Thy Kingdom Come Part 1
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The Master of the Kingdom
The Master of the Kingdom
In Matthew 13 Jesus uses many parables about the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God.
To begin to understand these you must understand the King of the Kingdom of which He refers. The King is Jesus and if you do not understand Jesus you will not understand His Kingdom. And if you do not understand His Kingdom you will miss the heart of the King.
You are all probably familiar with the following phrase in Matthew 6:10:
Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
But do you have the understanding of what it means. When Jesus’ disciples asked Him to teach them to pray, this was His response. It is a traditional rabbinic prayer.
The first part of the prayer, about sanctifying the Lord’s name and the arrival of His Kingdom, hails from the Kaddish קדיש (Prayer Hymn “Holy”), one of the central texts in Jewish liturgy, as well as from the Tefilat HaAmidah תפילת העמידה (Silent Standing Prayer). Moreover, both those texts are almost contemporary to the time of Christ. The second part of the prayer finds its origins in various parts of the Talmud and its treaties. (https://hozana.org/en/prayer/our-father/origin)
But why did Jesus respond with this? What was He trying to get across to His disciples about prayer? Was it about what you pray or how you pray? Or was it more about the heart of the one praying? Are there key principles within this prayer that reveal to us the Kingdom of God?
Let’s say you are a professional plumber. One day I hire you for a plumbing job for a house I am building. We make the agreement for the work to be done, the standard for which I expect and the price I paid. But each day, instead of being on the job doing what I hired you to do, you are off doing whatever it is you want to do each day. This is often how we view salvation. We are forgiven and redeemed and so nothing else is expected of me. I now get to live however I want free of any boundaries or responsibilities. Because we all know that the Kingdom of God is a reckless irresponsible Kingdom, right? God has no set ethical standards or moral judgments, right? You know deep inside that these teachings are a lie from Hell.
I am not saying that you are saved by your works. Heaven forbid, it would nullify the work of Christ. But I am saying, that you were saved with a purpose. You were redeemed for a purpose. Salvation is just the beginning of the intent of God in the grand scheme of His glorious Kingdom.
What they hated in Christ’s time was the gospel or political edit He brought. To Israel and to Rome, the message of the Christ was that there was another King and another Kingdom. It is the same today. The world is pushing their own political gospel and the edict is that those with the power are king and they are pushing their kingdom on everyone. All the while, the real message of the Christ has grown mute in the pulpits of America.
It is getting to where almost every business, sports industry, education, entertainment, everyone is pushing their agenda of perversion on us all. They demand that we take part in the celebration of sexual perversion by at least continuing to purchase their products and use their services as they market the emblems of their perverted idolatry and abomination. Our lives are more deeply assimilated into this world and it’s kingdoms than we realize. It is a test of what we are willing and unwilling to do without. It is only the first step to demanding that you not only acknowledge the celebration of their kingdoms values, but at some point they will demand that you bow to it and give your children to it as well.
But Jesus did not come and do all He did for you to be a cowardly Christian, to compromise with culture, or sit back in silence. He came to establish His Kingdom.
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Even the disciples had misconceptions about Jesus’ Kingdom.
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
They were expecting some physical hostile takeover. Some were expecting some covert strategic political play to overthrow the wicked and set Israel up in social and economic power. It is no different today. The church is waiting for some divine political intervention. But there already has been. Listen to Jesus’ word in Acts 1:8:
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Pentecost (Shavuot שבועות; Feast of Weeks or Harvest; Day of First Fruits) was preparation for a Kingdom visitation. What we need in the church today is another Kingdom Visitation. What happened in Acts 2:1-13 was Backwards Babble. At the Tower of Babble they were divided by languages, here they are unified by the Kingdom power of the Holy Ghost. And language was not the focus, it was the power of the Holy Spirit, the manifestation of the transforming power of the Kingdom of God, and impartation of God’s presence dwelling within His people. It was evidence that the Kingdom of God had come among them. And as Jesus had said, the gates of Hell could not stop or snuff out this Kingdom.
Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”
The Pharisees were not really interested in the Kingdom of God. They were building their own. This was not a question of sincerity but a question of hostility. Basically, they were telling Jesus to put up or shut up. You are preaching about the Kingdom of God coming, then show us some evidence.
So what did Jesus mean when He said, “The Kingdom of God was in their midst”? He did not say this in some humanistic or pantheistic New Age context of some mystical manifestation within your subconscious self. Surely, the very ones rejecting Him as Messiah did not possess the “Kingdom of God” for which He was referring. Instead, He was telling them that the Kingdom of God was presently within their midst. How and why? Because the King of the Kingdom of God was here.
In this series we will look at:
In this series we will look at:
1. The Master of the Kingdom - The Messiah; the Brides Groom and how to better understand His teachings of the Kingdom of God in the context of the Ketubah כְּתוּבָּה (Marriage Covenant) and Torah תּוֺרָה (Law of God; God Marriage Covenant).
1. The Master of the Kingdom - The Messiah; the Brides Groom and how to better understand His teachings of the Kingdom of God in the context of the Ketubah כְּתוּבָּה (Marriage Covenant) and Torah תּוֺרָה (Law of God; God Marriage Covenant).
2. The Model of the Kingdom - The foreshadow of the Kingdom of God from the Garden of Eden and the Tabernacle to the work of Christ and His return in Revelations.
2. The Model of the Kingdom - The foreshadow of the Kingdom of God from the Garden of Eden and the Tabernacle to the work of Christ and His return in Revelations.
