The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth

Introduction: on june 6th, 1944, the american and British air divisions sent 23 thousand paratroopers across enemy lines into German occupied France in preparation for the D-day assault of normandy. Their objective was to secure a french town between Normandy and the German reserves so that the beaches could not be reinforced. They jumped in under fire for German anti aircraft guns, which forced many planes into evasive maneuvers, causing them to go off course while also causing many troopers to lose their weapons and gear in the jump. many of them landed scattered and weaponless, surrounded by enemies. But over the next day or two, these isolated paratroopers began to find one another and form what air divisions today call LGOPs, or little groups of paratroopers, and they began to wreak havoc on the German forces as they carried out their missions. They took over German outposts and held back reinforcements until the main forces at the Normandy beaches could push inward and gain a foothold in France.

That story has been on my mind the last day or so as I have been preparing this sermon, because i believe our passage depicts a similar situation, only on a far grander scale. In this text this morning we will see Jesus effectively go on the offensive in his war against the kingdom of sin and darkness by establishing his own kingdom on earth. And today, we, the Church, have been put behind enemy lines and given orders to advance his kingdom until he returns.

Main Idea: Jesus has established his heavenly kingdom on earth, and he has commissioned his church to be the force that advances it.

read our first section of text.

Matthew 4:12–17 (ESV)

Now when he heard that John had been arrested, he withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth he went and lived in Capernaum by the sea, in the territory of Zebulun and Naphtali, so that what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah might be fulfilled:

“The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,

the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles—

the people dwelling in darkness

have seen a great light,

and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death,

on them a light has dawned.”

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

1. The Arrival of the Kingdom

What is the Kingdom of Heaven?

The phrase kingdom of heaven, or Kingdom of God, doesnt really refer to a physical kingdom like we would think of, one that is marked by national boundaries. Instead, the kingdom of Heaven is any where that God has established his absolute rule and is imposing his will.

the next question that arises is, isnt that everywhere already? and the answer is yes and no. If you’ve been around here for a while youve’ probably heard the phrase “Already, not yet” to describe God’s kingdom. It can be a confusing concept.

Let me illustrate it for you and then explain it a bit more. one of the favorite games in our house is hide and seek. Emerson is starting to understand the point of it, hes finally started to run to another room and get behind something while I’m counting. But he still hasnt gotten the being quiet part. All I have to do when i finish counting is say “ready of not, here I come” and he starts giggling. at that point, the game is in my control. I know exactly where he is and I can find him whenever i want. but instead of going straight to him, check in the bathroom and guest room first, then I ignore where he’s obviously hiding and check all the other spots in his room, then I find him and the game is over. Its already, but not yet.

In the same way, Yes, God is absolutely sovereign over every aspect of the universe. But God has also given some authority over this world to Satan and so in some regards, God’s kingdom has not been fully realized. Furthermore, the effects of sin and the fall, things which are contrary to God’s created order, are plain to see, and are manifested in the hearts and lives of many people.

And so this is why we say yes God’s rule is everywhere, but it also isnt fully complete. God’s kingdom has been announced, established, and inaugurated, but it has not been fully consummated yet. Essentially, Jesus has initiated the process of expanding God’s rule and reign over everything and bringing it into submission to his will and plan, but hes not done with that yet. Thats coming later. So we are living in the already, but not yet.

Because we are in this intermediary time, there are some things we need to understand about God’s kingdom. God’s word tells us that we are headed to a day where every evil thing will be punished, where there will be no more sorrow and grieving, and where every knee will bow and tongue confess to Jesus as Lord. But until that day dawns, we are living in a world in conflict. That is the scene that we find in our passage this morning, The world and everyone in it opposed to God’s rule and Jesus’ pronouncement that God’s kingdom is advancing is in direct opposition to these forces. Our text this morning gives us some key details about God’s kingdom that we need to see.

-The Prophesied Plan

First, I want you to notice the passage of scripture that looks different than the other verses in your bible. That means that these verses come from somewhere else in the Bible, and matthew indicates for us that hes thinking of Isaiah 9:1-3

Isaiah 9:1–3 (ESV)

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.

