A man told about growing up on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean. He often spent hours on the beach creating intricate sand castles and he said he could build whole cities with his hands every day. But one year (for several days in a row) there was a group of bullies that came down to beach and destroy his creations. Understandably, he got a bit annoyed… and he thought about it long time.
Finally came up with an idea. He said: “I placed cinder blocks, rocks, and chunks of concrete at the base of my castles. Then I built my SAND KINGDOM on top of those rocks. And when the local toughs appeared (I disappeared), their bare feet suddenly met their match.”
Notice what he said that he did: He built a sand KINGDOM on top of the rocks, and those who sought to destroy what he built… paid a price.
In Daniel 7 we read that “with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And TO HIM WAS GIVEN DOMINION AND GLORY AND A KINGDOM, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an EVERLASTING DOMINION, which shall not pass away, and HIS KINGDOM one that shall not be destroyed.”
Whoa! Who was this that was “like a son of man”? (pause) Well… that would have been Jesus. Isaiah 9:6-7 declared: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end. On the THRONE OF DAVID and OVER HIS KINGDOM, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
You see, when Jesus was born in Bethlehem, He was born to be a King. In fact, that’s what Jesus told Pilate: Pilate asked Jesus, “Are You a king then?” And Jesus answered, “You say [rightly] that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world…” John 18:37 (NKJV)
So, Jesus was born to be a King. But when did that happen? When did Jesus BECOME a King and what exactly was this KINGDOM that He was to rule over? Well, all thru the Gospels - before Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead - John the Baptist and Jesus, and Jesus’ disciples… they all preached the same message: "Repent, for the KINGDOM of heaven is at hand." Matthew 3:2
Whatever Kingdom Jesus had come to establish it was AT HAND. It was NEAR.
Now there are those who teach that Jesus won’t become a King until His 2nd coming where He’ll set up an earthly Kingdom and reign for a 1000 years. In essence, they’re saying Jesus isn’t really a KING… (pause) yet. And that His kingdom wasn’t as NEAR as He had said it was.
But, that’s not what the Bible says. Colossians 1:12-13 tells us We should be “giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified (us) to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the KINGDOM of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
When we became Christians, we were rescued from the domain of darkness and were transferred into the KINGDOM (pause)… Whose kingdom were we transferred into? Well it was the Kingdom of the BELOVED SON OF GOD. That would have been Jesus.
You see, Christ’s kingdom exists … NOW! In fact - it has existed ever since the day of Pentecost when about 3000 people repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. At that point… they were transferred out of darkness into the Kingdom of the SON!
And His Kingdom is called THE CHURCH. In Matthew 16, Jesus took His 12 disciples aside and asked them WHO they said He was. And Peter spoke up and said "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." (Matthew 16:16) Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Matthew 16:17-18).
THE CHURCH WAS THE KINGDOM THAT JESUS BUILT!
Now, of course, Jesus wasn’t talking about a building made bricks, & stone, and wood. The church Jesus was going to build would be built out of flesh and blood –YOUR flesh … YOUR blood. (and MY flesh and blood). The church Jesus built was to be made of you and me. WE are the church (we are His kingdom) and wherever we are - WE are that church; WE are that kingdom. Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave to save us and make us HIS people/ His kingdom/ His church.
Now, why is that important? Well, it’s important because there are people that forget that. They forget that the church belongs to Jesus. They forget that He’s the King… and it’s HIS kingdom.
ILLUS: I’ve heard people say, “This Is MY Church” and whenever I hear that red flags go up, because when folks say that what they often mean is that they expect things to go THEIR way because it’s their church! Usually you can tell who those folks are because they’re the ones who tend to complain the most, and they tend to be the ones who cause the most trouble. It’s THEIR CHURCH, and unless things go their way life can get very messy.
ILLUS: It kind of reminds of the two Christians who were arguing over something, and the one man said to the other: We can do it your way… or we can do it God’s.
The more power or influence the person has… the nastier things can get. Elders/ preachers/ and others of influence - if they start thinking that the church is THEIR church - life can get difficult
ILLUS: At the first church I served, there was a “HEAD” Elder. Pretty much everything (in the church bldg./ parsonage) had to be done HIS way! You didn’t change anything without his permission! He ran off preachers about every 3 years and the church never got much above 50 people.
In the book of 3rd John, the Apostle John called out a man named Diotrephes. He wrote that “Diotrephes, (was a man) who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority (talking about the Apostles) and not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to-and puts them out of the church” (vss. 9-10)
Diotrephes was a one-man dictatorship because he saw the church as belonging to himself. And John said he was on his way to fix that problem.
