37.000 A word came this morning of somebody, for instance, who builds a puzzle and just can't figure out one end from the other. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:43.000 The pieces aren't fitting. And he said in worship he received a thing that says 00:05:43.000 --> 00:05:48.000 that actually God says our lives are like that puzzle. 00:05:48.000 --> 00:05:54.000 And the problem is you're always trying to see the right one, which starts at the corner. 00:05:54.000 --> 00:05:58.000 But you need to find Jesus the center. 00:05:58.000 --> 00:06:05.000 And only when you actually build your life around him does everything else make sense. 00:06:05.000 --> 00:06:11.000 Until that point, you're just trying to shuffle so that things work better. 00:06:11.000 --> 00:06:17.000 I'll give you a scripture this morning. If you have a Bible, you can turn to John 1:14. 00:06:17.000 --> 00:06:23.000 John 1:14. I'm reading again from the new living translation this morning. 00:06:23.000 --> 00:06:30.000 John chapter one from verse 14. So the word I'm talking to you about parables. The word. 00:06:30.000 --> 00:06:37.000 God speaking his word. So the Word became human or the Word became flesh. Listen here. 00:06:37.000 --> 00:06:44.000 And made his home among us. His home. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness, 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:48.000 or grace and truth. Full. 00:06:48.000 --> 00:06:54.000 Full of unfailing love and faithfulness. Full of grace and truth. 00:06:54.000 --> 00:07:00.000 And I went something full. I think when it overflows. He didn't just have a bit, he overflowed. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:07.000 And the disciple John writes this. And we have seen his glory. Why? Because they lived with him. 00:07:07.000 --> 00:07:13.000 We've seen his glory. The glory of the Father's one and only son. 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:20.000 John, the cousin of Jesus, testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, 00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:26.000 this is the one I was talking about when I said, someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:30.000 but for he existed long before me. 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:37.000 And then the disciple carries on from his abundance. We have all received one gracious blessing after another. 00:07:37.000 --> 00:07:41.000 Or we've received the grace of God. 00:07:41.000 --> 00:07:48.000 For the law was given through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ. 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:54.000 No one has ever seen God but the unique One who is himself. 00:07:54.000 --> 00:08:01.000 God is near to the Father's heart and he has revealed God to us. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:08.000 First thing I said to you, we need to relook disciples. Can I say this? 00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:14.000 I think the second thing we need to relook is how do we do church? 00:08:14.000 --> 00:08:21.000 When I read my Bible, don't you think something very different went on in the life of Jesus compared to church life today? 00:08:21.000 --> 00:08:28.000 Churches spend a lot of money and churches exhaust themselves trying to get people to come to church. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:33.000 Whereas Jesus spent a lot of time trying to hide away from people. 00:08:33.000 --> 00:08:39.000 Imagine we try to hide our church because we're so busy. We actually close the doors. 00:08:39.000 --> 00:08:43.000 Don't let them know we're meeting. Close everything. Stop the advertising. 00:08:43.000 --> 00:08:47.000 We don't want them to know we can't cope. 00:08:47.000 --> 00:08:54.000 Churches beg bribe, use social media, trying our best to get people's attention so we can grow our numbers. 00:08:54.000 --> 00:09:00.000 And there were times Jesus almost seemed to dissuade people from following him. 00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:06.000 It's like the one time he said, don't follow me. Another guy said, don't talk to me. 00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:12.000 Another guy, don't let anyone know I did this. Another guy comes and says, lord, I'll follow you wherever you go. 00:09:12.000 --> 00:09:18.000 To him, Jesus says, a fox has a hole, a bird of the air as a nest. 00:09:18.000 --> 00:09:24.000 A the Son of man is nowhere to lay his head. Paraphrase, do you really want to live like that? 00:09:24.000 --> 00:09:29.000 He seemed to shock people, to almost get them to go away from him. 00:09:29.000 --> 00:09:36.000 When then, when his support was at its highest peak with a whole lot of people following him, 00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:42.000 he said, come and drink my blood and eat my flesh. Come and cannibalize with me. 00:09:42.000 --> 00:09:47.000 To which vast crowds left him. What's going on here? 00:09:47.000 --> 00:09:54.000 I think perhaps we have emphasized the message about Jesus over the message of Jesus. 