The people who walked in darkness

have seen a great light;

those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,

on them has light shone.

You have multiplied the nation;

you have increased its joy;

they rejoice before you

as with joy at the harvest,

as they are glad when they divide the spoil.

Matthew does this a lot, where he takes something that Jesus is doing, and then he ties it to an old testament passage. His goal in this is to show that Jesus is exactly who he says he is and hes the one that the old testament has been pointing to the entire time. Robert did a great job showing us this two weeks ago in his intro sermon, so if you didnt catch that, Go back and listen to how Matthew uses the old testament to tell us exactly who Jesus is. For our purposes today however, heres what I want you to see. The kingdom of heaven, coming through the ministry of Jesus, has been God’s plan all along. He prophecied and foretold it over 600 years before Jesus was born. This kingdom of heaven coming to earth is God’s plan A to redeem his people and creation.

not only was this God’s plan, Matthew also wants us to understand the scope of this plan. Did you catch the phrase “Galilee among the nations” matthew actually changes the word nation in his translation to Gentiles. See, back in the day, when Israel fell to the Assyrian empire, they had a way of dealing with conquered people. They would intermarry with some of them and send others to other conquered places and have them marry people there, so what was left was a cultural hodgepodge that wouldnt rise up and overthrow them. now fast forward several hundred years and the result is lots of different ethnicities and people groups living in this area. Gentiles as matthew sees it. and Matthew also wants us to see that God’s plan included them. Which is good news for them and for us today.

-The Appointed Time

Secondly, Our passage this morning reminds us that the timing for Jesus’ announcement was right on schedule. Jesus could have begun his ministry much sooner than this but instead he waits about 30 years. He could have started right after he came out of the baptism waters in the Jordan, but instead he waited. it isnt until John the Baptist is arrested, the forerunner prophet that was to herald Jesus’ ministry, that he begins to preach this message. also remember, that before the miraculous birth of Jesus and John the baptist, God had been silent for hundreds of years since the prophet Malachi. Church, I dont know about you but I’ve been tempted many times to question God’s timing. Dont give into that temptation. Remember, that you serve a God who always accomplishes his plan at his appointed time even when it doesnt seem to fit our schedule. That is true of his promised kingdom and it is also true for your life.

-The Simplistic Message

Finally, I want you to look at the simplistic message of this kingdom. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Again, i want to reference Robert’s sermon from two week ago, he spent a good deal of time talking about repentance and what it is, that it is “a change in the direction of your life” Repentance means we turn away from what we were following before christ, and instead submit our lives to Jesus’ authority and rule. Robert delved into what that looks like, but what I want to stress to you is that it is an unavoidable aspect of the kingdom of Heaven. you cannot experience the kingdom of heaven without repentance. The Kingdom’s one and only call to your life is to submit yourself to the rule of God and serve Jesus as king. this is what Jesus stresses here and elsewhere throughout his ministry. its also what the apostles say in the first days of the church. consider

Acts 2:37–38 (ESV)

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The way into the kingdom of Heaven is just as simple today as it was then, but it is not easy, as we will see in the next section.

read Matt 4:18-22

Matthew 4:18–22 ESV

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

2. The Followers of the Kingdom

From this account we see three aspects from the lives of these first followers of Jesus that we should also see in our own lives if we truly belong to the kingdom of heaven.

-The Command: Abiding

I want key in on the first words Jesus says to these men. Follow me. technically speaking, we are taking the next several months to break down this idea of what it means to follow Jesus. we’re going to get really specific as we work through his teaching on the sermon on the mount and i believe we’ll look more like him on the back end of it and I’m really excited for it. however, I think there is a very practical lesson that we can learn from Jesus’ command to these first followers. Following Jesus means that we spend time with him, that we know him, talk with him, essentially that abide in him. These 4 men were about to spend the next 3 years of their lives with Jesus, learning from him, doing ministry with him, becoming more like him day by day. We don’t have the opportunity they did to go on a 3 year ministry trip with Jesus across the country. We actually have something better.

