The Kingdom and You

Call to Worship: Revelation 21:3-4 // Prayer

Adoration: Our Father: we praise you! We ask, how is it that you, the God of infinite Glory and frightening holiness, who upholds the entire universe by the Word of Your Power—how is it that you have drawn near to us? Who are we, that you are mindful of us? Yet your Son became lower than the angles and even tasted death on our behalf, as one of us, that we might be lifted up through him into fellowship with you. We praise you!

Confession: Yet, as we walk through this weary world, our fight against sin is not done. Even this week, we have sinned against you many times. We have lived as though you had not made us your people; as though your love was insufficient to meet the desires of our hearts. In our idolatry, we have chosen anger, lust, selfish actions, prideful thoughts, and more. Father, forgive us, for we have sinned against you.

Thanksgiving: Yet we remember how you made us your people—the death of your Son, taking the punishment deserved by us, that we might have total and irrevocable forgiveness, and life and joy forever. And so we take heart: you have forgiven us, and you will hold us fast until the end.

Supp: And so, resting in your mercy, we give thanks for all the work you have done among us—how you have sustained and grown us is faith and love; and we ask that you might continue your good work among us, and make us worthy of your calling, and fulfill our every resolve for good and work of faith by Your power, so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in us, and us in him, according to Your grace to us through him // and we ask for this same work of sanctification in the saints of Saving Grace Church: we ask that you would conform them more and more to Christ, and that you would bind their hearts ever more in unity with each other in him // and in Oregon, we ask for our State legislators—in the house and the senate—that you would bless them, and that you would guide their hearts toward justice and wisdom, especially that we might live quiet and peaceful lives as we seek to spread your gospel to our neighbors // and we ask for our brothers and sisters in China, that you would give them relief from the anti-Christian attitude of their government, that they also would be permitted to share the gospel openly—but that in either case, whatever you ordain for their government, we ask that you would uphold them with all truth in the gospel of grace, and fill them with boldness to continue the spread of your kingdom in that nation // and now, as we prepare to hear from your Scriptures, please lift our eyes to perceive the glory of your justice, your mercy, and your wisdom in all the goodness of your plan of redemption, that we might look to you alone as our savior…

Announcements

Evangelism class plug!

Will be gone Thur-Tue (Wed small group still happening!)

Fuego en el Espiritu: these brothers & sisters are currently renting from us, will hold their first service at 3 pm today:

We’re currently evaluating whether this can be a good long-term situation

Will make the decision in March; welcome your questions and thoughts

Will discuss in further detail at a future member’s meeting

Prayer for potluck

Benediction

Romans 15:13 ESV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

Sermon

Introduction

What is Christianity supposed to be? What is our core message?

For many people who identify as Christians, these are unsettling questions. You can become afraid that you’ve got it wrong somewhere—that you’ve missed some important key for the Christian life, or maybe your church has missed some vital truth along the way.

We live in an age of angst: the world around us is changing at a much quicker pace than ever before in history, and Christianity is receding in our culture. Losing it’s place in the public square. And these things can leave us feeling disoriented and give us a kind of religious whiplash. And there are plenty of voices ready to speak into our confusion—to tell us their version of what went wrong.

Let me tell you about two such voices—very opposite voices, but taking advantage of the same sense of whiplash among genuine believers:

One is a pastor in Atlanta by the name of Andy Stanley. And he has famously said, “We need to unhitch the OT from the NT, and just use NT as our message to the world.” It’s essentially the idea that we need to trim our faith to keep it up to speed with the times—to keep it new, you might say.

On the other hand, many people in my own generation and below want to go in the opposite direction: they want something that feels old because they’re tired of a society that won’t stop changing. Enter: the “Hebrew Roots” movement. “Hebrew Roots” teaches that the church got it wrong just a few generations after the Apostles. These folks teach that the true Christian life is based on the Law of Moses—living out that law on a daily basis. And this idea has spread like wildfire in recent years.

Now, of course, there’s nothing wrong with challenging your own faith, and asking if there’s something to be reformed—to be corrected in light of God’s Word. But these two voices—Andy Stanley and Hebrew Roots—make a critical error: they either fail to see the unity of the OT and the NT together, or they badly mistake the right way to connect the two.

And the practical result is this: both groups have either lost the gospel, or are dangerously close to losing it. Claiming to have a fix for modern Christianity, they have essentially lost its heart. And to be clear, these are only two examples. There are many other versions of this mistake out there!

And we are not magically better than such folks, right? So, how can we ourselves guard against this error? More importantly, how can our gospel witness be fully pleasing to our Lord, and fully in line with his Word?

Well, what did he himself say about this? Look in verse 52 of our text: “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the Kingdom of Heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

Do you see that? Faithful teachers of Scripture do not ignore the OT in favor of the New, or the New in favor of the Old, or teach them in a disconnected way. Rather, they teach both in a way that points to the Kingdom of Heaven and to its King. And we’ll look at that in more detail in a bit.

