INTRO: When I say the word Heaven what comes to your mind?
"There are a lot of questions the Bible doesn’t answer about the Hereafter. But I think one reason is illustrated by the story of a boy sitting down to a bowl of spinach when there’s a chocolate cake at the end of the table. He’s going to have a rough time eating the spinach when his eyes are on the cake. And if the Lord had explained everything to us about what’s ours to come, I think we’d have a rough time with our spinach down here." (Vance Havner)
: Think of
stepping on shore, and finding it Heaven!
of taking hold of a hand, and finding it God’s hand, of breathing a new air, and finding it celestial air, of feeling invigorated, and finding it immorality,
of passing from storm to tempest to an unknown calm, of waking up, and finding it home.
Today we are going to take a look at the kingdom of heaven. TITLE: The Kingdom of Heaven
TEXT: Matthew 13:31-33
I. What is the kingdom of heaven? It is the sovereign activity of God as King, saving men and overcoming evil, and establishing the new order to come.
A. Jesus describes what the kingdom of God is like.
1. He compares it to a mustard seed. The mustard plant of Palestine was very different from the mustard plant which we know in this country. In the East when you speak of a mustard seed it represents smallness to the Jewish mind. In Palestine this little grain of mustard seed grows into something like a tree.
2. The Lord is pointing out the kingdom of heaven starts from the smallest beginnings, but no man knows where it will end.
B. Think of it—the kingdom starts small but ends big.
1. Think in my own life, go back some 20 years, saying a prayer at an altar, inviting God into my life, a small event had a major impact on my life, my wife’s life, my children’s lives.
-I think a lot of times in Christianity we get discouraged because it’s not big and dramatic (the earthquake experience).
2. Jesus started small, used 12 men to change a world.
Example. One of the great stories of the Christian church is the story of Telemachus. He was a hermit of the desert but something told him—the call of God—that he must go to Rome. He went. Rome was nominally Christian, but even in Christian Rome the gladiatorial games went on, in which men fought with each other, and crowds roared with the lust for blood. Telemachus found his way to the games. Eighty thousand people were there to spectate. He was horrified. Were these men slaughtering each other not also children of God? He leaped from his seat, right into the arena, and stood between the gladiators. He was tossed aside. He came back. The crowd were angry; they began to stone him. Still he struggled back between the gladiators. The prefect’s command rang out; a sword flashed in the sunlight, and Telemachus was dead. Suddenly there was a hush; suddenly the crowd realized what had happened; a holy man lay dead. Something happened that day to Rome, for there were never again any gladiatorial games. By his death one man had let loose something that cleansed an empire.
Thought: Who knows, maybe today God wants to change an empire and he’s going to use you. Lord willing, it may not be in the way Telemachus was used. Maybe it’s going to start by coming to know the Lord and your child will be raised in godly home and will one day be the next president of the United States, the next Billy Graham, or James Dobson.
-The kingdom starts small but no man knows where it will end. Jesus in this parable instructs that this seed will become like a tree giving shelter.
C. The kingdom of heaven is like yeast.
1. Yeast doesn’t grow, it permeates, it transforms. Yeast changes the makeup of the product it’s put into.
-When you put yeast into a lump of dough, what happens? It begins to rise; when the kingdom (ways of God) is accepted, it changes people’s lives.
2. Listen to Acts 17:6, when Christianity came to Thessalonica the cry was, "These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also."
-Amazingly Christianity started out so small, now a few years later it’s interesting listening to this view "they have turned the world upside down."
Summary: The kingdom of God starts small but grows immensely touching a lot of people and it changes us.
II. What is the kingdom of God doing? Matthew 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."
A. The kingdom is advancing—nothing is going to stand in its way, God’s ways will prevail. The only question is, will we?
1. Forceful men lay hold of it. It’s the idea that the kingdom of heaven is not for the well-meaning but for the desperate, no one drifts into the kingdom, that the kingdom only opens its doors to those who are prepared to make as great an effort to get into it as men do when they storm a city, according to William Barclay.
-Luke 16:16, "The Law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it."
2. Please understand this is not talking about rude arrogant people who are pushy and mean, who do things underhandedly to get their way.
-Rather it’s people who are committed, zealous and desperate for the ways of God.
Today: Are you desperately seeking the kingdom of heaven or are you just going through the motions?
-The blessing of God falls upon one and not the other.
B. Well, what are we supposed to be doing as the kingdom of heaven is advancing?
1. Matthew 6:33, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."
-The Lord himself instructs us to first seek his kingdom, his ways of doing things, rather than the world’s ways or our own ways.
2. The context of this passage, the Lord is instructing us not to worry about housing, clothing, food, about tomorrow.
-Our lives can easily get caught up in things, worries, fears. That is what the world’s way is all about.
Point: Rather than doing this, the Lord says, first seek the kingdom of heaven.
-Many people cannot figure out why their lives are such a mess. One reason is they are not seeking the kingdom of heaven first.
3. Seeking means to strive after, to desire above all, to submit to, to participate in. -Jesus gives us a couple more parables of what the kingdom of heaven is like.
a. Matthew 13:44-46, "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."
-The point is the joy of his discovery made the man willing to give up everything to make the treasure his. Lesson—it is worth any price to enter the kingdom.
b. 2nd part, vv.45-46, "Again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."
-The point here is everything had to be sold (like the other parable) and sacrificed to gain the kingdom of heaven.
c. The Lord over and over again is showing us what the kingdom of heaven is like and those who will attain it.
-Imagine what could happen in people’s lives if they first sought the kingdom of God. -Imagine what would happen in marriages, workplaces, people’s lives. Oh yes, it’ll start small as we’ve learned but grow into something magnificent and it’ll impact others.
C. 2nd thing
ni that we are supposed to do as the kingdom is advancing, is to pray for it.
1. Matthew 6:9-10a, "This, then, is how you should pray: ’Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come.’"
a. For many today, their prayer life consists of nothing more than a rote prayer at dinner or bedtime or asking God to touch our needs or our family and friends needs.
-How many of us truly pray for God’s kingdom to come.
b. If we’re not careful our prayer lives can become so shallow and me-centered while God wants us to pray for the kingdom of God to come because when it does the things we worry about will disappear.
D. 3"1 thing we’re supposed to do is advance the kingdom of God.
1. Do you realize this is why Christ came. Luke 4:43, "I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent."
2. The Lord and his disciples went around preaching and teaching the kingdom of God. -So should we. Next week I’ll speak about this more.
In Conclusion
Today, what kingdom are you advancing? Human nature will try and advance its own but God wants us to advance his, because that is where we will find all the answers to this life and the next life.
