1 00:00:01,079 --> 00:00:02,940 I want you to hold Matthew 2 00:00:03,319 --> 00:00:05,719 5. Those first couple of chapters that we 3 00:00:05,719 --> 00:00:07,000 were at reverses that we were read this 4 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:07,319 morning. 5 00:00:07,814 --> 00:00:09,734 In your mind as we get into this 6 00:00:09,734 --> 00:00:10,234 sermon 7 00:00:11,014 --> 00:00:12,775 because it has a lot to do with 8 00:00:12,775 --> 00:00:14,214 kingdom, and that's what we're gonna be talking 9 00:00:14,214 --> 00:00:15,974 about today is the kingdom of God. 10 00:00:16,549 --> 00:00:18,932 And what that means. And so I know 11 00:00:18,932 --> 00:00:21,315 that I tend to throw that phrase around, 12 00:00:21,474 --> 00:00:23,063 the kingdom or the kingdom of God or 13 00:00:23,063 --> 00:00:25,464 the kingdom of heaven quite a bit, And, 14 00:00:25,945 --> 00:00:27,704 that doesn't always make sense to everybody. So 15 00:00:27,704 --> 00:00:29,404 this morning, we're gonna spend a little time 16 00:00:29,785 --> 00:00:32,184 unpacking what that means and just kinda do 17 00:00:32,184 --> 00:00:34,284 a overview of that theme 18 00:00:34,679 --> 00:00:35,077 biblical. 19 00:00:36,991 --> 00:00:39,144 I should say, I owe a great deal 20 00:00:39,144 --> 00:00:41,535 of this to nt right and to the 21 00:00:41,535 --> 00:00:44,342 bible project who both have excellent resources on 22 00:00:44,342 --> 00:00:46,098 all of this stuff. And if you want 23 00:00:46,098 --> 00:00:48,333 to think deeply about this or the sermon 24 00:00:48,333 --> 00:00:50,010 on the mount, a go look up the 25 00:00:50,010 --> 00:00:51,925 bible project. They are very good 26 00:00:52,499 --> 00:00:53,217 and they've got some... 27 00:00:54,094 --> 00:00:56,726 I I would say maybe not deep thinking 28 00:00:56,726 --> 00:00:59,518 in terms of, like, an exhaustive study if 29 00:00:59,518 --> 00:01:00,874 you're gonna go do your dis rotation on 30 00:01:00,874 --> 00:01:02,172 it, but it's good 31 00:01:02,881 --> 00:01:06,163 good material very accessible and and helps to 32 00:01:06,299 --> 00:01:06,799 clarify 33 00:01:07,173 --> 00:01:08,842 what I might not get super clear. 34 00:01:10,432 --> 00:01:11,227 And it's free. 35 00:01:12,119 --> 00:01:13,157 Unless you have a conscience. 36 00:01:13,956 --> 00:01:16,273 And then you have to I'm like, oh, 37 00:01:16,593 --> 00:01:18,430 lord. Okay. I'll give them money. 38 00:01:19,642 --> 00:01:20,997 Now I have to now I have to 39 00:01:20,997 --> 00:01:22,192 pay the money because I made it sound 40 00:01:22,192 --> 00:01:23,864 like I do that, but I haven't yet. 41 00:01:24,661 --> 00:01:25,936 It has been free so far. 42 00:01:26,668 --> 00:01:26,828 Alright. 43 00:01:27,786 --> 00:01:30,819 Let's pray before I just discredit myself any 44 00:01:30,819 --> 00:01:31,058 brother. 45 00:01:32,894 --> 00:01:34,331 Father, we thank you for your word. 46 00:01:35,303 --> 00:01:37,160 We thank you for your rest 47 00:01:37,697 --> 00:01:38,814 action in our lives. 48 00:01:39,452 --> 00:01:40,888 We think you that you've not given up 49 00:01:40,888 --> 00:01:43,689 on us. We ask that This morning as 50 00:01:43,689 --> 00:01:46,070 we trace this theme of kingdom, 51 00:01:46,784 --> 00:01:48,451 through the old testament and up into the 52 00:01:48,451 --> 00:01:49,348 time of Jesus 53 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:52,043 that you would help us to be applying 54 00:01:52,043 --> 00:01:52,842 this to our hearts. 55 00:01:54,121 --> 00:01:55,899 Teach us what we need to learn Lord 56 00:01:55,958 --> 00:01:57,956 about who you are and what that says 57 00:01:57,956 --> 00:01:58,730 about who we are 58 00:01:59,647 --> 00:02:01,802 about what you've done and about what that 59 00:02:01,802 --> 00:02:03,340 says about what we do 60 00:02:03,878 --> 00:02:04,756 as a response. 61 00:02:06,352 --> 00:02:08,521 Father, we love you, and we thank you 62 00:02:08,521 --> 00:02:09,398 for your love for us. 63 00:02:10,913 --> 00:02:12,269 We ask that the words of my mouth 64 00:02:12,269 --> 00:02:13,863 and the meditation of all of our hearts 65 00:02:13,863 --> 00:02:15,857 will be pleasing to you in this time. 66 00:02:16,988 --> 00:02:17,148 Amen. 67 00:02:19,459 --> 00:02:21,133 Alright. So like I say, I think about 68 00:02:21,133 --> 00:02:22,408 the word kingdom a lot. 69 00:02:23,444 --> 00:02:25,770 I think it... And more probably as time 70 00:02:25,770 --> 00:02:28,002 goes on, like, as as my life moves 71 00:02:28,002 --> 00:02:30,950 forward it, I keep thinking this phrase kingdom, 72 00:02:31,030 --> 00:02:33,116 it comes up, and I see it. More 73 00:02:33,116 --> 00:02:35,423 and more everywhere. When I think about death 74 00:02:35,423 --> 00:02:37,650 and dying, I start thinking in terms of 75 00:02:37,650 --> 00:02:38,207 the kingdom. 76 00:02:38,684 --> 00:02:41,088 When I think about disciples ship, I think 77 00:02:41,088 --> 00:02:43,477 about the kingdom of God. When I think 78 00:02:43,477 --> 00:02:46,765 about all hunger or justice or 79 00:02:47,141 --> 00:02:48,336 reconciliation or restoration, 80 00:02:48,988 --> 00:02:50,419 I think about the kingdom of God. 81 00:02:51,135 --> 00:02:53,679 When I think about family, I think about 82 00:02:53,679 --> 00:02:54,633 the kingdom of God. 83 00:02:55,269 --> 00:02:57,495 It's 1 of those concepts that has managed 84 00:02:57,495 --> 00:02:59,737 to kind of sneak its way and to 85 00:02:59,737 --> 00:03:02,044 pretty much every sphere of my thinking. And 86 00:03:02,044 --> 00:03:04,852 because I probably overuse the term or 87 00:03:05,227 --> 00:03:06,996 I'm you know, if I'm not over using 88 00:03:06,996 --> 00:03:08,351 it, I think it's at least safe to 89 00:03:08,351 --> 00:03:10,425 say there are times when I'm not adding 90 00:03:10,425 --> 00:03:13,057 clarity to what that is in the conversations 91 00:03:13,057 --> 00:03:14,812 when I use that term without explaining. So 92 00:03:14,812 --> 00:03:17,055 this morning, I thought Let's just kinda go 93 00:03:17,055 --> 00:03:18,725 over and take a look at what this 94 00:03:18,725 --> 00:03:20,099 is because it's a really 95 00:03:20,871 --> 00:03:24,209 foundational fundamental part of who we are as 96 00:03:24,209 --> 00:03:26,687 the church and as believers and as Christians. 97 00:03:27,720 --> 00:03:30,422 So I do get to the question outright 98 00:03:30,422 --> 00:03:32,726 occasionally as well, though. And I thought today, 99 00:03:33,123 --> 00:03:35,213 let's just unpack this theme. And so, 100 00:03:36,332 --> 00:03:37,930 because it's a major theme in the bible 101 00:03:37,930 --> 00:03:40,487 and it stretches from really, if you wanted 102 00:03:40,487 --> 00:03:41,926 to, you could stretch it all the way 103 00:03:41,926 --> 00:03:44,097 back to Eden to revelation So it's like, 104 00:03:44,575 --> 00:03:46,409 cover to cover 1 of these concepts that 105 00:03:46,409 --> 00:03:47,604 works its way through the Bible. 106 00:03:48,402 --> 00:03:51,134 And the better that we understand that concept 107 00:03:51,192 --> 00:03:53,364 of kingdom. The better that we're actually going 108 00:03:53,364 --> 00:03:55,685 to understand Jesus who comes into the middle 109 00:03:55,685 --> 00:03:58,084 of this story and brings definition to it. 110 00:03:58,805 --> 00:04:00,965 Not only who Jesus was, but what he 111 00:04:00,965 --> 00:04:01,659 was doing 112 00:04:02,254 --> 00:04:04,869 and why he was doing it, the way 113 00:04:04,869 --> 00:04:05,900 that he was doing it. 114 00:04:06,930 --> 00:04:08,857 And this is our 115 00:04:09,244 --> 00:04:12,672 primary tasks as disciples of Jesus, as followers 116 00:04:12,672 --> 00:04:15,224 of Jesus, it's our job to understand who 117 00:04:15,383 --> 00:04:15,941 Jesus was, 118 00:04:16,579 --> 00:04:17,717 what he was doing 119 00:04:18,827 --> 00:04:20,741 why he did it the way that he 120 00:04:20,741 --> 00:04:21,060 did it, 121 00:04:21,937 --> 00:04:23,214 all in the hopes that we could do 122 00:04:23,214 --> 00:04:25,048 it like him, that we would be light 123 00:04:25,128 --> 00:04:27,042 Christ that we would be little Christians, little 124 00:04:27,202 --> 00:04:27,521 Christ. 