But here’s the thing: IF you teach Scripture in that way, or if you read it in that way, you’ll end up with two basic truths about the Kingdom. And these are the two basic truths that Jesus gives us in these last three parables that I’m preaching to you today. And the two truths are this:

First, the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom that may be joined today. Today, those who desire Christ may have him as King—and all the forgiveness, mercy, and eternal glory that come with that kingdom citizenship. That’s what the parable of the parable of the treasure and the parable of the pearl teach.

But Second, the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom that will sweep away all opposition tomorrow. Meaning, at the end of the age, all who have not joined Christ will be swept away in eternal ruin as the Christ’s Kingdom is established forever. That’s what the parable of the fishing net teaches.

Now, of course, Scripture describes these basic truths in a variety of ways in different passages. But they still all boil down to something like this: God’s kingdom may be joined today, but will triumph tomorrow. When you put the OT and the NT together in a faithful way, that’s the overarching story that you get. And so if we wish to be faithful in our gospel witness to the world, we must present unbelievers with a kingdom which may be joined today, but will triumph tomorrow.

**So let’s dig into our text to see how Jesus taught this**

The Kingdom May be Joined Today

First we need to remember that these three parables are the last three in a series of parables.

And this series of parables began seeking to answer the question: How is it that the king has arrived, but so many of his people are rejecting him? And in the parable of the sower and we saw the answer: their hearts were hard. And that’s how it is that so many continue to reject God’s King today.

But then, in the parable of the wheat and the weeds, we saw that this was all part of God’s plan: his design was for a kingdom which actually wouldn’t sweep aside all rival powers when it arrived, but rather would grow up right alongside Satan’s kingdom until the last day—spreading in power, yes—as taught in the parable of the mustard seed and the parable of the leaven. But not the kind of power that the world expects. Not until the end of this age will the kingdom arrive in its full form, and sweep aside all rivals.

And so, by the time that we get to these last three parables, we’ve already learned something about the shape of the Kingdom: it is already here in one sense, but has not yet arrived in another. It is truly present, even as it spreads when the gospel is believed by a new heart; yet its citizens live next door to the King’s enemies; in this age, their day-to-day lives are entangled with the lives of those who are still citizens of the domain of darkness.

And this is really quite strange—that the most powerful King in all the universe would arrive, but not sweep aside all his enemies. But now we’re about to see why: it is exactly this unexpected, quite, hidden shape of God’s Kingdom in this age that has made the salvation of the nations—the salvation of sinners—possible!

Look at verse 44:

Matthew 13:44 ESV

“The kingdom of heaven is like 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.

It’s a remarkable story. A guy stumbles across buried treasure in a field. He can’t believe what he’s found. He’s overwhelmed by joy—no more barely scraping by in life. No more creditors. No more thread-bare cloths for his children or lack of food for his wife. He goes, sells what few things he has to his name, and buys the field. And from that point on, his life is dramatically changed.

Now some of you are thinking: I wish that would happen to me.

If you’re a believer, it has.

But do you see what’s going on here? This man was a stranger to the kingdom—technically, an enemy of King Jesus. But the humble and hidden nature of the kingdom—it’s already/not-yet shape—means that its enemies may become its citizens. In this age, they may be transferred from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of the Beloved Son.

And notice how he reacts: IN HIS JOY he goes, and makes the purchase. Entering God’s Kingdom is like suddenly finding a treasure you didn’t even know existed. And really, to call it a treasure is an understatement. Words fail to do justice—but look back up at verse 43: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.”

First, to receive this grace of calling God, “Father”—words cannot describe it. He is the Father of the Beloved Son, Jesus—yes. But why should we, his enemies, receive this blessing? Why should we gain the right to call him Father? And to experience him as Father? And yet we have received it through Jesus’ death in our place.

And second, to shine like the sun? This refers to how, when we see his infinite glory, we will transformed and glorified by the sight of his indescribably beauty. And thought that is future, we even experience a taste of it now as we look to him by faith.

And so this man catches some glimpse of these things, and in joy he goes and trades everything for the kingdom. Now, a minute ago I described him as a poor man. But the parable doesn’t say. Rich or poor, he sold everything he had and purchased the field. And it’s a metaphor to say this:

First, the Kingdom of Heaven isn’t something you can just add to your life. The King rightly claims your full loyalty, and ownership over all that you possess: time, money, home, family, devotion—everything. Your whole life becomes his.

But second, look at how this man doesn’t care. He joyfully trades in his whole net worth. In today’s language you might say that he sells his house, his car, his fancy electronics, his investments—everything, without batting an eye, all so that he can purchase the one field.

