The Kingdom of God: A Different Kind of Kingdom

I want to read two passages of Scripture today, or use two passages of Scripture, I'm not going to read all of them, but if you would find in your Bibles Matthew chapter 5, I want to use that passage. And then 2 Corinthians chapter 2, 2 Corinthians chapter 3, beginning with verse 12. So if you'll hold that last one and then turn to Matthew chapter 5, I'm going to use that passage. When Jesus was on trial, he was asked if he was a king. He said he was a king, but not the kind of king that they were asking about. He said his kingdom was not of this world. Now whenever he said that, he wasn't saying that there was nothing in this world that he was king over, but that his kingdom was not the same as the kingdom of Rome, or the Judean kingdom. It was a different kind of kingdom. Kings of this world exercise power and authority, or they couldn't be kings. They're in charge of something. They have power. They have authority. And usually their power and authority is used to be able to protect the people who are part of their kingdom. So they use their army and all their resources to be able to protect their borders. Or if they're aggressive, they may use their power and authority to invade another country and add another country to their own country. The kingdom of God is not like that. God is not interested in physical conquest and moving from one country to another to take political and economic control of the country. He said my kingdom is not of this world. And whenever we talk about the kingdom of God, we're talking about God's rule over a person's life. That rule happens when a person surrenders themselves to Christ. As you heard this morning from Chris, to say, Lord, I want you to take my life and I want you to enter my life and I want you to control my life, my direction, my behavior, and its outcome. And then he rules that life. When a king conquers a territory, he establishes his flag there. When Russia has entered Crimea, the people there couldn't resist, but it didn't mean that every person there was ready to say, we are now Russians. When God's kingdom advances, his kingdom advances person by person. And the people who are part of the kingdom of God are the end result of what God is trying to do. You are God's goal to enter your life and add you to his kingdom. Jesus made it clear what it meant for a person to enter the kingdom of heaven when he began his work. Chapter 5 is a long passage we call sometimes the Sermon on the Mount. It may have been a collection of different ones, we don't know, and probably a lot more than we have printed here, but he gives some idea of the nature of the kingdom of God. What does it mean when God rules the life of a person? Well Jesus was describing this. He said it's different than anything else you know. It's different than any other kind of kingdom you know. It's sort of the opposite of it. This passage begins with what we call the Beatitudes where it says blessed are the poor in spirit. It's the opposite of the way we think. We think blessed are the person who has a great experience or blessed are those who mourn and we would say well that's not true, blessed is someone who is happy. But he is talking about the fact that his kingdom is far different than the other kingdoms of the world. So that when we look at it, it seems sort of like it's backwards. He even indicated that this idea of the kingdom is powerful because of its opposite nature. It's different than anything else that we see. He said you will be blessed when people insult you and when they persecute you falsely. You will be blessed. He was saying this because he said whenever persecution comes and God is in your life, he gives you power and strength that you've never known you've had. And through those difficult times you will actually benefit from it until you will say when it's over, I am happy to have experienced what I've gone through. This is a weird concept. You see what God is doing is building character. Not making life pleasant for us but building character. Building an awareness that even in the hardest times we can trust God to take care of us. He said as a result of this you are going to have two things in your life. One is you are going to be a light to other people. How do you get through life? Watch me and I will show you. I will guide you. You will be a light to those around you. He said also you are like salt in my kingdom. You will change the nature and character of things that take place. One time I went to buy a car and a car salesman came out and he was telling me all these cars that he was good and he was cussing about as strong as he could to make me feel like you know these two men together. And after he'd cussed a little while he said, oh what job do you have? And I said well I'm a pastor and he just left. There is a change that we make when people see the character of our lives to those that are around us. He was immediately convicted that what he was doing was wrong. I didn't say anything to him about it being wrong. But we are light and salt into the world in which we live. Now Jesus said I want you to understand I've not come to say the Old Testament is worthless. But I wanted to tell you that the Old Testament started something that I've come to be able to show you the end of it or fulfill it. And then he begins to explain exactly what he meant by that. The Old Testament said you're not to murder anybody. And so you think you've done a good job if you haven't killed anybody in your whole life. Hey I'm one of those. I never killed anybody. But that's not enough. For the people that kill start by being angry and their anger grows and grows. You see it on television. Somebody shoots people. They've always had some kind of terrible problems that they're not able to get over. I have come to show you that God has the power to take your life and change your anger. So whenever you enter the kingdom of heaven the power of God and his kingdom enters you and defeats anger which is one of your worst problems. It's not enough that you haven't killed anybody. It's enough whenever you do