One Characteristic of Those in the Kingdom of God

Brethren, what was the message that Jesus Christ proclaimed? And what is our role to fulfill or to proclaim the same message? Turn with me, please, to start, to Mark 1. Mark 1. And verse 1. And there it says, Mark 1, verse 1. Not there yet. Mark 1, verse 1. It says, The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

So it's the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ. So it means the gospel of Jesus Christ. There's nothing wrong in saying the gospel of Jesus Christ. But then look at it in verse 14, and it says, After John the Baptist was put in prison. So he has a new face. John the Baptist took the work, he was put in prison. That part of his work was accomplished, and then a new face to God initiated or started. And it says, Jesus Christ came to Galilee preaching the gospel. This is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is what he proclaimed. What gospel?

The gospel of the kingdom of God. The good news of the kingdom of God. Preaching. The word preaching in Greek. It's a word of being a herald, being somebody to officially...a message. Sometimes you watch on TV and it says, the spokesman of the White House is officially comes before the press and gives a statement of the president or of the White House or something like that. So it's an official proclamation always with a suggestion of formality, of gravity and authority.

So that word proclamation is that. It's that intent. It's to proclaim, to preach, but something that is very critical. For instance, that would identify or announce certain public activities or certain changes in administration or directions or to declare war or peace. It's that sort of proclamation. So in this case, Jesus Christ had a message from God the Father.

He was the spokesman, as we know the word the spokesman, and he came to earth to give us a very important message. A message to be acted upon. A message of the Kingdom of God. And then he goes on, the time is fulfilled. That's it. Now the time is ready. In other words, things are going to happen. The temple service is going to end. The people of the land, the Israelites, are going to be scattered and be removed from the land.

And really, this time is not fulfilled. For a whole new thing, paradigm of the Kingdom of God going to Gentiles, going to the wall, and all new understanding. It's not just the Jews. This whole time is fulfilled. The dead hope.

Turn to God. Turn to God. And believe. Trust God. Trust in this message. So, brethren, the question I have today is, do you and I understand what is the Kingdom of God? What is the Kingdom of God? And I want to thank Sir Roy Fudge for the sermon, because he brought in a nice introduction into the message I'm giving today. I appreciate that. And if we understand what is the Kingdom of God, do you and I understand how it should be manifested in our hearts?

And, if so, let's say look at one area, one characteristic, which is, let's say, a building block to the final manifestation. But one practical characteristic that you and I can look at and work on easily to build onto the ultimate manifestation. That you and I have to have in our lives of the Kingdom of God. So, let's look at the first part, therefore, is do you and I understand what the Kingdom of God is?

And we've had the Kingdom of God seminar lectures. We went through that. So, let's just glimpse through a few of those scriptures of what it is not and what it is. And in the Kingdom of God lectures, we went through and let's look at it again in Luke 11 verse 2. Look 11 verse 2.

And now we have what is so-called the Lord's Prayer. In the Lord's Prayer, Luke 11 verse 2. And it says, so when you pray, say, our Father in heaven, hallowed be thy name, or be your name, your kingdom come, you will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Let God's kingdom come to earth so that God's role is done on earth as it is in heaven. God's kingdom, yes, it's in heaven, but it needs to come to earth. It needs to be established also on earth. And it says, let it come to earth. That is the gospel of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is not as going to heaven, but it is the expansion of God's kingdom to be ruling also on earth and our heart in it.

So, it's not going to heaven. A lot of people think, oh well, you know, the Kingdom of God is going to heaven. Obviously, you and I will know that. And there are a number of supporting scriptures, like, for instance, where Christ said, no man has said it to heaven. But he that has to say it from heaven. If you want to make an out or where that scripture is, I don't have to turn there, but this is John 3, 12 to 14 for you to study in your own time.

But it basically means when Christ was on earth, he said, no man has said it to heaven. Now, let me ask you a question. When Christ was on earth, of all people, Abraham, that has made it, quote to quote, he should be in heaven, the heaven was a reward.

And he says, no man has got to heaven. That's what Christ said when he was on earth, which means Abraham has not gotten Christ to heaven. Then he says, what about Moses? Moses, the leader of that, Moses surely is in heaven. But Christ said, he's not in heaven. No man has said it to heaven. I mean, you can read in Acts 2, when Peter is giving that to Sculls on the day of Pentecost, run about verse 29 through 34, he says, Moses stole, the sculptor, his tomb, is still with us. His tomb is still with us. So he's not gone to heaven? He's still there?

