Thy Kingdom (don't) come.
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Today may be one of the most difficult sermons i have ever had to preach.
Its not difficult in that is is harsh or challenging.
Its difficult lies in making sure it is properly understood.
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The textual basis for this message is found in:
25 And knowing their thoughts Jesus said to them, “Any kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and any city or house divided against itself will not stand.
Here is the question:
Does this also apply to God’s Kingdom?
Does this also apply to God’s Kingdom?
Yes and No. Why?
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
So what happens when a person in God’s Kingdom divides himself against God’s Kingdom?
Will the Kingdom be laid waste or will the person be laid waste?
The Person.
So then next question:
How does a Kingdom of God person divide themselves against the Kingdom of God itself?
How does a Kingdom of God person divide themselves against the Kingdom of God itself?
We actually have in scripture a brilliant example of this:
When God’s people were attacked and dispersed out of their home, all things were lost.
The temple was lost. The ark was lost. Even the holy scriptures were lost.
From those ashes a devout, holy and Kingdom centered group of men arouse.
Their mission was to recover the Law, translate it into Greek and distribute once again to all of God’s people.
Their efforts paid off and we Got the Septuagint Greek Bible, which was the very translation Jesus read and taught from.
These were absolutely Kingdom of God men.
Who were these hero's?
They go by the name: Pharisees.
These kingdom men eventually divided themselves again the very kingdom they sought to protect, and Jesus said of them:
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.
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To this day there are Christians who, motivated by a misplaced desire to “protect” God kingdom - have set themselves as the gatekeepers, Arbiters and Admission Delegates of who is and who is not in the Kingdom of God.
This is in total spite to clear biblical warnings.
4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
10 But you, why do you judge your brother? Or you again, why do you regard your brother with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God.
11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall give praise to God.”
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.
11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
Even the Lord Jesus plainly said:
1 “Do not judge so that you will not be judged.
2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?
4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye?
5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Now immediately the Gate Keeping Spirit rises up in opposition and points out that the bible does in fact grant us a right to make judgments, and they are right:
It absolutly does.
We are told to judge, to discern, to scrutinize and to examine.
But it comes with a clause:
Jesus said:
24 “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”
Here is the bottom line:
Any judgment other than “righteous” judgment is an act of disobedience and divides the kingdom against itself.
So the question of questions there is:
What is “righteous” judgment?
What is “righteous” judgment?
The word righteous here is the word Dik-ios and it means “Standard” - as in “The given standard”.
Here however is where the problem lies:
Who’s standard?
The obvious correct standard here is God’s standard.
God is the one who drew a line and declared that what is above the line is permissible and what is below the line is not permissible.
Righteous Judgment is to take a persons actions, words, thoughts and see where they fall on the line.
For example:
You see a person working hard and diligently at their job to provide for their family
and
You see a person who does not want to work and will rather do nothing to provide.
Lets judge this person with righteous Judgment.
So first we have to see what God’s standard is regarding this issue:
10 For even when we were with you, we used to give you this order: if anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat, either.
11 For we hear that some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies.
12 Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to work in quiet fashion and eat their own bread.
So is the person who works hard approved? Yes.
Is the person who refuses to work approved? No.
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Now in this case its quite easy, but in many cases its not nearly as easy.
Why?
Because of how we interpret and apply the bible differently.
We were not blank slates before we came to know Jesus and His Word.
Every single one of us has Opinions, preferences and even convictions that we did NOT receive from the bible.
We received them from our upbringing, our culture, our understandings and our personalities.
And whether we like to admit it or not the fact is that we will read these opinions, preferences and convictions INTO the bible.
This is where the sinful, Pharasetical judgment enters in and becomes a problem.
Put it like this:
The bible clearly and plainly declares X as unacceptable.
No question x is wrong.
We then, based on our own opinions and convictions, ASSIGN X to an action.
Mathematically:
God: X = Sinful
Man: X = 1
Therefore:
1 = Sinful.
But that is not what God said.
God never said 1 is sinful. God said X is sinful. WE made X = 1.
Do you know what this is called?
Implication Theology.
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Let me explain how it works:
Every word in the bible, every command, every truth is a decree from God.
Righteous Judgment is when we measure a person against a decree.
Our problem is that because of our personal opinions, preferences and convictions - we look at a decree and then by mere implication make it say things that it does not say.
NB:
This is not a problem when you use these implications to govern your OWN life.
But it is a big problem when you use these implications to Judge others.
Why?
11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
By making YOUR implication a standard for judgment you set yourself up as a Judge of the LAW.
You think you are judging the other person, but you are not - you are judging the Law because you believe God could have made it clearer what He was trying to say and you have taken the authority on yourself to Say what YOU believe God should have said.
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Let me give you a great example from recent Protisant History:
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?
What does GOD say in this verse?
That my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that my body belongs to God.
That is all this verse says.
But now we have made this verse say what it does not say.
Because somehow this verse has become:
Do not smoke, smoking is sinful.
We believe it says what we think it says by mere implication.
But implication is not Decree.
What is also very telling is how many times i have heard this verse implicates smokers by preachers who gluttony has destroyed their heart.
AND what is even more interesting is that gluttony is actually directly called sinful by God’s own decree itself!
21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
2 And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite.
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There is a famous fight over this in the life of my favorite Preacher Charles Spurgion.
Rev Spurgion was an avid cigar smoker. He even had a brand of cigars names by him and for him.
His church had its own cigar lounge in it.
One day a visiting minister Rev George Pentecost preached a sermon at Charles Church on the sinfulness of smoking.
In a famous, public row Charles stood up and said:
“Well, dear friends, you know that some men can do to the glory of God what to other men would be a sin. And, not withstanding what brother Pentecost has said, I intend to smoke a good cigar to the glory of God before I go to bed tonight.
‘If anybody can show me in the Bible the command, “Thou shalt not smoke,” I am ready to keep it, but I haven’t found it yet. I find Ten Commandments, and it is as much as I can do to keep them; and I have no desire to make them eleven or twelve. The fact is, I have been speaking to you about real sin, and not about listening to mere quibbles and scruples…”Whatsoever is not of faith is sin,” and that is the real point of what my brother Pentecost has been saying. Why, a man may think it is a sin to have his boots blacked. Well then, let him give it up and have them whitewashed. I wish to say I am not ashamed of anything whatever that I do, and I don’t feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and therefore I mean to smoke to the glory of God.”
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John Wesley had the same problem.
John Wesley was a Brewer and often paid visiting pastors in wine and Ale.
A practice he was often condemned for.
This is again in spite of the bible never saying alcohol was sinful but rather that drunkenness was sinful.
As the bible never says food is sinful but that gluttony is sinful.
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Today sermon is not about wine, ale, tobacco, food or anything of that nature.
Why?
Because the fact of the matter remains:
11 “It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man.”
This sermon is what Jesus said when he was betrayed and arrested in the Garden and good meaning men tried to help and defend Him.
Jesus said:
52 Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all those who take up the sword shall perish by the sword.
None of us are the gatekeepers of Heaven.
If someone is violating a scriptual decree we can let them know and warn them and if they are in the church we can had them over if it comes to that.
But it will be God who either Judges them or Forgives them.
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If someone is doing something that we dont think is right but is not violatimng any scriptual decree then Jesus tells us what to do:
21 So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”
22 Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”