125 00:04:28,251 --> 00:04:30,312 To the world around us. This is the 126 00:04:30,312 --> 00:04:32,691 goal of Christ's first disciples and it's still 127 00:04:32,691 --> 00:04:34,935 our goal as disciples of Christ 128 00:04:35,719 --> 00:04:37,468 Now when we hear the word kingdom outside 129 00:04:37,468 --> 00:04:39,456 of any sort of, like, church or biblical 130 00:04:39,456 --> 00:04:41,284 concept. But I think if you're like me, 131 00:04:41,523 --> 00:04:43,590 you probably conjure up thoughts of, you know, 132 00:04:43,829 --> 00:04:46,711 knights and shining armor and Camelot and King 133 00:04:46,870 --> 00:04:48,307 Arthur and all of this other kind of 134 00:04:48,307 --> 00:04:50,541 stuff. And it's not wrong to think that. 135 00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:52,376 I mean, I think the people that were, 136 00:04:52,456 --> 00:04:54,149 you know, I'm just gonna go out on 137 00:04:54,149 --> 00:04:55,110 a branch here and say, 138 00:04:56,389 --> 00:04:56,889 Camelot 139 00:04:57,189 --> 00:04:59,990 fictional. It's not a it's not actually existing 140 00:04:59,990 --> 00:05:02,981 in history, but But it does. The concept 141 00:05:03,199 --> 00:05:05,433 the the heart of Camelot does exist and 142 00:05:05,433 --> 00:05:07,747 what they're driving at really is like, what 143 00:05:07,747 --> 00:05:10,396 it looks like for a good king to 144 00:05:10,396 --> 00:05:12,093 rule over his dominion 145 00:05:12,551 --> 00:05:14,626 as the way that god intended to, And 146 00:05:14,626 --> 00:05:16,622 it's it's the playing out of, like, what 147 00:05:16,622 --> 00:05:18,867 that would look like if we could be 148 00:05:18,867 --> 00:05:20,379 writing all of the wrong. So there's a 149 00:05:20,379 --> 00:05:22,924 certain value set that goes with Camelot and 150 00:05:22,924 --> 00:05:24,515 with King Arthur and all of these things. 151 00:05:24,849 --> 00:05:27,726 That I think does... It certainly does har 152 00:05:27,726 --> 00:05:29,964 back to what we're trying to learn in 153 00:05:29,964 --> 00:05:30,444 the Bible. 154 00:05:33,081 --> 00:05:34,380 We're trying to see 155 00:05:34,854 --> 00:05:37,007 what are the values of that kingdom? What 156 00:05:37,007 --> 00:05:38,682 what does the king value and what does 157 00:05:38,682 --> 00:05:40,436 he send his knights out to go do? 158 00:05:40,676 --> 00:05:42,989 Right? What what is important to him? What's 159 00:05:42,989 --> 00:05:45,073 important to living inside of that kingdom? What 160 00:05:45,073 --> 00:05:46,343 kind of things are they willing to die 161 00:05:46,343 --> 00:05:47,692 for? What kind of things are they willing 162 00:05:47,692 --> 00:05:49,359 to risk their lives for? What are they 163 00:05:49,359 --> 00:05:51,739 willing to do in order to make and 164 00:05:51,739 --> 00:05:54,463 establish this kingdom kingdom And and what will 165 00:05:54,463 --> 00:05:56,939 they not tolerate? What won't they say is 166 00:05:56,939 --> 00:06:00,455 okay. And so this concept of kingdom actually 167 00:06:00,455 --> 00:06:02,698 does... Apply to the Bible, and the bible 168 00:06:02,698 --> 00:06:04,687 uses it. You know, Authors to talk about 169 00:06:04,687 --> 00:06:07,494 the armor of God. They're not referring to 170 00:06:08,280 --> 00:06:10,501 camelot, but they're referring to Rome, and the 171 00:06:10,501 --> 00:06:11,770 empires that they lived in. And of course, 172 00:06:11,929 --> 00:06:15,102 they live in kingdoms and their experience of 173 00:06:15,102 --> 00:06:15,840 this is 174 00:06:16,228 --> 00:06:19,012 pretty normal. And while Rome is an empire 175 00:06:19,012 --> 00:06:21,159 while they're there not technically a kingdom I 176 00:06:21,159 --> 00:06:23,784 suppose, but it's an empire, the concept is 177 00:06:23,784 --> 00:06:26,274 all the same. Rome has a set of 178 00:06:26,274 --> 00:06:28,435 values that it's saying, this is who we 179 00:06:28,435 --> 00:06:30,354 are. This is what we stand for. This 180 00:06:30,354 --> 00:06:31,555 is what we do. 181 00:06:32,685 --> 00:06:34,117 Why we do it and the way that 182 00:06:34,117 --> 00:06:35,389 we're going to do it the way that 183 00:06:35,389 --> 00:06:37,480 we're doing it. And so they're going to 184 00:06:37,616 --> 00:06:39,366 bring a lot of really good and beautiful 185 00:06:39,366 --> 00:06:41,375 things to the world. Right? Like, you're gonna 186 00:06:41,375 --> 00:06:43,214 get Aqua ducks. You're gonna get running water, 187 00:06:43,375 --> 00:06:44,735 and that is good for the health of 188 00:06:44,735 --> 00:06:46,254 all the people. That is a that is 189 00:06:46,254 --> 00:06:49,776 a really nice thing. For people, but they're 190 00:06:49,776 --> 00:06:52,076 gonna do it at the cost of, like, 191 00:06:52,235 --> 00:06:54,852 en people to do that. Right? The amount 192 00:06:54,852 --> 00:06:56,145 of people that die 193 00:06:56,613 --> 00:06:58,526 in order to provide these kind of things 194 00:06:58,526 --> 00:06:59,664 that give their lives 195 00:07:00,200 --> 00:07:03,011 to something like, you know, building a gym, 196 00:07:03,228 --> 00:07:05,636 or building a a big bath house or 197 00:07:05,636 --> 00:07:08,111 building 1 of these is incredible. It's staggering. 198 00:07:08,430 --> 00:07:10,266 And so there's this value set behind it. 199 00:07:10,425 --> 00:07:12,581 That says this at all cost and not 200 00:07:12,581 --> 00:07:14,847 this, And God's kingdom is constantly 201 00:07:15,301 --> 00:07:17,368 in attention with the kingdoms that are around 202 00:07:17,368 --> 00:07:19,674 it. Right? The people of Israel, they do 203 00:07:19,674 --> 00:07:21,583 become a kingdom eventually, but they're at attention 204 00:07:21,583 --> 00:07:22,776 with the kingdoms around them. 205 00:07:23,665 --> 00:07:24,165 So 206 00:07:24,699 --> 00:07:25,891 as hinted that earlier, 207 00:07:27,242 --> 00:07:29,230 the concept of god's kingdom does go all 208 00:07:29,230 --> 00:07:30,661 the way back to the garden of Eden. 209 00:07:31,313 --> 00:07:33,225 And it's a place where God's clearly on 210 00:07:33,225 --> 00:07:36,093 the throne. Right? God is with his people, 211 00:07:36,252 --> 00:07:38,642 and he's dwelling in harmony with them. Adam 212 00:07:38,642 --> 00:07:41,126 and Eve, they're created in God's image. They're 213 00:07:41,126 --> 00:07:42,875 representing God and the way that they were 214 00:07:42,875 --> 00:07:45,181 made to represent him, and they're representing them 215 00:07:45,181 --> 00:07:47,090 in how they steward the garden, how they 216 00:07:47,090 --> 00:07:49,078 care for the animals, how they treat 1 217 00:07:49,078 --> 00:07:50,112 another. They're living out. 218 00:07:50,684 --> 00:07:53,635 This reality of, you know, God's perfect dwelling 219 00:07:53,635 --> 00:07:56,187 place or his kingdom in a sense. It 220 00:07:56,187 --> 00:07:58,580 was put briefly a place where God and 221 00:07:58,580 --> 00:08:00,335 humanity lived together. 222 00:08:00,986 --> 00:08:01,225 Reconcile. 223 00:08:02,020 --> 00:08:03,531 He was their God and they were his 224 00:08:03,531 --> 00:08:05,518 people. Of course, it doesn't take long for 225 00:08:05,518 --> 00:08:07,983 that to go sideways, and we're pretty familiar 226 00:08:07,983 --> 00:08:09,812 with that. Adam, and you take the fruit. 227 00:08:11,258 --> 00:08:13,827 They take the 1 thing that God did 228 00:08:13,883 --> 00:08:16,667 forbid. Right? The 1 don't do, they did. 229 00:08:17,398 --> 00:08:20,042 And that value of the kingdom was trans. 230 00:08:21,051 --> 00:08:22,877 Because in choosing the fruit, Adam and eve 231 00:08:22,877 --> 00:08:24,783 decided they wanted to actually be their own 232 00:08:24,783 --> 00:08:27,030 king. They said, actually, I I want to 233 00:08:27,030 --> 00:08:29,126 be in charge of how I 234 00:08:29,743 --> 00:08:32,138 make my decisions. I I get to decide 235 00:08:32,138 --> 00:08:35,590 what's good or not good. Right? That's my 236 00:08:35,590 --> 00:08:36,309 job to do now. 237 00:08:37,350 --> 00:08:39,429 They wanna rule their lives according to what 238 00:08:39,429 --> 00:08:40,950 they thought best, not what God tells them. 239 00:08:41,110 --> 00:08:42,924 And this is the beginning of the separation 240 00:08:43,123 --> 00:08:46,054 then the rebellion that we currently understand all 241 00:08:46,054 --> 00:08:46,450 too well. 242 00:08:47,243 --> 00:08:48,193 So as a consequence, 243 00:08:48,748 --> 00:08:50,349 Adam don't eve leave the garden and and 244 00:08:50,349 --> 00:08:52,421 they're prohibited from coming back into it. Now 245 00:08:52,421 --> 00:08:54,653 they're outside of this, like, perfect kingdom. Right? 246 00:08:54,892 --> 00:08:57,124 This perfect rule and reign of God. The 247 00:08:57,124 --> 00:08:58,000 kingdom is closed, 248 00:08:58,573 --> 00:09:00,166 and they still speak with God and they 249 00:09:00,166 --> 00:09:02,099 have a relationship with them, but it's forever 250 00:09:02,475 --> 00:09:05,104 tainted marred or affected by this sin and 251 00:09:05,104 --> 00:09:06,617 disobedience, which is passed on to their own 252 00:09:06,617 --> 00:09:09,024 children, and through them is a condition that 253 00:09:09,024 --> 00:09:10,619 we also have inherited. 