2.6.10 2.2.2020 (WJCTT He teaches the Unteachable) About the Kingdom Luke 12.22-34 (2)

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Entice: The age of Empires exists only on the silver screen-and that one existed a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Of course that is not true. Political empires. Social-construct Empires. Economic Empires. Cultural Empires. All still span the globe. Because at the heart of every feeble human attempt to be "King-of-Kings" is the passionate desire of Satan to both rule and destroy God's good creation. All human empires are by definition

Founded upon the Fall

Engage: How loyal are you? What has first place in your heart? Listen to these words...

Luke 12:22–30 ESV

22 And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. 24 Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! 25 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 26 If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? 27 Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 28 But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them.

Every person who heard those words then, those of us who read them now, and all those who have sworn allegiance to them between then and now has been torn between loyalty to the Empires of this word (family, clan, count, state, nation, race...) and loyalty to God.

Expand: Jesus knew how precarious it was to be a Jew in a world ruled by Rome. He knew what it meant to be a day-laborer in a world ruled by Aristocrats. He knew what it meant to be poor in a world ruled by the rich. He knew what it meant to be a theological rebel in a world ruled by Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, and other theological power brokers.

Excite: For Jesus it was pretty simple.

The way of the World.

Or the way of God.

Empire or Kingdom.

You Choose.

Explore:

In faith we can choose to become a part of God's Kingdom rule extended in Jesus.

Explain: When we understand and accept Jesus definition of the Kingdom we are called to make some decisions about it...

1. Seek the Kingdom.

Luke 12:31 ESV

31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

A reliable guide

1. Seek the Kingdom. (A guide.) 12.31

1.1 Focus on the Kingdom guides us beyond

self-preservation.

1.2 Focus on the Kingdom guides us beyond

self-sufficiency.

1.3 Focus on the Kingdom guides us beyond

self-righteousness.

2. Receive the Kingdom.

Luke 12:32 ESV

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

A wonderful gift

2.1 God’s gift of courage.

2.2 God’s gift of “flockieness”.

By calling us, by giving us the kingdom He makes us His flock…

Without the Kingdom: the flock, the vine, the body, the church does not exist.

2.3 God’s gift of His reign.

3. Invest in the Kingdom.

Luke 12:33–34 ESV

33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

,

A worthy goal

(A goal)

3.1 What you value most…

3.2 Where you most value it….

3.3 Produces the greatest return!

Get Real!

Some will say that Jesus is not being realistic. In a sense He isn’t. He needs to reconfigure the way that we think about this world and how we exist in it. We cannot fully engage in the business of the Kingdom if we are not immersed in it. Kingdom is a realm of faith. When we trust God-we discover new aspects of His goodness to us on a regular basis. We forget the rat race and follow His lead.

Jesus did not teach, nor do I echo a way of living which is a cut above, or somewhat different in degree. We are not talking about a few tweaks to an otherwise acceptable combination of the ways of the world and the Will of God. The Message of the Kingdom is different in Kind from all human messages from all human empires. The unspoken corollary of seeking firs the Kingdom is that in so doing...you can only seek the Kingdom.

Where is your heart, today? Will you accept the gift of God's rule, today? Will you abandon the Empires of this world to seek His Kingdom, When Jesus comes to town?