The Gospel Of The Kingdom

The Gospel of the Kingdom Matthew 4:23-25

1. Jesus is about his fathers business

• The biggest theme that Jesus talked about was kingdom. He talked about it more than anything. And as Jesus is going out to do his ministry- we see him walking out being about that life
• Luke 2:49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
• And that was what he was about- His father’s business. Nothing more- nothing less. 
• Jesus’ push, was to please the father- and be about what he was to be about- The Kingdom
• John 8:29  And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
• Jesus was not a political revolutionary that worked within the worlds systems.  That’s not what he came to do. IT wasn’t his mission, or his intention to do so. He was only about what the Father was going to have him be about. They crucified him bc he would be their king. 
• Today, there are many people who want to hijack the mission of Jesus and the church and turn him and it into their own political movement to accomplish their own polical means
• Politics are rife with sin and discord, and as Christians- we should be involved- but not see them as our savior. I am going to vote for whoever is going to help the church. If someone said I had to pay 20% tax, but protected the church- I would vote for them. 
• But people want to turn Jesus into something unscriptural- tell him what he should be doing

• John 6:38 ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
• If Jesus did what some of these people wanted they’d have him running for political office, changing laws, redistributing wealth, getting universal health care, fighting corporations, unionizing, marching for women, BLM, Anti-Guns, pro-guns, housing the homeless, feeding the hungry, doing a toy drive, building a house, or a whole host of other things. 
• John 4:34 ³⁴ Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work.
• As a pastor- I can’t begin to describe to you the amount of people I have dealt with over the past 17 years that want me to get behind their mission
• I protect you, and the church- literally hundreds of people with all kinds of causes that want me to endorse them, put them in front of you, and have you champion their cause. Its almost weekly. 
• But that’s not my mission. My mission is to pastor this flock. I need to shepherd our Church to be here in good repair when the Lord returns. I cannot allow someone to hijack our mission
• Worship, discipleship, giving, serving, fellowship. That’s the mission of the church. To the church, in the church, for the church
• And the people that say that its church centric- don’t know their bibles- because the Bible is church centric. The mission is church centric. It all flows in and about and through and to the church
• What does it mean to you
• Do not allow yourself to be pulled away from the fathers business and don’t feel bad about it
• You cannot do all things for all people and be all things for all people. Please God
• Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
• You have to settle in your heart that pleasing God and being about his business is the only thing that matters to you. No matter what relationships it costs you. 
• People struggle with being about the fathers business because they want for the things of this world. They find the Christian life restrictive and boring. 
• 2 Corinthians 5:9   Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.
• Psalm 40:8 ⁸ I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart.”

• And what was the business of the father?

23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people

2. Jesus is about preaching

• When the Bible says that Jesus went about preaching the Kingdom- I think its very very important that we know what that means. Preaching a false kingdom is preaching a false Gospel. 
• Currently in America, and in the glocal church- when people say “Good news” or “Gospel” or “Kingdom” you will hear and find many definitions of what this means. 
• I wanted to spend some time talking about all the false Gospels- but that would take too much time- I want you to know the true Gospel and the true kingdom. Treasury- real $100 bills. 
• The word gospel simply means “good news,” and the term translated “kingdom” is the Greek word basileia, which means “the realm in which a sovereign king rules.” Throughout the New Testament, the word kingdom consistently refers to the rule of Christ in the hearts of believers, since, for the time being, Christ’s kingdom is not of this world
• This is a very important distinction- Kingdom is in our hearts, its not an actual physical structure, government or rulership. It is within us
• Luke 17:20-21 ²⁰ Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; ²¹ nor will they say, ^[a]‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is ^[b]within you.”
• This is important- because people will hijack kingdom to mean being a part of their actionable movement of works and label it as “Kingdom work” to entice you to take part
• John 18:36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.”
• Jesus shows us exactly what the Kingdom of God is, and how it is manifested
• Mark 1:14-15 ¹⁴ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel ^[a]of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God ^[b]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
• Repent- believe in the Gospel “Good news”  and message of repentance is that God can redeem you from sin if you would turn to Christ
• If you accept it- you become part of his kingdom- Philippians 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
• If you reject it and remain in your sin- you cannot be part of his kingdom 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 
• 9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
• The grace of God is that anyone can enter into this kingdom, but Jesus said that it would be difficult and few would find it- Matthew 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
• We leave the kingdom of this world and enter into the Kingdom of our Savior