254 00:09:11,417 --> 00:09:12,236 Who doesn't 255 00:09:12,693 --> 00:09:14,607 want to have knowledge of good and evil 256 00:09:14,607 --> 00:09:15,086 after all. 257 00:09:16,123 --> 00:09:17,890 That's the name of the tree that they 258 00:09:17,890 --> 00:09:19,958 take the fruit from. Right? The tree nausea 259 00:09:19,958 --> 00:09:20,595 is a good and evil. 260 00:09:21,390 --> 00:09:23,299 Who doesn't want that. I think we all 261 00:09:23,299 --> 00:09:24,118 kinda do 262 00:09:24,827 --> 00:09:27,376 This sin separates them and us from the 263 00:09:27,376 --> 00:09:29,766 fullness of relationship that they had previously enjoyed 264 00:09:29,766 --> 00:09:32,475 with God and it grieve God deeply. 265 00:09:34,082 --> 00:09:36,383 It also brings death just like God said 266 00:09:36,383 --> 00:09:37,891 it would bring death. Right? 267 00:09:38,764 --> 00:09:40,668 Which also grieve God, 268 00:09:41,238 --> 00:09:42,903 And it's not to say that the key 269 00:09:42,903 --> 00:09:44,806 right on the spot. Right and live boom 270 00:09:44,806 --> 00:09:46,946 they're dead and the story closes because that 271 00:09:46,946 --> 00:09:49,024 would not be a very good story. And 272 00:09:49,024 --> 00:09:50,940 it probably wouldn't have survived this long if 273 00:09:50,940 --> 00:09:51,658 that were the case. 274 00:09:53,255 --> 00:09:55,351 But the death that Adam and Eve die 275 00:09:55,809 --> 00:09:58,218 happens on a much deeper level, and I'm 276 00:09:58,218 --> 00:09:58,877 the kingdom 277 00:09:59,331 --> 00:10:01,398 experiences a death as well. Right? 278 00:10:03,703 --> 00:10:05,531 It's more than just a physical death. It's... 279 00:10:06,340 --> 00:10:08,958 It's it's an experiential reality. 280 00:10:09,592 --> 00:10:11,893 It's a death to innocence. It's a death 281 00:10:11,893 --> 00:10:12,448 to trust. 282 00:10:13,099 --> 00:10:15,094 It's a death to their full assurance of 283 00:10:15,094 --> 00:10:16,211 the goodness of the Lord. 284 00:10:16,770 --> 00:10:17,568 And in this sense, 285 00:10:18,286 --> 00:10:19,504 this death is also 286 00:10:19,882 --> 00:10:20,440 the birth, 287 00:10:21,014 --> 00:10:21,832 of cy 288 00:10:22,207 --> 00:10:24,197 of mistrust, of doubt, 289 00:10:24,913 --> 00:10:27,221 of fear of all of these things that 290 00:10:27,221 --> 00:10:29,927 mark this other kingdom that they were building 291 00:10:29,927 --> 00:10:30,379 into 292 00:10:31,293 --> 00:10:33,780 God sets about to reconcile this for humanity 293 00:10:33,836 --> 00:10:35,982 and in his love, he launches us into 294 00:10:35,982 --> 00:10:37,491 the rest of the story of scripture. 295 00:10:38,383 --> 00:10:40,217 The big story of the many books that 296 00:10:40,217 --> 00:10:42,848 make up the bible is ultimately the story 297 00:10:42,848 --> 00:10:43,247 of god, 298 00:10:44,044 --> 00:10:47,565 reconciling his people back to himself until 1 299 00:10:47,565 --> 00:10:49,889 day he has restored us back to be 300 00:10:50,023 --> 00:10:51,609 who he created us to be, 301 00:10:52,402 --> 00:10:54,543 living as he created us to live, 302 00:10:55,193 --> 00:10:57,682 and doing what we were created to do 303 00:10:58,057 --> 00:10:59,886 in the way that he created us to 304 00:10:59,886 --> 00:11:01,557 do it. Does that sound familiar? 305 00:11:02,208 --> 00:11:04,356 That's the same definition of disciples that we 306 00:11:04,356 --> 00:11:05,708 gave earlier to Jesus. Right? 307 00:11:08,254 --> 00:11:08,890 So we're all track. 308 00:11:10,105 --> 00:11:11,785 So after Adam and E, we're introduced to 309 00:11:11,865 --> 00:11:13,625 Noah, and we see the ramp and broken 310 00:11:13,625 --> 00:11:15,465 ness of God's creation don't worry. I know 311 00:11:15,465 --> 00:11:17,144 what you're thinking. You're thinking is he gonna 312 00:11:17,144 --> 00:11:18,836 do the whole thing today. And I'm not. 313 00:11:19,075 --> 00:11:19,790 We don't have time. 314 00:11:20,586 --> 00:11:22,176 But we get to we get to know, 315 00:11:22,335 --> 00:11:23,845 And I wanna just touch on some of 316 00:11:23,845 --> 00:11:25,833 these really quickly because I think they're important 317 00:11:25,833 --> 00:11:27,821 for our understanding I really need to establish 318 00:11:27,821 --> 00:11:29,825 this. I think, in the old testament as 319 00:11:29,825 --> 00:11:31,758 a as a theme. So 320 00:11:32,372 --> 00:11:33,089 with Noah, 321 00:11:33,566 --> 00:11:35,238 and we see, you know, the the broken 322 00:11:35,238 --> 00:11:37,546 ness of God's creation everywhere, and we see 323 00:11:37,546 --> 00:11:40,372 these... 2 kingdoms kind of at war and 324 00:11:40,510 --> 00:11:42,821 competition with each other. And we see after 325 00:11:42,821 --> 00:11:45,292 the flood, the first of many recreation narratives 326 00:11:45,292 --> 00:11:47,303 in the Bible. Which reminds us of the 327 00:11:47,303 --> 00:11:49,779 original creation story of God, who's hovering over 328 00:11:49,779 --> 00:11:52,576 the chaos waters, and he's separating the waters, 329 00:11:53,055 --> 00:11:55,384 you know, previously, it was rain and the 330 00:11:55,384 --> 00:11:56,820 waters of the earth, they all become 1, 331 00:11:56,980 --> 00:11:58,495 and we have this, like, 1 water. And 332 00:11:58,495 --> 00:11:59,713 now at this 333 00:12:00,170 --> 00:12:02,323 recreation moment, god is separating the waters above 334 00:12:02,323 --> 00:12:03,201 from the waters below. 335 00:12:03,853 --> 00:12:05,601 Dry land is coming out of them. Right? 336 00:12:06,157 --> 00:12:08,619 They come off of the arc onto dry 337 00:12:08,619 --> 00:12:10,208 land. The first thing that noah it does 338 00:12:10,208 --> 00:12:12,432 is he plants a garden, like a a 339 00:12:12,432 --> 00:12:13,068 vineyard. Right? 340 00:12:13,719 --> 00:12:15,788 And the it's... We have a picture of, 341 00:12:15,947 --> 00:12:18,176 like, let's do this again. Let's try this 342 00:12:18,176 --> 00:12:20,006 again. And the original readers, if you're reading 343 00:12:20,006 --> 00:12:22,155 it as the jews were reading it, they're 344 00:12:22,155 --> 00:12:23,325 gonna see this thing 345 00:12:23,762 --> 00:12:25,910 here, and you're gonna have lots more examples 346 00:12:25,910 --> 00:12:28,058 of that actually throughout the scriptures. It's a 347 00:12:28,058 --> 00:12:29,092 very interesting thing. 348 00:12:29,967 --> 00:12:31,956 But this is also supposed to sound familiar. 349 00:12:32,607 --> 00:12:34,037 We hear the story in the way that 350 00:12:34,117 --> 00:12:36,581 Jewish audience heard it, and we're hearing this 351 00:12:36,581 --> 00:12:39,815 repeated theme of god's trying again. He's rebuilding 352 00:12:39,855 --> 00:12:42,174 things he's recreating things he's giving us another 353 00:12:42,174 --> 00:12:42,414 chance, 354 00:12:43,134 --> 00:12:44,575 will we be able to live inside of 355 00:12:44,575 --> 00:12:46,815 the? And it lasts, like 0 time at 356 00:12:46,815 --> 00:12:46,975 all, 357 00:12:47,628 --> 00:12:49,703 Before Noah is drunk on his own wine, 358 00:12:49,863 --> 00:12:51,300 and then there's a bunch of deb battery 359 00:12:51,300 --> 00:12:53,056 that happens, and the whole things gets broken, 360 00:12:53,215 --> 00:12:55,311 and and then we see this like long 361 00:12:55,785 --> 00:12:57,705 laying out of, like, what it's gonna be 362 00:12:57,705 --> 00:13:00,345 like. But before all of that, god bless 363 00:13:00,504 --> 00:13:02,205 Noah and his family 364 00:13:02,585 --> 00:13:04,045 with an already familiar 365 00:13:04,358 --> 00:13:06,586 be fruitful and multiply. We heard that before 366 00:13:06,586 --> 00:13:06,984 too. Right? 367 00:13:07,860 --> 00:13:09,610 And he makes a covenant with him, and 368 00:13:09,610 --> 00:13:11,441 then the new covenant he makes with Noah, 369 00:13:11,853 --> 00:13:16,087 We see again, God's commitment to reconciling humanity 370 00:13:16,699 --> 00:13:19,241 and reconciling this relationship that he has with 371 00:13:19,241 --> 00:13:21,226 his creation at any cost. 372 00:13:22,038 --> 00:13:24,111 He literally at the end of it. When 373 00:13:24,111 --> 00:13:26,662 he's hanging up his bow. He's hanging up, 374 00:13:26,902 --> 00:13:28,895 it's it's not like a a rainbow, like, 375 00:13:29,214 --> 00:13:30,330 I mean, it is a rainbow. 