1- The Reign of the King

Good morning, Grand Rapids church. We are transitioning into a new type of online service because we're going to be meeting at the park. So some of us today if your home watching this some of us are going to be meeting you at the park. And so what we're going to do is we're going to change the format a little bit. We are going to just upload the sermon. Okay, we're not going to do this virtual church service for the YouTube and as things shifted plans. I have a lesson for us this morning and we are going to start. 5 weeks series on the kingdom and what that means is Sunday. I'm going to do a lesson and I'm sure I'm going to try to section this in like bite-size nuggets each one. I think can be pretty rich a lot to chew on if we're doing it right. I don't want to overwhelm. So I'm just going to break it up in 25 weeks. It's almost like each week is going to be one point until today. We just have one main point that I want to communicate.

It's important and it's kind of going to be the foundation for the whole series. So even if you like 3 weeks from now you want to share what we're talking about with someone it would be important for them to come back. So I'm going to pray real quick and then we're going to jump right into our lesson and then then we'll be done after the end of the lesson. So let me pray for us. Thank you so much for being such an amazing God. You are the father that we all need and wish you could have you take care of us and yet you are also our King and I pray that as we study the kingdom you can really help our hearts to be humble and receptive to what your word says to the things that Jesus taught and that we can be Always looking in our hearts for ways. We need to grow and change the please and thank you so much for all the ways are working in our lives. We pray all this in Jesus name. Amen. All right, so we are going to jump right into our lesson and the series is going to be the kingdom. And the kingdom is somewhat mysterious. All right, but it's often talked and preached in. The the point that we are going to be talking about today. Is this idea of the reign of the king? And that's going to make sense as we move through it and move a lot, but I want to go back to a scripture that we've looked at several times. all the way back when I first came here, Isaiah 52:7 how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news who bring Good Tidings who Proclaim salvation has eye on your god reigns now, This is a I like I said, I love this verse I use this verse a lot. This is kind of like the Old Testament jumping-off point for what became the gospel and the idea of evangelism like it started here where Isaiah is talking about this person who's bringing good news and the news that he is bringing is your god reigns. That's the news. Okay, and we forget this we think the news is something else but the news is your god reigns. And what's funny is it this is beautifully contrasted. So there's two parts. I want to look at this morning just as were controlling this the people who are bringing good news and the News itself your god reigns and so awesome. Is that Jesus? Mark 1:15, Jesus comes and he preaches the the same thing.

And he says in Mark 1:15, the time has come. He said the kingdom of God has come near repent and believe the good news. And so when we contrasted when we put these two next to each other, we actually get this little crisscross thing that Isaiah says, hey, there's good news. And Jesus is saying I have good news and Jesus says the kingdom of God has come near and Isaiah told people your god reigns. And this is where we're going to start working our way through the idea of the kingdom of God because Jesus Jesus Jesus was probably speaking Hebrew. Some people say are man, but I think he was speaking Hebrew. But the New Testament is written in Greek and this word. the kingdom Is often we think it's something else it was think it's it's something different than what it actually was just going to spend this whole lesson is getting us to reshape the way we think about this one word. Okay, and even as well as you talk to me, this is very important to me. And so this word that we translate as Kingdom. What does that mean? the word Is basa liya some people say basilia some people say basa. Liya, I've heard it Buzz. Alya. I'm so that's it. That's so that's the word that the biblical writers wrote down. So we were always going to come back to this idea. And and what helps me the reason why I bring up Greek words. Because sometimes our understanding of English words gets so entrenched and we can actually get caught in a rut of all the baggage that comes along with an English word. And then we forget that wasn't that's not in the Bible that English word is not in the Bible. This word is its when I say basa liya, that's a blank slate for you. You don't have baggage basilaia mean I'm giving you that word because I'm going to tell you what that word mean. And then hopefully if you have some English Kingdom baggage we can kind of shake that loose a little I hope that makes sense. All right. So what in the world does basilia mean? Well, it means we're going to talk about this. It doesn't just mean Kingdom the way we think it means sovereignty royal power. Kingship Authority Rule and Reign all seven of those words. They're all nouns and yet one Kingdom when we read Kingdom if you're like me, if you're like most American Christian and you automatically Envision a place. You envision a country or a castle or a border. Something is bound by space Kingdom. And yet every single one of those other six words. the different kind of noun and this is where we are taught in school. What is a noun a noun is a person place or thing I get that but that's not the full definition of a noun a noun is a person place idea or state of being that goes along with idea and all of those other words are different than a place sovereignty is an idea. It's a state power. That's a thing right, but it's not a kingship. Like you are my king. That's a state of being dority Rule and Reign. These are not these are not places. Yet when we say the words Kingdom we think the place this thing that I walked into a noun in and I can walk out and about. And I want to go through this idea. So I'm going to keep breaking down this work.

