Sermon Tone Analysis

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 on the move against such opposition.

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