So… how do we protect ourselves (and the church) from the disease of “This Is My Church”. Well we just say NO! “NO, this is NOT your church… and it’s not mine. The church belongs to Jesus.
The reason this congregation has had so little problem with this disease is that you folks have always understood that! You know WHO the church belongs to
There was (however) one man in the Bible who had a problem with that. His name was Peter. Jesus built His KINGDOM (His Church) on the confession that Peter made. And remember - when Peter made his confession that Jesus was the Christ, Jesus responded “Blessed are you Simon.”
But a little later on we’re told that “Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” Matthew 16:21
And, do you know what Peter did about that? Peter “took (Jesus) aside and began to REBUKE him. ‘Never, Lord!’ he said. ‘This shall never happen to you!’ And then Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.’” (Matthew 16:22-23)
WHOA! In a New York Minute, Peter went from “blessed are you Simon” to “Get thee behind me Satan!” What happened? Well, what happened was - Peter had his theology right, but he wasn’t prepared to put his theology into practice. Peter SAID the right thing – that Jesus was the Son of God – but he wasn’t willing to let Jesus BE the Son of God. He wasn’t willing to let Jesus be Jesus, and as a result, he could have ended up standing in Jesus’ way.
The good confession – “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God” – means nothing if we’re not willing to act as if we believe it. That confession is the foundation of our faith
Romans 10:9 talks about that “confession” … and it says: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is LORD and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Notice what this verse is saying that our CONFESSION is that Jesus is LORD. In the days of Jesus, if you called someone your Lord, you were speaking as a slave to his master. The Master (LORD) owned you. He owned your house, your family, your clothing - everything you had belonged to Him.
ILLUS: When people want to become Christians – I pull out my wallet and I explain that becoming a Christian means giving Jesus everything you possess: Your money; Your house; Your family; Your car; The shirt on your back. And everything you give to Him, He expects you to use for His kingdom.
ILLUS: I was once approached by a young man who wanted to get baptized, so I asked if he believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. He did. Then I asked if he believed he had sinned and wanted to be forgiven. He did. Then I pulled out my wallet and explained the idea of making Jesus his Lord and Master. And he paused… he didn’t want to do that. He liked having control of his life and giving it up to Jesus (or anyone) was not an option. He decided he didn’t want to get baptized after all.
CLOSE: The point here is that Jesus is the King. The Kingdom belongs to Him… but Jesus is the KING. Without Jesus there is no Kingdom - no church.
I once read of a preacher in Florida that created something of a stir in his community. He advertised that he was going to hold a special meeting at his church building, and he was going to invite the community to come and air their objections about Christianity. It was going to be an “Open Mic” meeting and he promised that everyone’s objection would be heard - and he would not criticize anyone who spoke up.
They say that there were over 1,200 were present that day.
The first person up to the mic said, “Church members are no better than anyone else.” Another said “The preachers I’ve met aren’t trustworthy”. “There are hypocrites in the church”; “The church is a rich man’s club”; “Christians don’t believe the Bible anymore.”
The preacher wrote down all the objections – there were 27 in all. And when everyone had had their say the preacher read the whole list - then tossed it aside. “Friends, you have objected to, Preachers and “Christians” you’ve met. Churches that haven’t behaved as they should have and hypocritical church members, and on, and on, and on. But you have not said a single word against my Master!”
And in a few simple words, he preached Christ to them as the faultless One, and invited them to come to Jesus - to believe, repent, and be baptized into Christ. And forty-nine people responded.
All that preacher did was point to His King, and the Kingdom grew.
INVITATION
Footnote: Despite what some may teach to create a distinction between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven (and thus make contrast between Jesus being the King of one or the other), these two phrases that are used interchangeably. For example:
Matt. 3:2 "Repent, for the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is at hand."
Mark 1:15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the KINGDOM OF GOD is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”
Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the KINGDOM OF GOD.
Matthew 18:4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN.
Matthew 19:23-24 And Jesus said to His disciples, “Truly I say to you, it is hard for a rich man to enter the KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Luke 18:24-25 And Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for those who are wealthy to enter the KINGDOM OF GOD! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
Matthew 13:31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The KINGDOM OF HEAVEN is like a mustard seed ...”
Mark 4:30-31 And He said, “How shall we picture the KINGDOM OF GOD . . . It is like a mustard seed ...”
Mark 9:1 And he said to them, "Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the KINGDOM OF GOD after it has come with power."
Matthew 16:28 Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in HIS KINGDOM."
(other similar comparisons can be found at https://www.neverthirsty.org/bible-qa/qa-archives/question/are-the-kingdom-of-god-and-kingdom-of-heaven-the-same/)