John 16:7 (ESV)

Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

because Jesus has sent the spirit to us and given us the gift of his God breathed word, we can grow in our relationship with him as the spirit dwells within us. This is what it means to abide in christ. We spend time in prayer with him, spend time reading his word, spend time knowing God better. The result is that we will look more like Jesus than when we started. It is a simple concept, as is many of the following ideas we’ll talk about, but it is not easy. it takes work. but If we are truly seeking after God’s kingdom, we will be committed to doing it.

-The Commission: Sharing

the second aspect of a follower of the kingdom of heaven is that they will live out this commission of Jesus to be fishers of men. many better preachers than myself have preached many different, and probably better sermons focusing on this idea of fishing and all the different comparisons that can be made to evangelism like a good fisherman understands the fish, and goes where the fish are, works with other fisherman to bring in a bigger catch, ect. This morning, my goal isnt to unpack every little nuance of this idea and lay out tips and tricks to help you in evangelism. instead, I want to focus on the general truth that those who belong to God’s kingdom will be exactly what these men were, Fishers of men. essentially, they will share the gospel with others in the hope that some will come to faith.

This idea is all over scripture, we’ll see this idea in more detail in just a few weeks when we examine Jesus’ teaching on his followers being salt and light in the world. This idea is all throughout the gospels, the epistles, peter, paul, john, they all deal with it. The idea is even found all throughout the old testament. But my favorite passage by far to go to on the subject of every follower of Jesus sharing their faith is

2 Corinthians 5:17–21 (ESV)

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

anyone who has done evangelism training with me will recognize this passage. From it we see that anyone who is in christ (which would apply to those seeking to be a part of God’s heavenly kingdom) will have two things be true of them. First, they’ll be a new creation, which is the idea of repentance and putting off the old self and putting on the new, that we’ve already talked about. but second, they will be ambassadors, someone who takes the message of reconciliation, which is the gospel of Christ, to those who are in need of the mission of reconciliation, everyone in the entire world.

In this heavenly kingdom on earth that Jesus is bringing, every single person starts out as an outsider who is opposed to its advance. but the heart of Jesus is that they would not remain there. God desires that no one should perish and so what does he do? he sends christ who knew no sin to be sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God (gospel message) and then he commissions us to go out and proclaim this truth so that some might respond in repentance.

If you are seeking to be a part of God’s heavenly kingdom, then these are your marching orders. You must be sharing your faith in the hopes that others would experience and know the same God that you know. That includes your children, your co workers, your neighbors, even strangers you’ve never met. If this is you, if youre doing this regularly, then praise God. we’ve got alot more work to do so keep going. But If this isnt you, then I have two encouragements.

first, dont sit in guilt. Sharing the gospel is simple, but that doesn’t mean its easy. it takes practice, training, and often doing it with someone else. So don’t sit in your guilt and never improve, that doesn’t help anyone. Instead, the second encouragement would be, lets get better together. If you are tempted to feel guilty over a lack of sharing (ive been there, i know how it feels) instead of staying there, repent and ask someone for help and accountability. let me or someone else walk you through how to do this better. Then lets go do it together.

on October 8th, thats exactly what we’re going to do. The men were already having a breakfast here that morning, so i hijacked the back end of it. after the breakfast, we are going to pray together for the communities around our church. Then men, women and children, whoever is available, are welcome to come with us as we engage two or three neighborhoods around our church, inviting them to come and worship with us, asking if we can pray for them, and sharing the gospel with them if possible.

-The Cost: Following is Never Free

Followers of the kingdom abide with Christ, they share his good news with others, but we also see that they pay a price to enter the kingdom. There is always a cost to follow something.

earlier this week, we hosted a fantasy football draft and clemson watch party at my house for some friends of ours. earlier in the day, I was putting some clothes on emerson and his clemson shirt from last year was too small. So when ashlyn went to the store to get some last minute stuff for the party, she found a two pack of clemson shirts and called me to see if we should get them. people who know me well know the first question i asked. how much does it cost? 25 dollars. I hate how good target is at taking my money. but at the end of the day, Emerson was wearing that clemson shirt because I wanted to identity myself and him as clemson fans.

It’s the same for those who wish to follow Jesus and identify with his kingdom. There will be a cost. In both instances, the people that Jesus calls leave something behind. First, Peter and Andrew leave behind their nets and then James and John leave behind their boat and their Father, as well as the nets they were mending.