And then what some people say is, oh well, it's because it says it's the kingdom of heaven, therefore it's the kingdom in heaven. No, just because it's the kingdom of heaven, it's not. You can read very clearly in a number of places that, for instance, Christ prophesied in the beauty of the attitudes. Think about it. Christ in the Beatitudes said, the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven, in Matthew. But in the other Beatitudes, where it's described, says, the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of God. It's the same thing. So it's the kingdom of heaven. It's not that the kingdom is in heaven, but it's of heaven. It comes from heaven to earth. So that's what we say. People say, oh well, it's in people's hearts. Oh, it's in our hearts. And that is the missing interpretation. Well, let's look at that one, for instance, in Luke 17, because it's one that we may encounter from people that we talk to. And so it's maybe one that we need to have clearly in our minds. Luke 17, verse 20 and 21. Luke 17, 20 and 21. And it says, and now when he was asked by the Pharisees, now who was he talking to? He was talking to the Pharisees. Now, what sort of relationship did Christ have with the Pharisees? Did he think that the Pharisees were really the pinnacle of example of Christianity? I don't think so. And I think you also would agree with that. That clearly was not the case. But he says, when you're talking to the Pharisees, when he was asked by the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God would come? Now, I don't even understand that the kingdom of God would come to earth. He answered them and said, the kingdom of God does not come of observation.

Nor will they say, see, yah or see therefore, indeed the kingdom of God is, and in the Bible there, the English version says, within you. But the actual word means amongst you. Why? Because the kingdom of God came amongst them because Christ is the king of the kingdom of God. And he didn't come in his first coming, obviously in the second coming, wouldn't be of observation. He would come like every man would see when Christ comes and he would be in the second coming. But the first coming of Christ was not of observation.

Nobody was, I think, very quiet. And Christ was amongst them. Obviously, it was not inside the Pharisees' hearts, the kingdom of God, as people think. Oh, it's within you, it's inside the Pharisees' hearts. No, it's not. But it's amongst them. Why? Because Christ came not in his first coming, came not with great visibility of saying, see, see yah or see therefore, indeed the kingdom of God is already amongst you.

I am the king of the kingdom of God that is going to rule. I'm already, already yah. And they didn't see it because Christ obviously is very clever and he talks to them in ways that some people understand, some people don't understand. Because why? Because the truth was not open to everybody. So he talks to them in languages that sometimes they don't fully understand. But to the disciples, he then explained the parables clearly so they could understand. So that some would see yah, etc. but they would not understand until the right time because God's got a time to do things.

God has got a time. He is the master of timing and he's in absolute control. And everything is rolling according to his plan. I had a person that found, this week, different people found the een with different questions than one person was put to be and the person was saying, Well, I don't understand certain things. The basic question of Jesus around that one specific thing. But then in the process of that, he had many other questions but obviously we can't address all of them in one simple telephonic conversation.

So he stick to the basic issue. But one of them says, I don't understand how come God is allowing the world like this with Satan going around roaming freely and all this suffering. And yes, it's a difficult thing to understand. Why? Because we don't have the mind of God and we don't see and understand God's plan. Now, when we see and understand God's plan and his mind is so much greater than ours, we see the wisdom that he has in doing things that he's done.

Because during this time, it's basically, as you now know, using these different situations as an opportunity to purify the saints. And out of this, you will have saints that are really, truly committed and converted that he can work with. So when the kingdom of God is established, he has saints to rule and that's his plan. And therefore, it's so wise that he has those saints that he will know and he will know that he will know that he will be loyal and faithful to immortality.

Because they've been purified to their degree and therefore you'll be able to trust him with the ultimate power and authority and capabilities. And that gives us courage and hope for things in the future because we know that things are going to get tougher. But getting back to the point, the Pharisees had Christ amongst them. And so the kingdom of God is not in people's hearts as they use the scripture to interpret. And so, other people, Pharisees, let me give you another example. Other people, Pharisees think that the kingdom of God is proclaiming about Jesus Christ and his return soon. Now, if you proclaim that Christ is a Christ and that he's coming back soon, you're actually preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God.

Sounds reasonable, but is that? Look with me at Luke 21. Luke 21, verse 8. Luke 21, verse 8. Because, yes, there is part of the gospel, but it's not the whole part. Because you can teach a little bit of truth, which is true, but it's not the whole truth. And you can mix that with a little bit of lie, and people think because it's a little bit of truth, they think it's truth.