00:09:54.000 --> 00:10:00.000 In other words, how have you looked at what he says, how he requires us to live? 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:06.000 You can't understand the kingdom unless you understand the king who taught about the kingdom. 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:13.000 And I think we are very shallow in our telling people you need to come to Christ to have your sin forgiven. 00:10:13.000 --> 00:10:18.000 And we focus on salvation as the big thing. It's simply an entry point. 00:10:18.000 --> 00:10:22.000 Real life only starts once you are born again. 00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:28.000 To be born again simply means there you are. The whole of your life with God waits ahead of you. 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:36.000 And that's why I think when Jesus called people to follow him, he put a standard up where they understood 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:42.000 the only way in is you die and you enter a kingdom that's going to invade you at every level. 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:48.000 And you're going to have to take that on. I mean, I think we preach saving faith 00:10:48.000 --> 00:10:54.000 without necessarily talking about how did he live, what did he tell us, what did he believe? 00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:01.000 So my first point to try and get us to understand, I've got nine of them, so don't stress. 00:11:01.000 --> 00:11:07.000 They're not happening now. Nine introductory statements before. 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:13.000 Five other statements before I start the very first parable. 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:20.000 But what I want you to see is when you embrace the kingdom of God, you actually have to start with the faith of Jesus. 00:11:20.000 --> 00:11:26.000 It's number one, the faith of Jesus. Matthew and Mark tell us of a night 00:11:26.000 --> 00:11:32.000 when Jesus and his disciples were in a boat and there was a massive storm. Do you remember? 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:38.000 That's Mark 4:38. The storm raged. Jesus is sleeping through it. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:45.000 You get a hint immediately that Jesus is at peace in the midst of a storm because of his understanding of the kingdom of God. 00:11:45.000 --> 00:11:51.000 He goes and lies down in the middle of a storm and sleeps. What were his disciples 00:11:51.000 --> 00:11:57.000 Doing at the exact same time they were shouting, lord, save us, we're gonna drown. 00:11:57.000 --> 00:12:02.000 They literally expected to die at any minute. Finally, they woke him up, said, you must do something. 00:12:02.000 --> 00:12:08.000 And this is what I want to show you. They had faith in Jesus. 00:12:08.000 --> 00:12:14.000 We wake you up. Don't some of you. When you're going through crisis in your life right now, 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:19.000 you got to pray and fast and shout. You got to wake up Jesus, 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.000 because whatever's happening, he ain't listening to you. Lord, it's a new year. I'm here. 00:12:24.000 --> 00:12:31.000 They didn't understand this. He wakes up Matthew 8:26, calms the storm and then says, 00:12:31.000 --> 00:12:37.000 why are you afraid, you people of little faith? Their faith in Jesus was good, 00:12:37.000 --> 00:12:43.000 but they didn't have the faith Jesus had which would fend or fear at every level. 00:12:43.000 --> 00:12:49.000 They were in the same storm. Had they had the faith of Jesus, they would have said, 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:54.000 this is a roller coaster we didn't have to pay for. Praise God, let's do this. 00:12:54.000 --> 00:12:59.000 Because there's no way this boat can go down because he's there. Simple. 00:12:59.000 --> 00:13:05.000 Where's your faith? We're in the same storm and I'm not freaked out. Actually, it's very soothing now. 00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:11.000 It's not true, okay? I've been on a boat, you chunda the whole way. 00:13:11.000 --> 00:13:17.000 But you know what I'm saying, It's soothing. It's rockaby baby on. 00:13:17.000 --> 00:13:23.000 Jesus is sleeping in the storm. The disciples aren't. One's got faith in Jesus, 00:13:23.000 --> 00:13:28.000 but you've got to get to the faith of Jesus. 00:13:28.000 --> 00:13:35.000 And when Jesus taught the parables, he was talking about a violent kingdom and that's going to come 00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:41.000 and overthrow kingdoms in our lives. When we start to understand we have to have faith in God. 00:13:41.000 --> 00:13:46.000 And we got to have faith the way God wants us to have faith. 00:13:46.000 --> 00:13:52.000 I was going to say this last week. How many Christians have a testimony of their salvation, 00:13:52.000 --> 00:13:58.000 but they do not have a testimony of ongoing overcoming in the things of God 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:03.000 because they got faith in Jesus, not the faith of Jesus. 