Kingdom I want to in that kingdom is a place. We're going to look at some other I call him dumb words. They're not dumb d u m b. They're dumb b o m words that end with d o n help me help me illuminate this and show you what I'm thinking. So first one I want to look at is freedom. And we are all about freedom and we love freedom and yet if I said America is freedom. That might you might say America is not freedom. But America is the land of the free be like we get that but then let me ask you does that mean that someone who just stepped onto our land is given all the rights of citizenship know and that's not good. You can't just like cross the border and now you're American, right or we know that there are people who are not free in prisons and just because they're inside this boundary does not make them free. And so if I say is America Freedom as is freedom a place that you can walk into and now you're free and I would say yes, it means something different. Start wrapping your brain around that in terms of the word Kingdom. Let's keep going. Poor little Johnny taking a test staying after class and it looks like he hates me. He hates this place Johnny is experiencing the state of being

But some of you are teachers. Would you like your classroom to be called boredom? Would you like your classroom to be known as when you walk in instantly? You are bored. You would actually hope that your classroom is Lively and exciting and engaging. Johnny is experiencing a state of being that hopefully is not connected to the place. If Johnny's board. We hope that it's because he's not no being fully engaged either by the teacher by the classic. He's just checked out himself. So his state of being is independent of other things, Hollywood. land of stardom maybe you took the bus to Hollywood and you strike it big you experience the state of stardom where you are a celebrity and everyone looks up to you. But the problem is some people associate the City of Hollywood or LA and general as that is where stardom is and if I just get there then I'll be estar and sadly hundreds of thousands of people do that. Every year experience is a state that is reserved for a select very small minority of the people that live there. I hope you guys see what I'm trying to do here. I got one more for our two more. Here is a beautiful Library. If you go to this library and you put in a ton of work in time, you may attain the state of being recall.

And yet would any of us be so foolish as to assume that if I just stepped in to the library. I crossed the threshold and wisdom just like a daughter to me and I am instantly because I hang out in the library. Feel like know that sounds dumb it is. Because wisdom is not a place. Wisdom is not a tangible thing that you can do in steel take from someone. It is a state of being is it's a mental state of experience and knowledge and apply it in real life and you become w. The wisdom is not the library. So that brings me to Kingdom. oops Kingdom

Here's our church one Sunday morning back when we were all meeting together or afternoon. And I could say this is the kingdom. But the reality is it's what I'm what I'm putting forth to you is that this is not the kingdom as a place that kingdom is a state. It is a state of being that we choose to interact with and engage with what I want to do the rest of this in 15 minutes is what that looks like the ways we messed it up. Okay, so let's get into.

Let's get into some verses here.

So my point today is the reign of the king.

We're going to be visiting a lot of different things over the series, but I wanted to

oh that is wrong. It's not Mark 115. I'm sorry. I don't want to read the the the Lord's Prayer. This is Jesus teaching the disciples how to pray Our Father in heaven Hallowed Be Your Name Your Kingdom Come your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.

The idea that Jesus is saying just about the Lord's Prayer. Jesus is asking God to bring his kingdom. And we've debated for Generations what that means? And what I'm going to put 4 is that when Jesus when Jesus uses that word he's not talking about the place. He's not talking about the group or the or the thing he's talking about the idea state of being under the reign of the king. Let's look at another one Matthew 7:21. Not everyone who says to me Lord. Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven and see we typically trans like this because kingdom mean the place we took walking up to the gates of the Kingdom knocking on the door and his his access is limited by his understanding of obedience. But when we understand that Kingdom also means rain the rule of the king over me. Jesus is saying something very simple. He sang you can't just say. but your lord but your actions will prove if you are living under the authority of Jesus of the king. So if you say hey, we're good. But you're not doing what he asked. Then you are not in the Kingdom. It's not that you're going to but there's a door that you won't be let in no, no, no, no. No, you're not under the authority of the king you live outside of the rule and reign of the king. That's how you live.

It's just we have to change the way we think about this one word does and I'm going to hopefully we can we can keep keep at this. Okay? Here's another one. We talked about this Matthew 19 23 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples truly. I tell you it is hard for someone who is Rich to enter the kingdom again. I tell you it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is Rich to enter the kingdom of God and we think a place and if you're rich

I hate Jesus think if you're rich, you won't put yourself under the authority of God. You will live in a way where you reject going to see me do this a lot. And so here I'll just explain that now think of the Kingdom. as an umbrella It's not a place with walls that you walk into and you now are in. It's an umbrella of authority and lordship and you walk under it and then you can at any time out from under it. Sometimes when you're beat up by the world isn't going to be a whole separate sermon, but sometimes like I want under that rule Ray and protection. Then when you're under it.

What I'm trying to put this idea that the kingdom is not a club is not a group the kingdom is not a place that you live at. Kingdom is a choice that you make every day. When you live under the authority of the king. Everyday and any day you can choose I don't I don't want to live under the authority of the king. and what I'm saying is when you make that choice. You are stepping outside of the kingdom and you might go.

I don't think that I don't think that means that you're not safe. God is not erasing your name from The Book of Life. But when we think of Kingdom as authoritative, we choose all the time to reject Authority when we think about kingdom is Rule and Reign which is all the time.