376 00:13:30,743 --> 00:13:33,130 But we're supposed to hear This is God's 377 00:13:33,130 --> 00:13:33,607 war bow. 378 00:13:34,244 --> 00:13:36,550 Right? This is, like, the bow that he 379 00:13:36,550 --> 00:13:38,539 goes to war with his enemy. He hangs 380 00:13:38,539 --> 00:13:40,705 the bow up, in the heavens and he 381 00:13:40,705 --> 00:13:43,038 promises that he never again is he gonna 382 00:13:43,096 --> 00:13:44,610 wipe out the earth in this way. 383 00:13:46,124 --> 00:13:46,864 But notice 384 00:13:47,653 --> 00:13:49,006 who the bow is pointing at. 385 00:13:51,154 --> 00:13:52,984 It's like god saying I hate death and 386 00:13:53,063 --> 00:13:53,700 I love you. 387 00:13:54,910 --> 00:13:56,750 Death is always gonna have some part to 388 00:13:56,750 --> 00:13:58,610 play in this relationship now 389 00:13:59,070 --> 00:13:59,790 because of the sin, 390 00:14:00,910 --> 00:14:02,990 so let's do something about that. And then 391 00:14:02,990 --> 00:14:05,245 he points the bow at himself. And again, 392 00:14:05,644 --> 00:14:07,964 this theme is repeated throughout the scriptures. It's 393 00:14:07,964 --> 00:14:10,625 in the covenant with Abraham. You'll see God 394 00:14:10,684 --> 00:14:12,857 standing in the place of, like, I'm am 395 00:14:12,857 --> 00:14:14,766 going to take this thing, and we don't 396 00:14:14,766 --> 00:14:16,754 have, like I said, time this morning for 397 00:14:16,754 --> 00:14:18,743 the full retailing, but 1 of the major 398 00:14:18,743 --> 00:14:20,971 themes running throughout the length of the Bible, 399 00:14:21,463 --> 00:14:23,712 is the concept of God restoring 400 00:14:24,405 --> 00:14:26,870 humanity through his chosen people Israel, so we 401 00:14:26,870 --> 00:14:29,812 can all once again dwell together with God 402 00:14:29,812 --> 00:14:31,005 in the way that we were attended to. 403 00:14:31,499 --> 00:14:33,893 We're going back to Eden. The old testament 404 00:14:33,893 --> 00:14:37,346 also a story of Israel's sporadic obedience 405 00:14:37,724 --> 00:14:39,480 and frequent dis disobedience. 406 00:14:40,290 --> 00:14:43,470 Their frequent failures acting as a vehicle through 407 00:14:43,470 --> 00:14:45,877 which God would bring this peace to Earth 408 00:14:46,093 --> 00:14:46,729 once again. 409 00:14:47,857 --> 00:14:50,006 They want a king. Israel demands a king. 410 00:14:50,165 --> 00:14:51,757 They wanna be like the other kingdoms. They 411 00:14:51,757 --> 00:14:53,269 wanna be like the other nations, so they 412 00:14:53,269 --> 00:14:55,577 want a king, and god grants in this 413 00:14:55,577 --> 00:14:56,985 through samuel despite 414 00:14:57,504 --> 00:14:59,584 prophetic warnings to the contrary you're going. This 415 00:14:59,584 --> 00:15:01,745 is not a good idea, but okay if 416 00:15:01,745 --> 00:15:02,384 you insist, 417 00:15:03,345 --> 00:15:05,799 again, a story of occasional success 418 00:15:06,958 --> 00:15:09,195 and triumph, but frequent failure, 419 00:15:09,754 --> 00:15:13,051 the now official kingdom of God is quickly 420 00:15:13,110 --> 00:15:15,278 divided it doesn't last very long. You go 421 00:15:15,278 --> 00:15:17,670 through those kings, most of them are not 422 00:15:17,670 --> 00:15:19,903 great. Right? And and the and the ways 423 00:15:19,903 --> 00:15:21,599 that they're not great. They're catastrophic 424 00:15:21,976 --> 00:15:23,743 not great. And then the ways that the 425 00:15:23,743 --> 00:15:25,652 good ones are good, it's just... You're always 426 00:15:25,652 --> 00:15:27,243 feeling like, man, this is just not enough. 427 00:15:27,641 --> 00:15:29,605 They need a good king, which is why 428 00:15:29,884 --> 00:15:32,202 David is so celebrated, but it's only, you 429 00:15:32,202 --> 00:15:35,478 know, a generation after David that boom. It 430 00:15:35,478 --> 00:15:37,956 goes the kingdom. It's gone like it's divided. 431 00:15:38,275 --> 00:15:39,015 And now 432 00:15:39,327 --> 00:15:42,100 this kingdom, this place that they thought, maybe, 433 00:15:42,258 --> 00:15:44,635 you know, in Jerusalem. And God's holy city 434 00:15:44,635 --> 00:15:46,274 in this temple that we've built for God 435 00:15:46,554 --> 00:15:47,992 God will dwell with us. He will be 436 00:15:47,992 --> 00:15:49,750 our God. We will be as people, but 437 00:15:49,750 --> 00:15:51,907 their own sinful ness, Their own broken ness 438 00:15:51,907 --> 00:15:53,025 prevents this from happening. 439 00:15:53,519 --> 00:15:54,476 And all of a sudden, 440 00:15:55,274 --> 00:15:58,145 this kingdom that they've built up. This this 441 00:15:58,145 --> 00:15:59,980 center point for where God would be able 442 00:15:59,980 --> 00:16:02,532 to extend his rule and reign and sovereignty 443 00:16:02,532 --> 00:16:05,091 and bring peace the whole Earth is lost. 444 00:16:05,568 --> 00:16:07,633 The city's lost, the temple is sacked by 445 00:16:07,633 --> 00:16:08,189 the enemy, 446 00:16:09,221 --> 00:16:10,754 and Israel, god's people 447 00:16:11,128 --> 00:16:12,001 go into exile. 448 00:16:13,608 --> 00:16:15,705 The constant longing of the people 449 00:16:16,801 --> 00:16:19,276 in exile is for god to restore the 450 00:16:19,276 --> 00:16:21,590 kingdom. That's what they hope for the most. 451 00:16:22,402 --> 00:16:24,152 And what we hear so often repeated by 452 00:16:24,152 --> 00:16:26,776 the prophets during that time, are promises of 453 00:16:26,856 --> 00:16:29,162 God, like, I will be their God, and 454 00:16:29,162 --> 00:16:30,116 they will be my people. 455 00:16:30,688 --> 00:16:32,597 No longer will they teach their neighbor or 456 00:16:32,597 --> 00:16:34,904 say to 1 another, know the Lord because 457 00:16:34,904 --> 00:16:36,972 they will all know me from the least 458 00:16:36,972 --> 00:16:38,961 of them to the greatest declares the Lord. 459 00:16:39,453 --> 00:16:40,883 That's in Jeremiah 31. 460 00:16:42,393 --> 00:16:44,856 This is har back again to what it 461 00:16:44,856 --> 00:16:47,240 was like when Adam and Eve could walk 462 00:16:47,240 --> 00:16:48,769 with the Lord in cool of the garden. 463 00:16:48,928 --> 00:16:50,686 They just knew him. They didn't have to... 464 00:16:50,926 --> 00:16:52,524 What's he like? What it gonna be like? 465 00:16:52,923 --> 00:16:54,840 I like this in C s Lewis book. 466 00:16:55,654 --> 00:16:57,881 The great divorce. He goes up to this 467 00:16:57,881 --> 00:16:59,791 kind of intermediate state. I don't know what 468 00:16:59,791 --> 00:17:02,417 it is. Place between heaven and hell, and 469 00:17:02,417 --> 00:17:04,326 there's this artist there, and he has painted 470 00:17:04,326 --> 00:17:06,491 these beautiful pictures, and he is he has 471 00:17:06,491 --> 00:17:09,119 open people's eyes on earth to the greatness 472 00:17:09,119 --> 00:17:11,509 and glory of god, and he's like, I'm 473 00:17:11,509 --> 00:17:12,942 gonna do the same thing in the kingdom 474 00:17:12,942 --> 00:17:15,029 of heaven. Or in in heaven, and he's 475 00:17:15,029 --> 00:17:15,188 like, 476 00:17:16,942 --> 00:17:18,876 well, they could just look at God 477 00:17:19,253 --> 00:17:19,651 and 478 00:17:20,289 --> 00:17:22,059 do it that way. And it goes, well, 479 00:17:22,220 --> 00:17:24,380 and then like, I I have a thing. 480 00:17:24,619 --> 00:17:27,099 I'm important here. I matter. Right? And goes, 481 00:17:27,180 --> 00:17:29,829 well, actually no. You don't. What you did 482 00:17:29,829 --> 00:17:31,659 was really important Was a beautiful gift, and 483 00:17:31,659 --> 00:17:33,410 it was an active worship to the lord 484 00:17:33,410 --> 00:17:35,002 on earth while you were doing it when 485 00:17:35,002 --> 00:17:36,673 we were all looking us through a glass 486 00:17:36,673 --> 00:17:39,549 dim. But here now, we we get to 487 00:17:39,549 --> 00:17:42,088 see and behold him. This is the eventual 488 00:17:42,088 --> 00:17:43,754 long for hope that we have is that 489 00:17:43,754 --> 00:17:45,817 we will behold god face to faith, and 490 00:17:45,817 --> 00:17:48,059 this is what the prophets are declined. They 491 00:17:48,059 --> 00:17:49,971 will just know the Lord. They're all know 492 00:17:49,971 --> 00:17:52,122 me. From the least to the greatest declares 493 00:17:52,122 --> 00:17:52,521 the Lord. 494 00:17:54,209 --> 00:17:55,566 And we hear and there the echoes of 495 00:17:55,645 --> 00:17:58,039 Eden. And again, an Ezekiel God declares my 496 00:17:58,039 --> 00:17:59,955 dwelling place will be with them. I will 497 00:17:59,955 --> 00:18:01,550 be their God, and they will be my 498 00:18:01,550 --> 00:18:03,882 people. And the nations will know that I 499 00:18:03,882 --> 00:18:06,459 the Lord make Israel holy when my sanctuary 500 00:18:06,598 --> 00:18:08,276 is among them forever. 