The Kingdom of Heaven

Since a very young age, I was taught The Lord's Prayer. I have particularly found memories of saying The Lord's Prayer when we would gather at my grandparents for a special meal - for holidays or special celebrations.

Our Father, which art in heaven,

Hallowed be thy Name.

Thy Kingdom come. 

Thy will be done in earth, 

As it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our trespasses,

As we forgive them that trespass against us. 

And lead us not into temptation, 

But deliver us from evil. 

For thine is the kingdom,

The power, and the glory,

For ever and ever.

Amen.

The other day I was meditating on the words of The Lord's Prayer, specifically on the phrase Thy  Kingdom come.

John the baptist had a single message that he repeated throughout his ministry

• Matthew 3:2; Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.
• Mark 1:15; The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!

Likewise, Jesus had a single message that He repeated throughout His ministry

• Matthew 4:17; From that time on Jesus began to preach,“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”
• Luke 10:11; Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.

Jesus even called His followers to bring this same message

• Matthew 10:7; As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’

In Matthew 5, Jesus begins His most famous teaching, “The Sermon on the Mount”, and He begins by announcing various blessings to the people listening to Him.

• The first blessing that Jesus announces relates to His Kingdom message
  • Matthew 5:3; Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• The last blessing that Jesus announces also relates to His Kingdom message
  • Matthew 5:10; Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

The way Jesus announces these blessings to the poor in spirit and he persecuted is much different than the way He was preaching – and teaching – to the masses.

• There is a distinct difference between the knowledge that “the Kingdom of heaven is near” and this “ownership” of the Kingdom that Jesus announces to the broken and the persecuted – “theirs is the Kingdom of heaven”.

I could tell you that the Kingdom of heaven is near, and you may believe me, but that won’t make a difference in your life.

John 3:3; Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.

• We must SEE – recognize – the Kingdom of God by being born again

Mark 10:15; Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.

• We must RECEIVE – acknowledge and accept – the Kingdom of God
• We must ENTER the Kingdom of God – but how?

John 3:5; Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit.

• We must ENTER the Kingdom of God by being born of water and spirit – transformation

Matthew 7:21; Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

• We must ENTER the Kingdom of God by doing the will of God, our Father

Acts 14:22; We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God

• We must ENTER the Kingdom of God by going through hardships and persecution

Matthew 5:20; For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

• We must ENTER the Kingdom of God by accepting Christ’s righteousness as ours

1 Corinthians 6:9; Wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.

• We will INHERIT the Kingdom of God when we become righteous through Christ

1 Corinthians 15:50; Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.

• We cannot INHERIT the Kingdom of God unless we are fully transformed by God

The message for us, today, is simple; the Kingdom of heaven is near

• We must first SEE IT
• Then we are able to RECEIVE IT
• We must then ENTER IT
• So that we may INHERIT IT

Restore and Revive Us Again

The following is from a message that I gave on October 5th, the audio can be found here. 

Isaiah 64:1; That You would come down from heaven and dwell among us.

Have you ever wanted to see God?

• To meet with Him and know His thoughts?
• To talk with Him and ask Him about His ways?
• To gaze upon His face and see His beauty?
• To stand in His presence and feel His power?

Just as the prophet Isaiah wrote (700 BC), We beg and we plead; God come down from heaven and dwell among us.

And He did. God came down from His thrown in heaven. He spent 30 years living among us as a common man - born of a humble birth, living a humble, ordinary life. He then spent the final three years of His life teaching, mentoring, healing, training, and ministering to those who are desperate in need. 

But we were not satisfied. We wanted a King, not a servant. We asked God  to come down from heaven and do what He had done in the past – to stand against our enemies – to establish a Kingdom.

Our response was to hand Him over to the highest power we could find so that He could be nailed to a cross, suffocate, and die. 

And because He is God in the flesh, He does something amazing, something that we never expected God to do – He died.

He said that He was dying for us and for our sins. He said that He was dying so that all of humanity can be reconciled to Him. But He died!?

And maybe He did die for my sin. But a dead man can't save me, and a dead man can't save you! 

Three days later this dead man is not a dead man anymore - He is alive – and He is God. He has taken away the curse – the sin of mankind and He has proven that He has power over sin, over Satan, and over death. 

We beg and we plead; God come down from heaven and dwell among us.

He did for a while, but then He left. God ascended back to heaven with the promise of a future gift. 

Ten days later – with sound of a mighty wind and the appearance of tongues of flames – God came down from heaven in the form of His Holy Spirit. 

But this time He does not simply dwell among us – as we have begged Him to – Now He also dwells within us. 

God came down from heaven and gave us help, comfort, understanding, and power. 

But, again, we were not satisfied. We wanted a God that we could see – a God that we could understand, a God that we could control. 

Our response was fear. We began to shut down and close God's Spirit out. We continued to live our lives without this gift – who is God. We continued to live our lives without this help, this comfort, this power. We continued to live our lives without God!

We beg and we plead; God come down from heaven and dwell among us.  And sometimes we wonder why He hasn't.

• Where is God in our world?
• Where is God in our churches?
• Where is God in our lives?

We beg and we plead; God come down from heaven

One day God will come down from heaven and He will make all things right.

• On this day, every knee will bow before Jesus – our King
• On this day every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord
• On this day God will establish His Kingdom

Now is the time to make sure that we are right with God,

• That we have a right relationship with Jesus Christ
• That we have a right relationship with His Holy Spirit

Let me invite you to consider these questions:

·        Do you have a right relationship with Jesus Christ?

• Jesus wants to be more than your Savior - to save you from the penalty of sin.
• Jesus wants to be more than your source of eternal life. 
• Jesus wants to be your everything - and to provide you with everything.
• Do you have unconfessed sin in your life that you need to seek repentance for?
• God cannot be in the presence of sin
• God cannot bless you if you have sin in your life
• Have you dishonored God’s Holy Spirit?
• We cannot fully embrace God until we accept all of Him
• God has more in store for you and for your life.

Let us go beyond the plea of Isaiah 64. Let us make Psalm 85 our prayer:

• Now restore us again, O God of our salvation. Put aside your anger against us once more. Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you? Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation. (4, 6-7)

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near

Last week I was reading in the Gospel of Matthew...

Matthew 3:1-2; In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” 

Matthew 4:17; From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

This phrase - repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near - is used to describe the preaching of John the Baptist and the preaching of Jesus.

This phrase - repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near - is used to describe the message of John the Baptist and the message of Jesus.

Given this fact, shouldn't this phrase be used to describe our preaching and teaching, and the messages that we are speaking to those in need of Christ today? It occurs to me that we aren't hearing this needed message in our churches today.

I tend to step on some toes in my preaching - but perhaps not enough. I asked several in a Sunday School class this morning if my preaching focuses enough on repentance and if I step on enough toes when I preach messages of repentance.

What we need in The Church (universal) today is repentance. 

What we need in our culture today is repentance. 

What we need in our world today is repentance. 

Because the kingdom of heaven has come near - through Jesus Christ - and has brought forgiveness and salvation for all who repent. Because the kingdom of heaven has come near and Christ will soon return to call all those who have repented home with Him. 

So, I encourage us all today to repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near. And, I encourage us all to speak this same message with compassion and love, with boldness and authority, and with Christ's kingdom in mind.