Why do churches do what they do? What is the biblical basis of church leadership structure? Why do certain traditions get entrenched? How did we arrive at our doctrines?
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The Kingdom is near:The Kingdom is upon:
Introduction
Today we consider the Kingdom of God (Matthew, Luke, John, Acts, Paul's letters), or variously the Kingdom of heaven (Mark), the Kingdom of Christ (Eph. 5:5. 2Pe 1:11), or the Kingdom of light/Kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:12, 13).
Of all the topics Jesus talked about, the Kingdom seemed to be the most important to Him (in our estimation). He mentions the Kingdom more than 40 times in Matthew alone. So, what does the Bible say about the Kingdom?
This Kingdom is the heavenly Kingdom of God Most High (Ps. 7:10):
- He is seated on the Throne (Ps. 47:8)
- He rules with justice (Ps. 9:8)
- He judges the nations (Ps. 82:8) and peoples (Ps. 96:10)
- He is the King of kings (1Ti. 6:15)
- Every knew will bow (Is. 45:23)
- He is compassionate (Ex. 22:27)
- He is kind (Lk. 6:35)
- He is merciful (Lk. 6:36).
We would expect that His Kingdom would manifest all these things. That is, the character of God would permeate His Kingdom, and all the things of the Kingdom would necessarily be of His character. Thus, the things that are not of His character would not be a part of His Kingdom (Re. 21:8, Re. 22:15).
God is King in heaven. All the angels worship Him, and when He speaks the nations tremble. There is no other besides He:
Isaiah 45:5 - "I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God.
In God's great redemptive plan He has from the very beginning planned for the solution for sin entering the world (Ge. 3:15). His intent has always been to bring heaven to earth (Is. 9:7). His Kingdom and its King would come nearer and nearer and eventually be established here (Re. 11:15).
The plan of salvation is Kingdom come. The Gospel is Kingdom come. Jesus is Kingdom come. Immanuel is God with us as King.
The OT
The Kingdom receives its first mention in Ex. 19:4-6 as a promise to Israel:
"You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.
The Deliverer intends a kingdom of priests. God is not talking about the Levitical priesthood, he is talking about the nation of Israel, that they as a people would be His priests. A priest has purity in order to minister in the very presence of God, offering sacrifices. Israel was to be that nation of purity, set apart for God's purposes.
We see this concept echoed in 1Pe. 2:9:
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
This Kingdom is again mentioned in a promise to David. 2Sa. 7:12-13:
When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
This is the promise regarding David's son Solomon, but also a messianic statement of the King who would descend from the lineage of David (Mt. 12:23), and God will establish this as an eternal throne.
Da. 4:3 How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.
Ps. 45:6 Your throne, O God, will last for ever and ever; a sceptre of justice will be the sceptre of your kingdom.
Ps. 2:6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.”
This King, this Son of David, will reign upon David's throne forever:
Is. 9:6-7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and for ever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.
This means that the kingdom of Israel is a type of the great Kingdom of God. God established His Kingdom in Israel, and now He is establishing it in all the earth, and the Church is His people.
The NT - John the Baptist
We find the first mention of the Kingdom from John the Baptist:
Mt. 3:1-2 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”John the Baptist was heralding the impending arrival of the heavenly Kingdom, and the call to repent was issued. The coming Kingdom necessitates repentance. He quotes the prophecy of Isaiah:
Is. 40:3-5 A voice of one calling in the desert: “Prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, the rugged places a plain. 5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”
When the King returns triumphant in battle, the watchmen of the city call forth to the inhabitants that the King is coming:
Is. 52:8-10 Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices; together they shout for joy. When the LORD returns to Zion, they will see it with their own eyes. 9 Burst into songs of joy together, you ruins of Jerusalem, for the LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed Jerusalem. 10 The LORD will lay bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God.
They call out to prepare the road leading to the city by clearing it of obstacles. Isaiah almost seems to exaggerate this by calling for the mountains to be demolished, the valleys to be filled in, and the road straightened. This King must be someone special to deserve such treatment. And indeed He is, for this great King necessitates some heavy-duty preparation.
This is a cause for celebration in the holy city:
Ps. 65:1 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion.
Ps. 9:11 Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what he has done.
The holy city is described in Revelation 21, but first described in Ps. 48:2:
It is beautiful in its loftiness, the joy of the whole earth. Like the utmost heights of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the Great King.
It is the city of David (1Kg. 8:1), where the presence of the Lord dwells:
Ps. 50:2 From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth.
The King of kings' arrival comes in the environment of repentance. Repentance is preparing the way. Setting one's heart in order straightens the way for the King to come. This is the pulling down the high places of misplaced worship and idolatry, filling in the low places that are endless drains of distraction, despair, fear, and folly, and the smoothing of the rough roads of sin, all of which makes travel possible for the Holy Spirit.
The watchmen also are typology, for they are watching for something more than an earthly king.
Is. 62:6 I have posted watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the LORD, give yourselves no rest, 7 and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth.
Ps. 130:6 My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning.
The Kingdom comes to earth, and each of us is called to prepare the way by repentance. This is high level preparation. The unrepentant heart is an obstacle to the Kingdom.
