Last week, I talked about for Christ and the gospel.
This week, I'm going to talk about for king and kingdom.
Two messages similar in one sense of just laying foundations.
What are we motivated in?
What is our aim, our focus?
I want to talk to you about the king and the kingdom this morning.
I'm starting in Colossians 4, verse 11.
At the end of Colossians there, you see Paul talking about some different people.
He says,
These are the only men of the circumcision among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God,
and they have been a comfort to me.
These are fellow workers for the kingdom of God.
And that's who we are.
Fellow workers for the kingdom of God.
That we are living for the kingdom of God.
What is the kingdom of God?
Kingdom definitions.
Jack Taylor says,
God's rule over everyone and everything for all time and eternity.
Wolfgang Simpson says,
The realm of God's uncontested rule.
So if we're starting a church,
and we're seeking to seek and save those which are lost,
we're basically looking for this particular area we live in.
We're looking for people who are not underneath,
who are not submitting themselves to the rule of the king,
and saying,
Hey, where are the people who are not under the realm of God's uncontested rule?
Where are those people who have not submitted their lives to Jesus?
And we want to see them through the gospel of the kingdom,
come out from underneath the kingdom of darkness,
and into and under the kingdom of light.
Okay?
We want to see God's rule extend to those who are bucking his rule.
We're saying,
Jesus is not my king.
You know,
just like,
it's kind of similar,
different seasons of time.
Right now,
you might have Republicans saying,
Biden's not my president.
Or last time with Trump,
you have people saying,
not my,
hashtag,
not my president.
All right?
Which is kind of a dopey thing,
because he is.
Right?
But it's the same thing with God.
Like,
it's like,
well,
he's not my God.
Well,
he actually is.
You just don't recognize it.
You don't submit to it.
You don't live like it.
So there's a lot of people out there who might say,
hashtag,
not my king.
Okay?
Jesus isn't my king.
I'm not submitting to his rule.
I'm living underneath my own rule.
And,
um,
essentially the kingdom of God is what the king wants,
the way he wants it.
And so whenever you care about what the king wants,
and you care about the way the king wants it,
because you can't care about what the king wants
and not care about the way he wants it,
because the way he wants it is what the king wants.
Follow me on that,
Sam?
Okay.
Sam's awake.
So if you care about the kingdom of God,
you care about what he wants,
and you care about it being done on earth as it is in heaven.
Right?
That's what you see in Matthew 6.
It's essentially the same way of saying that.
Say,
I want to see what the king wants in heaven,
because what's going on in heaven is what the king wants.
When I'm saying,
I want it done on earth,
I'm saying,
I want this vision of what I see in heaven,
God ruling and reigning,
I want to see that come down to earth,
where he is exercising that rule,
that reign over every single person,
every single thing,
all creation.
And so that's why we pray,
let your kingdom come,
right,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Okay?
Just as it is in heaven perfectly,
we want that to be here on earth.
And we,
as a church,
are,
you know,
it's all kind of ethereal,
and kind of out there,
until there's an actual church that says,
hey,
we want to be the embassy of that kingdom,
so to speak.
You can basically look at churches as like these,
these embassies of the kingdom.
These are the pockets of God's rule,
where the way it is in heaven is how it is on earth.
People come into the church,
they should see a picture of heaven.
They should see,
oh,
this is what the king wants.
This is the way that life underneath the king's rule
is going to look like in the future,
when he's ruling over it all.
Here's a little pocket of it,
in this embassy of the church.
Much like if you go to Iraq,
where I think we have our largest embassy,
America's largest embassy,
at least we used to,
this massive,
almost like mini city there,
all the laws of America are true
in that little piece of land in Iraq,
even though it's in another country.
How things are done in America
is done right there in Iraq.
By putting that embassy there,
it's like America's will is being done
in Iraq as it is in America.
Do you hear me on that?
And so in the same way,
we're saying the church is like an embassy
of the king in the kingdom,
where everything that,
the way things are supposed to be done,
the way they are done in heaven
is done just like that
in this little picture of heaven in the church.
And our job is to be his ambassadors,
right,
of that kingdom in that embassy
and say,
we want to bring other people.
We are going out to preach about the benefits
of the kingdom that we are under,
the rule that we're under.
We're saying,
hey,
come underneath this rule.
There's actually,
I want to give you some good news
of the kingdom.
As an ambassador of Christ,
I want to give you good news
about the kingdom that I represent
and that I live under.
I want to invite you out of the kingdom of darkness
that you're living under,
whose ruler is the kingdom of the air,
the ruler of the kingdom of the air.
I want to invite you to come out
from underneath his rule,
which is bondage and slavery.
It's stealing,
killing,
and destroying.
And I want to invite you
into this invitation
that my king has made to you
that he could give you citizenship
in heaven as well.
Does that make sense?
Do you see the,
there's that language littered all over.
I just quoted a bunch of scriptures.
Your citizenship is in heaven.
You're not of this world,
right?
We're just sojourners,
alien earthlings,
so to speak,
right?
Aliens and strangers on this earth.
And yet,
we are not just from some mysterious place,
we're from a specific place.
We are citizens in a specific kingdom
with a specific king,
bringing a specific rule
that is to be extended.
It is to be advanced.
It is to be moving forward.
And it comes to the good news
or the gospel of the kingdom.
Does that make sense?
So the kingdom
or the king's domain,
the domain of the king,
the domain of Christ's uncontested rule
is what we should be about.