00:14:03.000 --> 00:14:09.000 In fact, in Matthew 9:27, the disciples were amazed. And this is their comment. 00:14:09.000 --> 00:14:15.000 Who is this man? Even the wind and the waves obey him. Who is this man? 00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:20.000 I mean, they're following him. They know he's Jesus. And when Jesus does something, 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:25.000 Jesus is going to do it. Who is this guy? They need to grow up in their faith a little bit. 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:30.000 They need to start to understand who he is. 00:14:30.000 --> 00:14:36.000 Paul gives an example of this, and I haven't got time to go in there really deeply, theologically. 00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:42.000 But if you've got a Bible and you open it to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16, you will see. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:48.000 Well, let me go there. Galatians 2:16. The theologians have had a huge discussion 00:14:48.000 --> 00:14:54.000 on this particular verse, just so you know, trying to understand which one to put. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:15:00.000 So I'm just going to put all of them a bit like the amplified Bible, Galatians 2:16. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:07.000 Yet we know that a person is made Christ with God by faith in Jesus Christ. 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:12.000 Does your Bible say that? Huh, Most of yours. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:18.000 Unless you're reading a King James Version which says not faith in Christ, faith of Christ. 00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:25.000 The Greek word Greek two words is pistis christo, which could be translated faith in Christ 00:15:25.000 --> 00:15:30.000 or the faith of Christ. And the scholars tell us it's whether you interpret 00:15:30.000 --> 00:15:35.000 the genitive Christo objectively or subjectively. 00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:41.000 So the Greek structure reads something like this. Yet we know that a person is made right with God 00:15:41.000 --> 00:15:47.000 by faith in Christ, the faith of Christ or the faithfulness of Christ. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:53.000 So what Paul is trying to show us in this passage is that to have the faith of Jesus, 00:15:53.000 --> 00:15:58.000 you got to obviously have faith in Jesus. And when you believe in him, 00:15:58.000 --> 00:16:03.000 you start to believe what he believed. And then you start to see, okay, 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:09.000 I'm starting to see how to grow as a Christian. I don't only believe in Jesus. 00:16:09.000 --> 00:16:15.000 I start to believe the things Jesus believed. What were the things Jesus said? 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:21.000 What were his declarations about my Father, about my kingdom, about life, about religiosity? 00:16:21.000 --> 00:16:27.000 What were the statements Jesus made? Because those statements came out of his belief in, 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:33.000 in the kingdom of God. So I would ask you, not only do you believe in Jesus this morning, 00:16:33.000 --> 00:16:39.000 do you believe what Jesus believed when he was here? Do you have or can you grow 00:16:39.000 --> 00:16:45.000 in the faith of Christ? It's an inward faith that radiates through every dimension of who we are. 00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:51.000 Jesus had tremendous faith in God His Father, and he had faith in the kingdom. 00:16:51.000 --> 00:16:57.000 He emphasized it, I think, 126 times he talked about the kingdom in the Gospels. 00:16:57.000 --> 00:17:03.000 So I want to talk to you, number one, about the faith of Christ. 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:09.000 Lord, when I see what Jesus did, when I see what Jesus taught in the Gospels, 00:17:09.000 --> 00:17:15.000 have I sunk myself into that, that I understand what it means? Have I owned it for myself? 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:21.000 Because I need the faith of Christ, not only faith in him. How could Jesus do the miracles he did? 00:17:21.000 --> 00:17:27.000 How was he so sure of the things he did? It was his faith in His Father 00:17:27.000 --> 00:17:33.000 and in the principles of the kingdom of which he was king. So that's number one, 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:39.000 number two for this morning, this Kingdom has one overarching characteristic. 00:17:39.000 --> 00:17:45.000 It brings life. This kingdom brings life. A dictionary definition of a kingdom is this. 00:17:45.000 --> 00:17:51.000 A kingdom is a society of people with a structure in which there's one person, 00:17:51.000 --> 00:17:57.000 a king or a queen, to whom all of the citizens offer loyalty, service and respect. 