3. The Methods of the Kingdom of God - Application in your daily lives for a deeper relationship with Christ that marks you for the day of harvest.
3. The Methods of the Kingdom of God - Application in your daily lives for a deeper relationship with Christ that marks you for the day of harvest.
“Let Reuben live, and not die, but let his men be few.”
In Deuteronomy 33:6 there is a concept presented that the average Christian would never even concern themselves with. However, most Christians who believe in the return of the Messiah would say they have a general understanding. It is the concept of the “Second Death”.
Jesus uses this concept in Revelations 2:11:
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who conquers will not be hurt by the second death.’
Two things you need to know here to understand:
What is the Second Death?
What does He mean by conquer?
Both have to do with the Kingdom of God. One has to do with who does and does not enters His Kingdom and the second with who builds it.
In Deuteronomy 33:6, Moses is blessing Reuben, specifically the tribe of Reuben, the he live in this world and not die in the World to Come. “The Second Death is a rabbinic expression for the total extinction of the utterly wicked” (Barclay; David Guzik on Deut. 33). Reuben required such a blessing because he had been chastised for defiling the bed of Bilhah (Genesis 35:22). He had committed a wicked act and Moses is praying that his sin not bring the tribe to extinction. Moses knew that because of this wicked act, Reuben had forfeited his inheritance of the Promised Land.
You see, the Kingdom of God is about an eternal inheritance that only comes through the King of Kings who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. If you do not have covenant with the King, you don’t get into the Kingdom.
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Remember this Christian, such were some of you. And some, still are. Sitting in church and doing “churchy” things makes you no more a Follower of the Christ than sitting in a barbershop makes you a barber.
So, who will inherit the Kingdom of God? Who are God’s Kingdom People?
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
We are called to be a holy nation within a fallen nation to reform a nation unto the Kingdom of our God. So, you say as a Christian that it is hard to watch the wickedness prevail in our nation; to watch the perversion of our children; the moral depravity of our society; the murdering of the innocent in the womb; and the dragging of generation after generation to lifestyles of abomination while you tolerate it? But you do not want to offend or be canceled. You do not want to be marked or stand out from among those who live by such anti-covenant, anti-Christ ways of life. How will you ever survive without Oreo cookies, Netflix, and Major League Baseball even though they flaunt the celebration of the “Gay Pride” kingdom and their god of perversion? They are pushing another kingdom on the church while the church knows so little of the Kingdom of their God.
President Reagan said: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.”
I believe he knew more about the Kingdom of God than most people in the church. The same applies to the Kingdom of Righteousness. The church thinks the Kingdom of God is all about getting their tooth fairy wings while floating on clouds in the after life. Oh how we are being prepared for such willing surrender and submission by the necessities of our own living. Who is your King? My King is merciful, gracious, loving, and kind. But He is not passive with subjective ethical standards nor does He compromise justice and the moral integrity of His Kingdom.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession.
Whose Kingdom do you live in? Who told you to be silent and sit back and let the wicked rule the nations?
If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
When God created all of creation and placed created man in the center of His divine presence, He had His Kingdom in mind. When God brought Israel out of Egypt to make of them a nation, He had His Kingdom in mind. When God gave then the Torah teaching them how to live as His holy people, He had His Kingdom in mind. God gave specific instructions to Israel in the wilderness as to how to lay out their encampment of the tribes. Even the pattern of their 40 year camping trip was a clear divine foreshadow of God’s Kingdom. The encampment was divided into four main sections that reflect the four phases of you growing in Kingdom Covenant with God today.
Each section corresponds to the four aspects of covenant with God:
Each section corresponds to the four aspects of covenant with God:
1. Servanthood (In the Camp learning to daily die to self)
1. Servanthood (In the Camp learning to daily die to self)
2. Friendship (Outer Court Relationship doing life God’s way)
2. Friendship (Outer Court Relationship doing life God’s way)
3. Inheritance (inner Court Relationship becoming a Son or Daughter)
3. Inheritance (inner Court Relationship becoming a Son or Daughter)
4. Marriage (Holy of Holies Relationship; Face-to Face intimacy; A Holy Dwelling Place; A Living Sanctuary)
4. Marriage (Holy of Holies Relationship; Face-to Face intimacy; A Holy Dwelling Place; A Living Sanctuary)
The encampment formed a cross. At the center was the Holy of Holies where the presence of God dwelt and the Ark of the Covenant resided. Here we find the Mercy Seat. All of which make up the model of Adonai’s desire for relationship with you. It represented where God desires to be in our lives, at the very center. The closer you got to the Holy of Holies, the closer you got to a face-to-face relationship with Adonai. The further you got from it, the less intimacy. And if you were outside the encampment, it was equal to death like a baby gazelle separating itself from its heard amongst a pack of wolves. The saving work of Christ was only the beginning to bring you into the camp. Whose camp are you in? (Klein, John and Spears, Adam; Lost in Translation Volume 1; 1984, Zondervan, Bend, OR)
John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Where are you? Are you within the camp of the Lord? Are you truly living the mishpatim מִּשְׁפָּטִים (the Laws of God; the principles of life in Christ) within the Kingdom of our God? Are you daily continuing to move closer to the Holy Place or are you sitting in the outer court looking in? Today, every group of cultural ideologues have their camp. Whose came are you in today? If you are outside the camp of Christ, change your thinking and come on in. Either He is the only way and the whole truth or He is not at all. Choose you this day. But you can’t live in multiple camps. If you are in the outer court, I admonish you, come a little bit closer to the presence of He who has already conquered, He is King Jesus, the Master of God’s Kingdom.