And you've heard me talk about this before.
I'm going to get into it a little bit deeper.
Every kingdom has three essentials.
Okay?
The ruler,
the ruled,
and the rules.
Okay?
If any one of those three is missing,
it's not the kingdom.
Does that make sense?
If there's no ruler,
nope,
that's not a kingdom.
All right?
Or if the ruler is usurped
and there's some other ruler,
that's not Christ's kingdom.
Christ's kingdom
has to be ruled
by Christ.
If you're on the throne,
that ain't his kingdom.
If you're doing what you want,
what you want,
when you want,
how you want,
the way you want,
sorry,
it's not the kingdom.
You can't say,
oh yeah,
I'm about the kingdom
and do what you want,
when you want,
how you want,
the way you want.
No.
You do what the king wants.
You're submitted to the king.
If he's not the ruler
and you're not submitted to him
as the ruler,
whenever you're talking about the kingdom
and that isn't the case,
that's not the kingdom of God.
Okay?
Starts with the ruler.
This one's for Adam.
The preeminent potentate.
Okay?
Adam likes that.
I know he does.
Okay?
The one whose rule is above all,
all-powerful,
all-mighty,
ruler,
preeminent,
potentate of everything,
everywhere,
for all time and eternity.
Okay?
That's Jesus.
And if you try to,
like,
kind of dial down his rule
just a little bit
and say,
well,
yeah,
he was a prophet.
He's a good guy.
Someone I want to emulate.
You know?
No.
There's an unbeliever
I've chatted with many times
and he says he's a Christian,
but whenever he talks about Jesus,
he does not talk about him
as the preeminent potentate,
the ruler over all creation,
the king of kings
and the lord of lords.
He talks about him
just like he's a cool dude.
You know?
Like,
I'm just like,
this is not some cool
spiritual doji here.
Like,
this is the ruler
of heaven and earth.
This is Jesus,
King Jesus.
The way you talk about him
makes me think
the kingdom of God
has not come to you.
You may be close,
but you are not yet
in this kingdom
you speak
so familiar with.
Okay?
1 Timothy 6,
14 to 16
says,
Our Lord Jesus Christ,
verse 15,
He who is the blessed
and only sovereign,
the king of kings
and the lord of lords,
who alone has immortality,
who dwells in unapproachable light,
whom no one has ever seen
or can see,
to him be honor
and eternal dominion.
Okay?
Forever rule,
that means.
He's the ruler.
Revelation 19, 16,
on his robe,
speaking of Jesus,
and on his thigh,
he has a name written.
King of kings
and lord of lords.
All right?
King of kings
and lord of lords.
So, essentially,
you could even say
he's more than a king.
What is someone
who's a king of kings?
The emperor, right?
I mean,
he's bigger than a king.
He is the king of kings.
Even the kings of the earth
are underneath the rule
of the emperor.
King Jesus,
the king of kings.
Right?
Revelation 1, verse 5,
Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness,
the firstborn of the dead,
and the ruler
of the kings
on the earth.
Ephesians 1, 19-23,
What is the immeasurable
greatness of his power
toward us who believe,
according to the working
of his great might,
that he worked in Christ
when he raised him
from the dead
and seated him
at his right hand
in the heavenly places,
far above
all rule
and authority
and power
and dominion,
and above every name
that is named.
He's not just
a little bit above.
It's not just
there's the kings
and then there's Jesus.
He's far above
all rule and authority.
There is no comparison.
You don't even,
it's even hard
to even put them
in the same sentence.
Okay?
That when you talk
about rules of kings
and then the rule
of the king,
it's so incomparable,
it's hard to even say
them in the same sentence.
Right?
Because he's far above
all rule
and authority
and power
and dominion
and above every name
that is named,
not only in this age,
but also
in the one to come.
So not just now,
but forever.
The next age,
every age that is to come.
And he put all things
under his feet
and gave him as head
over all things
to the church,
which is his body,
the fullness of him
who fills all
in all.
Put all things
under his feet.
All things.
Not some,
not most,
all things.
He is the ruler.
Okay?
If you're going
to talk kingdom,
you must talk
Jesus is the ruler,
the king.
He rules over all.
We don't negotiate
with him.
We don't try to say,
well,
I kind of,
you know,
yeah,
I like a couple things
about Jesus,
but like,
I kind of want my way
in this thing.
I don't know.
He's the ruler.
He's above all rule.
You don't,
uncontested.
It's not like the devil
and Jesus are in this
like neck and neck race
and it's kind of close
and it looks like
the devil won that one.
Never,
ever,
albeit to think that,
to utter that.
Never.
There is no,
he is uncontested
in his rule.
That's why I love
Wolfgang's definition
of the kingdom.
The realm of his
uncontested rule.
There is no competition.
There is no contest.
No one challenges
his rule.
It's not even possible.
Okay?
He is the ruler.
When you think kingdom,
you think that.
Okay?
The second thing
in a kingdom,
the ruled.
Psalm 103, 19,
the Lord has established
his throne in the heavens
and his kingdom
rules over all.
Okay?
All.
Psalm 22, 28,
for kingship belongs
to the Lord
and he rules
over the nations.
You might say,
well,
even the nations
that are totally godless,
you bet,
every nation
he rules over.
Is there anything
he doesn't rule over?
No.
I think it was
A.W. Pink who said
if there was one
rogue molecule
in the entire universe,
he would cease
to be God.