not fight. The kingdom of God changes the inside of a person. So whenever you realize this you see that in the kingdom of God what God is interested in doing he's saying how you feel inside is more important to me than worship. And he said if you come to give your tithe and then you think gosh I'm so mad at this other person in my life. Don't give your tithe yet. Go straighten that out with them because your defeat of anger is more important to me than your worship to me. And he said to them this is so important that whatever takes place in your life if there's some kind of conflict you have with someone instantly go and do it. Don't wait for the consequence to come. Change your direction immediately. He said you've heard it said in the Old Testament you're not to commit adultery but this is not enough. For adultery all stems from lust inside of you. So what I've come to do is gather you into my kingdom and give you the power to resist pornography and lust. I will take your life and I will take away all those things that control you so that you're free from all of that. My kingdom is inside of you. And I said in the Old Testament you're not to have a divorce but I say to you you should make your marriage last. You should always be keeping the promises that you made. And you should be a group of people that no matter where you go or what you do when you stand and say this is the truth everyone knows that what you've said is the truth. I will make you able to say the truth even though it hurts because you will value more what is right and true than you will by looking good to other people. You live in a world where people say if you hit me I'm going to hit you back. You grow up raising kids you see one of them hit the other one you go in the room and say why did you do that? He hit me first. It's just our nature. I'm going to raise a kingdom of people who have the power inside of themselves that they don't hit back. You won't hit the other person just because they've hit you. Instead you will return good for evil. So whenever you're hurt you start thinking not about how can I get even with the people who hurt me you start thinking what can I do to make their life better or to bless them. You pray for them and you ask God to give good things to them. Now whenever you do good things that's what I want you to do but a lot of people want to have good things and they want their name on a plaque that they've done it so everybody will know how good they are and how much they've given but that's not the way it is for you because when I tell you to do something good for another person or to give something for another person I want you to do it as anonymously as you can. I don't want you to do it because it makes you look good. I want you to do it so they will understand this is a gift that I have given them. The king of your life. He told them don't worry about your life because I'm the king and I'm not remote. You know when a powerful person is in office it's hard to get to talk to him. Has anybody ever called the president of our country and asked to talk to him on the phone? You won't get him. The king of the universe has provided a hotline for every one of his citizens. Our father you can sit down in any moment in any circumstances and ask me whatever you need. All I ask is that you place first the kingdom of God. That's the beginning of that prayer and then you can ask for the food that you need, the bread that you need, whatever it is you need in your life and I will provide it for you because I'm always there to give you whatever resources you need to be able to live. And I want you to remember that I have forgiven you for everything you've done because you confessed it and asked for forgiveness. I want you to forgive those around you who have done things to you. Do not carry anger, resentment and an unforgiving spirit inside of yourself. There should be times in your life when doing the things I've asked you to do are more important to you than food. Fasting is not done just for fun, it's because you say there's something in my life more important than even the things that I eat. I want everyone in the world to know that I am more important to you than the more important things that are here in life. I want them to look at you and say this person, however little money they have or however much money they have, has more concern about the spiritual things that they have accomplished than the material things in life. Your treasures should be the spiritual things. When you look back at the great values that you have, it's not your car, it's not your house, it's not your investments, it's not your bank account. Those great things for you will be the people whose lives have been touched and changed. The way you've been able to extend my love to the people who are around you. So whenever you get these priorities right, you should never worry about anything. I make you a promise, I'll guide you in all your choices, so don't worry about your decisions you have to make. I will guide you. I will provide everything that you need, so don't worry about the material things in life. I will protect you from all the dangers, so don't sit hovered worried about something bad is going to happen to you. And through your life, all the people around you will be blessed. This is the kingdom of God. I don't want you to go around looking for the bad things in other people's lives and passing judgment on them. I'm the judge. You may know that bad things are true about other people, but just pray for them. Leave them to me. And anything that you need in your life, all you have to do is to ask. And if it doesn't come right away, keep on knocking. And if it doesn't come right away, keep on asking and keep on knocking. I will promise you, I hear what you're asking, and I will provide for you what you need. Not everything we want, because sometimes we don't know what to want for, really, but I will provide everything that you need. Now what I'm telling you, Jesus said, is there's only one way to enter my kingdom, and that is to listen to what I'm telling you and to do it. Don't listen to