00:17:57.000 --> 00:18:03.000 The sovereign's part of this relationship is to provide care, protection and service 00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:09.000 for the good of the people. And I want to suggest to you that the kingdom of God is very similar. 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:15.000 So you could define it like this. The kingdom of God is a society of people 00:18:15.000 --> 00:18:21.000 where there is love, service and respect for the king and there is care, protection and service 00:18:21.000 --> 00:18:27.000 for those who live in the kingdom. The kingdom of God operates more like a family 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:33.000 or a well functioning neighborhood where we care for each other, we love each other, 00:18:33.000 --> 00:18:39.000 we're living out to like a vehicle. You, you're able to live out towards each other 00:18:39.000 --> 00:18:45.000 because of something God is doing in you. Where our relationships go into problems, 00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:51.000 where they, where they fall apart, where things go wrong. It's because the kingdom isn't there. 00:18:51.000 --> 00:18:57.000 There is ego, there is self, there is flesh, there is ambition, there is ego. 00:18:57.000 --> 00:19:03.000 There is all these little things masquerading as Christian life and Christian service 00:19:03.000 --> 00:19:09.000 and Christian leadership and Christian experience. But it's just a masquerade. 00:19:09.000 --> 00:19:15.000 And then you get people where the life of God begins to fill them and they become, 00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:21.000 as the scripture says, a reflection where the glory of God comes from them. 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:27.000 That's those beautiful people where Jesus just emanates from them in every way. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:33.000 And they show they are children of a kingdom that gives life. 00:19:33.000 --> 00:19:39.000 If I can define it like this, the kingdom of God is the range of God's effective will. 00:19:39.000 --> 00:19:45.000 Or simply God acting in this world where what he wants is done. 00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:50.000 Where what he wants is done. 00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:56.000 Jesus showed that a kingdom of God is not a thing of times and places. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:20:02.000 The kingdom of God is a thing of the heart. Where's the kingdom that's at hand? It's in you. 00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:08.000 You don't go there to find the kingdom. Height, depth over the sea under. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:14.000 The kingdom of God is within you, Jesus said, because it's a matter of the heart. 00:20:14.000 --> 00:20:20.000 It's a thing you can't hide. You look like a strawberry, but you taste like a lemon. 00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:25.000 Not a lot of life. 00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:31.000 Think about human governments. Human governments often function on principles 00:20:31.000 --> 00:20:37.000 of forced deception, coercion, brutality, the power of death. 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:42.000 All human governments have the power of death. 00:20:42.000 --> 00:20:48.000 But what they lack is the ability to give life. And that's what the kingdom of God has. 00:20:48.000 --> 00:20:54.000 Do you know? It's our Greatest currency, it's life. 00:20:54.000 --> 00:21:00.000 This life is based on the new birth. It's an entry into the kingdom of God. 00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:06.000 We're invited to bring our lives as they are into the eternal life of God 00:21:06.000 --> 00:21:11.000 in his everlasting kingdom. 00:21:11.000 --> 00:21:17.000 So what God's asking is, would you take your kingdom, your society, 00:21:17.000 --> 00:21:23.000 and would you surrender it to me? And would you take my one upon yourself and also eternity. 00:21:23.000 --> 00:21:29.000 If the kingdom is here, it means eternity is already in progress. Eternity doesn't start later. 00:21:29.000 --> 00:21:35.000 So on the day you're born again, you're eternal. There's no later, it's now. 00:21:35.000 --> 00:21:40.000 There is a fullness later. 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:46.000 And in a couple of weeks I'll start to talk to you about the implications 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:52.000 of the already and not yet kingdom of God. Why, when we pray for the sick, 00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:58.000 are some healed and some aren't? If you don't understand the kingdom, 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:04.000 you either put too much pressure on yourself to pray or too much condemnation 00:22:04.000 --> 00:22:10.000 on the person being prayed for, without realizing that when the King comes, 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:16.000 upon occasion, there is a breaking through of the kingdom and its effect and people get healed. 