Not one rogue molecule.
He is king over all.
He is ruler over all.
There's not one molecule
that is not under
the sovereign rule
of King Jesus.
Do you hear me on that?
Okay?
And so we are
under his rule.
Revelation 1, 5,
the ruler of the kings
on earth.
All right?
So there's the ruler
and then there's the ruled.
Those who are a part
of his kingdom
are ruled by King Jesus.
You can't be in his kingdom
and not be ruled.
You can't say,
I don't believe
he's the ruler
and I'm not underneath
this rule.
You know,
I think I can do
what I want to do.
It's like,
that has to hit
every area.
Okay?
It has to,
the rule of God
hits your checkbook,
your bank account,
your sex life.
Okay?
It hits your marriage,
your parenting,
your single life.
Right?
It hits your work life.
It's how you use your time.
Are you ruled
or are you not?
Who's ruling?
Is he the ruler?
If he's the ruler,
then you're the ruled.
That means nothing
is your own anymore.
Your time isn't your own.
Your money isn't your own.
Everything is his.
Right?
By nature,
in a kingdom,
nobody owns anything
but the king.
Did you know that?
In a real kingdom.
We don't know that
because we live in a republic
where we care very much
about our property rights.
Right?
In a kingdom,
there's only stewards.
There is no owners
other than the king.
He gives property
and things
for you to use,
but you do not own them
in a kingdom.
Okay?
For God to be a king
and to be the ruler,
nothing is yours anymore.
It's all his.
By nature of him being king
and you being the ruled.
All right?
And then three,
you have the rules.
If you remove any of these,
you don't have a kingdom.
Okay?
You say,
yeah,
God's the ruler
and I'm the ruled,
but I play by my own rules.
No.
Ipso facto,
not the truth.
Cannot happen.
There's no,
it doesn't work that way.
If he is ruling,
then he sets the rules.
You cannot make your own rules.
You might say,
well,
I want to do,
handle my money this way.
No.
You have to go by the rules of God.
Well,
I want to use my time this way.
No.
God gets to decide that.
I want to do church this way.
No.
He's the head of the church.
He's the ruler.
The rules must be God's.
Leviticus 18.4,
you shall follow my rules
and keep my statutes
and walk in them.
I am the Lord,
your God.
Ecclesiastes 8.4
and the CEV.
The king's word is law.
Okay?
In a kingdom,
whatever the king says is law.
That's why when Daniel
got thrown into the lion's den,
it was just like,
he made this declaration
and it became law
as soon as he said it.
And so he had to
throw him in the lion's den.
And remember when he apologized
to Daniel
and he's just like,
oh,
I'm so sorry.
I didn't,
you know,
this wasn't really,
I didn't think this was going
to be directed towards you.
But that's the nature
of the king's word.
The king's word is law.
Okay?
Psalm 119 verse 20,
my soul is consumed
with longing for your rules
at all time.
Who says that?
People who are ruled
by King Jesus
and who know
that he is a good ruler.
Right?
They say things like,
my soul is consumed
with longing for your rules
at all times.
Do you think that way?
What a weird statement to say.
Lord,
I'm consumed
with longing
for your rules.
That's so un-American.
It's not even funny.
Right?
It's like the antithesis
of what it means
to be an American.
To long for rules.
Americans long
to break rules.
Kingdom citizens
of Christ's kingdom
say,
I am consumed
with longing
for your rules.
Do you care
about what his rules are?
Do you care
to obey them?
Do you care
to know them?
Psalm 119.43
Take not the word
of truth
utterly out of my mouth
for my hope
is in your rules.
My hope
is in your rules.
Who says that?
Someone who believes
that he's a good king.
Someone who is content
to be under the rule
of King Jesus
and say,
hey,
my hope
is in your rules
because I know
you're a good ruler.
Psalm 119.52
When I think
of your rules
from of old,
I take comfort,
O Lord.
You take comfort
in the rules of God.
Is that comforting
to know that God
has rules,
that God has ways,
that God has a will?
Does that give you comfort?
It should.
It would not be comforting
if he wasn't
in control of everything.
If he wasn't sovereign,
that wouldn't be comforting.
And if he was sovereign
but not good,
that wouldn't be comforting either.
I'd say,
well,
okay,
I know he's in charge
of everything
but if he's not good,
how in the world
does that give me comfort?
It has to be both.
You will never be comforted
by his rules
if you do not believe
he's both sovereign
and good.
And I got good news
of the kingdom for you.
He is.
He is good
and he is sovereign.
He's not just good
like that manager
who was always nice to you
but never had the authority
to do any of the things
he wanted to do.
I'd love to give you a raise
but I just don't really
have the authority,
you know?
God is not just good.
He's not just the kind of manager
you love to have.
He also has the authority
to execute his will.
We've all had managers
who had good intentions
but no authority.
Right?
We've even had good
government officials.
Man, I wish I could do this
but I don't have the authority.
Right?
Maybe you've experienced
that at the DMV.
Yeah, I know this doesn't
make much sense
but I don't have the authority
to change it.
You just have to deal with it.
Right?
God has the authority
to execute his good purpose
and will
and he does as he pleases
and what he pleases
is best for you
and me.
That's why we can say
I take comfort
in his rules.
Psalm 119.62
At midnight I rise
to praise you
because of your righteous rules.
Have you ever praised God
for his rules?
