TheRest of the Story / Expecting a Kingdom

 Expecting a Kingdom
Various passages  December 18, 2022    

Introduction:

1. This Christmas we are looking at the rest of the story of Christmas as we learn that Jesus came for more reasons than just to die for our sins!  
   1. Last week we learned that Israel was waiting for a king whom they called “Messiah,” the New Testament calls him the “Christ.”  Even getting a bit closer to home with our personal lives, we call him Lord!
   2. You cannot have a king without a kingdom 
2. A kingdom is simply made up of a territory or realm, and people over whom a king rules.    
   1. That means the kingdom of God is simply the territory, the realm and the people over whom Jesus rules as king.  
   2. Therefore, at the first coming of Christ Israel was not only waiting for a king but a kingdom that he was going to set up as well!

• Today I want to try to better understand what the kingdom is turn to Matthew 3

1. The kingdom is at hand
   1. Jesus and John the Baptist both began their preaching with the same message:  the “kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
      1. Read Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17. 
      2. Jesus and John were saying that the kingdom of heaven was so close to appearing that they could reach out and touch it, they could smell the aroma of it like a fine cooked meal in the next room. 
   2. It is interesting to note also that neither one of them felt a need to explain just what that kingdom was or what it would be like
      
      
      1. That is because when they heard John and Jesus preach about the kingdom of heaven the Jew could not help but think about God’s covenant promises and what the prophets said in the Old Testament.   
      2. The one that Daniel 2 would simply summarize as a kingdom that would crush all the other earthly kingdoms!   Read Daniel 2:44  (note heaven)
         1. People try to make a distinction between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God – 
         2. I think that is reading our current theology into the text rather than letting the text inform our theology!
      3. What they would have known is what we learned in the series of the people of promise and particularly the sixteen promises we summarized for you on the handout we gave you.  Review quickly:
         1. Abrahamic 
            1. a land forever
            2. innumerable descendants that would be 
            3. blessings
            4. in his seed all the nations will be blessed
            5. God will be their God forever
               
               
         2. Deuteronic 
            1. future repentance of Israel
            2. restoration to the land
            3. regathered from dispersion
            4. nation converted
            5. Israel’s enemies will be judged
            6. nation receive full blessings in the land
               
               
         3. Davidic 
            1. king forever
            2. kingdom forever
            3. reign forever
               
               
         4. New covenant  
            1. Spiritual blessings – forgiven, new heart, the Holy Spirit. 
            2. Abiding material blessings in the land

• This is the nature of the kingdom that John the Baptist and Jesus were offering, this is the kingdom the Jews were looking for but something significant happened in Matthew 12

1. The kingdom has come upon you
   1. Turn to Matthew 12:28.  Context is that Jesus had just cast a demon out of a man and the Pharisees said, “He cast out demons by Beelzebub the ruler of the demons.” Listen to Jesus’ response.  Read v25-28
      1. No longer is the kingdom at hand but now it has come upon them. Jesus said when he cast out the demon by the Spirit of God, and then the kingdom has come upon you.
      2. The Old Testament taught that during the kingdom the Holy Spirit would be doing extra ordinary works. Right here is one display of that.  
   2. Listen to Luke 17:20-21 when the Pharisees were questioning Jesus as to when the kingdom of God was coming.  Listen to what he said. 
      1.  Read Luke 17:20-21
      2. The word “in your midst or within you” cannot be referring to the fact the kingdom is residing in their hearts because Jesus was talking to a largely unbelieving group who rejected him!
      3. What Jesus was saying is that the kingdom of God is in your midst.  The kingdom of God is standing right here, right now, right in the middle of all of you.  The king and the kingdom go hand in hand.  Where King Jesus is, the kingdom is.