But they can inject a little lie with it. That's the way Satan does things. Good and bad. Good and evil. You know, the tree of good and evil. You know, a lot of truth or a little truth or a lot of truth, but all it needs is a little bit of arsenic in the middle. And it's still bad. So you don't need a lot of arsenic. You just need a tiny bit. It's bad. So, yeah. Look at it in Matthew, or in Luke 21, verse 8.

Christ speaking said, He said, Take heed that you've not been deceived. For many, many, and brethren, you and I see today many, will come in my name. Will come in Christ's name as Christians. He says, I'm a Christian. I'm a true Christian. I mean, many will come in and say, I'm the Church of God, or we represent the Church of God.

You can have a name. A name is nothing. It's all lip service. It's like in the sermon. We read that Scripture of the Samaritans. There was a very interesting Scripture, named Kings, that was read. And he says, These people feared God. And one or two verses of life that says, then they don't fear God. And you may ask, how's that possible? Simple. Because you can have fear of God as lip service. Lip service. It's a shawl. But in a heart, they do not really fear God. That's what it's all about. They had a lip service. They shall. They appeared to fear God. Lip service. But in a heart, there's no fear of God.

And so, anyway, I'm diverting here. So let's go back to the point here. He says, Take heed. For may be will come in my name is true Christians. As Christians. He's saying, I am He. Saying, I'm the Christ. Saying, hey, this is the Christ. I'm preaching Christ. I'm preaching about Christ. He's the Savior. He's Christ. Saying that Christ is Christ. Yes. Don't we have that today in the religions around the world today? And then it says, And the time has drawn near. They will be preaching. Time is short. It's the time of the end. Repent now. Oh, yes.

They don't understand what repenting means. Just accept it. But in Christ, give your heart to the Lord. But the time is short. Repent, you know, change now. Change to what? To just accept in Christ. Come to the altar and give your souls. The time is short. That's what they do. Therefore, do not go off. So brethren, just proclaiming about Jesus Christ and proclaiming that Jesus Christ is coming soon is not the gospel, the true gospel, that Jesus Christ preached, the gospel of the coming kingdom of God.

How do people think, well, the kingdom of God is a millennium? Well, the kingdom of God is not a millennium. In fact, the word millennium is nowhere in the Bible. But turn with me to Revelation 11. Revelation 11 verse 15. Revelation 11 verse 15. The eye is a section about the seventh trumpet, the time of the seventh trumpet, that is the lost trumpet. Verse 15, and the seventh trumpet sounded, and there were sounds in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever. The kingdoms of the world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign to the millennium.

No! That's what it says! The kingdom of God is forever and ever! It's not just a thousand years. Now, if we look, for instance, in Revelation 20 verse 6 and 7, then it talks there about a thousand years. But then look at it in Revelation 20 verse 6 and 7. It says, Yes, it's forever. They'll first reign a thousand years. Then, at the end of the thousand years, says in verse 7, When a thousand years are finished, the schedule will be released.

So they'll first reign for a thousand years. Then, X, Y, Z will happen, but the reign is forever. But what it says, for a thousand years, it'll be kind of a period. Then, this will happen, and then that will happen, and it'll be the new earth and the new earth. It's in it, but the reign is forever.

You see, so it's not that the kingdom of God is just for the millennium. It's forever. It's an eternal kingdom. They'll reign forever and ever. You can see that in Daniel as well. He thinks of that. So, now that we understand what is the kingdom of God, that it is a reign forever. That it is, indeed, look at another way, the ruling family of God governing. That's the Father with the Son, Jesus Christ, with the resurrected saints, which are His sons and daughters.

So, it's a family. There's a Father, Son, and other sons and daughters. It's a family. So, it's a ruling family, a royal family, who were ruling for a thousand years. You can read that in Daniel 7. You don't have to turn there at the moment, but Daniel 7 says the kingdom was given to the saints of the Most High.

Daniel 7, 22, and 27, it says the kingdom was given. They will always accuse you of your knowledge of these statutes and these. And then it says, well, at the time, come. And then, at the time of the end, the king will come, and the king will be given to the saints, and they will rule forever. But the question is, who are the saints? Who are the saints? In other words, who are the true followers of Christ? Yes. Those that worship God in truth and sincerity. But there is a scripture in Romans 8 verse 9 that clearly defines who the saints are.

Turn with me to Romans 8 verse 9. Romans 8 verse 9. And he says, but you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. So, if we have God's only Spirit living in us, our way of living is walking in the light, not in the darkness. We're walking in the light. We're walking in the Spirit, not in the flesh.