Have you ever praised God
for the things
that he has set up
for your good
and his glory?
That's why they're there.
His rules are there
for your good
and his glory.
Every kingdom must have
these three things.
You can't say you're about
advancing his kingdom
seeing his kingdom come
on earth as it is in heaven.
If you yourself
are not submitted
to the king
you're not ruled by him
you don't believe
that he is the ruler
and you don't adhere
to his rules.
You are not submitted
to the king
if you're not adhering
to his rules.
And if you're bucking that
and walking in darkness
and trying to avoid that
and trying to get around it
that's not the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God
must be obedience
to the rules of God.
And you only do that
when you know
that he's good.
Alright,
what the kingdom is
and what it isn't.
Romans 14, 17 says
the kingdom of God
is not a matter
of eating and drinking
but of righteousness
and peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit.
In the Bible
they got really hung up
on a lot of things
when it came to eating
and drinking.
What you can eat
what you can eat.
Right?
He says
what this is really about
is righteousness,
peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit.
When you experience
righteousness
and you experience
peace
and when you experience
joy in the Holy Spirit
that's the kingdom of God
that you're experiencing.
You ever experience that
when you come into a home
where there's righteousness there?
Things are being done
right according to God.
There's peace
in that home.
There is joy
that comes from the Holy Spirit
in that home.
What is that?
It's an embassy of the king
and the kingdom.
His rule is present there
where there's righteousness,
peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit.
Now,
have you seen in a family
or a home
or a business
or a geographical area
or in a nation
where there is not righteousness
and there is not peace
and there is not
joy in the Holy Spirit?
What is that evidence of?
That the kingdom of God
is not there.
Not in,
at least not in the fullest sense.
God is sovereignly ruling
but we're not at present
seeing that rule
manifesting itself.
in that particular time.
Okay?
Kingdom of God
is righteousness,
peace,
and joy in the Holy Spirit.
You should look for that
to identify it
and when it's not there,
you as an ambassador of Christ
can and should
bring that
wherever you go.
You start working
on a new job,
what should you bring there?
The kingdom of God.
Well,
what does that mean?
Don't just say
I'm bringing the kingdom of God.
What does that specifically mean?
It means righteousness.
It means peace.
It means joy
and the Holy Spirit.
Is that evident in your life?
Does it go where you go?
If it doesn't,
perhaps one of the three aspects
of the kingdom
is missing.
What the kingdom is
and what it isn't.
1 Corinthians 4.20
The kingdom of God
is not a matter of talk
but of power.
Okay?
And say,
okay,
we're a church now.
We're going to,
here I am,
talking.
I'm talking about the kingdom.
But make no mistake,
that's not what this is
ultimately a matter of.
It's a matter of power.
If my words are just words,
it's not the kingdom.
Kingdom is not just
a matter of talk.
It's a matter of power.
Okay?
And when the disciples
were sent out
as apostles of Jesus,
he said,
wait in Luke 24.49
until you're clothed
with power from on high.
And then in Acts 1.8,
he said,
when the Spirit comes upon you,
you will be my witnesses.
And then in Acts 4.31,
they were filled with the Spirit
and they spoke the word
of God boldly.
What do you see
in all three of those instances?
Power.
Not just talk,
power.
Those same ones
who were yelling,
crucify him,
are all of a sudden
among the 3,000
who are getting saved
after the guy who preached
was the guy
who denied him three times.
The same guy
who denied him three times
is now saying
to the people
who yelled,
crucify him,
you killed the author of life.
What is that?
Power.
That's power.
You see the difference?
We need power.
The kingdom is not
a matter of talk.
If you think
we're going to start a church
and you're going to go evangelize
by just saying
the right words,
you are sorely mistaken.
That's not how this works.
It's a matter of power.
Power.
You need power.
I need power.
You're going to go evangelize?
You're going to be
a missional community
and get on a mission?
You better have power.
You better have boldness
to be his witness.
You better not just
give them words.
They don't need words.
They need the power of God
in your words.
They need words
but not words without power.
Okay?
They need the gospel.
They need
the power
of the Holy Spirit.
That should make us dependent.
Okay?
We have to be
emptied of our self-confidence
and say,
okay,
I think we're getting this.
We figured this out.
I mean,
this week we have chairs.
We're doing it.
All right?
Like,
no self-confidence
in anything.
All right,
we're starting this
missional community.
We've done missional communities
before.
No big deal.
No confidence
in the flesh.
Confidence in the Holy Spirit
saying,
God,
we need you.
We need you,
God.
We need you.
If you don't
give us your power,
those words are going
to fall on deaf ears.
We're going to go
to the wrong people.
We're going to go
to the wrong places.
We want to be precise,
God.
We want to be powerful
in our presentation
of the gospel
and to the people
who are the ones
that God
is drawing.
God,
send us to those people.
No one come to the Father
unless you draw them.
God,
we need the power
of God
to actually see
and hear
where we are to go,
who we are to speak to.
You know,
when Philip's walking along,
the Spirit says to him,
hey,
go talk to that Ethiopian.
Go talk to him.
Who said that to him?
The Spirit did.
Remember?
Do you hear the Spirit
saying to you
who you should go talk to?
That's why you need power
because when God's power comes,
you hear stuff.
You hear the Spirit saying,
hey,
go talk to that guy.
And then you go up
and he's reading Isaiah
and says,
who is this about?
And you're just like,
okay.
Talk about a divine appointment.
