The Kingdom that Everyone Wants

Well, it's so wonderful to be together today, keeping the Feast of Tabernacles in varied places around the world. We are here celebrating the coming of a new world order called the Kingdom of God. I invite you to turn to Mark 1, where Jesus Christ gives the keynote address to his ministry.

This is at the beginning of the book of Mark, and it's the start of Christ's ministry, and he basically lays out in just a few sentences what his ministry was about, what the focus of his ministry was. Jesus Christ began his ministry with this address, Mark 1 and verse 14. Mark 1 and verse 14. Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and saying, quote, "...the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe the gospel." There's just a lot in those few words there. The time is fulfilled. It's the time to start talking about it big time. The kingdom of God is right available for you. Repent. This is your responsibility. And believe. Have faith in this particular good news, the gospel. The word kingdom appears 162 times in the New Testament.

So it's not something that is just a comment here, comment there. It's all over the place in the book, the New Testament, as well as in the Old Testament. Now, when the people heard Christ say this, what did they think? What could they think? What did the kingdom mean to people? Was this something new? Well, of course it wasn't.

The Old Testament is the only source of knowledge. There was no New Testament. There was nothing that could quote Jesus. Jesus Christ was using the Old Testament to explain the kingdom. And scripture was very, very well known in the time of Jesus. There was a renaissance of the passages in the Bible, the scriptures.

They were known. They were quoted, as you know, Jesus Christ quoted scriptures from the Old Testament continually. And people seemed to be aware and know what was being said. People knew passages such as Daniel chapter 2 and verse 31. You may want to turn to Daniel chapter 2 in verse 31, where we have a reference to the kingdom. Now, there are many references.

I couldn't possibly cover all of them, but you will get the flavor and what we're talking about when we talk about the kingdom of God. Daniel chapter 2 and verse 31. This is a story here, let me just quickly summarize, where King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had a dream. He didn't know what it was, and he didn't know what it meant. So he tried to have different astrologers and soothsayers and magicians explain it to him, but they couldn't.

But Daniel was able to explain the dream to Nebuchadnezzar. And so he's talking here to Nebuchadnezzar. Verse 31, You, O king, were watching, and behold a great image, saw this big statue. This great image, whose splendor was excellent, stood before you, and its form was awesome.

The image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on the feet of the iron and clay and broke them in pieces.

This is quite spectacular, this big statue, and a stone comes out, smashes its feet. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze and silver, and the gold were crushed together and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors. And the wind carried them away, that no trace of them was found.

And the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the entire earth, the whole earth. Further down in verse 44, and in the days of these kings, the days of the kings of, as the prophecies explained, the latter part, the ones that were represented by the two legs of iron, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed.

The genre of these kingdoms are, we have these kingdoms of the world, it already identified Nebuchadnezzar as the head of gold, and so there was a progression of kingdoms that led to the last ones, and then this last one is destroyed, smashed by the stone.

And the kingdom shall not be left to other people. It will break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. And as much as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will come to pass after this. You know, people in the time of Christ knew these scriptures. I mean, they were out there, they were open. It wasn't something hidden away.

And they knew kind of what was going to be going on, what was going to happen. They knew from history what Nebuchadnezzar represented, and they knew about the other kingdoms of Persia and Greece. And now these iron legs, you know, you have the Roman Empire, and you have the end of its coming. So naturally, the imagination of people spring up, well, well, we are waiting for the Messiah. We're waiting for the one to come to represent it by the stone to make a change, to rid us of the oppression that we're under by this Roman kingdom. Turn with me to Isaiah chapter 9 and verse 6.

These passages are replete about the kind of kingdom that's coming, because when Christ spoke about the kingdom of God, people immediately turned to the fact that, well, maybe He's the one. And you know, at that time, there were people already jumping the gun, so to speak, false messiahs that were inciting rebellions against the Roman government. They were all squelched, all squashed, and dealt with with a very heavy hand. There were numerous crucifixions of people that had started such rebellions. But here in chapter 9 of Isaiah chapter 6, we read again, and this was written a couple centuries before Daniel, about this kingdom and some of the makings of it. For unto us, in verse 6 of chapter 9 of Isaiah, for unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon his shoulder. Government. Administration. Rule. Not philosophy, not church, not a place off some place in heaven. The government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called, this one who is the child. And very obviously, this is a Christological verse predicting the coming of Christ. He'll be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. Just like back in Daniel, this stone that came out of space, so to speak, is the one that filled the whole earth and became a kingdom that would last forever. There will be no end. So this was government and rule. The people also were very aware of passages like Haggai chapter 2 and verse 6, which I will just quickly read. Once more, it is a while, I will shake the heavens and the earth, and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations. This is what they really do. They're waiting for the desire of all nations to come. The world was aching to have emancipation, to have a messiah, to lead them out of the oppression of the Romans. You can read the Old Testament about the kingdom of God, what it would be like, because it was a change. It was a big change, not only politically. That was only the beginning. Not only removing the governments of this earth, replacing them, but also a change of heart.

