Kingdom Citizens
Lk.8:10 – “…The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you…” (His disciples)
1. His Kingdom is different than this world’s.
a. Jn.18:36 - Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world…”
i. James 4:4 – “…Friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can’t be a friend of God.”
ii. 1 Jn.2:15-17 - Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world - the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does - comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.
b. The contrast between citizens of the 2 kingdoms: make a list:
i. 1 Cor.6:9-11 - Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers – none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God. There was a time when some of you were just like that, but now your sins have been washed away, and you have been set apart for God. You have been made right with God because of what the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit of our God have done for you.
ii. Gal.5:19-25 - When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
iii. Rom.14:17 - For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.
2. He invites us to be a part of His kingdom.
a. Lk.22:29 – “I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me.”
b. Jn.3:3 – “In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
c. Col.1:13 - For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.
d. Heb.12:28 - Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe.
e. Eph.2:12-13 - you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.
3. Kingdom citizens repent: think and act differently.
a. Mt.4:17 - From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
i. Metanoeo - To change one’s mind or purpose.
b. Eph.4:22-24 - You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
i. Mt.21:31-32 - I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
1. Because they had believed and repented.
4. Kingdom citizens submit to God’s Lordship.
a. James 4:10 - When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor.
b. Heb.12:9 - Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever.
5. Kingdom citizens love and obey the King, God.
a. Mk.12:29-34 - The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: ’Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ’Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these." "Well said, teacher," the man replied. "You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices." When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, "You are not far from the kingdom of God."
b. Mt.7:21-23 - 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. Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
c. Jn.14:15 - If you love me, you will obey what I command.
i. Eph.5:19 - Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
d. Mk.9:47 - And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.
i. Kingdom citizens are serious about obeying Him.
1. Lk.9:23-25 - Then he said to them all: "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?
e. 1 Cor.4:20 - For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.
i. 1 Jn.3:18 - Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
1. Kingdom citizens walk the walk.
6. Kingdom citizens love and serve others, even the least desirable.
a. Mt.25:34-40 - 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. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ "Then the righteous will answer him, ’Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ "The King will reply, ’I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
i. Mt.20:25-28, Lk.7:28 – The least will be the greatest, and we must serve each other.
7. Kingdom citizens seek His kingdom 1st!
a. Mt.6:33, Lk.12:31-32 - Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
i. Kingdom citizens desire His kingdom.
ii. Mt.6:10 - Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
1. Kingdom citizens pray for His kingdom to come.
b. Mt.13:44 - The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
i. Kingdom citizens give everything for His kingdom.
c. Mk.10:23, Lk.18:24 and Mt.19:23-24 - Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
i. Lk.16:13 - No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.
1. Kingdom citizens serve God 1st, and are submitted to His Lordship.
8. Kingdom citizens become humble and continue being humbled.
a. Mt.5:3, 10, Lk.6:20 - Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven...Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
i. Define humility! *****
ii. 2 Thes.1:5 – “You will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering.”
iii. James 2:5 - Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?
b. Mt.18:4, Lk.18:16-17 - Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
9. Kingdom citizens are ambassadors.
a. 2 Cor.5:20 - We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.
10. Kingdom citizens are warriors.
a. 2 Tim.2:3-4 - Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs--he wants to please his commanding officer.
11. Kingdom citizens are focused and committed.
a. Lk.9:62 - Jesus replied, "No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God."
i. Citizens work for the kingdom, are committed to the King and keep from being distracted.
12. Kingdom citizens must pick a kingdom.
a. Mk.3:24, Lk.11:17-18 - If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
i. No dual citizenship!
13. He is worthy and it is a privilege to be in His kingdom.
a. 10 Characteristics of Kingdom citizens: Kingdom citizens 1repent, thinking and acting differently, 2 submit to God, 3love and obey God, 4love and serve others, 5seek His kingdom 1st, 6are humble, 7are ambassadors, 8are warriors, 9are focused and committed and 10must pick a kingdom.
i. He’s patiently developing you in these areas:
1. Heb.12:1-2, Phil.1:6.
b. 1 Thes.2:12 – Paul urged the Thesalonians to “live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.”
c. Lk.18:29-30 - I tell you the truth," Jesus said to them, "no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.
d. 1 Peter 2:9-10 - 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. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
He is worthy!
Discussion Questions
1. Which characteristics of Kingdom Citizens most stuck out to you and why? (10 Characteristics of Kingdom citizens: Kingdom citizens 1repent, thinking and acting differently, 2 submit to God, 3love and obey God, 4love and serve others, 5seek His kingdom 1st, 6are humble, 7are ambassadors, 8are warriors, 9are focused and committed and 10must pick a kingdom).
2. Why is God worth your complete, wholehearted commitment?
3. What next step do you need to take towards giving Him complete Lordship in your life?