That's a divine appointment.
Okay,
that doesn't happen to people
who aren't walking
in the power of God
and aren't hearing
the Spirit of God.
We need that.
We can be like Philip.
Did Philip have a different version
of the Holy Spirit
than you have?
Absolutely not.
You young cats?
Is there a junior Holy Spirit?
No.
There's no like version
of the Holy Spirit for kids
and then an adult version.
It's the same Holy Spirit.
What the kingdom is
and what it isn't.
It is a matter of power.
How does the kingdom come?
Right?
Matthew 6,
when he tells them,
he says,
let your kingdom come
on earth as it is in heaven.
So the concept
of the kingdom coming.
It's come.
It is coming.
And it will come.
Right?
So it's like three tenses
just like salvation.
Then saved,
being saved,
will be saved,
has come,
is coming,
will come.
How does it come?
Matthew 6,
9-10.
I just read that.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Matthew 13,
31-33.
He said,
the kingdom of heaven
is like grain of a mustard seed
that a man took
and sowed in its field.
The smallest of all the seeds.
But when it is grown,
it is larger than all the garden plants
and becomes a tree
so that the birds of the air
come and make nests
in its branches.
Then he told them another parable.
And he says,
the kingdom of heaven
is like leaven
that a woman took
and hid in three measures of flour
till it was all leaven.
Right?
So leaven working through dough,
a mustard seed,
which is the tiniest one,
growing into a big tree.
That's what the kingdom of God
is like.
That's how it comes.
It starts small
and grows bigger.
Okay?
So what do we take from that?
Don't despise the days
of small beginnings.
Don't be discouraged
because we're starting off small.
Don't be discouraged
when you just see
a little bit of fruit.
Okay?
You just keep
sowing seeds of the kingdom.
You just keep preaching
the good news,
the gospel of the kingdom
and believing
that it's going to bear fruit.
Believing that,
oh yeah,
it starts small.
It's just a little leaven,
but it's got to work
through the batch of dough.
You've got to believe that
when you see it
in the people of our church.
Say,
wow,
they need to grow.
Yep.
But I know the leaven is there.
It just needs to work
through the whole batch of dough.
There's some parts of the dough
that have not been reached
by the leaven.
Okay?
But I trust
that the kingdom will come
and I'm going to pray.
I'm going to pray to my kids.
I'd say,
God,
is the kingdom in my kids at all?
Maybe not yet.
All right?
Do you pray that it comes?
And when it comes,
it's going to take time
to work through the whole batch.
Our whole life
is that sanctifying process
of us submitting
in every single area
to the King of Kings.
Okay?
That's how it comes.
Matthew 12, 28
speaks of how it comes.
Jesus says,
if it is by the Spirit of God
that I cast out demons,
then the kingdom of God
has come upon you.
Okay?
That's kind of an obvious one.
If the kingdom comes,
then demons go.
Right?
If I cast out demons
by the Spirit of God,
you know,
he's basically saying
this is what it looks like,
then the kingdom of God
has come upon you.
When the kingdom comes,
demons go.
Because demons
are from another kingdom.
Kingdom of darkness.
When the kingdom of light comes,
they don't have any authority.
You know,
Bellicose is going
into that new building,
right?
That,
what's it called?
Shriner.
The Shriner building.
And,
you know,
people are like,
there's some people
who get almost like
a little afraid of that
because Shriners are
Masons.
Masons
are not of the kingdom of God.
Okay?
Let's just say that.
It's a lot of demonic stuff there.
All right?
And,
people get a little freaked out
about that.
Like,
what are we going to do?
How are we going to pray that?
You know,
are we going to use this room
and how are we going to do that?
And I'm just like,
when the kingdom of God comes,
demons leave.
And,
if it's not theirs anymore,
it's now ours,
they gots to go.
Right?
Like,
I'm giving their eviction notice.
Sorry,
you got to leave.
This house is the Lord's
and everything in it.
You got to go.
And you got to believe
that when you say that,
they have to go.
And it's the same way.
It's James 4,
verse 7.
When someone submits to God
and then you resist the devil,
where does he go?
He's got to flee.
We do deliverance ministry.
I don't,
I never doubt
that the devil is going to go
when I see someone
submitted to God.
Because,
the word of the king,
which is law,
in James 4,
verse 7,
lays it out really plain for me.
Submit to God,
resist the devil,
and he will flee.
What is he going to do?
If that person is in repentance,
if they submitted to God,
and then we resist the devil,
he's got only one place to go.
Far from there.
When he's resisted,
he has to flee.
It's not that we have to,
like,
talk louder,
yell,
and do some kind of weird,
you know,
spiritual,
you know,
gymnastics,
or,
you know,
ninja skills here.
We're just,
we just resist him.
He's got to go.
Because the kingdom of God
is here.
Does that make sense?
And the word of the king
is law.
And his word says,
submit to God,
resist him,
and he has to flee.
Okay?
Luke 10,
9,
heal the sick,
Jesus says.
Heal the sick in it,
and say to them,
the kingdom of God
has come near to you.
Okay?
When sickness is healed,
that's the kingdom of God.
The way it is in heaven
is done on earth.
Okay?
Why doesn't everybody get healed?
Because his kingdom
isn't yet here in fullness.
But it is here.
It came with Jesus.
It's here in some larger doses
in some areas.
There's always the possibility
of kingdom breaking in in power.