It was a change of an agreement between God and mankind. It was a change of environment. All these things that the world is screaming to have changed. We just hear about global warming. We hear about all kinds of environmental pressures that are put on us. The world is just rocking and shaking, and we have predictions of a new earth, new world. Desert blossoming has arose. We have a prediction of a world with plenty. We have a prediction of a world with people with new hearts, and not the meanness that we see. Right now, what we see in our country, we see a spirit that is just very, very troubling. Even from one year ago, the way our people are positioned against one another, the hatred, the animosity, is very striking. But there will be a new heart, a change.

Righteousness, and pardon me, in passages like Isaiah 11, Isaiah 25. Isaiah 25 verse 7, He will destroy in this mountain the surface of the covering, cast over all people, and the veil that is spread over all nations. Over all nations, not just the Jews. Many, many prophecies about a kingdom coming that would be quite different.

He will swallow up, Isaiah 25 verse 8, death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces. The rebuke of His people He will take away from all the earths, for the Lord has spoken. There's nothing more heart-rending to me than to see people crying on television, refugees, children, the suffering that just goes on and on and on. And we say, how much longer, O Lord? Well, that time will change. He'll wipe away tears from all eyes. And it'll be said in that day, Behold, this is our God. We have waited for Him. He will save us. God will intervene. He will save this environment, this world. This is the Lord. We have waited for Him. We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation. And that's what we're doing here at the Feast of Tabernacles, is we're rejoicing at the salvation of this earth, of this civilization, about the Kingdom of God coming to this earth. Just another one, which I think needs to be covered in Daniel 7, verse 13. And again, I could spend a long time. As Paul would be talking to people from morning till night, talking about the Kingdom of God, he would go through many, many passages. I only have 40 minutes to cover a few. Daniel 7, verse 13. I was watching in the night visions, and behold, one like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven, he came to the ancients of days, and they brought him near before him. And then this is Christ appearing before the ancients of days, who is God the Father. Then to him was given dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is never-lasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. And on top of that in verse 18, "...but the saints of the Most High, the kingdom is given to Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lords of Lords, but also his saints are with him, will receive the kingdom," that's all of us, "...and possess the kingdom forever and ever." How can we make it more plain? If you want to connect that to the New Testament, in Revelation 11, verse 15, we read about the seventh angel, Revelation 11, verse 15, "...then the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." Do we realize what type of coup this is? This is a total change of world order. This is the kingdom of God coming to this earth.

Maybe we don't really understand the full gravity of how big it is. It includes the change of everything. It's eternal life. It's a change of environment. It's a change of regime. John specifically states what Daniel already had said. And this is the gospel that Jesus Christ came preaching. The kingdom of God is at hand. Now, the Old Testament pointed out so much of what the kingdom was. From Daniel, from Isaiah, from Habakkuk, from Zechariah. We understand what that kingdom is. Israel was waiting for it. And even in the time of the Renaissance in Judea, in the time of Christ, they were looking for that. And some were studying it and looking to a time of change coming. Jesus Christ taught, though, about what was required to be part of that kingdom. Even when he announced the kingdom of God, said, repent. The kingdom of God is at hand. There was a requirement. There was a change that needed to be applied by us. As we understand the kingdom of God, we say, what must we do? What must we change? And so his ministry began with blessed are the poor in spirit. He spoke about humility. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God, as Matthew speaks of it in the fifth chapter of Matthew, which is the beatitudes of the basic attitudes that are required to enter into the kingdom of God. The Old Testament speaks of what the kingdom was. The New Testament speaks of some of the qualities that are needed for entry into the kingdom of God, Old and New Testament. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. And this is a part of accepting this kingdom of God. Blessed are the meek. It talks about character changes that we need to make in ourselves. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ spoke in parables. His whole ministry was devoted to the kingdom of God. Any time that he could use an illustration of whether it was children or whether it was teaching to his disciples, he spoke about and illustrated the kingdom of God. Let's turn to Matthew 13 and verse 10.

This is the listing of seven parables.