501 00:18:09,489 --> 00:18:12,120 Now imagine this while those sanctuary is destroyed 502 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:14,592 jerusalem gone, they're living in exile, and they're 503 00:18:14,592 --> 00:18:17,304 just longing for this day when God's gonna 504 00:18:17,304 --> 00:18:18,260 establish his kingdom. 505 00:18:19,072 --> 00:18:20,902 There's a calling forward to a time when 506 00:18:20,902 --> 00:18:22,891 god is going to establish his rule and 507 00:18:22,891 --> 00:18:24,800 reign and he's gonna bless the whole world 508 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:26,948 through Israel just as he promised abraham him. 509 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:29,039 And then Daniel, 510 00:18:30,079 --> 00:18:31,680 focus here a little bit more this morning. 511 00:18:31,839 --> 00:18:34,480 The language of kingdom is really explicit. The 512 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:37,052 book of Daniel writes about Israel's exile, out 513 00:18:37,052 --> 00:18:38,641 of the kingdom of Israel and into the 514 00:18:38,641 --> 00:18:39,594 kingdom of Babylon. 515 00:18:40,388 --> 00:18:42,374 It's... I mean, they're the great enemies. Right? 516 00:18:42,533 --> 00:18:44,281 And the and they have done just these 517 00:18:44,281 --> 00:18:46,766 atrocious things. And it's a story of Daniel 518 00:18:46,766 --> 00:18:46,846 the, 519 00:18:47,963 --> 00:18:49,798 and the rule and reign of God in 520 00:18:49,798 --> 00:18:51,634 the middle of the rule and reign of 521 00:18:51,634 --> 00:18:53,331 the Babylon, the median 522 00:18:53,724 --> 00:18:54,359 the persians, 523 00:18:54,995 --> 00:18:56,903 and all these kings and rulers that they're 524 00:18:56,903 --> 00:18:58,254 living with in Babylon, 525 00:18:59,764 --> 00:19:01,845 Consistently throughout the book the sent to the 526 00:19:01,845 --> 00:19:04,645 power and authority of those earthly kings 527 00:19:05,097 --> 00:19:07,477 is given boundaries by an invisible god. 528 00:19:08,444 --> 00:19:11,085 And these guys are, like, unstoppable tyrant. They 529 00:19:11,085 --> 00:19:12,865 are like, absolutely Mega, 530 00:19:13,404 --> 00:19:16,204 like, they they say a thing and people's 531 00:19:16,204 --> 00:19:18,774 lives hang on the balance. You don't defy 532 00:19:18,774 --> 00:19:21,400 their power or authority and yet throughout the 533 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,946 book, where... To understand that God is actually 534 00:19:23,946 --> 00:19:25,776 pulling all of the strings here. God is 535 00:19:25,776 --> 00:19:28,991 actually in control of Israel and of Babylon 536 00:19:29,443 --> 00:19:31,188 while he's outside of the temple. 537 00:19:33,171 --> 00:19:34,837 Consistently, we see this displayed. 538 00:19:35,726 --> 00:19:37,793 The god who alone tells him what their 539 00:19:37,793 --> 00:19:40,336 dreams mean. He closes the mouse of lions. 540 00:19:40,734 --> 00:19:42,324 He does all of these things that the 541 00:19:42,324 --> 00:19:44,876 kings can't explain or understand They can't... They 542 00:19:44,876 --> 00:19:46,619 don't have access to what God can do. 543 00:19:47,333 --> 00:19:48,466 The god who 544 00:19:49,076 --> 00:19:49,576 is 545 00:19:51,074 --> 00:19:53,539 saving Israel in the middle of all of 546 00:19:53,539 --> 00:19:54,016 this stuff. 547 00:19:55,527 --> 00:19:58,230 In fact, Daniel gets pretty bras and speaking 548 00:19:58,230 --> 00:19:58,787 to the kings. 549 00:20:00,550 --> 00:20:01,981 He says the God of heaven, 550 00:20:02,934 --> 00:20:06,112 well, he he interprets Ne Dream. Right? And 551 00:20:06,192 --> 00:20:08,416 Ne nes, if you're familiar with veggie tales, 552 00:20:08,829 --> 00:20:10,206 you'll maybe remember Ne. 553 00:20:10,981 --> 00:20:12,814 If that's how you read the old testament. 554 00:20:15,046 --> 00:20:17,453 But he tells another your magic to you 555 00:20:17,453 --> 00:20:18,731 are the king of kings. 556 00:20:19,449 --> 00:20:21,546 The God of heaven has given you 557 00:20:22,323 --> 00:20:24,878 dominion and power and might and glory. In 558 00:20:24,878 --> 00:20:28,475 your hands, he has placed all mankind and 559 00:20:28,475 --> 00:20:29,744 the beasts of the field and the birds 560 00:20:29,744 --> 00:20:32,443 of the sky. Wherever they live, he has 561 00:20:32,443 --> 00:20:33,975 made you, ruler 562 00:20:34,365 --> 00:20:36,605 over them all. You see what he's doing 563 00:20:36,605 --> 00:20:38,445 there. He's flattering him, but he's also, like, 564 00:20:38,845 --> 00:20:40,525 don't get confused about where this is all 565 00:20:40,525 --> 00:20:41,565 coming from Ne Desert. 566 00:20:42,698 --> 00:20:44,441 Book of Daniels a picture of God's power 567 00:20:44,441 --> 00:20:44,996 and authority, 568 00:20:45,630 --> 00:20:48,008 even when he has no throne, no city, 569 00:20:48,404 --> 00:20:49,831 no temple. God is sovereign. 570 00:20:50,403 --> 00:20:51,760 And the kings of the earth still look 571 00:20:51,760 --> 00:20:53,117 to God for wisdom. 572 00:20:53,676 --> 00:20:56,630 Ne has a dream of this great tree. 573 00:20:56,869 --> 00:20:58,625 Right? And all of the animals of the 574 00:20:58,625 --> 00:21:01,352 land they come and take refuge under its 575 00:21:01,352 --> 00:21:03,664 branches, and this is this beautiful thing. 576 00:21:04,621 --> 00:21:06,135 But then, in the middle of the dream 577 00:21:06,135 --> 00:21:08,303 an angel comes down from heaven an cuts 578 00:21:08,303 --> 00:21:09,977 down the tree and he leaves only a 579 00:21:09,977 --> 00:21:12,072 stump and he's all bound up. Daniel's 580 00:21:12,529 --> 00:21:15,878 interpretation, you Ne. Your majesty. You are that 581 00:21:15,878 --> 00:21:16,117 tree. 582 00:21:17,089 --> 00:21:19,324 And then we get another contrasting glimpse of 583 00:21:19,324 --> 00:21:20,543 how God's kingdom 584 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:23,714 differs from all earthly kingdoms. Daniel tells Ne 585 00:21:23,714 --> 00:21:26,523 desert 7 times will pass for you. Until 586 00:21:26,523 --> 00:21:29,018 you acknowledge that the most high is sovereign 587 00:21:29,396 --> 00:21:31,253 over all kingdoms on earth 588 00:21:31,710 --> 00:21:33,966 and gives them to anyone he wishes 589 00:21:34,359 --> 00:21:36,672 your kingdom will be restored when you acknowledge 590 00:21:36,672 --> 00:21:38,028 that heaven rules. 591 00:21:38,745 --> 00:21:39,883 Therefore, your majesty, 592 00:21:40,979 --> 00:21:42,972 reno your sins by doing what is right 593 00:21:42,972 --> 00:21:45,697 and your wicked by being kind to the 594 00:21:45,697 --> 00:21:45,936 oppressed. 595 00:21:47,052 --> 00:21:49,044 That's kind of a para of Daniel 4 596 00:21:49,044 --> 00:21:49,681 there at the end. 597 00:21:51,688 --> 00:21:55,034 All kingdoms on earth. God is sovereign over 598 00:21:55,034 --> 00:21:56,866 all of them, and this is gonna go 599 00:21:56,866 --> 00:21:59,416 on up a until you can acknowledge that 600 00:21:59,416 --> 00:22:01,104 until you can pro preclude that because This 601 00:22:01,104 --> 00:22:03,022 has all gone straight to his head. He 602 00:22:03,022 --> 00:22:04,621 can't see this. This is the big problem, 603 00:22:04,940 --> 00:22:06,858 but this whole book of Daniel is really 604 00:22:06,858 --> 00:22:10,316 trying to communicate to Israel. Even when your 605 00:22:10,949 --> 00:22:11,689 in Babylon, 606 00:22:12,387 --> 00:22:13,506 God is on the throne. 607 00:22:14,465 --> 00:22:16,302 Even when Ne is on the throne, 608 00:22:16,941 --> 00:22:19,348 God is on the throne. Even when darius 609 00:22:19,348 --> 00:22:21,255 is on the throne. God is on the 610 00:22:21,255 --> 00:22:22,923 throne. Even when Be is on the throne, 611 00:22:23,320 --> 00:22:25,783 God is always on the throne. He's is 612 00:22:25,783 --> 00:22:27,786 never off of the throne. And they have 613 00:22:27,786 --> 00:22:29,856 to get this into their minds. They have 614 00:22:29,856 --> 00:22:32,802 to understand that this kingdom is not necessarily 615 00:22:32,802 --> 00:22:35,053 going to be bound by a physical 616 00:22:36,395 --> 00:22:38,379 vacation. It's not going to be, like, here's 617 00:22:38,379 --> 00:22:39,966 the thing that you can put walls up 618 00:22:39,966 --> 00:22:42,370 around and then fight battles over, and then 619 00:22:42,425 --> 00:22:44,821 then only then, will the kingdom of god 620 00:22:44,821 --> 00:22:47,439 be established. This kingdom of God transcend all 621 00:22:47,439 --> 00:22:47,757 of that. 622 00:22:49,185 --> 00:22:52,635 Finally, after Daniel and Tu his dream, ne 623 00:22:52,928 --> 00:22:55,227 quickly goes off the deep end, and he 624 00:22:55,227 --> 00:22:56,812 has his moment out in the wilderness, and 625 00:22:56,812 --> 00:22:58,160 it's a good story. I won't spoil it, 626 00:22:58,318 --> 00:23:01,272 but After all that happens, Ne returns from 627 00:23:01,272 --> 00:23:04,132 his own exile, and he has apparently fully 628 00:23:04,132 --> 00:23:06,535 learned the lesson, and he proclaimed. This comes 629 00:23:06,535 --> 00:23:08,695 out of of his mouth. Now I ne 630 00:23:08,695 --> 00:23:10,695 can has praise and ex and glorify the 631 00:23:10,695 --> 00:23:12,855 king of Heaven because everything he does is 632 00:23:12,855 --> 00:23:14,789 right and all his ways are just... And 633 00:23:14,789 --> 00:23:16,544 those who walk and pride, he is able 634 00:23:16,544 --> 00:23:17,103 to humble. 