• Romans 6:18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
• And living in the kingdom is us living by Gods standards for his people, and getting other people to come into his Kingdom to experience his grace and mercy upon their lives. 
• Because of this- we reject the worlds habits, values, lifestyle and ways because this is not our home- we have now become visitors on this planet. 
• To recap- The kingdom is turning from sin and the world, to receive Christs forgiveness from sin, and then living as citizens of heaven while on this earth awaiting Christs return or being called home
• The way we grow the Kingdom is getting other people to respond to the message of the kingdom- no message- no kingdom. No response- no kingdom. No talk of sin- no kingdom
• What does it mean to you?
• Have you committed to understanding and being able to articulate what kingdom means?
• Could you explain it to someone else in a few sentences? Do you understand it?
• Because it is of cosmic importance that you understand it and are able to articulate it
• Getting into the Kingdom of Christ is getting into heaven and you don’t want to get this wrong
• 55 times the word Kingdom is in the book of Matthew- and if you don’t understand it- you’ll be thinking the wrong things as we go through this book the next few years
• To understand the kingdom read the book of Acts- we see the newest disciples going out to do kingdom work after the great commission. And what did they do? They preached repentance and forgiveness. They healed people. They baptized people. They didn’t infiltrate government. They didn’t give out soup and clothing. They didn’t give out money. The preached. 
• That isn’t to say that stuff is bad or ungodly- its just not he work of the kingdom 
• This is why acts of service do not get people saved- having people serve doesn’t either
• The American church is filled with people who want to serve but aren’t saved- music, kids, buildings etc. And people who will let you serve them that don’t want the things of God!
• 2 tim 4:1-5 Timothy was exhorted to preach the word- so that people will not be led astray. 

3. Jesus is about healing

• Now part of what Jesus did was go around and perform miracles and healings
• I fully believe that the Holy Spirit can heal and perform miracles today just like during Bible times. But the main reason Jesus performed miracles was to deliver the message
• Matthew 9:35[ The Compassion of Jesus ] Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people.
• This is why I don’t believe that healing in and of itself is what the kingdom is about
• It was always connected with the preaching of the word- a healed person can go to Hell
• Healing and preaching always go hand in hand. These ‘presence of God’ services that don’t lead people to repentance are a waste of time if all you do is fall out or get healed. 
• That being said- Healing is for today and yesterday and is clear in scripture. 
• Jeremiah 17:14 ¹⁴ Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; Save me, and I shall be saved,
  For You are my praise.
• We see Gods healing power throughout the OT and the NT. 
• Psalm 41:3 ³ The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed.
• Psalm 103:2-4 ² Bless the Lord, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits: ³ Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, ⁴ Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
• The Bible is clear that God heals people. Some people will say, why didn’t he heal so and so- and I don’t know that answer- but I do know that the Bible says we should pray for people who are sick
• James 5:14-15 ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.
• I will continue to pray for the sick and dying as long as I live- not on my belief, but on his word

• What does it mean to you
• Do you live with an expectation that God is a healer? That God can heal your physical body?
• People will minimize this gift because maybe they haven’t seen someone healed, or they prayed for someone who died, but that’s no reason to stop asking God
• Peter and John prayed and believed that God would use them in ministry of healing
• Acts 4:30 ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
• 3 John said that we should want to be in health, just as our soul prospers
• 3 John 2 ² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.
• Luke 9:1  Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases.
• Pray and believe for healing. Pray for others to be healed. 

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