And he says, now, if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, I see the same verse talking about the Spirit of God as the Spirit of Christ. Same Spirit. Now, if you have God's Spirit, if God's Spirit dwells in you, you're walking in the light. You're walking in the Spirit. Then he says, but if you do not have the Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit of God, He is not His. If we don't have God's only Spirit, if we don't have the Spirit of Christ, if we don't have the mind of Christ in us, we are not His. We are not God's. We are not true Christians. Really, what makes you and I to be a true Christian is to have the Holy Spirit, those in whom the Holy Spirit dwells are now living under God's covenant, submitting to God's rules, living under God's covenant. Therefore, my next question, as I mentioned earlier on, is how is God's Holy Spirit manifested in our lives?

Now, some people say, oh well, you know how you manifest God's Spirit. And this comes going through you. Obviously, you don't believe that, but you're going to have this confronted, so you need to be able to fight it. And so I'm going through it, because people are going to turn to you and say, ha ha! You've got to speak in tongues. You've got to speak in tongues, because that's an evidence of God's Holy Spirit.

That's what people in the world are going to tell you. You've got to be speaking in tongues. Now, let me ask you a question. Where in the scripture in the Bible do you find the statement? By their tongues, you shall know them.

No way! Do you know what it says? Matthew 7 verse 20. Matthew 7 verse 20.

Matthew 7 verse 20 says, Therefore, by their fruits, you will know them.

It's not by their tongues. I speak English, I speak Portuguese, I speak a little bit of Afrikaans. You can understand when people talk of Afrikaans. Malaf also picks up a few words and knows a few things, and it becomes not a chicken's steak, but you can pick up a few words too. Now, that's not a symbol or a sign of the Holy Spirit.

tongues can be a sign for a lot of things. Speaking different languages can be a sign for different things, but it's not a sign of the Holy Spirit. It's by their fruits. And so, starting in verse 15 of the same chapter, says, See, brother, it's the fruits that count. It's the lives that you and I live. Now, some people may say, oh well, therefore, I keep the Sabbath, I tithe, I eat clean meats. I do not eat unclean meats. Therefore, that's the sign of God's Holy Spirit. Do the Pharisees keep the Sabbath? Do the Pharisees eat clean meats? Yes. Do the half gods are the least part of them? No. In fact, they were far from the genome of God, as you can see. So, what are the good fruits that Jesus Christ was talking about? And I'm not saying that we don't have to keep the Sabbath. By no means, please, don't listen to the saying. We have to keep the Sabbath, we have to part, we have to eat clean meats. But that is not the fruits that Christ is talking about. The fruits that Christ is talking about, he described in John 13.35. John 13.35.

John 13.35.

Like this, all will know that you are my disciples. You are the disciples if you have the Spirit. And how do we know? By this. How do we know that we have the Spirit? By this. You know there might be silence if you are loved for one another. Genuine, godly, outgoing, loved for one another.

Love is the key thing. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 13, verse 1.

That is the last chapter. Just reading the first verse. It says, though I speak with the tongues of men, yes, though I speak with the languages of men, yes, I may speak Italian, I may speak Spanish, I may speak Russian, I may speak whatever not.

And evangelists, they communicate amongst themselves too. They have their own languages. Humans can actually come to people and make people talk in funny languages that we might not understand. They might be languages of humans.

But have not love.

I have become sounding gross for reclaiming something. Amen. Amen. Now, tongues are a sign. Tongues are a sign. Today, this may be the chicken's big little breakfast. But look at 1 Corinthians 14, verse 22, maybe on the next page in your Bible. Verse 22 says, therefore tongues are for a sign. Not to those who believe.

It's not a sign to believers, but to unbelievers.

In other words, at the time of Christ, on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were being converted. They had come from different nations, different groups, different areas. They all heard each other in their own languages. You can read that in Acts 2. You read that. And therefore, they went back to their nations. And therefore, they had to understand one another. And at that beginning, it was the right thing that God, true God's Holy Spirit, gave that sign to actually spread the gospel very quickly in that early age. But today, we don't need it. I mean, these programs, you can go into Google Translate and translate, and it's actually pretty good. Not perfect, but it's pretty good. A computer can't do it today. And brethren, in a few years' time, I would not be surprised that how on our website, in fact, they're working on it, they're doing a big project now at the Home Office, and they're telling me that by next year, you'll probably be able to go to any page on our website and be able to convert it into any other language. The computer will do it.