635 00:23:18,379 --> 00:23:19,816 Now for lack of time, I'm gonna ask 636 00:23:19,816 --> 00:23:22,050 you to trust me that this theme repeats 637 00:23:22,050 --> 00:23:23,977 it... Itself, not only throughout the book of 638 00:23:24,137 --> 00:23:27,164 Daniel with ne darius bo are. And it 639 00:23:27,164 --> 00:23:29,555 ends actually speaking prophetic of future kingdoms as 640 00:23:29,555 --> 00:23:31,148 well that the israelites are going to be 641 00:23:31,148 --> 00:23:33,478 subjected by. The But key for all of 642 00:23:33,478 --> 00:23:35,416 this is that the israelites remember 643 00:23:35,795 --> 00:23:39,231 God's sovereignty over every earthly kingdom despite the 644 00:23:39,231 --> 00:23:40,110 outward appearances. 645 00:23:40,524 --> 00:23:42,122 They need to know this. They need to 646 00:23:42,122 --> 00:23:43,342 leave Babylon 647 00:23:43,881 --> 00:23:46,038 understanding that God is always on the throne, 648 00:23:47,397 --> 00:23:49,234 and that his kingdom works differently. 649 00:23:50,047 --> 00:23:51,643 Then earthly kingdoms. 650 00:23:53,796 --> 00:23:56,109 God gives Daniel a really key vision in 651 00:23:56,109 --> 00:23:58,422 chapter 7, and it's a vision of warring 652 00:23:58,422 --> 00:23:58,922 kingdoms 653 00:23:59,394 --> 00:24:01,458 and in the midst of them comes the 654 00:24:01,458 --> 00:24:02,094 son of man, 655 00:24:02,967 --> 00:24:05,508 who approaches the ancient of days, with God, 656 00:24:05,984 --> 00:24:08,470 and who has given, quote, authority, glory 657 00:24:08,779 --> 00:24:11,009 and sovereign power all nations and people of 658 00:24:11,009 --> 00:24:13,239 every language worship shipped him, as he's seeing 659 00:24:13,239 --> 00:24:15,549 in vision. Right? His dominion is an ever 660 00:24:15,549 --> 00:24:17,873 lasting dominion that will not pass away and 661 00:24:17,873 --> 00:24:19,702 his kingdom is 1 that will never be 662 00:24:19,702 --> 00:24:20,020 destroyed. 663 00:24:21,054 --> 00:24:23,678 Later on, the dream is interpreted. The ancient 664 00:24:23,837 --> 00:24:25,587 Days comes and he pronounce his judgment in 665 00:24:25,587 --> 00:24:27,595 favor, the holy people of the most high 666 00:24:27,595 --> 00:24:30,227 and it says, a time came when they 667 00:24:30,227 --> 00:24:31,503 possessed the kingdom. 668 00:24:32,380 --> 00:24:34,693 This is what they're looking forward to. This 669 00:24:34,693 --> 00:24:37,257 is what they're sitting in the midst of 670 00:24:37,257 --> 00:24:37,575 exile, 671 00:24:38,530 --> 00:24:40,041 longing for God's kingdom. 672 00:24:41,314 --> 00:24:45,305 And that kingdom represents righteousness. It represents h. 673 00:24:45,464 --> 00:24:49,145 It represents justice. It represents peace. It represents 674 00:24:49,282 --> 00:24:52,399 people being fed, and there's not there's not 675 00:24:52,399 --> 00:24:55,604 sq there's is unity and reconciliation, It represents 676 00:24:55,661 --> 00:24:57,969 all of these things. It's not just power 677 00:24:57,969 --> 00:24:59,799 and authority and control, and now we get 678 00:24:59,799 --> 00:25:02,911 to hold the guns. It's like, no. Nobody 679 00:25:02,911 --> 00:25:04,656 has to hold the guns because there's no 680 00:25:04,656 --> 00:25:06,640 need for any of that stuff anymore because 681 00:25:06,719 --> 00:25:08,861 God's kingdom has been established. 682 00:25:09,989 --> 00:25:10,228 Now, 683 00:25:10,944 --> 00:25:13,648 the israelites cling to that promise. They're expecting 684 00:25:13,648 --> 00:25:16,035 the sun man to come to liberate them 685 00:25:16,035 --> 00:25:17,705 from the oppressive kingdoms of earth. 686 00:25:18,438 --> 00:25:18,938 And 687 00:25:19,475 --> 00:25:21,788 for that time when God himself will establish 688 00:25:21,788 --> 00:25:24,101 his kingdom and the holy people of the 689 00:25:24,101 --> 00:25:26,175 most high will take possession of it. That's 690 00:25:26,175 --> 00:25:27,371 what they're looking forward to. 691 00:25:28,583 --> 00:25:30,337 And then they go into 400 years of 692 00:25:30,337 --> 00:25:30,736 silence, 693 00:25:31,534 --> 00:25:32,890 and God doesn't say anything. 694 00:25:33,847 --> 00:25:36,558 For really long time, you gotta think about 695 00:25:36,558 --> 00:25:39,447 400 years that that's a older than Canada. 696 00:25:39,927 --> 00:25:41,684 That's a long time for people to shape 697 00:25:41,684 --> 00:25:44,321 an opinion to shape to shape a culture 698 00:25:44,321 --> 00:25:47,055 to shape a of a, kind of feeling 699 00:25:47,055 --> 00:25:48,595 about who god is about 700 00:25:49,055 --> 00:25:50,894 the values that they're going to live out. 701 00:25:51,535 --> 00:25:53,269 It's also as long as they spend 702 00:25:53,789 --> 00:25:56,506 in in slavery in Egypt as well. Right? 703 00:25:56,826 --> 00:25:59,144 And this is how long it takes them 704 00:25:59,144 --> 00:26:00,283 to come out of this 705 00:26:00,662 --> 00:26:02,980 mentality of, like, we're still slaves in Egypt. 706 00:26:03,314 --> 00:26:04,830 It's a long time in the desert. You 707 00:26:04,830 --> 00:26:06,505 know, you get the israelites, as they say, 708 00:26:06,903 --> 00:26:08,179 out to Egypt, but it takes a lot 709 00:26:08,179 --> 00:26:09,695 longer to get Egypt out of the Israelites. 710 00:26:10,094 --> 00:26:12,167 It's the same thing. These guys are 400 711 00:26:12,167 --> 00:26:14,578 years of silence. And they're waiting on hanging 712 00:26:14,578 --> 00:26:16,516 on these promises, and they're seeing 713 00:26:16,974 --> 00:26:19,611 some pretty incredible kingdoms and empires spring up. 714 00:26:20,423 --> 00:26:22,274 Seeing the Sal. They're seeing 715 00:26:22,886 --> 00:26:25,111 Alexander the Great. They're seeing the Roman empire. 716 00:26:25,270 --> 00:26:27,178 They're seeing told me. They're seeing this whole 717 00:26:27,178 --> 00:26:29,502 lake. They're they're seeing the world start to 718 00:26:29,502 --> 00:26:31,734 really flex its muscles. And, I mean, Rome 719 00:26:31,734 --> 00:26:32,633 is still 720 00:26:33,647 --> 00:26:36,054 major influence on our culture today. It's still 721 00:26:36,054 --> 00:26:37,734 a huge part of how we shape our 722 00:26:37,734 --> 00:26:40,054 own society, the things that we value, the 723 00:26:40,054 --> 00:26:42,534 way that we structure our government, this the 724 00:26:42,534 --> 00:26:45,673 the... Philosophy that we kinda hold to, democracy. 725 00:26:45,967 --> 00:26:48,271 The whole thing is like, we've got Rome. 726 00:26:48,430 --> 00:26:50,757 It's still here. I mean, that's a significant 727 00:26:51,210 --> 00:26:51,607 kingdom. 728 00:26:53,531 --> 00:26:56,481 So for 400 years, they're watching how the 729 00:26:56,481 --> 00:26:58,076 kingdoms of earth work, 730 00:26:59,431 --> 00:27:00,945 and they're clinging to that promise, 731 00:27:01,439 --> 00:27:02,954 and they're expecting the son of man to 732 00:27:02,954 --> 00:27:04,150 come and liberate them, 733 00:27:05,824 --> 00:27:08,137 and then they hear nothing, and then Jesus 734 00:27:08,137 --> 00:27:09,093 comes onto the scene. 735 00:27:10,543 --> 00:27:12,452 And the first thing Jesus does after his 736 00:27:12,452 --> 00:27:12,929 baptism, 737 00:27:13,327 --> 00:27:15,952 and then temptation in the desert. The first 738 00:27:15,952 --> 00:27:17,880 thing he does in Matthew's gospel he goes 739 00:27:17,880 --> 00:27:20,440 around, and he begins to preach this really 740 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,640 radical message, which Matthew sums up in Matthew 741 00:27:23,640 --> 00:27:24,140 4 742 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:27,250 verse 17. It says, as From that time 743 00:27:27,250 --> 00:27:27,410 on, 744 00:27:28,128 --> 00:27:29,723 Jesus began to rep preach. 