We know some of them quite well about the sower and the seed, the sower and the tares, but he explains various aspects of the kingdom of God of things that we need to consider for that.

Jesus' disciples asked him in verse 10, Why do you speak in parables?

And Christ answered in verse 11, as he was training his disciples who would take the message, the kingdom of God, to the world, he answered and said to them, Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. You are given the ins and outs. You are given to understand some of the nature of what that kingdom is, what it means to acquire that kingdom. But for them, up to this point, it has not been given. And so he has a number of parables which we could discuss at length. Some of them, such as the parable of the mustard seed, said, The kingdom of God is as a mustard seed, in verse 31, which a man took and sowed in his field, which is indeed the least of all seeds, but when it is grown, it is greater so that birds of heaven come and roost in it. What he's trying to point out here by this parable of the mustard seed, that the kingdom of God begins very small. It is a seed that is almost microscopic, but it grows to become something very, very large. We may not even be aware of how the kingdom of God is small in our midst. When I think about our life, and I think about our church, when I think about just our the number of people that we have, and I find comfort in passages like this when I see that God begins very, very small. He's not giving up on us, but it is something which grows and grows and grows and becomes very large. Jesus Christ, when he came to the earth, was certainly very small. He didn't make a dent really with the politics of his time, although he was quite a wonderful preacher. He was able to attract large crowds because of the things that he said, but he certainly was not huge, and he ultimately was put to death. But the kingdom of God is something which will grow and grow and grow until it fills everything. The kingdom of God is described in verse 33 as leaven, leavened loaf. This leaven is something which begins very small. This is a good example of leaven, not evil leaven that we speak of during the days of leavened bread, is something which is representing sin, but something which causes growth. And when leaven is added to dough, it fills it all. And eventually the message there was is that the kingdom of God will fill all. No matter how tired we are of this world, no matter how exasperated or frustrated we are with this world, it will come to an end. The day of its end is coming, and it's not going to be creeping up somewhere else. There come a time when the kingdom of God will be like the leaven that will fill all in all. There will come a time when the world will be one with the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is likened to a treasure in the field that a person walks and finds a field that has a treasure in it and says, I'm going to buy that field and get the treasure. And so he sells everything he has to get by that field and be able to take that treasure. So it's a person who stumbles upon the kingdom. So many of us have stumbled upon a kingdom who had to make sacrifices, but what we gained was far better than what we had lost. Or it was pearls, a merchant seeking goodly pearls, a person who is looking for valuable things in life. And there are many of you that were searching in life for something more. You were dissatisfied with what you had in this life, what you had in your church, what you had with your work, what you had with your relationships. There's got to be something more. There's something more meaningful. And you came upon the truth and you begin to understand values. And he said, this is the truth. I will buy this. I will make a commitment to this way of life. Other examples are when Jesus Christ saw the... let's turn to this one, Mark chapter 10. Mark chapter 10, 13. They brought little children to him that he might touch them. Parents brought children to this person who spoke so wonderfully of God's ways. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. But when Jesus saw it, he was greatly displeased and said to them, Let the little children come to me and do not forbid them, for of such is the kingdom of God.

Children are teachable. Children mimic their parents. Children are humble. They're dependent and they're forgiving. Children... he used this example to illustrate the kingdom of God. So the entire ministry of Jesus Christ was set on teaching the kingdom of God. You go through it and see all the different things that he said from the very beginning to the very end of his ministry. It's the message that he lived for. But it's also the message for which he died.

Why was Christ killed? Was he killed because he was a prophet, a teacher, or a religious leader? Was he killed because he fed the masses, he healed the sick, he comforted, discouraged? Not at all. He was lauded for that. But why was he killed?

In John chapter 18 and verse 33, we have a summit meeting between the kingdom of God and the representative of the legs of iron or the beast, the Roman Empire. We have an amazing confrontation, conflagration here of the kingdom of God and the beast power, the statue, the final aspects of the statue. It's a confrontation between the government of man and the government of God. Jesus Christ was brought by the Jews who wanted to kill him, but they couldn't. They didn't have the authority to do that. They hated him. They were jealous of him. They didn't like him. They didn't like his theology. They didn't like the fact that he called himself the I Am. But they brought him to Pilate so that they could have the government kill him. And so they brought Jesus Christ in in John chapter 18 and verse 33. This is the confrontation here in chapters 18 and 19 of the book of John, John chapter 18 and verse 33. Pilate entered the Praetorium again and said to Jesus, who was brought there by the Jews, and he asked with a dripping sarcasm, are you the king of the Jews? Certainly not saying it very seriously, but are you the king of the Jews? Verse 36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. My kingdom is not of this society. The word in Greek is cosmos. My kingdom is not of this society. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight. Jesus didn't step back by saying, oh, I'm just a weak preacher.