One day it'll be here in total,
and there'll be no more tears.
There'll be no more sickness.
There'll be no more pain.
But in the meantime,
we pray that it comes now.
We believe that it can come now.
We believe that it does come now.
That it is coming now.
We also live under
the futility of this world
and the consequences
of our sin
and its effect on the world.
But that should never stop us
from praying
that his kingdom will come
in healing.
Even if we've seen it not happen.
You might say,
well, I've done that many times.
I haven't seen it happen.
Is he king?
Is his kingdom here?
Is his kingdom coming?
And does it not come
through his saints
who lay hands on sick people?
Yes.
But we keep trying.
We keep doing it,
knowing that ultimately,
one day,
he's going to make
all the wrong things right,
including sickness.
Number five,
the priority of the kingdom.
Okay?
Priority of the kingdom.
Seeking isn't enough.
I say,
I'm seeking the kingdom.
Okay?
You're not seeking the kingdom
if you're not seeking it first.
Because the king
who said to seek the kingdom
said to seek it first.
So to disobey the king
and putting it at the wrong priority
is not obeying the king,
which means it's not the kingdom.
Do you hear what I'm saying?
It's not okay
to seek the kingdom
second,
third,
fourth,
or last.
It must be sought first.
Matthew 6.33 says,
seek first the kingdom
and his righteousness.
Seek first.
If it's not sought first,
it's not his kingdom.
The kingdom of God
is the priority.
It should be the priority
for every Christian.
How can I bring
all things,
how can I do my part,
my participation,
my gifts,
my one life that I'm given,
how can I use it
to help bring things
underneath the rule
of King Jesus?
How do I do that?
Let's start with your bedroom.
Okay?
You hear that, Max?
Let's start with our bedroom, right?
Let's bring the kingdom of God
to our bedroom, right?
Let's bring it to our home.
Let's bring it to
our individual lives.
We have families.
Let's bring it to our marriage.
Let's bring it to our kids.
Are there things
that we've been tolerating
our marriages for many years
that need to be
brought into submission
to the King
that we're okay with,
that we seek
is not really that big
of a priority?
The kingdom must be sought first.
We can't seek our own
desires
when there's things
that we are neglecting.
We have to seek first
this kingdom
and say, God,
where do I need
to obey your rule?
Priority of the kingdom.
Cost determines value.
Value determines priority.
Okay?
What does the kingdom cost?
Matthew 13.
Kingdom of heaven
is like a treasure
hidden in a field
which a man found
and covered up.
Then in his joy,
he goes and sells all
that he has
and buys that field.
What does it cost?
It costs all.
You sure about that?
Let's look at 45.
Again, the kingdom of heaven
is like a merchant
in search of fine pearls.
When finding one,
one pearl of great value
went and sold all he had
and bought it.
What does it cost?
It costs all.
The cost determines the value.
The value determines the priority.
If it costs everything you have,
it should be a pretty high priority, right?
But the good news is
is he sold it in his joy.
Why?
Because the pearl of great price,
the kingdom of God,
is better than what you have.
And until your revelation,
your perception of all that you have
is less than your perception
of the kingdom,
you'll never sell all you have
to get it.
Okay?
If you think what you have
is worth more than the kingdom,
you're always going to be
holding on to it
and not wanting to let go.
You think your time,
your stuff,
your relationships,
what you want,
you think that's more valuable
than what the king gives you
in his kingdom,
then you hold on to it
and you won't sell all to get it.
But if you believe
that the kingdom is better,
that the king has
your best interest in mind,
it's your joy
to give something worth less
for something that's far greater.
No one would ever have a problem
giving all that you have
for something way better
if you knew that it was way better.
And it becomes difficult
to give our lives to God
and to give our time to God
and our money to God
and whatever else it might be
that's difficult to give to God.
You have to know that behind that,
you don't really believe
that God is good
or that he has the ability
to give you all
that he promised to give you.
You think in some way,
some form,
you're being ripped off.
And it's not true.
That's not the good news
of the kingdom.
Another reason why it's priority.
Jesus talked about the kingdom
more than any other topic.
And he spent his last days
on earth speaking about it.
Acts 1.3,
he appeared to them
during 40 days
and spoke to them
about the kingdom of God.
He's got his last days on earth.
What's he going to speak about?
The kingdom of God?
He could have spoke about anything.
What did he spend
his last 40 days speaking on?
He spoke to them
about the kingdom of God.
What do you speak about?
Do we speak about
the kingdom of God?
Paul also talked a lot
about the kingdom of God
and spent the last two years
of his life proclaiming it.
Acts 19.8,
he entered the synagogue
and for three months
spoke boldly,
reasoning and persuading them
about the kingdom of God.
Acts 20.25,
and now behold,
I know that none of you
among whom I have gone
about proclaiming the kingdom
will see my face again.
Okay, speaking to the church
in Ephesus.
He went about in Ephesus
for two years.
What was he doing?
Proclaiming the kingdom of God.
Acts 28.23,
when they had appointed
a day for him,
they came to him
at his lodging
in greater numbers.
Paul was in house arrest.
From morning till evening,
he expounded them.
What did he think
he talked to them about?
When he's at the end
of his life,
he's on house arrest,
what did Paul spend
his time talking about?
Testifying to the kingdom
of God
and trying to convince them
about Jesus,
both from the law of Moses
and from the prophets.
He's speaking of the king
in the kingdom,
Jesus in the kingdom.