So, you don't need God's Holy Spirit for that. Today, we live in a different age. But it's enough fruits. That you cannot falsify. The way we live, that is something very, very unique that cannot be counter-heated. And basically, what is the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Let's look at it. Galatians 5, let's look at that. And let's look at that very carefully. I'm not going to go through every attribute there. I just want to highlight it to you. You can look at it in your own time. Galatians 5, verses 22 and 23, it says, But the fruit, it's interesting to know, brethren, it's easy for us to confuse fruits and fruits, fruit and fruits, fruit and fruits, and singles, and it gets confused. It says, the fruit of the Spirit is singular. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is singular. Usually, given a sermon, or a song, you know, like a peach, you know, it's got different attributes, different characteristics. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, generous, omniscience, self-control. These are attributes of the Holy Spirit. So if we have the Holy Spirit, we have these attributes, all of them, to one or greater degree. And we are growing, maybe we're not quite right, and you know, like a fruit which is not quite right, maybe it's not as sweet as it should be when it's ripe. We might be still a little bit green, quote-unquote, so maybe we don't have all these attributes in our lives. But the fruit of the Holy Spirit is going to keep us all at least. So it's not just love without self-control. And it's not just self-control without patience. It's nomeness, it's patience, it's an attitude of peace, joy, it's outgoing concern, all of that. That's what God's Holy Spirit gives in us. Now, that is the fruit of God's Holy Spirit in us. Now, that is like an engine in us to actually do good works. And therefore, we bear good fruits. The fruit of the Holy Spirit is singular in us as these attributes. We then do good works. We do good fruits of outgoing concern for other people.

Look at us in Romans chapter 5 verse 5. Romans 5, 5. It says, and I hope that's not just the point because the love of God, the outgoing concern of God, has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. The love of God, God's love, which has these characteristics. Yes, it's outgoing love, but it gives joy, peace, patience, nikmis, self-control.

All those characteristics are part of God's love, are in heaven in God's love. And that is poured in our hearts. It's poured. And that's why, yes, when we get past, we receive the seed of the Holy Spirit, that seed. But then we have to ask daily. And it says, our Father God gives us our daily bread. And that daily bread, yes, it's physical, but it's also spiritual. He is the Holy Spirit. He is the bread of life.

Christ in us, through the Holy Spirit, we need to ask for that daily. And I keep reminding myself, because there are some days when I don't ask. And I feel guilty when I don't ask, but we need to ask daily for the Holy Spirit, for the Spirit of love, for the Spirit of patience, for the Spirit of wisdom when we deal with other people. We need to ask that, that God will show us up, to pour on us that daily. We need that, brethren. We do the art of the world, we do the art of our society, we do the art of the world.

We need that. But it says the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us. So it's the Holy Spirit in us that gives us that love of God, that it shed a role in our hearts. So that is very, very important. So God's Holy Spirit then produces fruits, produces fruits. And let's look a little bit more in detail about this, the Holy Spirit in us. And I want to look at Romans 14, Romans 14, verse 1 first. Romans 14, verse 1.

Romans 14, verse 1. It says, receive one who is weak in the fight. Basically, it's not saying something bad about anybody. It's just to me, it's somebody that is new in the fight. It hasn't grown a lot in the fight. And therefore it's still young, and therefore it's still weak. It's just a growth stages. You become longer and longer in the church, and you're longer.

A practicing Christian, your fight strengthens all the time. So basically, to me, it's just somebody that is new, new in the fight. A weak, therefore, is new. It's still grown, it's still maturing. Receive one who is weak in the fight, but not to disputes of doubtful things. It was done getting to arguments about things that are doubtful.

Sure, we are steadfast on the truth. Sure, there are certain things that could be interpreted different ways, and as people are growing and don't understand the whole plan of God, they kind of see it slightly different. Slightly different. Different time. Different time. Don't get into arguments with them, or even... You can see it's doubtful to them, because they haven't been in the fight for a long time. They don't fully understand the truth. Different time. Let's not get into disputes of the doubtful things. And it gives an example of one thing that could be doubtful. And it says that one believes that he may eat all things, but he was weak in some vegetables.

There are words, maybe, and this was in the context you can read, in the further context, that meat was offered to idols, and because meat was offered to idols, they didn't want to eat that meat. And therefore, to keep away from it, because they didn't know what they were buying in the supermarket, quote-unquote, in a market. They didn't know if it was offered to idols enough, and before, to avoid that, they would not only eat vegetables.

Because we're not talking about a health situation of some people. We're not talking about religious reasons. They didn't want to tramp onto eating meat that had been offered to idols. And therefore, they were only eating with vegetarian because of that, because of the fight. They just didn't want that. So, understand the context of what Paul was explaining, and how they had those issues. And instead, it's the same thing as if somebody decides one day to fast, and it seems one day to fast, and it seems another day to fast.