I would fight. We would fight. But the kingdom is not from this time. So that I would not be delivered to the Jews. But now my kingdom is not from here. My kingdom is his future. Pilate therefore said to him, because he wanted to know the answer to only one question. We have the Roman government, and we have somebody here who represents another government. Are you a king then? He had to find some reason to prosecute Jesus. And here's Jesus' answer, a powerful answer. Jesus answered, verse 37, You say rightly that I am a king. He wasn't backing away at all. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world. Jesus Christ didn't come as some kind of a king, kind of a name only, or a king in our hearts. He came as a king. That's what he was born for, and that's why he came into the world. That I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who was of the truth hears my voice. Do you hear Jesus Christ's voice? I know that I had come to a point when I was very young, at age 14, when I only understood that the kingdom of God, or heaven, was heaven itself. And I just pretty much assumed that until I heard these passages, the ones that I had read to you already. They convinced me that it's not some place in heaven. It's an actual change of regime. The kingdom of God is coming to this earth. It is something far greater, and was actually very encouraging to me because going to heaven was very, very troubling to me. It was kind of like a spiritual Disneyland. You know, it was just all kinds of things, but I'm not sure what it is. What will I be doing? My soul is going there. Will I have a body? Will I know people? Will they know me? It was actually quite dystopian. It wasn't utopian at all. I remember I was very troubled. Until I learned about the kingdom of God. I learned about the kingdom of God coming from heaven to this earth, replacing the regimes of this world and lasting forever, including the whole gospel message of salvation, of Jesus Christ as King of Kings and Lords of Lords, which we've already read. What a wonderful story. It's a beautiful story.

Then Jesus Christ, going back here to John chapter 19.

After Jesus announced that he was king to Pilate, Pilate brought him out to the people and said, in verse 14, Behold your king. And they cried out and said to him, Crucify him. Pilate was still trying to defend Christ. He's still trying to downplay this, but the people said no. He said, Shall I crucify your king? And the chief priest answered, We have no king but Caesar. Then he delivered them to be crucified. Pilate capitulated. Then they took Jesus and led him away. Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. The writing was, and here's why Jesus Christ was condemned. This is the condemnation of Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews.

He was crucified not because of his pastoral, ministerial, messianic work. It was because he was king of the Jews, a political offense. Christ died because he was a king. So therefore, this is what ended Christ's earthly ministry as Christ was crucified. But, but, but, but, in Acts chapter 1, we see that after Jesus Christ's resurrection, of whom he was presented, Acts chapter 1 and verse 3, to whom he also presented himself alive after his suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them for 40 days. This is Christ appearing to his disciples and speaking of things pertaining to what? The kingdom of God, his ministry, his message about the kingdom of God did not end. It continued after his death and his resurrection.

And you know what the disciples, what their reaction to this was? Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, saying, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? This was their big question. They wanted to know if the nation was going to be freed and emancipated from the Romans. Is this the time? That's what they understood about kingdom. That it's going to be a change of regime of government. There'd no longer be the Romans, but Jesus Christ would be the Messiah, the King. Christ didn't rebuke them for getting it wrong. He didn't say, no, no, I'm not talking about that kind of kingdom. I'm talking about heaven. I'm talking about self-actualization. I'm talking about being a good person. No, he said, it is not for you, verse 7, to know the times or seasons which the Father has put in his own authority. You don't know when. It's not coming now, but it is coming, and exactly what they had. We take a look at the New Testament church and its work throughout the area of Judea and all throughout Europe. The same message in Acts 8 and verse 12 about the preaching in Samaria of the kingdom of God. When they believed Acts 8 and verse 12, the preaching of Philip. But when they believed Philip, as he preached the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. The kingdom of God was such a compelling teaching that people were willing to make a commitment to this way of life and become Christian. The Apostle Paul in the book of Acts in chapter 19, verse 8, when he preached in Ephesus, what was the main thrust of his teaching? What was the main thrust of Paul's teaching? And he went into the synagogue and spooled boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning what? The kingdom of God. That was the main message. This is in Acts 19, verse 8. And then in Acts chapter 20 and verse 25, where he spent the winter, indeed I know that among you, this is when he gives his farewell speech to the elders in Ephesus, among whom I have also gone preaching, and he refers to what he had been preaching for three years in Ephesus, the kingdom of God, that you will see my face no more. And then in the very last chapter of the book of Acts, in the very last chapter of the book of Acts, we see the apostle Paul, the last record of him that we have biblically, of he was under house arrest. What was he doing? He brought people in. Acts chapter 28, verse 23, they had appointed him a day. Many came to his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified what? The kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the law of Moses and the prophets from morning till evening.