anybody else, just to me. And whenever you enter my kingdom, your life will begin to produce a powerful spiritual fruit. People will see you, and they will know that I am the King. Not everyone who says, Lord, Lord, to me, is a part of my kingdom. Because you can pledge allegiance to the flag and be a terrorist, in your heart and in your mind. And people can say, Lord, when they have no real intention of surrendering their life to my control. And I will promise you, that when you live this life, whatever happens to you in this world, the most tragic and difficult things can come to you, and your life will not be crushed. Because I will give you the power and strength of my kingdom to overcome anything. The storms of this world can come, the tragedies of this world can come, but you will stand in the middle of all this, strong and powerful. Jesus was describing the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. The kingdom is built by the character of people in whom God lives. God comes into our life, and because of his power and his strength and his wisdom, he begins to guide us so that our choices are right. He helps us to face difficult circumstances and gives us wisdom. He gives us power beyond the power that we have to be able to accomplish the things that he has asked us to do. This is the nature of God's kingdom. It is built in you. No one else but you. For when God calls you to come to his kingdom and you say, here is my life, take it, in that moment he enters you. He begins to show you these things that he wants you to do. He begins to teach you as you read the Bible, as you go to classes, as you go to preaching services, and as you hear the words of God spoken, he begins to place in your mind the right thoughts to replace those wrong ones. He begins to give you the right desires to replace the wrong desires. He begins to point out to you the things that you should do, and you know you should do them. Chris stood before us this morning, and he said, I put off this being baptized. After all, standing in front of all these people, being dunked in the water, is not really high on anybody's list to get to do, unless you like to go swimming, like little kids sometimes want to get in there to go swimming. But God said, this is what I want you to do. And because he had said, God, you take control of my life, he said, I'm going to call Doyle and tell him I'm ready to do it. I had my own reasons for waiting, but God just showed me those were my reasons and not his. That's what he does. He will show you the error that's there, and guide you to the right thing that he wants you to do. And it begins at the moment you say, my life is yours, God, and continues all the way through your life. If you listen to these things I was talking about this morning, all of us at some point hear those and say, now here's one of those that I'm not good at. You do not receive, the moment you receive Christ's perfection in all these degrees, you don't. You will receive victories in some of them. But then what happens is God begins one at a time to say, here is another part of your life I want to change. One of the greatest difficulties that we have in our spiritual life is that we get far enough away from the old life to where we're a pretty good person, about as good as everybody else around us, or better than most, and then we sort of quit. We don't have as much passion to read the Bible, we don't have as much passion to be in church, we don't have as much passion to pray, and we sort of begin to coast. This is not God's plan for us. For from the beginning he wants to begin changing us, and he does that all the way to the end of our lives. Because what he's preparing us for is to live in heaven where everyone will be like Christ. And to be able to fit into that world, you have to have this transformation of your mind, because there his kingdom will be all the people who have surrendered their lives to live under the authority of God. My wife brought this passage to me in chapter 3 of the book of 2 Corinthians. She was interested in one single verse in it, and it's a powerful verse, and one I was talking about and reading about this week. Chapter 2, or 2 Corinthians chapter 3, verse 12, Paul is talking about this very idea, except it's titled here in this Bible, the glory of the new covenant. What it's really talking about is the glory of this life under God's authority and power. What greatness do we get when God is in our lives? And all these things Jesus talked about in the Sermon on the Mount are now beginning to take root in us, and we're becoming a kind of person we never were before. What is all this really about? Well, Paul is talking to a group of people living in a city that is a very wicked place where prostitution was not only allowed, it was a religion. And it was considered a popular thing for young ladies when they got to the age to be able to give themselves as a temple prostitute, sort of like a patriotic act. So immorality was not shunned, it was widely accepted, immorality by God's standards. And here are these people who came to faith in Christ living in this world. Now, we needn't be afraid of the culture around us being wicked, because the less light you have, it becomes even more bright in the greater darkness that you find yourself in. If you're in a place where it's pitch black and all you have is a match, it's a powerful light. If you're in the middle of the sunshine and what you have is a match, no one notices. We may decry how wicked our culture has become, but it's the greatest opportunity we have to bear witness for God. He was writing to a culture that was immersed in wickedness and evil. He said in the Old Testament, the message God gave was not yet clear. It only became clear when Christ made it really clear. He says in verse 12, therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold. The word hope in the Bible does not mean what we often say, well, I hope it rains tomorrow. We mean, I would like it to and it would be a good thing if it did, but I'm not sure that it's going to. In the Bible, the word hope has more to do with this