You know, it's... that's fine. If you want to fast, obviously there is a day that is come on to fast, which is the day of the tournament. But when there are things that you want to do it this way and that way, give them time, give them understanding, give them a little bit of space to grow. So, if they are doubtful things, don't get it obvious.

And then look... he explains that a bit further. And then look at verse 15. Verse 15. And it says, yet if your brain is cleaved because of your food, you're no longer walking in love. And because he was talking about this doubtful thing of eating or not eating and meat offered to idols, but I don't want you to look at the specific issue that he had.

I want you to look at the principle. The principle, yeah, was... there was an issue, and that time was because of the food and this and that and sacroclastin. Whatever issue it is to that, might not be food, might be another issue. Whatever issue might it is, it says here, verse 15. If your brain is cleaved because of maybe how you do certain things or whatever it is, you're no longer walking in love.

You're not treating them in an ass-way, considering that they're still waking in the fight, they're still learning. And therefore, for their sake, don't push that pattern, in other words. Don't push that pattern, just shout, shout in love. And then it goes on. Do not destroy with whatever issue that thing you're talking about, don't destroy with whatever that thing, the one for whom Christ died. In other words, don't destroy them from the fight. Don't make them leave the fight for one little doubtful thing, whatever the doctrine is.

Because Christ died for him. So don't let that room doubtfully become an issue. Show love towards them. So we can see, yeah, an important principle, and then continue. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by man.

Therefore, let us pursue things which might for peace and things for which one might identify another. Let's look for things that are public, that are encouraging.

Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of any doubtful thing, whatever it is. All things, indeed, are pure, but it is evil for the man who wins with offense. And then, let me emphasize the verse that I wanted to emphasize, sorry, is verse 17. It says, For the kingdom of God is not these doubtful things, but righteousness and peace and joy in holy spirit. The kingdom of God is not these little things that we don't know. Not talking about breaking God's laws and principles, because he's clearly saying, yeah, the kingdom of God is righteousness, and righteousness is God's law.

These laws are all just and pure. So, it's not talking about breaking God's law. But what he's saying is, these doubtful things, these little things, don't make any issue. Show love, ever fight. It says, because the kingdom of God is not these issues, but it's righteousness living in a righteous way. And what is righteousness? It's all about Him, God's laws. And what is law? It's the law of love. It's keeping God's law, isn't that love? And so, it says, righteousness, which is keeping God's law, which is after coming to love, because God is love, and God's laws are love.

And then it says, righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Now, remember when we looked in Galatians 5, about the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and it said, it's love, joy, and peace, and other attributes. And now it says, the kingdom of God is righteousness, which could say, is God's law, which is love, and peace, and joy. Can you see the similarity? Ruwan ties in with the others. Can you see that?

So, what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God is the ruling family of God, and it is manifested in us by the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us, which has various characteristics. And it's causing that fruit, causes us, leads us, makes us bear fruits of justice, of joy, and peace in our people, which is of your income, strength, and love, perhaps.

And because love is a big topic, and because love is a big topic, and yes, I would like to spend some sermon singing in Godly love, but because love is a big topic, I want to narrow love to one specific thing. That, let's call it, it's a building block towards love, something practical that we can look at ourselves and see, are we growing in this characteristic? And so let's first look at Mark chapter 12, Mark chapter 12, Mark chapter 12, verse 28 to 31 and 40.

There's a scribe that came to Jesus, and one of the scribes came, having heard them reasoning together, assuming that he had answered them well, he asked Jesus, which is the first commandment of all? And Jesus said, the first commandment of all is, you're a weasel, the word of the Lord, the Lord your God, the Lord is one, and you shall love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and all your strength. I mean, mind, heart, energy, everything, all heart. This is the first commandment. And the second is like it.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. In other words, you cannot really show true love for God unless you're treating others well and so on. You know, people say, well, I love God, but they treat others well.

No, you will take time to prove, you know, it's like slapping people in the face with words. And that's, for one, is lack of respect, but clearly lack of love. And then he says, you are continuing. And the scribe said to him, well said teacher, you have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other that he. And to love him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is more than all of them. All of them, hope and offerings and sacrifices. Now, it's interesting, this man, this scribe, understood that outcome, concern, and love to mankind and to God.

It was more than a sacrifice. That was not generally understood by a lot of the Pharisees. They had known that, because that's why Paul had a lot of problems afterwards, and the early church was the ceremonial law and the sacrifices. But that was not generally understood. But verse 34, now then Jesus saw, and answered wisely, he said to me, you're not far from the kingdom of God. So, yes, you are near the kingdom of God. Love. Love starts, in a sense, a moving block towards love, is respect.