Continued preaching the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. That is the mission that we have, brethren, of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God and Jesus Christ. That is the mission of the United Church of God. Our job, our responsibility, is to go into all the world and preach this message about the kingdom of God. It'll be a kingdom that will not work in conjunction with the kingdoms of this world.

People ask me, what position politically do I take? I used to write back on Facebook, which was allowing you to do it. What is your political leaning? My political leaning was, thy kingdom come. That's what I wrote in. People ask me, what candidates do we support? I say, my candidate's not on the ballot this year. My candidate is not running. I could write him in. I'm not going to go very far. But Jesus Christ is not running. He's not debating. It's a different world altogether. Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God are going to replace all the kingdoms of the world, as it's pointed out. And if you have ears to hear and eyes to see, when you read the Old Testament, which was the only tool, only scriptural tool that the New Testament apostles had for teaching. They didn't have the New Testament. The New Testament wasn't around for many, many decades after Christ was here on the earth. Not part of the canon. Books of Paul, the book of Revelation, which was written in the 90s A.D., the only teaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God was from the Old Testament. Paul would talk to people from the law of Moses all the way to all the chapters of the Bible for the book of Psalms, Isaiah, and it was a lot of rich teaching that explained fully what that kingdom was, what it was to become. And then when Jesus Christ came, he said, prepare yourself and do these things. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, repent. To have that soft heart, to accept it, to become a person who's meek and will inherit the earth, a person poor in spirit. So that kind of a person, power, can be given. We will no longer have the kind of power abuse that we have had in the world. No, government and the kingdom of God aren't going to mix, and we'll never mix. It's government that killed Christ.

It's the government that killed Paul. Nero killed many Christians. Constantinople was the government that was against the church. Inquisition in Rome. Never look to the government to be a friend of the church. We respect the government. We respect Caesar. We give Caesar his coins on which his image is found, but we are not part of this world. Our kingdom is hence from the future coming from God. Jesus Christ told his disciples how to pray.

He told them in Matthew 6 and verse 9, the first thing that we pray, even though it is something the model of prayer, after this manner, do you pray? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. We always begin with honoring God's name, thanking him and praising him. But then what's the first thing that we do? What's the first thing on our mind, what should be on our mind as it is here at the Feast of Tabernacles? What is the first thing we pray for? Your kingdom come. Before anything else, before we ask for God's will to be done, before we ask God to provide our food or forgiveness, your kingdom come. We've got to be filled with that kingdom as Christ was filled with that kingdom, as Christ preached that kingdom, as the apostles preached that kingdom in the world, and as we should be preaching that kingdom that's coming to this earth. Your kingdom come. Let's rejoice at the Feast of Tabernacles with this knowledge. Really make it a part of the way we think and do and think and the way we care for our lives and the way we look upon others. Let's learn to fear God at the Feast of Tabernacles and not fear what's around us. There's a lot of things that are fearful, but when you fear God and understand his kingdom, there's nothing to fear, nothing to fear. I feel very, very hopeful, optimistic about the coming kingdom of God.

Finally, in Matthew 6, verse 33, my final passage, this is Matthew 6, verse 33, in the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Christ said, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That's a purpose of life. Matthew 6, verse 33, and all these things will be added to you. What are you fearful of? What are you fearful of as far as the next coming year? We're going to have a new administration for this country, for the United States in about a month, when we have the election. I'm not even sure how the election will go or how things will be. But you know something? I don't fear it. I don't fear what will happen as a result. And if you watch a lot of news, you can become very, very fearful. But I just think about the kingdom of God. I look upon the time of emancipation for the whole world, politically, environmentally, physically, personally. I look upon this as being the fulfillment of all the wonderful things that God has promised for us. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

I think it's apropos that verse 34 really fits where we live right now, fits our life. Verse 34, therefore do not worry about tomorrow. Do not worry about tomorrow.

We worry about a lot of things about ourselves, our children. They say, do not worry about tomorrow. Don't worry about the election. Don't worry about COVID, the economy or health, whatever. For tomorrow we'll worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Let's pray, thy kingdom come.