In the same way, once you’ve seen the immeasurable value citizenship in God’s kingdom, you surrender your whole life to God with joy in order to gain this one thing: a place in his kingdom. And you know that it’s to best trade you could possibly make.

Praise God for a Kingdom which may be joined in today—in this age.

And then Jesus repeats this idea with a parable about a pearl merchant.

He’s a merchant—so probably wealthy. And he’s bought and sold pearls before. But one day, he finds a pearl like nothing he’s ever seen. It’s a magnificent pearl—nothing else like it in the world. And so he goes and does something that really doesn’t make sense for a merchant to do: he sells everything in order to gain this one item: the pearl.

In human terms, it seems like a foolish move. To sell your entire business and all your investments in order to gain one item. But the point, of course, is that he’s not a fool. He’s just found this: that the Son died—the righteous One, in place of sinners—so that he might win their forgiveness and restore them to the Father. That the Son died, that those bound for eternal judgement might instead inherit eternal glory.

And so he does the wisest thing in the world—he sells all to buy this pearl. Or to put it literally, he gives up all his early glory, his enjoyment of sin, his control over his own life, and he surrenders to the king and trusts in him for mercy.

And so he, previously a stranger, becomes a citizen of the Kingdom.

Do you see this? God’s kingdom is a kingdom that did not immediately sweep away all enemies—which would have been us! Instead, his kingdom came quietly, and will grow alongside the kingdom of darkness until the end of the age. And that is exactly why the kingdom is able to plunder so many citizens from the domain of darkness, and save them. Praise God for a kingdom which may be joined today!

The Kingdom Will Triumph Tomorrow

**Yet, as I said earlier, the kingdom which may be joined today is a kingdom which will triumph tomorrow**

And that’s what this last parable teaches. Look at verses 47-48:

Matthew 13:47–48 ESV

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was thrown into the sea and gathered fish of every kind. When it was full, men drew it ashore and sat down and sorted the good into containers but threw away the bad.

So what’s this parable say?

That a day will come when things change. A kind of sorting will happen, and in that way the kingdom will finally triumph.

Jesus explains in verses 49-50:

Matthew 13:49–50 ESV

So it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come out and separate the evil from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

So the picture here is a picture of sudden triumph for the Kingdom of Heaven. It’s been growing quietly alongside of Satan’s kingdom ever since Jesus’ first coming. But suddenly, at the end of the age, Satan’s kingdom is destroyed. The Son sends out his angels to separate the evil from the righteous—or you could translate, “to separate out the evil from among the righteous,” and to consign the evil to eternal judgement—and in that way, the Kingdom of Heaven gains victory.

But notice: the emphasis of this parable falls on the eternal judgement of God’s enemies. And to understand this rightly, we need to grasp two things:

First, we need to grasp this contrast between the evil and the righteous, as we see it in verse 49: the righteous inherit the final kingdom, but the evil will be removed into judgement. Who are these two groups?

We might be tempted to think it’s just those who lived good-enough lives vs. those who committed just too much evil in their days on earth. But that’s not quite right.

Instead, it’s a matter of kingdom citizenship:

Those who are citizens became citizens by running to the king for mercy and forgiveness. But if you’ve done that, you also have a new heart—a heart oriented toward the King, Jesus. A heart that wants to be like the King. So you are far from perfect. In fact, your sins can be grievous. But the basic posture of you heart is oriented toward the King, and so when you sin, you repent; and over time, you grow in obedience to him. This is what Jesus means by, “The Righteous.”

“The Evil” by contrast, aren’t necessarily those who do a lot of easily recognized evil things. They range from the worst of criminals all the way to respectable neighbors. But the basic attitude of their hearts is a refusal to own Jesus as King, and to trust him for salvation.

And it is these who will be removed into judgement on the last day. And that’s the first thing we need to grasp.

The second thing we need to grasp is the form of judgement. It is described here as “the fiery furnace” where there will be “weeping and gnashing of teeth.” This is, of course, a description of hell.

It is a truth so disturbing that many in recent years have tried to explain it away. And there’s much to be said here, of course. But I think we try to explain it away because we don’t grasp how severely evil our own sins are, and because we forget the infinite worth of the One we have sinned against.

The idea of fire in this passage is probably metaphorical—but if so, it is still a metaphor for something terrifying: for eternal judgement corresponding to our evil sins. And again, it some sense, it is understandable that we balk against such a frightening idea. And I will tell you, there are times that I personally struggled with it.

But there is something sinfully man-centered in the fact that we are quick to delight in the indescribable glories of heaven so mercifully and freely given to us, and yet so quick to balk against the frightening truth of hell—the judgement that we actually earned.

God is totally and absolutely good, and the source of all good; by contrast, every human being is twisted, and evil and a rebel against God by nature. Hell is simply the logical outworking of this: when God triumphs over evil, he will rightly judge everyone for it. And for every person, without exception, the outcome of that judgement would be eternity in hell.