00:22:16.000 --> 00:22:21.000 But it's not yet. It comes in part when it is full. 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:27.000 One day every tear will be wiped away, every grief will be removed. But not now. 00:22:27.000 --> 00:22:33.000 Now there are signs of the kingdom breaking in. And it seems to me that when the kingdom breaks in 00:22:33.000 --> 00:22:39.000 is when the kingdom is being preached. So when the kingdom is preached, 00:22:39.000 --> 00:22:45.000 the kingdom is broken in as an evidence of a kingdom to come. 00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:51.000 There is still a battle, but eternal life has started. In fact, John chapter 17, verse 3 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:57.000 gives the only biblical definition of eternal life. And it says this, this is eternal life. 00:22:57.000 --> 00:23:03.000 That they may know you, Epinosis, know you well, deeply, that they may know you, 00:23:03.000 --> 00:23:09.000 the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And so in this relationship 00:23:09.000 --> 00:23:15.000 to know you, an interactive relationship where everything we are, 00:23:15.000 --> 00:23:21.000 we bring into our relationship with God, which is eternal. So you make a decision today, 00:23:21.000 --> 00:23:27.000 on the 26th of January, that you are going to leave nothing out of this kingdom from today. 00:23:27.000 --> 00:23:33.000 You're going to throw everything into it. And what's not meant to be in that kingdom will burn. 00:23:33.000 --> 00:23:38.000 But what's meant to be in that kingdom will come alive. 00:23:38.000 --> 00:23:44.000 Because you are going to be a custodian of life by the way you live, by the way you think, 00:23:44.000 --> 00:23:50.000 by the way you talk. You're going to be a giver of life. And when you live in the kingdom of God 00:23:50.000 --> 00:23:56.000 by the Spirit of God, your life begins like Jesus, to be full of grace, truth, mercy and goodness. 00:23:56.000 --> 00:24:02.000 You almost can't help it. How do you know? Someone's been too. Mauritius, check the tan. 00:24:02.000 --> 00:24:08.000 How do you know? A volley at the sea in Durban. The zinc that goes like this. 00:24:08.000 --> 00:24:14.000 The suntan cream. The language. Kdar, kdar. 00:24:14.000 --> 00:24:20.000 I remember when I lived in Durban, I come from Durban. It was the Kdars. 00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:26.000 They were the Afrikaans telling the dad, there's the sea. Kdar, kdar. 00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:32.000 And when I grew up living in Durban, we always said the Kdars are coming. Now I am one. 00:24:32.000 --> 00:24:38.000 But Romans 14:17 says the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking. 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:44.000 But what is it? It's righteousness, it's peace, it's joy in the Holy Spirit. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:50.000 I become a living advert of the fact that something is always happening to me 00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:56.000 which happens through me, of which you become a recipient. And that is the power of the kingdom. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:02.000 Churches, come to our meetings. Come to our meetings. Our meeting is better than that, guys. 00:25:02.000 --> 00:25:08.000 Meeting. Come to our meeting. We don't offer meetings, man. 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:14.000 We offer a king. But not only a king, we offer a king who's changing us. 00:25:14.000 --> 00:25:20.000 So when they come to us, they say, what a wonderful group of people. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:26.000 You're an advert for the king. I mean, you and I both know we go to churches 00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:32.000 where the word is preached, Jesus is sung about. But man alive, 00:25:32.000 --> 00:25:37.000 I wouldn't spend more than three seconds in that place. 00:25:37.000 --> 00:25:43.000 Because the kingdom of God is real and persuasive as it invades you that it can invade others 00:25:43.000 --> 00:25:49.000 and we don't make it happen. It's a gift. You receive the kingdom, 00:25:49.000 --> 00:25:54.000 you receive God's work in your life. 00:25:54.000 --> 00:26:00.000 Do you know you can be the bitterest little grumby, grumble copy practitioner in this place 00:26:00.000 --> 00:26:06.000 and you can become a man or woman of praise. But tomorrow morning, 00:26:06.000 --> 00:26:12.000 by allowing God to get a grip on you and taking the things that keep you sour 00:26:12.000 --> 00:26:18.000 and giving them to him, that you can become sweet again. Why? Because you receive, 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:24.000 it's a gift. You don't change yourself. There's no self help in Christianity. 