Mat 4:17; You Are a Part of Something that Is Out of This World.

Class Outline:

March 7, 2024

 

Introduction: The kingdom of heaven is a place (dominion) and a power (King). It is an activity (reign and rule and service) and it is communal.

 

The phrases kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, of glory, and just kingdom are all speaking of the same. In one case the kingdom is called “knowledge.”

 

The kingdom is near. It is at the door and can enter any time. Similar language is used in John, “an hour is coming and now is …”

JOH 4:23; 5:25 (wanted to kill Him for making God His Father …).

 

The kingdom of heaven is from heaven. It is not of this world. We do not bring it by doing anything (postmillennialism).

 

Therefore, it is opposed to everything present and earthly and everything here and now. It is not concerned with the things of the world, at all. It is not founded on anything of the world.

 

Unlike the world: In MAR 12:18-27 there is a resurrection but no marriage in the kingdom of heaven.

 

Mysterious arrival: In MAR 4:26-29, the kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed on the soil. The seed grows and sprouts fruit and no one knows how it happens.

 

We must understand that we are members of this kingdom, called to it, given it as a gift, placed in it, given an inheritance in it, and longing for it - all by supernatural power.

 

Jesus told Nicodemus that:

JOH 3:3

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."

 

1TH 2:12

walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

 

Still, there are promises of the kingdom to those believers who follow and worship the Lord, which cause us to look further and deeper into our relationship with this eternal, divine kingdom. We must also understand that the kingdom of heaven demands a response from every believer in Christ.

 

JAM 2:5

did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?

 

Things concerning the kingdom are more complex that who is in and who is out. It is about that and more.

 

MAT 4:17

From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

 

Idea: Your life should be other worldly because you are a part of a kingdom unlike anything earthly.

 

The kingdom of heaven is a reality - reckon what you do not yet see.

MAT 13:44-46.

 

It is a reality from heaven.

It has nothing to do with the present earth.

MAT 20:1f. Parable of the laborers.

 

The kingdom has been postponed, but the reality of its way breaks into the hearts of believers through the Word of God.

The parables of the mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure, fine pearl, and dragnet, reveal this.

MAT 5:3, 10, 17-19.

 

Learning the way of the kingdom, while going through trials in this very unheavenly world, makes us long for the kingdom in a good way, knowing, like the disciples, that we have a calling in this life that is of the highest order and privilege.

 

A reality in the Heart.

Where Jesus comes to rule, the way of the kingdom is present.

EPH 3:14-21.

 

A reality in History.

The kingdom will actually occur in this world literally.

REV 11:15

 

MAT 24:14

“This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.”

 

MAT 24:27

“For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be.”

 

When the kingdom comes, it is not for the repair of this world, but its end.

 

Before then, the way of the kingdom, its truth and life, can and should be seen and understood by every believer. And, you should be manifesting its light to the world (fishing for men).

 

Also, you should be the in a community of others who also see and understand and live the way, truth, and life of the kingdom of heaven, for then you will have a group (hopefully a family, a church, a fellowship) that looks like the way of the kingdom and is a bright light to the world.

 

The group, no matter how mature in faith and in the way of the kingdom of heaven, will not make the kingdom, nor make it come. It will be a shadow of it in an imperfect way, but it will manifest the good works that are the light of the world.

 

Satan has a kingdom, MAT 12:26, and the light of the kingdom of heaven, from those who worship the Lord, shine like a city on a hill. And you, they, will be rewarded for it, MAT 5:10.