Some people have taken this text, along with others like the rich young ruler in Matt 19 and have wrongly concluded that in order to follow Jesus, they have to quit their job, sell all their stuff, and and be homeless. That’s not what this means. There is a cost to entering this kingdom, but it might look very different for each of us in here. The best way I know how to describe it is a radical reorientation of one’s life and priorities.

When you come to christ, you are being called to examine your life and the idols that you have in them. for some, that will be money, for others it might be work, time management, pleasure, sports, the list goes on. in proclaiming christ as lord, you are also in the same breath saying, “these other things cannot stay in first place and must take a backseat.” so that doesnt mean you have to quit your job, but it does mean you need to stop working 70 hours a week at the neglect of your family and your church. you can still watch football if you love football, just not all day saturday and sunday. God will not tolerate idols to sit in his place once you’ve confessed him as lord. Ask him and he will make it clear to you what change you need to make in your life in order to truly pursue his kingdom work.

3. The Advance of the Kingdom

This morning we’ve seen the arrival of God’s heavenly kingdom on earth and learned some of the characteristics of it. We’ve seen examples of what the followers of his kingdom will look like. Now we get to see what his kingdom does when it collides with the effects of sin in the world.

Matthew 4:23–25 (ESV)

And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures, and paralytics, and he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.

in this passage we see Jesus do two things and then we see a result.

Proclaims the Truth and Serves the Broken

As Jesus goes, he is proclaiming, announcing, teaching this new message. that something better is here, turn away from sin and darkness, and turn towards me. I will forgive your sins. At the same time, he is healing wounds, casting out demons, serving broken sinful people. there is no better apologetic for God’s truth than for someone get down on their knees, roll up their sleeves, and get their hands dirty serving others in need.

Church our mission is the same. As part of this kingdom advance, we must proclaim the truth and serve the broken. I’ve seen alot of people and churches do one of these things really well at the expense of the other. on the one hand, they stay in their buildings, teaching and proclaiming the truth from the pulpit, while people who need to hear the message never come in the door. This is what i did in college. I stayed up so many nights discussing and debating the grand theological truths I was learning with my buddies. and it was awesome. I learned so much, i grew in my faith. But you know what i didnt do? share the gospel with lost people.

On the other hand, The second type, they’re the ones that just go. they see the brokenness in the world and they’ve got to jump into it and do something. They’re the church that is giving money here and going over there and doing celebrate recovery or AA. But as they do these things, they dont proclaim the truth, because they’re not grounded in it. I had a friend in school like this. every friday he was headed to downtown greenville to hang out with homeless people at tent city, brought them food or hygiene products, and just loved them really well. And i cant speak to how well he shared the gospel, but he wasnt very connected to a local church back then. I ran into a guy who knew as well a few months ago and i asked about him, come to find out, the guy walked away from the faith, hes not following Jesus anymore. because he wasnt grounded in the truth.

Whats my point in all of that? don’t fall into either ditch. We have to do both, because Jesus did both. hold truth high, proclaim it, yet also seek out the broken and lost and serve them. and do them together.

And then we see the results. People flock to jesus. they come from all over. The text doesnt say they all gave their lives to Jesus and became his disciples. It doesnt give us that promise. instead, we get the guarantee that if we do the things that Jesus did, people will take notice. They’ll see us as being different from the world, and some of them will desire that too and will want to follow Jesus along with us.

Conclusion: Church this is how the kingdom of God advances here on earth, by proclaiming the truth and by serving the broken. If you’ve never responded to this truth, then we would offer it to you. Turn away from your sin, accept Jesus as Savior and Lord, and submit yourself to God’s way of life.

For everyone else,Jesus has commissioned us to be his missional force in the world. He has placed you, a part of his church, here at this time in greenville to be an advance force that surrounded by sin and darkness. Ask yourself, How faithful are you being to his commission? how well are you abiding in him and sharing with others. are there areas in your life you need to reorient and put under Christ’s lordship? do you know the truth and are you serving the broken. Examine these things, set them right in your heart and then let us go and advance the mission of the Kingdom together.