00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:30.000 It's Jesus helps me through the invitation that I give him and then his kingdom invades me. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:36.000 Someone once said the best advice to go to heaven is go now by living your life with God. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:42.000 Live eternally now by living your life with God. Don't just have faith in Jesus. 00:26:42.000 --> 00:26:48.000 Have the faith of Jesus. Don't just talk about him, walk with him. 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:54.000 Don't just sing to him, embrace him. I hope you're hearing me. 00:26:54.000 --> 00:27:00.000 Kind of what Jesus is saying. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:06.000 Repent means turn around, change your behavior. The language. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:11.000 Repent for the kingdom of heaven that is at hand. 00:27:11.000 --> 00:27:17.000 The language is. There's constant renewal. There's constant change. 00:27:17.000 --> 00:27:23.000 The kingdom of God is always at hand. It is present. And when the Bible speaks of heaven, 00:27:23.000 --> 00:27:29.000 so Matthew says the kingdom of heaven is, the other gospels say the kingdom of God. 00:27:29.000 --> 00:27:35.000 It's the same thing. What he means is when he says the kingdom of heaven is at hand, 00:27:35.000 --> 00:27:41.000 means God is acting in this world. God is acting right here and right now. 00:27:41.000 --> 00:27:47.000 Which is why In Matthew, chapter 6, verse 33, Jesus says, Seek first the kingdom 00:27:47.000 --> 00:27:53.000 and his righteousness, and then things will be added to you. Why? Because God is acting. 00:27:53.000 --> 00:27:59.000 Not in the world, in your world. Because he's extending his reach through you 00:27:59.000 --> 00:28:05.000 at any given moment. And so the parables and the words of Jesus in the Bible, 00:28:05.000 --> 00:28:11.000 when we look and we obey and we put faith in what Jesus has said, God acts through you. 00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:17.000 I think you're getting this quite clear. Hey, last point. 3 out of 9. 00:28:17.000 --> 00:28:23.000 Today, Mark texted me and he said, brew, how far are you going to go? 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:29.000 I said, let's try for 13. A few laughing faces later, we settled on maybe five or six. 00:28:29.000 --> 00:28:35.000 I see Mark, you win again. It's going to be three. 00:28:35.000 --> 00:28:41.000 Number one was. Put it up, Mark. Number one is the faith of Jesus. 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:47.000 Not just faith in Jesus. He was totally settled in who he was at all times, 00:28:47.000 --> 00:28:53.000 wasn't threatened, coerced. The faith of Jesus. Number two. 00:28:53.000 --> 00:28:59.000 The overriding characteristic of the people of God is there's life there. 00:28:59.000 --> 00:29:05.000 Kingdom, eternal life. That's why church is such a joy. Can you imagine? 00:29:05.000 --> 00:29:11.000 All of us were still here and there was no Jesus. Come on, who'd come back? 00:29:11.000 --> 00:29:17.000 Week two. Let's be honest. The only reason you go back to work, most of you, 00:29:17.000 --> 00:29:23.000 is because you get paid end of the month. If your boss came and said, I'm not going to pay anymore. 00:29:23.000 --> 00:29:29.000 Oh, please, I'm not here for the money. I'm here for my incredible work environment. 00:29:29.000 --> 00:29:35.000 Liar. But here, you're here because of the life. Third one. 00:29:35.000 --> 00:29:41.000 This is amazing. For me, in the kingdom, God offers himself to you. 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:47.000 Wow. You know, even though God's actions throughout Israel's history were well known to them, 00:29:47.000 --> 00:29:53.000 that Israelites struggled to embrace God as their king. 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:59.000 Do you know, on Mount Sinai, Deuteronomy, chapter five, the people of God 00:29:59.000 --> 00:30:05.000 refused to speak directly with God. They said, moses, go ahead of us. We need a mediator. 00:30:05.000 --> 00:30:11.000 God appeared for the people and they said, we don't want to do this. You go and 00:30:11.000 --> 00:30:17.000 Then Moses had to come down with laws and commandments. And now you've got Moses, 00:30:17.000 --> 00:30:23.000 laws and commandments mediating between God and man. Where in Deuteronomy 5, 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:29.000 God said, I want the people to come to me. I will be their God, they will be my people. 00:30:29.000 --> 00:30:34.000 No, put an intermediary in place. 00:30:34.000 --> 00:30:40.000 Later on, it got worse. By 1 Samuel, chapter 8, the people went to Samuel and said, 00:30:40.000 --> 00:30:46.000 we've had it. We want a human king like the other nations. 00:30:46.000 --> 00:30:52.000 We don't want God himself over us. And you see, that's what religion does today. 