You see that again
in Acts 28.30.31,
he lived there two whole years
at his own expense
and welcomed all
who came to him,
proclaiming the kingdom of God
and teaching about
the Lord Jesus Christ
with all boldness
and without hindrance.
And we should teach the same.
We should be proclaiming
the kingdom of God
and we should be teaching
about the Lord Jesus Christ.
Very important.
If it was important to them,
it should be important to us.
If it was important to Jesus,
it should be important to us.
If it was important to Paul
to spend his last days
and Jesus to spend
his last days on earth,
speaking of the kingdom,
it should be for us as well.
The fact that it's eternal
takes priority of the temporal.
Daniel 7.14 says,
To him who was given
dominion and glory
and a kingdom
that all people's nations
and languages
should serve him,
his dominion
is an everlasting kingdom.
Everlasting dominion
which shall not pass away
and his kingdom
one that shall not be destroyed.
Psalm 119.160
Every one of your righteous rules
endures forever.
Psalm 145.13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom
and your dominion endures
throughout all generations.
His kingdom is forever.
His kingdom is eternal.
And the eternal
always trumps the temporal.
What is eternal?
His kingdom.
Many things will pass.
Many things you enjoy
that I enjoy will pass.
One thing that will live forever
is the rule of King Jesus.
His rule is everlasting.
I love Psalm 145.13.
Your kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom.
Your dominion
endures
throughout all generations.
That's why it takes precedent.
That's why it takes priority.
That's why when they preached
the gospel,
it wasn't just called the gospel.
What was it called?
You see it in Matthew.
You see it in Luke.
You even see it in Acts.
It was called
the gospel of
kingdom.
It's called the good news of
the kingdom.
Okay?
When you hear the gospel,
it's the good news of the kingdom.
That's what it is.
Every good thing about Jesus Christ
is about the kingdom.
Why?
Because he's the king.
All that stuff in the gospel
we love so much.
We say justification,
expiation,
propitiation,
all the Asians that we say
that are so great.
Why are they great?
Because they are executed
by a king.
If he's not king,
none of those great things
come to us.
I love it when people say,
I think this guy
has accepted Jesus as Savior,
but not Lord.
As if that was possible.
As if there's some guy
named Jesus
who's not Lord.
There probably is,
but that's not Jesus the Christ.
The Christ is the anointed ruler.
If he can't,
if he's not Lord,
he can't be your Savior.
How would he have the authority
and the power to save you
if he's not Lord,
if he's not king?
You can't separate them.
Jesus isn't some person
you can like split up
into multiple things
and just say,
I'll take this part
about you, Jesus,
but not that part.
It's got to be all.
So you can't say,
well, I think that guy,
I think he believes
that Jesus is the Savior,
but not his Lord.
It's not even possible.
The only one who can save you
is your Lord.
The only one who can save you
is the one who rules over
and has defeated death.
How could he save you from death
if he doesn't rule over it?
He must.
Okay?
Seven,
it pleases God
to give you the unshakable kingdom.
I love Luke 12, 32.
It is your Father's good pleasure
to give you the kingdom.
Do you believe that?
When you pray Matthew 6
to say your kingdom come,
your will be done,
do you believe that it pleases him
to give it to you?
That he's not thinking,
well,
you know,
Chris hasn't really been
a good boy this week.
I don't know if I'm going
to give him the kingdom.
No.
It pleases God
to give Chris the kingdom.
It pleases God
to give you the kingdom.
Why?
Because
he's a good king.
And he knows that his rule
is the best thing for you.
So it pleases him
to give you all the benefits
of the kingdom.
Because he knows
as a king
who's a good ruler,
he knows that
his rule is best for people
when he's a good king.
And so to give it to them
is to give the best thing possible.
As kids,
sometimes we don't understand
when our parents
are telling us to do something
and they provide rules
and we say,
oh,
I want to do something else
that seems more fun.
They don't realize
that the parents know
what's best for the kid.
And it's the same thing
with your father in heaven.
He is the king
and he knows
that his rules
are good for you
and so it pleases him
to give you the rules.
Because they are for your good.
They comfort you.
Pleases God
to give you the kingdom
and it's not just any kingdom.
Hebrews 12, 28
says it's an unshakable kingdom.
Daniel 7, 27
says the kingdom
and the dominion
and the greatness
of the kingdoms
under the whole heaven
shall be given
to the people
of the saints
of the Most High.
He's giving it to us.
There is a soon
and coming kingdom.
Jesus is returning
and he's going to give us
this kingdom.
We cannot plant a church
that doesn't have
as its focus
the kingdom.
Church without kingdom
is humanism.
It has our ends
as the end.
Stop.
It has our pleasure
as the end.
Right?
A church that is focused
on the kingdom
has the king's will
and pleasure
first and foremost.
You have church
without kingdom,
it's humanistic.
Okay?
And then you get
this weird sacred secular
if you don't have
the kingdom being
the focus of a church
where you think,
oh, this is important
and this is not.
This is ministry,
this is not.
And then full-time ministry
becomes the end-all,
be-all.
And if you work a job,
it's like,
that's no big deal.
That's not that big of a deal.
A stay-home mom,
are you kidding me?
What significance
would that have?
But when your focus
is the kingdom,
then you realize
that all of life
is sacred.
All of life
has purpose.
All of life
has dignity
and value
because I can bring
the kingdom,
the rule of God,
into every single area
of my life.