• In the parables Jesus teaches them and us the …

1.  Mysteries of the kingdom 
   1. Read Matthew 13:10-11
   2. A mystery is something that has not been revealed before but now is going to be.  New revelation comes in light of the fact that the religious leaders have just rejected and denounced Jesus, their Messiah.  
      1. The parables are the mysteries of the kingdom! 
      2.  Jesus is going to tell them and us something new about the kingdom of God, and it is much different from the kingdom they expected and learned about in the Old Testament.  
      3. The parables teach us the nature of God’s kingdom from the time of Israel’s rejection of him as their king until the time he returns to set up his kingdom here on earth, the kingdom they expected from the Old Testament.
   3. I will only read a summary of what the parables teach us about the kingdom, as it would take a whole series to understand it all.  See passages in the notes!
      1. The parables teach us new features of the kingdom that have been in operation from the rejection of Jesus as Messiah by Israel and will continue until the judgment at the end of this age (Matthew 12:28; 13:30, 39-40, 49).  During this time the righteous and wicked will co-exist (Matthew 13:24-30) and Satan himself will be very active (Matthew 13:39).  At the end of this age, no one else can enter the kingdom (Matthew 25:10-13) and there will be judgment for the wicked and rewards for the sons of the kingdom at that time. (Matthew13:30, 40-43, 47-50; 20: 1-16; 25:14-30).  The kingdom will start very small but powerful and will grow and advance until it surpasses all other kingdoms (13:31-33).  But it is a kingdom of supreme importance and value, worth everything a person has (Matthew13:44-46).  Because Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah /King, the kingdom is taken away from them and given to a people producing its fruits ( Matthew 21:33-44; Luke 13:28-29)  the invitation to this kingdom will now go out beyond the people of Israel to many others (Matthew 22:1-10).   People will respond differently to the word of this kingdom (13:18-23), since many are called but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14).  Entrance into this kingdom will not be based upon bloodline or religious heritage but rather upon repentance and belief (Matthew 21:28-32).  This kingdom will be an internal invisible powerful spiritual kingdom. It is a kingdom of receiving and giving forgiveness (Matthew 18:21-35).  Where Jesus is, the kingdom is, because the king and the kingdom go hand and hand. (Matthew 12:28; Luke 17:20-21).  Because no one knows the day or hour when Jesus will return and bring a close to this age, everyone should be prepared, watching, and serving the Master by doing his will until he returns (Matthew 25:1-30)
      2. Jesus told his disciples that his literal earthly kingdom would not be right away but in the future, after the king takes a long journey and they will be rewarded according to their faithfulness during that time. (Luke19:11-27)
      3. Simply stated, the kingdom of God during our time is the rule of God by his Spirit over the hearts and lives of men and women.  I believe the visible manifestation of this kingdom during this time that Jesus must be in heaven is the church.
   4.  In reality, the kingdom has already begun but it is not fully here yet!   Theologians call this already but not yet!
      1. The “already” part is the fact that since the kingdom is where the king is and the Spirit of Christ dwells in our hearts right now, then he is king over a group of people who have been born again by the Spirit of God.  It is a spiritual kingdom “right now” where Jesus rules as king over his people.
      2. The “not yet” part is the fact that when Jesus returns to earth, he is going to set up a literal earthly, kingdom where he will be king over all the earth from Jerusalem. 
2.  Application  
   1.  As believers, we are not just waiting for a kingdom but we are a part of God’s powerful invisible kingdom right now with our King Jesus ruling over his church as its head and over his people as their lord!  
   2. Here is the reality that we live in.  We live in the midst of two kingdoms, each with their own kings – the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan- the god of this world.
   3. Each kingdom has its own program/system, ways, pattern, mold, basic principles, standards, philosophy, values, goals, methods, wisdom, viewpoint, loves, and use of its money. etc.
      1. The world puts constant pressure on us to squeeze us into the mold of the world we live in buying into its ways and values
      2. God’s kingdom is seeking to transform us into the mold of Jesus Christ. 
      3. Each kingdom is vying/competing for our allegiance to its ways and its king
   4. While we are in the world, we are not of the world as God transferred us out of the kingdom of Satan and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son.
      1. Read Colossians 1:12-13 
   5. Believers – which kingdom are you living by?  Which one reflects more of your thinking, values. loves and lifestyle?
      1. This is not about how many Bible studies you go to, how many times you go to church or even how much worship music you listen to!
      2. This is about who really is your king and which kingdom is influencing your life.  
   6. If you do not know Jesus, today you can transfer your membership from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of Jesus!
      1. Turn and listen to what Jesus said in John 3:3 
      2. You must be born again!  Born again by the Spirit of God.   Read John 3:7-8 
      3. Turn to John 1 and listen to what John the apostle said in v11-13
         1. Note what it is not – read 13b
         2. It is by God through faith in Jesus.  Read 12b
      4. Simple as ABC and invite