745 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:30,760 Repent. 746 00:27:31,637 --> 00:27:31,956 Why? 747 00:27:32,674 --> 00:27:35,386 For the kingdom of heaven has come near. 748 00:27:36,598 --> 00:27:37,236 Times coming. 749 00:27:38,115 --> 00:27:40,589 The kingdom that you all been longing for, 750 00:27:40,909 --> 00:27:41,946 the kingdom is coming, 751 00:27:43,543 --> 00:27:44,501 and it's here. 752 00:27:45,554 --> 00:27:47,392 There's a mic drop moment for people. 753 00:27:48,910 --> 00:27:51,547 Because Jesus is just this like, he is 754 00:27:51,547 --> 00:27:53,545 not a king like they would be expecting 755 00:27:53,545 --> 00:27:55,556 a king. He's not gonna be the guy 756 00:27:55,556 --> 00:27:57,551 that overthrow the government. He doesn't look like 757 00:27:57,950 --> 00:27:59,786 Alexander The great. He doesn't look like sister. 758 00:27:59,945 --> 00:28:01,541 He doesn't look like any of these people 759 00:28:01,541 --> 00:28:04,588 who have, like gained prestige and military power. 760 00:28:04,827 --> 00:28:06,582 He doesn't have tons of influence. He doesn't 761 00:28:06,582 --> 00:28:08,996 have these things. And yet 762 00:28:09,533 --> 00:28:10,432 from this 763 00:28:10,968 --> 00:28:12,005 place of humility, 764 00:28:12,817 --> 00:28:13,931 comes the messiah. 765 00:28:14,727 --> 00:28:16,181 And Jesus is claiming 766 00:28:17,034 --> 00:28:18,864 the kingdom of Heaven has come near. And 767 00:28:18,864 --> 00:28:21,625 then just shortly after that in chapter 5 768 00:28:22,143 --> 00:28:23,740 He... I mean, he goes around to all 769 00:28:23,740 --> 00:28:26,374 the people. He's healing people. He's kind of 770 00:28:26,374 --> 00:28:26,874 demonstrating 771 00:28:27,252 --> 00:28:29,726 his sovereignty over the earth and everything in 772 00:28:29,726 --> 00:28:32,215 it and he's saying in a sense, I'm 773 00:28:32,215 --> 00:28:34,129 the king. Here's this new kingdom is coming, 774 00:28:34,369 --> 00:28:35,486 and I'm actually the king. 775 00:28:36,922 --> 00:28:38,847 And that doesn't not a lot of people 776 00:28:38,847 --> 00:28:39,166 get that, 777 00:28:40,040 --> 00:28:42,665 as they're watching Jesus life unfold, and it's 778 00:28:42,665 --> 00:28:44,891 a tricky message to understand, but the people 779 00:28:44,891 --> 00:28:47,214 that do follow him there's great crowds of 780 00:28:47,214 --> 00:28:50,002 gentile, and it's typically not a real religious 781 00:28:50,002 --> 00:28:51,754 thing, but they're going, yeah. You know what? 782 00:28:52,471 --> 00:28:53,347 Because Rome, 783 00:28:54,382 --> 00:28:56,548 you know, my uncle and brother and so 784 00:28:56,548 --> 00:28:57,982 and so and so and so they all 785 00:28:57,982 --> 00:29:00,532 died building the stupid a and the sewer 786 00:29:00,532 --> 00:29:03,576 system for these guys. And Jesus is proclaiming 787 00:29:03,576 --> 00:29:06,606 something, like, when you're hurt, when you're, you 788 00:29:06,606 --> 00:29:08,759 know, when you're not able to work when 789 00:29:08,759 --> 00:29:10,753 you're not useful to Roam anymore, what's Rome 790 00:29:10,753 --> 00:29:12,682 got to do with you. What's wrong care 791 00:29:12,682 --> 00:29:13,082 about you. 792 00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:16,034 What are they gonna invest in you? Not 793 00:29:16,034 --> 00:29:16,433 a lot. 794 00:29:17,231 --> 00:29:18,908 But Jesus kingdom is a little different than 795 00:29:18,908 --> 00:29:21,157 that. Fact it's radically different than that. It's 796 00:29:21,157 --> 00:29:22,752 completely the opposite of Rome. 797 00:29:23,709 --> 00:29:25,463 And so when we're looking for kingdoms, 798 00:29:25,942 --> 00:29:27,936 were tempted to miss it because a lot 799 00:29:27,936 --> 00:29:30,423 of years of kingdoms have coming gone, and 800 00:29:30,423 --> 00:29:32,337 we're pretty close to our American neighbors to 801 00:29:32,337 --> 00:29:34,651 the south who have a a pretty good 802 00:29:34,651 --> 00:29:36,006 king and we got a pretty good thing 803 00:29:36,006 --> 00:29:36,884 going on ourselves. 804 00:29:40,089 --> 00:29:42,240 But the contents of the kingdom of heaven 805 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:44,073 has come near when Jesus is telling people 806 00:29:44,073 --> 00:29:45,905 repent the kingdom heaven has come near, the 807 00:29:45,905 --> 00:29:47,658 contents of what that is going to mean 808 00:29:47,658 --> 00:29:49,093 and what that is going to look like, 809 00:29:49,730 --> 00:29:52,222 but is the sermon on the mount. This 810 00:29:52,222 --> 00:29:55,099 is where Jesus goes, this is the values, 811 00:29:55,339 --> 00:29:57,497 the ethics, the understanding of what it looks 812 00:29:57,497 --> 00:30:00,309 like to be behold and to and to 813 00:30:00,309 --> 00:30:02,865 walk in this kingdom. This is what it 814 00:30:02,865 --> 00:30:04,783 looks like to be 1 of the knights 815 00:30:04,783 --> 00:30:06,381 of the... Or just a a citizen of 816 00:30:06,381 --> 00:30:07,180 heaven. Right? 817 00:30:08,475 --> 00:30:09,994 And so we're gonna start in the next 818 00:30:09,994 --> 00:30:10,555 couple of weeks, 819 00:30:11,275 --> 00:30:11,775 unpacking 820 00:30:12,075 --> 00:30:14,075 the sermon on them mount, and I'm really 821 00:30:14,075 --> 00:30:14,715 excited about it. 822 00:30:15,688 --> 00:30:16,885 And here's the thing about the king to 823 00:30:16,965 --> 00:30:19,540 Heaven though. Our expectation for it 824 00:30:20,237 --> 00:30:20,737 often 825 00:30:21,434 --> 00:30:23,999 can make us blind to it. We want 826 00:30:23,999 --> 00:30:26,222 it so bad, and we've been so accustomed 827 00:30:26,222 --> 00:30:29,001 to looking around to other competing kingdoms, and 828 00:30:29,001 --> 00:30:30,748 we we see it especially. On a man. 829 00:30:30,906 --> 00:30:32,669 It's an election time in the states. And 830 00:30:32,748 --> 00:30:34,580 I'm I'm American, and I hear all about 831 00:30:34,580 --> 00:30:37,210 it. You know, like, we're looking for, like, 832 00:30:37,767 --> 00:30:38,723 we're looking for, like, 833 00:30:39,520 --> 00:30:41,991 and captain America Jesus. You know what I 834 00:30:41,991 --> 00:30:44,313 mean? Like, it's a real blending and sync 835 00:30:44,447 --> 00:30:46,507 of like, of these 2 systems, 836 00:30:46,999 --> 00:30:49,153 and they've... Jesus has done nothing but show 837 00:30:49,153 --> 00:30:51,946 us that that doesn't exist. Like, you're not 838 00:30:51,946 --> 00:30:54,181 gonna find the guy that's holding the rocket 839 00:30:54,181 --> 00:30:54,580 launcher, 840 00:30:55,153 --> 00:30:57,624 and wearing the to and sitting on the 841 00:30:57,624 --> 00:31:00,732 cross. Right? You're either the 1 nailing into 842 00:31:00,732 --> 00:31:02,167 the cross or you're the 1 on the 843 00:31:02,167 --> 00:31:02,406 cross. 844 00:31:02,979 --> 00:31:05,554 And Jesus shows us a pretty direct and 845 00:31:05,852 --> 00:31:07,208 alarming way of the kingdom. 846 00:31:07,767 --> 00:31:09,283 And most of the people that Jesus was 847 00:31:09,283 --> 00:31:12,163 teaching about the king them didn't really get 848 00:31:12,163 --> 00:31:12,322 it. 849 00:31:13,276 --> 00:31:16,398 Certainly, those in a position of relative power 850 00:31:16,693 --> 00:31:18,918 had a harder time getting it. Whether they 851 00:31:18,918 --> 00:31:21,656 were the religious elite or the 852 00:31:22,108 --> 00:31:24,807 mighty or the rich. Those who had the 853 00:31:24,807 --> 00:31:27,347 most to lose are often the slowest to 854 00:31:27,347 --> 00:31:27,824 give it up. 855 00:31:28,554 --> 00:31:30,470 And so as we go into this sermon 856 00:31:30,470 --> 00:31:30,789 series, 857 00:31:31,428 --> 00:31:33,982 we have to recognize that most of us, 858 00:31:34,860 --> 00:31:36,696 because we live in a very affluent part 859 00:31:36,696 --> 00:31:37,255 of the world, 860 00:31:38,067 --> 00:31:39,205 have a lot to lose 861 00:31:40,299 --> 00:31:41,893 when we consider the kingdom of God. 862 00:31:46,922 --> 00:31:47,977 Jesus kingdom 863 00:31:48,588 --> 00:31:49,381 is for the meek, 864 00:31:50,729 --> 00:31:51,680 and for the mourners. 865 00:31:53,678 --> 00:31:55,106 They're not an influential bunch. 866 00:31:56,852 --> 00:31:58,201 It's for the poor and spirit. 