00:30:52.000 --> 00:30:58.000 I'm a Methodist, I'm a Catholic, I'm an Anglican, I'm a this, I'm a that. 00:30:58.000 --> 00:31:04.000 I'm putting something between me and God. And that something is always going to determine how I live. 00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:10.000 I have laws, I have rules, I have this, I have that. There's always something when I want to tell you. 00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:16.000 Point three today is God offers himself to you and I. Hence the importance of the incarnation. 00:31:16.000 --> 00:31:22.000 At Christmas, where Christ comes to dwell among us in human form, 00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:28.000 they rebelled against God and said, give us a king. Give us a king. We want a king. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:34.000 And we all know David, Solomon, then the disasters that happened thereafter. 00:31:34.000 --> 00:31:40.000 And isn't it interesting that when the kings were starting to go so wrong in their leadership, 00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:46.000 when Israel had split between Judah and Israel, known from then on as Judah and Ephraim throughout, 00:31:46.000 --> 00:31:52.000 that suddenly the prophets start talking a new language. It's only after Israel rejects God 00:31:52.000 --> 00:31:58.000 as king in Deuteronomy, and after Israel rejects God as King in 1 Samuel chapter 8, 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:04.000 saying, we want a king, the prophets start speaking of God's heavenly rule. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:10.000 The God of heaven starts to emerge in the New Testament. It's a new language 00:32:10.000 --> 00:32:16.000 preparing the way for the dramatic announcement of John the Baptist, 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:22.000 who was the first to stand amongst the people of God ever and say, 00:32:22.000 --> 00:32:28.000 repent for the king, repent of your sin, turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near. 00:32:28.000 --> 00:32:34.000 John the Baptist went to the nation of Israel and he introduced what the prophets have been saying. 00:32:34.000 --> 00:32:40.000 Stuff your king, stuff your rules, repent and turn from your sin, 00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:46.000 for the kingdom of God is here. God once again is going to come here 00:32:46.000 --> 00:32:52.000 and introduce himself to you and I. And he will have no intermediary but himself. 00:32:52.000 --> 00:32:58.000 That is the cry of John the Baptist, and that's why he was amazing in his day. 00:32:58.000 --> 00:33:04.000 People in this world who are far away from God agree with me. They live on their own. 00:33:04.000 --> 00:33:10.000 They use the resources of their natural abilities. They're out there trying to survive, 00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:16.000 trying to get their way, trying to secure themselves, trying to advance themselves. 00:33:16.000 --> 00:33:22.000 There's a lot of unhappiness in our world, from people struggling to run their own kingdom. 00:33:22.000 --> 00:33:28.000 Because the problem of living in this world is you structure your life, you plan that. 00:33:28.000 --> 00:33:34.000 Then things change. From family issues to government issues to financial issues to health issues. 00:33:34.000 --> 00:33:40.000 You plan your life, and then bang, something happens to mess it all up. 00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:46.000 You raise your kids up, and then they go and they go make their own decisions. 00:33:46.000 --> 00:33:52.000 Now you got, oh, no, what now? How do I live? What a reflection on me as a parent 00:33:52.000 --> 00:33:58.000 and all those things. Because there's a kingdom out there of which we don't have control. 00:33:58.000 --> 00:34:04.000 It's a tough job. And they also discover in the world, when you try to run your kingdom, 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:10.000 everyone else wants your kingdom too. Hence, burglar bars, Rottweilers and guns. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:16.000 We know someone else wants your kingdom. They there, they're knocking. 00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:22.000 They want everyone. They just covet, fight. They're angry. 00:34:22.000 --> 00:34:28.000 And then Jesus comes with an introduction to a kingdom. And he says, good news, 00:34:28.000 --> 00:34:34.000 everyone can come. You don't have to live that way anymore. 00:34:34.000 --> 00:34:40.000 Come to me, you who are weary, you who are heavy, come to me. I'll give you rest. 