Therefore,
everything has value,
everything has purpose,
and everything is infused
with something bigger
than myself,
which is what you were
meant to live for.
You want to live for
something small and impish?
Live for yourself.
The church can't live
for itself.
It will implode on itself.
It needs to live
for the kingdom.
Okay?
And kingdom without church
is not possible
because the church
is the physical outflowers
of that kingdom.
It's the embassies
of the kingdom.
It's the actual
demonstration of what
that invisible kingdom
is in the visible.
Otherwise,
it's just this
invisible reality.
We make the invisible
visible as the church.
We take this rule of God
that you can't see
and say,
this is what it looks like.
This is what it looks like
among a group of people
living by the rules
of the ruler.
We make that practical.
You can't have kingdom
without church.
We know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom.
1 Corinthians 6,
Galatians 5,
Ephesians 5
give this list of
different people
who will not inherit
the kingdom of God.
Okay?
And he says,
you can be sure of this.
Those are lists
we should read.
Those are lists
you should study
because the church
has started to think
that you can be a part
of the kingdom
and be in those things.
And the Bible is explicit
that there are certain people
who will not inherit
the kingdom of God.
We don't want to be
those people.
How do we do something
about that?
We remember the Lord
constantly.
That's why we take
to the Lord's table.
We say,
God,
apart from you,
I have no good thing.
We say,
God,
but by the grace of God,
go I.
And we don't live
in our own self-righteousness.
We don't live
in our own strength.
We trust
that our only hope
is Jesus.
Number 11,
through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom.
It says in Acts 14,
verse 22.
This is what they preached.
This is what Paul was preaching.
He would strengthen
the souls of the disciples,
encourage them in the faith.
And he said,
through many tribulations
we must enter
the kingdom of God.
That means it's not easy.
That means there's
going to be trouble.
Jesus said a similar thing.
In this world,
you will have trouble.
But take heart.
I got good news
of the kingdom
that we overcome
because Jesus is overcome,
right?
We're not comer-unders,
we're overcomers,
right?
We're not comer-unders,
we're overcomers.
Obstacles of tribulation comes,
we overcome
by the word of our testimony
and the blood of the Lamb.
Right?
And we do that
and that's how we enter
the kingdom.
It's through tribulation,
it's through hardship,
it's not going to be easy.
Right?
Lastly,
number 12,
big picture.
Ephesians 1.9,
making known to us
the mystery of his will
according to his purpose
which he set forth in Christ.
As a plan for the fullness of time
to unite all things in him,
things in heaven
and things on earth.
This is the mystery of his will.
He's bringing all things
in heaven and earth,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
That the culmination
would be that all things
in heaven and earth
would come under one head
which is Christ.
That's where this is all going.
Why are we all about
the kingdom now?
Because that's where
it's all going in the end.
Right?
That's the mystery of his will.
Jesus came to bring
all things underneath
the headship
of Jesus.
Colossians 1.18-20
He is the head of the body,
the church.
He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead,
that in everything
he might be preeminent.
For in him
all the fullness of God
was pleased to dwell.
For what?
That through him
to reconcile to himself
all things,
whether on earth
they're in heaven
making peace
by the blood of his cross.
You see where this is all headed?
You see where this is all going?
The blood of Jesus
reconciling people,
bringing them underneath
the rule of God,
connecting heaven
and earth together.
Hebrews 2.6-8
It has been testified somewhere,
What is man
that you are mindful of him?
Or the son of man
that you care for him?
You made him for a little while
lower than the angels.
You have crowned him
with glory and honor,
putting everything in subjection
under his feet.
This is such a practical verse here.
And he says,
Now I'm putting everything
in subjection to him.
He left nothing
outside his control.
You think,
Yeah, but
it doesn't seem that way.
What does it say?
At present,
we do not yet see
everything in subjection to him.
Okay?
So he put everything in control,
but we don't see it yet.
It's here.
It's like a mustard seed.
It's like yeast.
One day it will infect
the whole world completely.
Jesus will return
and rule over this earth
and make it new.
We see that in Revelation 11.15.
Then the seventh angel
blew his trumpet
and there was loud voices
in heaven saying,
The kingdom of the world
has become the kingdom
of our Lord
and of his Christ
and he shall reign forever and ever.
That's where this is going.
That's where we're headed to.
1 Corinthians 15,
last verse,
24 to 28,
Then comes the end
when he delivers
the kingdom to God the Father
after destroying every rule
and every authority and power.
For he must reign
until he has put
all his enemies
under his feet.
The last enemy
to be destroyed
is death.
For God has put all things
in subjection
under his feet.
But when it says
all things are put
in subjection,
it is plain
that he is accepted
who put all things
in subjection
under him.
When all things
are subjected to him,
then the Son himself
will also be subjected
to him
who put all things
in subjection
under him
that God may be
all in all.
Isn't that amazing?
Even Jesus gives
the kingdom
to the Father
and says,
This is all for you.
That's where
the culmination
of this is going.
The last thing
to be destroyed
is death.
Okay?
We sell the beginning
of that
with the resurrection
of Jesus.
That was our down payment.
And one day
we will be resurrected
as well.
In the meantime,
we preach the gospel
to as many.
We become all things
to all men
that by all means
we might win
as many as possible
so that as many
as possible
will be resurrected
to that day
unto eternal life.
Does that make sense?
That's where we're going.
Amen?
Amen.