idea. If I say to you, I'm going to give you a gift of $5,000, and you say, I hope I get $5,000, it would be like saying, I hope he keeps that promise. If you said, my hope of getting what he promised is based on his character, so my hope is in Doyle, that he will keep his word. So in the Bible, all the great promises of God, we look at those and our hope is in Christ. He will deliver what he said. Therefore, since we have this hope of this new kingdom, we are very bold, because he's told us what he's going to do in the kingdom of God. We are not like Moses, who had put on a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance was fading away. I don't know if you remember in the Old Testament, there's a story about several different places, about Moses when he would talk to God. The Israelites had a tent, they called the tent of meeting, and when Moses wanted to find direction from God, he went to the tent of meeting. And when he would go there, God would come into the presence of him, and for some reason, God chose to make his skin sort of glow when he was in there, and when he came out, the people would look at him, and if you met somebody, really, and their face was glowing, you'd say, whoa, what's going on here? So Moses would put a veil over his face, so people wouldn't be afraid to be around him. And as he was away from God's presence long enough, the glowing would fade until he was normal. Moses put that veil to keep people from being frightened about what was taking place. He said, but their minds were made dull, for to this day, the same veil remains over the Old Covenant when the Old Covenant is read. He said, just like those people could not see the glory in what God was doing, some reading the Old Testament by itself, so it is today that their minds are still covered with that, so that when Jesus came, they could not see that what was promised in the Old Testament has come true today. The New Testament is the fulfillment of what the Old Testament had promised to them. Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil covers their hearts. But in their minds, they were made dull, for to this day, the same veil remains when the Old Covenant is read. Because only in Christ is it taken away. In other words, when they came to Christ and they heard what he said, then they looked back on that and said, now I see. The moment of truth has arrived. What Jesus was preaching helps us see the Old Testament Ten Commandments in a whole new light. It's not just the outside that God's kingdom rules. Any earthly king can do that. It is the inside that God rules, and no king in the world can do that. No government, no power, no king can change your insides, your desires, your wishes, your passions. But God, by his Holy Spirit coming into your life, can make you say, I want to follow Christ. He can cause you to say, you know, I need to be baptized. And you desire that when you never have in your life before ever wanted it. All of a sudden, the Spirit of God has guided and changed you from the inside out. That's what God does. This passage helps us to see what God is at work trying to do. But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Suddenly they begin to see the truth of God, because the Holy Spirit is there to be able to help them. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. In other words, all these things that Jesus was talking about, being angry, controlled by lust, controlled by greed, all these things are powerful things, and they control us. You may have heard people around you talk about habits that they've collected in their life, say, I wish I could quit this. They want to. They want to be free from it. I wish I didn't get so mad. I wish I could quit smoking or drinking or cussing or whatever it is that seems to have a hold on them. You can't do that, Paul says, but Christ, in his spiritual nature, can deliver you from that. This is what no king in the world can do. The government can pass a law that says, okay, we're not going to let you drink alcohol or shoot heroin, but they can't make you feel you don't want it. God works from the inside to change the inside of your life so that desires are taken away and you are free from the things that have controlled you before. And here's the purpose to this. And we who are with unveiled faces all reflect the glory, the Lord's glory, and are being transformed into his likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. And we who are with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory. Here's God's plan. I'm going to take your life. You give it to me. And I'm going to change you in all the ways Jesus talked about on the inside. And the people around you will look at you and say, you are different than you used to be. They will look at you and say, you're different than I am. How can you take it whenever the boss does that to you? How can you take it when people say these things about you? How can you just turn loose whenever people have treated you so badly? How can you be nice to people when they've been so bad to you? What they're beginning to see in your life is the transformation of your character into the character of God. So every day when you go to work or every day when you're in your family and you're living this life controlled by God, you are reflecting the character of God himself. That word is a word that's used for a mirror. It's like if Jesus or God is standing in this room over here and there's a wall and someone is over there and they're looking at you and you are a mirror. So when they look at you, they see the nature and character of God. I am going to make you into a mirror, he said. So all the people around you see God in you. And it's not going to be an instantaneous event, for the Lord's glory causes you to be transformed into his likeness with an ever-increasing glory. You show some of God as you first enter this task and then as he begins to change you consistently, you become more and more like God. And your life becomes more and more a powerful testimony about how to handle disaster, how to handle conflict, how to make choices, how to