Now, you can have respect and not love as a people. You can respect somebody and not love them as possible. But to love others, you show respect as well. So the building block that I'm referring to today is we need to have respect. And something easy to say, do we respect? Do we respect? And that's a building block towards love. And so, the point I'm asking is, do we respect? But let's look at it from the 10th of August. It's habit. Because obviously that goes towards love. But it is easier for us in our mind to just say, well, it's something that we in our mind, it's crisp.

And it says, okay, do I have that? And something practical that we can put into analyzing ourselves in a daily basis is, I'm not showing respect. And then we're getting down to respect our parents. I mean, I'm going to show the 10 commandments, or I'm going to show them. That, yeah, you know, respect is multi-day. Do we respect other people's lives?

Because if we don't, people kill, murder, and speak bad or hate. We respect. We're not going to have that. We respect our spouse and the commitment we made to our spouse. So they have to respond.

We respect them. Or our future spouse, if we're young people, we haven't married yet. But we respect our future spouse, therefore we're going to keep ourselves clean because we have that respect to our future spouse. Do we respect others' possessions? And because we respect them, we're not going to take it from them.

Obviously, that means to life. After I'm concerned with that. Do we respect them, and therefore we're not going to tell them an untruth because we're showing them due respect. Do we respect them, and therefore we're not lasting their things? You know, I just went through 10 commandments, and there it is. Respect.

Look at another example. Leviticus 19. Leviticus 19 verse 32. You shall rise before the gray-headed and honor the presence of the old man, and fear your God, I am the Lord. Basically saying, you respect all the people. You know, you shall rise before the men. So respect, respect for all the generation. Brethren, there's a complete lack of respect today in our society.

There's a complete lack of respect in our society. There's respect in authority. Turn with another example as well in Deuteronomy 17. 17 verse 8 to 30. 8 to 30. If a man arises which is too hard for you to judge, between degrees of guilt or bloodshed, between one judgment or another, or between one punishment or another, matters of controversy within your gates, there is an issue here.

It's just so difficult. I mean, you got these facts, and it's just difficult. You cannot discern and see it clearly. Then, he says, you shall arise and go to the place which the Lord your God chooses. That time was not yet Jerusalem yet, but obviously we know that we came to be. Verse 9, and shall come to the priests and Levi and to the judge in those days. You know what? You'll take it to the Supreme Court. You'll take it to higher levels of authority. You'll take it out of authority. And to the judge there in those days, any choir of them.

And they shall pronounce upon you the sentence of judgment. And you shall do according to the sentence. You'll respect that sentence. You'll respect it. And say, all right, I'll do it. Which they pronounce upon you in that place which the Lord chooses. And you shall be careful to do according to all they order you.

You'll respect that to do it carefully. According to the sentence of the law which they instruct you according to the judgment which they tell you, you shall do. You shall not turn aside to the right or to the left from the sentence which they pronounce you. Now the man who acts presumptuously, the man that acts without respect, presumptuously, and will not heed the priest.

Who is this rebellious? You'll not heed them. You're not respectful. Who stands to minister there before the Lord your God or the judge. That man shall die. That man shall die. You shall put away evil from Matthew. There is a problem today in schools breading us enough. Children, not respecters or teachers. That is being bred is getting a society. I mean, Kathy and I on Wednesday went to see the opening of the World Choir Games. Beautiful opening. And because after that they had a fireworks there for the people. By the time we left, there was quite a lot.

And because there's a lot of traffic, they led us through certain roads with clothes and happens we helped them try and get the traffic out. And because we wanted to heed the specific our way to come home, we ended up in over the right. That's about 1130th night. Now if you want to see lack of respect, just be in your car around us here.

It's not because we wanted to, it just kind of the way it turned out to be. And it really was not the place. We can see this great lack of respect in society today. Jesus Christ told the princess, even in Matthew 23, he said, They sit in Moses' seat, do what they tell you to do. There is respect there. Respect them. It's a loving block towards true, earthly love. And it is important for us because we live in a society of great disrespect.

It can easily affect you and I. And we can just respect authority. We can respect those above us, wherever they are. Wherever they are, in schools, in policemen, whatever they may be. It's easy to show this respect. And that is a building block, respect of true love. And we've got to be careful. And we don't allow that to affect us. Jesus Christ respected those, even the high priest. Turn with me just one example of Jesus Christ respecting the high priest. In John 18. John 18, he was in front of the high priest. And let's look at verse 19 through 24.