So John the Baptist's message was repentance, because someone greater than he is coming. Jesus came first as a lamb for sacrifice:
Jn. 1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming towards him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!
Yet the King is so important that John the Baptist deemed himself not even worthy to perform menial tasks for Him. That is because this King's ministry involves supernatural cleansing, not a mere washing in the river Jordan:
Mk. 1:7-8 After me will come one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.
This is an amazing statement, for Jesus said of him:
Mt. 11:11 I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.
So the greatest prophet the world has ever seen was the one who announced the Kingdom. And his was a message of repentance.
The NT - Jesus
We are going to look at the Gospel of Matthew to see the procession of the Kingdom.
After being tempted in the desert Jesus began his ministry with the exact same message as John the Baptist:
Mt. 4:17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”
Imagine this. The King comes with the same message! But now it carries more weight, because the One who was bringing the Kingdom was the King Himself. It's His work to bring this Kingdom, to teach about its precepts, and to provide the way to become a citizen of it.
It's really, really near now, because the King is here.
So much of what Jesus had to teach was about the kingdom.
- He teaches His disciples how to pray:
Mt. 6:10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
- He teaches what we should seek:
Mt. 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
- He teaches us how to enter the Kingdom:
Mt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."
- He gives His disciples the task to preach the Kingdom:
Mt. 10:7 As you go, preach this message: `The kingdom of heaven is near.’
- We are to take hold of the Kingdom:
Mt. 11:12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.
Then Jesus begins to explain what the Kingdom is like using parables.
- the sower (Mt. 13:3-9)
- the wheat and tares (Mt. 13:24-30)
- the mustard seed (Mt. 13:31-32)
- yeast (Mt. 13:33)
- the treasure in a field (Mt. 13:44)
- the pearl of great value (Mt. 13:45)
- the fisher's net (Mt. 13:47)
- the 99 sheep (Mt. 18:12)
- the king collecting his debts (Mt. 18:23)
- the landowner hiring workers (Mt. 20:1-16)
- the vineyard owner (Mt. 21:33--44)
- the wedding banquet (Mt 22:2-14)
- the faithful and wise servant (Mt. 24:45-51)
- the 10 virgins (Mt. 25:1-13)
- the talents (Mt. 25:14--30)
Most of Jesus' parables were to explain the coming Kingdom. Most of His ministry was to proclaim the Kingdom and the Good News. The Good News is the way to enter this Kingdom.
How important is the Kingdom? Before His ascension He spent 40 days with the apostles. What did He talk about? The Kingdom!
Ac. 1:3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.
Kingdom Near, Kingdom Here
Jn. 18:36 Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world."Jesus did not come to make an earthly kingdom. A Kingdom not of this world doesn't mean the Kingdom is not here. He intends to expand His heavenly Kingdom upon the earth. Jesus wants heavenly principles to happen on earth ("Your Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.")
The Kingdom is near:
Mk. 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Mt. 12:28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
The Kingdom is within:
Lk. 17:20-21 Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, 21 nor will people say, `Here it is,’ or `There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.”
The Kingdom comes:
Mk. 9:1 And he said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
Ac. 2:33 Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
Ac. 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
The Kingdom of priests:
Re. 1:5-6 ...To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, Re. 1:6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
The Kingdom is ours:
Mt. 25:34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, `Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.'"
The Kingdom is unshakeable:
He. 12:28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.” [Deut. 4:24]
The Kingdom is eternal:
2Pe. 1:10-11 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Now that Jesus has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven His exalted kingship is manifest:
Lk. 22:69 "But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
He. 1:3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
Yet He retains the scars of His sacrificial death as the Lamb:
Re. 5:6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne...
He's in the center of the throne. He was slain, yet is exalted.
Remember when we said that a Kingdom of priests would have the purity to minister in the presence of God? We are that Kingdom, we who have been purified by the blood of the Lamb:
Ro. 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The Kingdom is here and now
We would assert that the Kingdom came with Pentecost. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of Jesus' promises about the Kingdom. The indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is the proof of His Kingdom come. The Holy Spirit is the power that raises us to new life, and gives us what we need to live godly lives. The Holy Spirit is the Kingdom come until Jesus comes again.
After the Holy Spirit was poured out, Peter gave the very first sermon ever preached. The crowd was stricken. They asked what they must do, and Peter said,
Ac. 2:38 "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."
So the call to all men everywhere is the same message as both John the Baptist and Jesus preached: Repent. But now the Kingdom is no longer near, it is here, and those who repent and call on the name of Jesus will be saved and receive the Holy Spirit and be brought into the Kingdom:
Col. 1:13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves...
The Bible closes in Revelation with many statements of our King and what he will do. Once He has executed judgment on earth, we find another statement of His eternal Kingship:
Re. 11:15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, which said: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.”
This is the great triumph of the King of kings, who is coming again as King rather than the Lamb. We are called to prepare the way for Him to come to the hearts of men. We are His priesthood, His people, we are now citizens of heaven, and we now have power by the Holy Spirit to be what He has called us to be, and to do what He has called us to do.
Re. 22:13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
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