So then, our message of the gospel must be shaped by this truth: at the end of the age, the Kingdom of Heaven will triumph—and this is good news for those who have taken refuge in Jesus, but it is terrifying news if you have not. The day to take refuge in the King is today, not tomorrow. The day to sell all and purchase the field is today; the time to trade in everything for the pearl of great price is now—for salvation can be found nowhere else but in Jesus, the King. In this age, the kingdom may be joined; but at the end of the age, the kingdom will triumph.

Scribes, Scripture, and the Kingdom’s Shape

**So, our gospel witness must be based in these truths. And it is this simple reality of the gospel that the church needs in this age. Not some secret ancient key that we’ve forgotten, not some clever modern formula to get with the times, but this simple reality of the gospel: that we represent a kingdom whose King has provided, by his own death, for the salvation of his enemies. That citizenship in his kingdom may be had by any who repent and believe. And that a day is coming when his kingdom will triumph over all.**

But the interesting thing is, when Jesus completes these parables—when he’s explained all of this—he turns to his disciples and asks: “Have you understood these things?” And they answer, “Yes.” That’s in verse 51. And then in verse 52, because they have understood, he describes them as faithful scribes. Listen to how he says this:

Matthew 13:52 ESV

And he said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.”

So Jesus’ disciples are scribes—that is, they study and teach the Scriptures. So on the one hand, this verse should make Jeff and I perk up our ears, since as pastors we’re entrusted with shepherding the flock in truth. But on the other hand, this is for everyone who reads the Word of God and might have occasion to share it—basically every believer. And what does this tell us tell us?

The more you are trained for the Kingdom of Heaven, the more you bring out both old and new treasures—that is, the OT and the NT—which you then use to show others truths about the Kingdom of Heaven.

And let’s be specific: you show the OT as history and laws and promises which would be fulfilled in Jesus, and you show the NT as the glorious fulfillment of those same things--

And it is in this way that you come to see the unexpected nature of the kingdom—how God’s mercy and justice are expressed in perfect wisdom: how his kingdom has come in a way that did not flatten the nations, but mercifully allowed the gospel to go out to them; yet how in his justice he will still bring all evil to final account at the end of the age.

And so as you hear questions like this: “What is Christianity supposed to be? What is our core message?” Well—our core message is the gospel of the kingdom as taught from Genesis to Revelation; and we are supposed to be those who live by it, and who take it to the world around us.

Or, if you’re not a believer, you might be asking, “What’s the message of Christianity anyway?” Well, as we’ve seen Jesus teach:

First, the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom that may be joined today. Today, all who desire Christ may have him as King, along with all the forgiveness, mercy, and eternal glory that come with his kingdom citizenship.

And second, the Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom that will sweep away all opposition tomorrow. Meaning, at the end of the age, all who have not joined Christ will be swept away in eternal ruin as the Christ’s Kingdom is established forever. And together, these truths urge you to repent and trust in Christ today.

Indeed, God’s kingdom is a kingdom which may be joined today, but will triumph tomorrow. When you put the OT and the NT together in a faithful way, that’s the overarching story that you get. And so, brothers and sisters, if we wish to be faithful in our gospel witness to the world, we must present non-believers with a kingdom which may be joined today, but will triumph tomorrow.

[prayer for us to

delight in the treasure we have

take the gospel faithfully to our neighbors]

Lord’s Table

[invite servers forward]

‌As we prepare to celebrate the Lord’s Table together, consider this: when our King was crucified, he endured not just physical sufferings, but the wrath of God against our sin. He took our place. He took our curse, and so God’s good anger against our evil was poured out on him instead of us. This is what it means to say that he gave his body to be broken, that we might live; he gave his blood to be poured out, that we might be forgiven.

So as you take these symbols, contemplate what they mean: the Love of Christ, who gave his body to become the bread of life for you; the Love of the Father, who gave his Son to spill his blood to to save you; the love of the Spirit, through whom God’s love is poured into our hearts as he helps us to contemplate these mysteries by faith.

But since this bread and this cup are symbols of salvation, they are only appropriate for believers. So if you are not a believer yet, or if you are a believer who hasn’t yet symbolized the beginning of your faith by (believer’s) baptism, [we are so glad you are here] but you shouldn’t partake in the bread and the cup yet—not until you have believed.‌

But if you are a baptized believer, and are in good standing with your congregation—whether you’re part of Scholls, or part of another gospel-preaching church—you should join us with joy, as we remember Christ in this Supper.

‌[invite congregation to come forward]

‌‌‌[Passing out the bread + Cup]

‌‌‌‌‌1 Corinthians 11:23-24 “…the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.””

‌1 Corinthians 11:25 “In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.””

‌‌1 Corinthians 11:26 “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.”

‌

‌[prayer]