The most nearest thing to you is not the next Christmas, next wave of pandemic or next weekend.
Kingdom of God is near.
Matthew 4:17
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven [c]is at hand.”
Matthew 3:2
2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand
What is at hand is
Not the next weekend
Not the next long weekend
Not the next Holiday
Not the next festival
Not the next exciting event
Not the next wave of pandemic
Not the next Christmas
Next Thanksgiving
But the most nearest thing is Kingdom of Heaven
But we live our lives, for next weekend, for next pay check, for next event, for next best thing.
But we rarely live lives for the Kingdom of Heaven.
But Lord Jesus starts his preaching ministry with Kingdom of Heaven, saying it is very near.
The reason for all his ministry, the driving point for all the teaching, the Kingdom of Heaven is near.
and Even John the Baptist says " Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand"
John 18:36
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; but now My kingdom is not from here.
The Lord says My kingdom is not of this world.
Can you imagine, Jesus never used his words, servants, to fight or pursue for this worlds issues.
He sent disciples to preach gospel.
Everything he did is because My Kingdom is not of this world.
He was in the world, but His kingdom is not of this world.
We might be in the world, but our attention, our focus, our priorities
In other words, my life should not be defined by the what i see around.
Satan is god of this world.
When worldliness brings into Church , what happens is titanic.
You want the boat in the water, but we don't water in the boat.
37 Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?”
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, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.”
Kingdom of God is Truth
Satan is father of lies. Satan is liar, deceiver.
So if the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.... then we should live our lives for this Kingdom.
so how do we live the lives.
Starting point
1) Lord says, John the Baptist says - Repentance.
Although Hebrews says Repentance is Elementary teaching, but many in the Church miss the elementary thing.
Repentance
Sorry Lord
pharaoh - sorry is not repentance - he is not for kingdom
But look at tax collector - he cried, There should be genuine cry, wondering how did i live such life
look at the theif - confession - Hope
look at zaccheas - he repaid - Mend what went wrong.
The seriousness of the Kingdom
2) Thy Kingdom Come
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
The prayer is that your Kingdom come.
That means if we are seeking Gods Kingdom, we should know that the King is our God.
we live
story of satan.
Isaiah 14: 13,14
13 For you have said in your heart:
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
‘I will ascend into heaven,
I will exalt my throne above the stars of God;
I will also sit on the mount of the congregation
On the farthest sides of the north;
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will be like the Most High.’
I will , I will, I will
The Kingdom man, Kingdom woman has this confession in every walk of life, that is Your Kingdom come, and Your will be done.
Kingdom way of living is the living that God expects us to live.
3) Parable - Kingdom way of living.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl of Great Price
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
Treasure: Value
Having God rule on our lives - most valuable.
Ask a sick man on his death bed - recovered and live again
Ask a woman waiting for 12 years from blood issue -
Ask a woman who waited for years to conceive- given up by every form of science., but remembered by God.
There is nothing more valuable than the treasure of Kingdom of heaven.
Having Gods rule over you.
Philippians 3:7,8
We live the other way.
We go find a job, we go find a house -- then we come to Church, we go to presence of God, and we do everything with God to get that thing that we found on earth,
A man in the field - found a treasure
For Joy - he sold everything else and buys not just the piece of treasure, but buys the whole field.
When you think of Kingdom of heaven - there should be joy..
And for that joy, what you do matters.
Joy -
when we are asked to do some work in Church.
Do you do out of a duty? or do you do out of Joy?
Sometimes we think we do sacrifice coming at 9 AM, sacrifice coming on a weekends, sacrifice in many things.
but can we see doing work for Gods Kingdom - is it a joy for us.
Everything else he has- he will sell it
That signifies what you think important in your life , you are willing to loose it.
Paul says - will consider it as rubbish as Paul says
You think , the food is the most important , and it is very hard that you cannot fast.
you are willing to give up food , fast and pray. for the joy of knowing your God.
We live the other way
For the joy of everyday things in life, we use all the blessing that we can get from God, and we use to get blessed.
The direction is very different.
The Kingdom living is about What value you put on everything in your life?
1) How much value you put for your sleep
2) How much value you put for fun?
3) how much value you put for your food
4) How much value for your kingdom of Heaven?
Removing every obstacle, between you and kingdom of heaven.
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