value things in life. So when you do the things that are in the Sermon on the Mount and you continue to grow in that, your life becomes an increasingly powerful message about how to live. And whenever God does that inside of your life, you are reflecting God. God does something that no other force in the universe can do. He changes us. He makes us want different things, value different things, act in different ways, and transforms us. And nothing in the world can stop it. Paul said one time when he was writing that in everything that happens to us, God takes that and he makes good come from it. On the inside of us, there is nothing that is ever tragically destructive to the follower of Christ. For we find in that always, God works to bring good. And he does that to show the whole world around us what it means to follow him and what he is like. We reflect the glory and greatness of God. So when you go to work and you have a boss that is a jerk, I think there are probably one or two of them out there in the world, and you go to work and there is a jerk that is your boss, and they come in and they do something that is really jerkish, is that a word? And the people that are working with you close their eyes and shake their head and say, that person is so stupid, I can't stand to be around here. And they look over at you and you are saying, well, I can see now that there is the reason behind it, well, it will be okay. How can you do that? How can you put up with that? Day after day after day. And you will have the opportunity to say, I wasn't always this way, but God has changed the way I see the world and people. If you follow this regimen with God, you cannot avoid in your life times when people will want to know why you are the way you are, why you hold the values that you hold, why you think the way you think, why you don't respond to them and the circumstances around them like they do. And you, by your life, are preaching a sermon. You are proclaiming the truth of God. If you give your life to God, He will change you and allow you to have victory over everything that happens to you. This is the truth of God. And when they ask you what it is, don't say, well, it's just the way I am. Don't say, well, I don't know. You tell them, God has transformed and changed my life. This is both your spoken word and your life word, and they should match. God has a mighty kingdom around the world where His power is demonstrated not in bombs and in guns, but in the transformation of human hearts, minds, and wills. He wants you in that kingdom. You look at the problems that you're having that you have no solution for, God has solutions for them. It doesn't look like the kind of solution you'd like to have. He says, give me your life, be patient with me, and I'll give you the victory over them. Trust me, He will. It won't happen every day, but you keep on knocking and you keep on asking, and He will show you what to do, when to do it, and how to do it, and you will find victory. His power is greater than any power we have ever known. The power to change the human heart, will, and mind, and character. But He never invades your life. He will stand on the outside of your life and knock, and saying, can I come in and help you? And you have the right to say, no, I'll do it myself. Or you have the right to say, yes Lord, I can't do it, I need you. And open the door of your heart to say, I give my life to you. It's not a matter of being religious, and going to church, and doing the religious things of the world. You can do that, and never open your heart to God. But it's a matter of saying to God, here is my life. The Kingdom of God has the power to change this world, and that's a good thing. But more than that, He has the power to change you, so that everything you do will turn out right. But He needs you to say, Lord, I want you to rule my life. Would you bow your heads please for a moment? I'm asking you to do what Chris did. Say, God, here is my life, take it, it's yours. How do you know you should? You'll have inside of yourselves the very thought, that's what I should do. What he's saying is the truth, and I want that. But the moment you think of that, Satan will say, but you don't want to give up your life, think of this, that, and the other. You have a choice. You enter the Kingdom by saying to the King, take control of my mind, my will, and my emotions. I will learn everything that you want me to learn. I will try to put in practice everything you teach me, if you will give me the power to do it. In the quietness of this moment, you can make a choice that changes your whole future, the future of your home, your marriage, your life. Because all the problems we have result from not doing the things God wants us to do, really. You may feel a need, a strange need to you, in just a moment when the music plays, and say, I need to come and tell these people that I've given myself to Christ today, or he's told me something I should do and I'm going to do it. That's the Holy Spirit talking to you. That's how he talks. And if you do what he tells you, step by step you will find this life that Jesus told us we should have. So I want to ask you to listen to the thoughts that are in your mind as the music plays, and if you know there's something you need to promise God, I'll be here to pray with you, Marla will be here to pray with you, and the Lord will listen to your prayer. Would you stand please for a moment to pray. If you made some promise to God today, and you would like to talk with me about how to fulfill it or what to do next, I'm always available. Phone number's in the bulletin. You can give me a call or come and see me. And begin this walk that will change your life. And so Lord, we acknowledge you as the King, the King of your kingdom, the kingdom comprised of millions of people who listen to you daily and live by the choices that you tell them to make. We ask that you would guide us day by day and step by step that we might find life, but that we also might be able to show to those around us the light that will change their lives. In the name of Christ, we ask this. Amen.