Then a high priest then asked Jesus about his disciples and his doctrine. And Jesus answered, he must open me to the wall. I've always taught in synagogues and in the temple, where the Jews always meet. And in secret, I've said nothing. Why do you ask me? I ask the high priest a question. Why do you ask me? Ask those who hurt me? What I've said to them, in these they know what I've said. Why are you asking me? Now, all that Jesus did was a respectful question. Verse 22. And when he said those things, one of the officers took part. One of the officers, one of the authorities, an officer, is an authority. He took that, that question by Jesus, as maybe an example, as a lack of respect. But there was no lack of respect.

You've got to be careful because sometimes you read something, and it's not a lack of respect, but you take it as a lack of respect. And what he did, he even acted with greater lack of respect towards Christ by saying he went, and he struck Jesus with the palm of his hand. And he slapped Jesus on the face. Probably on the face, that's not saying the face, but it hit him with the palm of his hand. So, there was an even greater act of disrespect. Even then, Jesus was very respectful. And he said, well, he said, why did you ask that I be like that? And then Jesus said, if I'd spoken, you'd hope there would be a weakness of the evil. But if well, why did you strike me?

The gang? Very respectful, but firm. But firm. So, Christ had respect. I mean, even the example you can read that he drew this night. The Archangel Michael had respect towards Satan, and he said, the Lord rebuked you. But he didn't just, ha! call him around him. No, he handled with respect. Respect is a simple point that you and I can take home to say, let's analyze in our lives whether we actually show respect for others. As a building block towards analyzing ourselves, whether we have genuine Godly love.

Even told to love our enemies. In words, and if we take that to the point of respect, even to respect our enemies. That's not easy, but we are. I want to conclude with one parable in Matthew 13. And I want you to look at that with me, please. Matthew 13. Matthew 13 verse 24.

There's some interesting points in this parable. Matthew 13's got a number of parables. Interesting, so seven parables. But let's look at the specific one in Matthew 24 through 30.

It says, another parable he put forth to them, saying, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God, in their words, is like a man who sold good seed in his field. And while he slept, his ebony came and sowed tears among the wheat, and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced the crop, the tears also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? And now, then, they said, have tears. And he said to them, an enemy has done this. The servants said to him, do you want us then to go and gather them? And he said, no, lest, while you gather after tears, you also uproot the wheat with them. They both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of the harvest, I will then say to the reapers, first gather together the tears, and buy them into bundles, to burn them, but gather the wheat into the bottom. And ask the story, and he went on with other stories. And the people just, choo, right over their heads, choo, they didn't get a bit of it. Then, read with me in verse 36. Then Jesus sent the multitudes away, and went into the house. So he went home, profitably. And the circles came to him, saying, explain to us the parable of the tears of the field. Now, we didn't get that one. Explain this that one. We got the others, but we didn't get that one. Give us a bit of... And he said, okay, he who sells the seed is the son of man. Reverend, you and I don't sell the seed. It's crossed that sells the seed.

Crossed sells the seed. Crossed sells the seed in people's minds. He opens the minds. Not you and I. We can put up the seed, put it in the field, but he actually sells it into the people's minds. Let's go on.

The field is the world. The good seeds are the son of the kingdom. But the tears are the sons of the wicked one. The enemy who sold them is the devil. Who sells bad things into other people's minds that are opposing us? They say, And so, like we always say, you know, we hate the sin, but we love the sinner. You know, we very respect those people. They don't understand that he's the enemy that is causing those minds to go the way they are. The opposite is the end of their age. The reapers are the angels. Therefore, as the tears are gathered and burned in the fire, so will be at the end of their age. The Son of Man will send his angels. They'll gather out of his kingdom. You'll take them out of the kingdom. All things are of faith. All things are of faith. Brethren, if we are not showing respect to people, we could be offending them. And we're going to be very careful not to offend them, not to show lack of respect. Because if we do, we'll be removed out of the kingdom. So, brethren, we now understand that the kingdom of God is the holy family of God, governing the Trinity. And we understand that we, who have God's Holy Spirit, cannot live under the reign of the kingdom of God. And the fruit of the Holy Spirit in us causes us to love one another and therefore to bear good fruits. And one of the building blocks of that is showing respect. Do we, then, show respect to others in the world, to officials, to leaders, to ministers, to whatever? To show, indeed, in our lives, through that respect, which then will lead to true Godly love. That God's kingdom is, indeed, ruling in our lives today, so that you and I may not be rooted out of it.