And as soon as I say, oh now, you're not in the Kingdom would I hurt that stings that it's different? But that's what I'm saying is the state of being in the office aurity of God and sometimes we reject Authority. So I'm going to end with this just a little mind exercise. Okay, and I would encourage you to do this also, and I want you to really spend some time thinking about the stuff that I'm going to I'm going to say because the next the next section is what I like to call. I'm in the king, but...

I'm in the Kingdom.

And I want to I just want to spend some time. What does after do we put in that... That ellipses what do we put there and it makes perfect sense to us and yet what I'm putting forward is Jesus is going or maybe you're not in the Kingdom. And can we wrap our brains around that let that hit us in the heart and hurt. And lead us to repentance.

Have you ever thought I'm in the Kingdom, but nobody tells me what to do. I would put forth that maybe you're not in the Kingdom. You're not under the umbrella of rule and reign in authority of the king.

I would put forth that maybe you're not in the Kingdom. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I'm in the Kingdom. I just need to live my life. I'm in the Kingdom. What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas? I'm in the Kingdom. But what happens in the privacy of my home is my business.

As long as your home is under the authority of God then yeah. But when you separate that I'm warning you. You may not be in the Kingdom. I'm in the Kingdom, but I need to follow my heart. You may follow your heart right out of the Kingdom.

I'm in the Kingdom. But no, it's just locker room talk James would tell you that your tongue has the power to exclude you from the kingdom because you're using your words to turn away from the rule and reign of your king. I am in the Kingdom. Of course. I'm in the Kingdom, but we need to put America first. And now you're you know, you're under the umbrella of men. And you're you're somehow trying to make that work, but I'm warning you you might not be in the Kingdom. I'm in the Kingdom, but man I hate our president. If you talk like that, you may be out of the Kingdom because you are not. Respecting what God is doing in the world and God has done rasier things and you can imagine in our government read the Bible. God has done crazy things all under his Reign and we cannot say we should never say we hate anybody. We cannot just hate and reject the leader. Here's here's a couple. That's some maybe hit a little close to home. I'm in the Kingdom, but I didn't pray about taking this new job, or I'm in the Kingdom, but I didn't get any advice about moving. I'm in the Kingdom, but I think I know best how to raise my child. Or I'm in the Kingdom. I just don't get much out of church.

I'm deadly serious that when we change the way we think about the word Kingdom. And it is now the rule and Reign and authority over our lives.

When we talk like this. What we're doing is we're painting a picture of someone who is really not in the Kingdom. We have joined the club. We have come to a place we've surrounded ourselves with people. And so we can have the appearance of a kingdom as defined by a place.

But that when we remove that easy comfortable definition of kingdom and and when we reframe it.

In a more biblical way the boss Elijah. I have something over me that I am under the reign of someone something. We should be scared. We should take that serious blue. So that was bad as my warning and that is my teaching. Is that as we do about we're going to we're going to look at the Kingdom. And as we go about understanding this very mysterious and Elusive word. We need to be careful that that we don't reduce it down to membership in a club or church or I came to this place. So I'm in the kingdom and what I will always try to do. Is funnel and guide another thinking place where we are.

Ask ourselves. Am I really in the Kingdom? So you're going to wake up tomorrow and you choose whether you are in the Kingdom or not, and it goes back to the thing. I always say Lord. Are you going to make Jesus Lord of your life? And at any point we leave the kingdom we step out of the authority of God we decide I don't want Jesus to be Lord of my life right now. And you may wrestle with a lot of theological baggage like, you know, cuz we connect that to our are forgiven nests in our Salvation. I just want to make those for now. I'm not saying every time you send you're not saved anymore. That's not what I'm saying. But what I'm saying is that the idea of the kingdom is separate from your name being written in the book of life if we take it to mean

So I want us to just sit with that ask yourself over the next few days a week ask yourself have I said that? I'm in the Kingdom but blank. And wrestle with that find places where you have a life part of your life is outside the kingdom find places where part of your life is not under the umbrella of God's Authority in your life. Can't be the same person inside the kingdom as you are allowed to be outside the Kingdom. So that is my only point this morning. The kingdom is Authority. It's not a place. And we're going to wrestle through this for the next up next 4 weeks we break that we're going to talk about Kingdom culture. We're going to look at a lot of the first century and 1st and 2nd Century Christian things. They wrote about the about being a Christian. We're going to look at that protection of the king and a few other things. So I'm going to pray for us and then we will be done. Thank you for your protection. Thank you for your Authority. And even though we do not like being living in submission. You have promised a life that is so drastically different that we can find the actual true real Freedom by becoming your sleigh and it doesn't make sense to us. And I pray that we can we can wrestle with it and and come to grips with the the the Deep truth of that statement. So I thank you. Please help us are hard to be humble as we explore the king and we are constantly asking ourselves that we are entitled to the kingdom in. Anyway, I helped us to be extremely hump. We love you, and we pray all this in Jesus name amen. And with that we are dismissed of announcements. We love you. Thank you very much.