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:46.000 Can you imagine? It's Isaiah 26, Isaiah 28. I offered them rest. 00:34:46.000 --> 00:34:52.000 I came to them, I offered them rest, but they just didn't want it. Can you imagine 00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:58.000 what it meant to Israel under Roman oppression when Jesus came and said, 00:34:58.000 --> 00:35:04.000 like John, his cousin, there is a new kingdom coming because God is offering himself 00:35:04.000 --> 00:35:10.000 to you again. You're not excited, but I am. We can give our kingdom to God 00:35:10.000 --> 00:35:16.000 and receive his kingdom in return. As citizens of God's kingdom, we seek to honor him. 00:35:16.000 --> 00:35:22.000 We pray for his will to be done. When you say, oh, Lord, let your will be done. 00:35:22.000 --> 00:35:28.000 Can I tell you where to start? With your own life. Don't pray, Lord. 00:35:28.000 --> 00:35:34.000 Change that oak. Lord, I said I gotta counsel this guy. Lord, I just want to. 00:35:34.000 --> 00:35:40.000 I just want to. Hey, start with you, sort you out. 00:35:40.000 --> 00:35:46.000 Lord, I offer my life a living sacrifice before you. Then we pray for God's will to be done. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:52.000 Everywhere Jesus calls us to put our confidence in him. 00:35:52.000 --> 00:35:58.000 Eternal life is God with us. And then I need to close with this phrase. 00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:04.000 I just. God comes to us, is point number three. He offers himself to you and I. 00:36:04.000 --> 00:36:10.000 And then he says this. If you say yes, and you come to me, and you walk with me 00:36:10.000 --> 00:36:16.000 and you follow me, I will no longer call you a servant. I'm gonna call you a friend. 00:36:16.000 --> 00:36:22.000 John 15 from verse 14. You are my friends, if you do what I command, 00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:28.000 I no longer call you slaves or servants because a master doesn't confide in his slaves. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:34.000 Now you are my friends. Since I've told you everything the Father told me. 00:36:34.000 --> 00:36:40.000 I told you God gives himself to us, right? You didn't choose me. I chose you. 00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:46.000 I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit so that the Father will give you 00:36:46.000 --> 00:36:52.000 whatever you ask for using my name from the day you turn to Jesus. 00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:58.000 There's a beautiful distinction made where he says, from today, I call you friend. 00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:04.000 I have the faith of Jesus. I am a giver of life, and I become a friend of God. 00:37:04.000 --> 00:37:10.000 That's what it means to enter the kingdom of God. Wow. Stand with me. 00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:16.000 Thank you so much for being a part of our meeting today. Can I just ask two things? 00:37:16.000 --> 00:37:22.000 The first is if today the message has in any way been useful to you, 00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:28.000 would you mind just maybe liking it or putting perhaps a statement down or comment down 00:37:28.000 --> 00:37:34.000 that we can know how the ministry has helped you. Maybe a thumbs up, 00:37:34.000 --> 00:37:40.000 maybe you can subscribe to the channel, do whatever, just so we can know what impact 00:37:40.000 --> 00:37:45.000 this message may be having on you. 00:37:45.000 --> 00:37:51.000 And secondly, you may be someone who's saying, greg, I hear you. 00:37:51.000 --> 00:37:57.000 And this hope that Jesus has for us can come into my heart and it can change me. 00:37:57.000 --> 00:38:03.000 But the reality is that I don't even know if I know Jesus. 00:38:03.000 --> 00:38:09.000 I want to say two things to you right away. The first is he's near you right now. 00:38:09.000 --> 00:38:15.000 The Bible says if you believe in your heart that he is the Lord, 00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:21.000 and if you confess him with your mouth, you will be saved. 00:38:21.000 --> 00:38:27.000 Which means you just need to where you are, turn to the Lord Jesus Christ even now 00:38:27.000 --> 00:38:33.000 and just say, lord, here I am. I recognize who you are. I confess my sin to you. 00:38:33.000 --> 00:38:39.000 I acknowledge you as Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, the Son of the living God. 00:38:39.000 --> 00:38:45.000 And I want to follow. I want to become a disciple of yours. 00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:51.000 I want to give my life to you, Lord. And you can pray that prayer right now 00:38:51.000 --> 00:38:57.000 between you and the Lord. Secondly, you can get hold of us. 00:38:57.000 --> 00:39:03.000 You can see the telephone number, you can get hold of us and say, hey, 00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:09.000 I've given my life to the Lord. Can you help me from here on out? 00:39:09.000 --> 00:39:15.000 And we could either send you some material, we can put you in touch with a really good church 00:39:15.000 --> 00:39:21.000 near you. If you live in our area, you can come to us. You can follow us on YouTube. 00:39:21.000 --> 00:39:27.000 But it is good to get connected into the family of God, to get connected into a local church 00:39:27.000 --> 00:39:33.000 that your life changes being surrounded with the family of God. Please stay in touch. 00:39:33.000 --> 00:39:37.000 God bless you.