The Kingdom of God
40 weeks of Discipleship • Sermon • Submitted
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· 14 viewsJohn the Baptist is the herald for the new King Jesus and introduces admission into his Kingdom through repentance and faith.
Notes
Transcript
Announcements
We are going to eat in Murray today
Anyone is welcome to go
Special Prayer for all those affected by the tornadoes
Their Needs
The loss of life
The Spirituality of our community
INTRODUCTION
Today we will hear the third message from our 40weeksofdiscipleship series titled, “The Kingdom of God”. Last week we talked about the Jesus as King of the World. Every king must have a kingdom and Jesus is no different. He has a kingdom, He has a people within that kingdom, and that kingdom will have a profound effect on this world.
John the Baptist was the first to announce this kingdom. John was the last OT prophet who prepared the world for the coming of Jesus. He set people straight on what had to take place is they were to be in the kingdom of God. And that is exactly what we are going to talk about today, “What must I do to enter the Kingdom of God”.
MESSAGE
Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make ready the way of the Lord, Make His paths straight!’ ”
The Kingdom of God demands a different way of life
The Kingdom of God demands a different way of life
John’s message was simple, it was urgent, and it was drastic!
John’s message was simple, it was urgent, and it was drastic!
This is the same message that was preached by Jesus
Mark 1:15 Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
It is the same message that must be preached to the world today!
You can’t love someone out of hell
You can’t do enough good deeds for someone and think that will make them a Christian
You cannot sugar coat the gospel and think that to “just love on people’ is enough to win their souls.
People need to hear the gospel message
And the gospel message is incomplete without repentance!
What is the Kingdom of God?
What is the Kingdom of God?
It is an eternal Kingdom
It has no end
Since the kingdom of God is ruled by God, those who are born of God will always be with God.
This is why Paul said,
Rom 14:8
for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.
The kingdom of God is not determined by life or death. It began on earth and goes into eternity!
It is a tangible Kingdom
It is not just some mystical place in heaven, but God’s rule on earth
The Kingdom of God is not a castle surrounded by a moat as we think of Kingdom.....BUT It is Jesus Christ Himself!
And anyone who lives under the rule of Christ lives in that Kingdom because they have the Spirit of Christ within them.
Eph 2:4-6
But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
It’s fullness has not come
The Kingdom of God on earth has not come in its fullness
What we see now is only a shadow of what is to come
There is coming a day when God will manifest His Kingly rule over everything. This earth will pass away and everyone who belongs to it, but the people of the Kingdom of God will live under the rule of Jesus Christ!
There will be no sin!
There will be no pain
There will be life like God intended it to be
How can we be a part of this Kingdom?
How can we be a part of this Kingdom?
“Repent”
This was John’s message to the world!
He prepared them for the coming of Christ by calling for repentance!
What does it mean to repent?
It is a radical transformation of the entire person!
It means to change your mind about sin and to turn from sin!
Before you come to Christ you enjoy sin
You see nothing wrong with sin
And I’m talking about all sin, not just “bad sins”
But repentance means to change your mind about all sin
It is to see ALL sin as a sin against God
It is agreeing with His Word and what He calls sin, not what we think is classified as sin!
It calls for a decision!
It calls for a change of heart!
It calls for a change of mind!
It calls for a readiness to be done with sin!
1 Cor 6:9
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God.
I underlined the word “indulge” and the word “practice”
Because what we practice is what we are
And any believer can commit one of these sins
But to practice them and think we are inside the Kingdom is to be “fooled”
I want you to notice what is not mentioned here
There is no sinner’s prayer
There is no walking to alter
There is not even a church…John is preaching in the wilderness of Judea!
Why?
Because repentance takes place in the heart not with the mouth!
The heart is the whole of a man
It is the physical, spiritual, and mental life
It is the center and source of physical life!
Repentance must encompass the whole man
Why the need to repent?
(v 2) “the kingdom of God is at hand”
I’m going to give you a little grammar lesson
“at hand” is a perfect tense verb
The prefect tense describes an action that was fully completed but has continuing consequences
John’s call to repentance was urgent!
It was not a call that he expected one to respond to later in life
It was an urgent call for an immediate response!
What is there to think about?!
The Kingdom of God has come!
The Messiah is here!
There is no hope besides Him!
And it is urgent because life is not promised tomorrow!
No man knows how long he will live!
As of this morning there are over 70 people that lost their lives that most likely knew they would live another day!
James 4:14 “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.”
Matthew 3:4-6
Now John himself had a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then Jerusalem was going out to him, and all Judea and all the district around the Jordan; and they were being baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
Baptism identifies us with this new way of life
Baptism identifies us with this new way of life
This is why it says he baptized them as they confessed their sin
Baptism is not what saves us!
It cannot make you righteous
It cannot save you!
It cannot cleanse you!
It cannot bring forgiveness of sins!
It is a public testimony of what has happened in our hearts
Rom 3:22
This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,
Rom 4:3
For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,
Baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality
Rom 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.”
Baptism is an act of faith and a testimony that we have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection.
It is a public indication of one’s commitment to Christ to walk in new life!
John baptized people to identify them with the Kingdom of God
The people had wandered far from God
They had broken their covenant with the Lord
They were living in sin
And John is saying changed your ways and come be baptized as a public testimony of that change
But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? “Therefore bear fruit in keeping with repentance; and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham.
True Repentance always bears fruit
True Repentance always bears fruit
(v 7) “You brood of vipers!”
John calls out those who are religious
John the Baptist was a fiery preacher and did not mind telling the truth! And I think what we need more of today is more like John the Baptist because we have far too many watered down churches with watered down preaching!
The Pharisees were those who followed the rules and looked good on the outside.
They tithed
They knew Scripture
They attended all the church services
They knew all the right terminology
They knew all the gospel hymns!
They even grew up in church!
They knew how to play the part, but had no real change inside!
Behind closed doors they were as rotten as the world
They cheated people
They were greedy
They were power hungry
And they were prideful
And John says:
(v 8) “Bear Fruit in keeping with Repentance”
If your repentance does not bear fruit then it is not repentance
How does repentance bear fruit
It produces righteous living
It is a life characterized by denouncing sin
It is a life that has stepped away from the former way of life and began to live for the Lord
WHY IS ALL THIS SO IMPORTANT?
Matthew 3:10-12
“The axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. “His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
God’s judgement on the World is Imminent
God’s judgement on the World is Imminent
The Coming of Christ guaranteed the Second coming of Christ
The first time He came, He came to save
The second time He comes, He’s coming to judge
The tree that does not bear good fruit is thrown into the fire
This is speaking of hell
It is by their fruits that you will know them
John baptized with water, Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit
John covered with water, Jesus covered with His Spirit
John’s baptism was symbolic, Jesus’ baptism is life changing
Matt 3:12
“His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
Notice what will happen at the final judgment
Jesus will separate the wheat from the chaff
Jesus will separate the sheep from the goats
Jesus will separate the saved from the lost
If your living in sin, repent from it now
If your repentance is not making you righteous, you are not saved
~PRAYER~