867 00:31:58,756 --> 00:32:00,684 It's for the ones who's hunger for 868 00:32:01,072 --> 00:32:01,572 righteousness, 869 00:32:01,946 --> 00:32:03,716 whose hunger and thirst for righteousness 870 00:32:04,486 --> 00:32:05,304 and justice 871 00:32:06,074 --> 00:32:07,765 exceeds their hunger 872 00:32:08,789 --> 00:32:10,382 for power and control, 873 00:32:10,940 --> 00:32:14,228 and influence or money or the other promises 874 00:32:14,286 --> 00:32:15,083 of our culture. 875 00:32:16,835 --> 00:32:17,712 And because of this, 876 00:32:19,243 --> 00:32:21,800 They don't become wealthy people. They don't tend 877 00:32:21,800 --> 00:32:23,718 to become very influential people. 878 00:32:24,358 --> 00:32:26,675 They're relegated off to the kind of corners 879 00:32:26,675 --> 00:32:27,210 of history 880 00:32:27,890 --> 00:32:29,409 and we don't hear a lot about them. 881 00:32:30,690 --> 00:32:31,190 These 882 00:32:31,730 --> 00:32:33,169 have found the pearl of great worth. 883 00:32:34,529 --> 00:32:36,862 3 they have sold everything to obtain that 884 00:32:36,862 --> 00:32:38,321 treasure hidden in a field 885 00:32:39,099 --> 00:32:40,458 that nobody else can see. 886 00:32:41,417 --> 00:32:42,615 They are the mustard seed. 887 00:32:43,589 --> 00:32:45,684 They are the good soil upon which 888 00:32:46,300 --> 00:32:47,577 the seed flourish is, 889 00:32:48,374 --> 00:32:49,730 and this is the call of Christ. 890 00:32:50,448 --> 00:32:53,653 Christ enters into the most powerful empire of 891 00:32:53,653 --> 00:32:56,515 all of human history, arguably, I would stand 892 00:32:56,515 --> 00:32:56,754 by it. 893 00:32:58,901 --> 00:33:00,730 If you're an American watching this. I'm sorry. 894 00:33:04,326 --> 00:33:05,997 Rome is all around us you guys. Roam 895 00:33:05,997 --> 00:33:07,668 it's in our art. It's in our architecture. 896 00:33:07,827 --> 00:33:08,782 It's in our language. 897 00:33:09,260 --> 00:33:10,851 It's in our literature. It's in our laws, 898 00:33:13,247 --> 00:33:15,729 We understand empire. We understand 899 00:33:16,181 --> 00:33:18,560 we understand power and influence. We know what 900 00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:20,967 it takes. If we wanna shape this culture, 901 00:33:21,606 --> 00:33:22,965 we know how to do that. We've seen 902 00:33:22,965 --> 00:33:25,202 it done before. We've seen the kinds of 903 00:33:25,202 --> 00:33:26,560 things that shape this culture, 904 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:27,414 and 905 00:33:27,931 --> 00:33:29,361 we're being asked not to believe it. 906 00:33:30,235 --> 00:33:32,221 Jesus is showing us an alternative way. 907 00:33:32,856 --> 00:33:34,127 We can't do this thing, 908 00:33:35,019 --> 00:33:37,575 In the Canadian way or in the American 909 00:33:37,575 --> 00:33:38,854 way or in the way of the empire, 910 00:33:39,093 --> 00:33:40,931 we can't afford to do it because that's 911 00:33:40,931 --> 00:33:41,809 not how it works. 912 00:33:42,541 --> 00:33:44,213 We can't have our cake and eat it 913 00:33:44,213 --> 00:33:45,430 too, unfortunately. 914 00:33:46,124 --> 00:33:47,636 It would be really nice if we could. 915 00:33:50,358 --> 00:33:51,393 But I don't think we can. 916 00:33:54,577 --> 00:33:55,476 We are Roman 917 00:33:56,170 --> 00:33:57,523 in a sense. We are empire. 918 00:33:58,893 --> 00:34:00,569 But we are also told that we are 919 00:34:00,569 --> 00:34:01,069 citizens 920 00:34:01,925 --> 00:34:04,159 of a different kingdom of a heavenly kingdom, 921 00:34:05,356 --> 00:34:07,287 and that we can live in these 2 922 00:34:07,287 --> 00:34:09,362 kingdoms at the same time. We can be 923 00:34:09,362 --> 00:34:11,358 citizens of the 1 and so journeys to 924 00:34:11,358 --> 00:34:11,837 the other. 925 00:34:13,594 --> 00:34:15,030 And that's the whole trick of living this 926 00:34:15,030 --> 00:34:15,430 thing out. 927 00:34:16,242 --> 00:34:18,316 How do we live out our beliefs? How 928 00:34:18,316 --> 00:34:20,629 do we express these values? How do we 929 00:34:20,629 --> 00:34:21,767 express this kingdom 930 00:34:22,543 --> 00:34:24,219 to the people around us. And this is 931 00:34:24,378 --> 00:34:25,335 I wanna close on this. 932 00:34:27,262 --> 00:34:29,494 When Jesus is presenting this. This is the 933 00:34:29,494 --> 00:34:31,326 very center of his teaching. That's what he's 934 00:34:31,326 --> 00:34:32,681 going to do. He starts off saying, 935 00:34:33,332 --> 00:34:34,685 repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. 936 00:34:34,923 --> 00:34:36,038 Let me explain to you what the kingdom 937 00:34:36,038 --> 00:34:37,947 of heaven looks like. If you're gonna follow 938 00:34:37,947 --> 00:34:39,698 me, this is what you're following me into, 939 00:34:39,937 --> 00:34:41,847 and then he gets himself crucified for his 940 00:34:41,847 --> 00:34:44,563 troubles. He gives up everything he has. He 941 00:34:44,563 --> 00:34:46,469 has all the power, and it is a 942 00:34:46,469 --> 00:34:48,558 display of power and authority 943 00:34:48,932 --> 00:34:50,521 to be crucified on the cross. 944 00:34:51,492 --> 00:34:53,244 Is the greatest display of power and it 945 00:34:53,244 --> 00:34:55,396 third because he has the authority power over 946 00:34:55,396 --> 00:34:57,867 death itself, and he has gained that, and 947 00:34:57,867 --> 00:35:00,189 he says, Now you too can face these 948 00:35:00,189 --> 00:35:02,575 things. You have that kind of power and 949 00:35:02,575 --> 00:35:04,564 authority to be able to face death to 950 00:35:04,564 --> 00:35:06,009 be able to face person. Execution to be 951 00:35:06,009 --> 00:35:07,834 able to face hunger and to be able 952 00:35:07,834 --> 00:35:10,691 to face the injustices of this world as 953 00:35:10,691 --> 00:35:13,310 a citizen of that world as a citizen 954 00:35:13,310 --> 00:35:15,630 of heaven as a child of God, blessed 955 00:35:15,630 --> 00:35:16,983 are the peace makers for they will be 956 00:35:16,983 --> 00:35:19,131 called children of God. Right? 957 00:35:20,166 --> 00:35:21,677 Blessed of the pure and heart for they 958 00:35:21,677 --> 00:35:22,552 will see God. 959 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:25,987 This is who we are, and we have 960 00:35:25,987 --> 00:35:27,974 to live that thing out inside of this 961 00:35:27,974 --> 00:35:28,451 culture. 962 00:35:29,882 --> 00:35:31,155 And we've done this thing and this is 963 00:35:31,155 --> 00:35:32,529 a western way of thinking 964 00:35:33,079 --> 00:35:35,392 we think about religion, we think about spirituality, 965 00:35:35,551 --> 00:35:38,582 we think about Jesus or Christianity in terms 966 00:35:38,582 --> 00:35:40,735 of a logical set of propositions. And when 967 00:35:40,735 --> 00:35:42,352 we share and evan, 968 00:35:42,983 --> 00:35:45,233 or when we're, you know, doing this 969 00:35:45,608 --> 00:35:48,313 evangelical or you Eli or how you wanna 970 00:35:48,313 --> 00:35:49,427 say that the Greek word of... 971 00:35:50,235 --> 00:35:50,735 Evan 972 00:35:51,346 --> 00:35:53,882 when we're doing that, that word means good 973 00:35:53,882 --> 00:35:56,578 news. Right? People would run in and say, 974 00:35:56,974 --> 00:35:58,976 you know, There's a king. There's a new 975 00:35:58,976 --> 00:36:00,908 kingdom and a new king and they're bringing 976 00:36:01,203 --> 00:36:04,067 an evangelion. They're bringing the good news. 977 00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:06,637 And Jesus comes and they pick up on 978 00:36:06,637 --> 00:36:08,795 this, You know, when when Daniel is talking 979 00:36:08,795 --> 00:36:10,313 about this good news of the kingdom, the 980 00:36:10,393 --> 00:36:12,791 Sep translate it as even Eli. 981 00:36:13,430 --> 00:36:15,905 Evangelion. That's how it translates. It uses that 982 00:36:15,905 --> 00:36:17,411 same word. Good news. 983 00:36:18,283 --> 00:36:20,106 And so this is what we're coming into. 984 00:36:20,344 --> 00:36:22,184 This is what we're sharing. But we tend 985 00:36:22,184 --> 00:36:24,568 to think of good news as like a 986 00:36:24,568 --> 00:36:24,966 thesis, 987 00:36:25,443 --> 00:36:27,429 and we're like, I gotta tell people all 988 00:36:27,429 --> 00:36:29,972 of these proposition of truths. But more than 989 00:36:29,972 --> 00:36:30,131 that, 990 00:36:30,784 --> 00:36:33,497 The people that get it that Jesus talking 991 00:36:33,497 --> 00:36:35,971 to are the people who have nothing and 992 00:36:35,971 --> 00:36:37,407 they're willing to give it all up to 993 00:36:37,407 --> 00:36:38,125 follow Jesus. 994 00:36:38,618 --> 00:36:40,604 And there's this radical new way of what 995 00:36:40,604 --> 00:36:42,590 it looks like to be alive and to 996 00:36:42,590 --> 00:36:45,133 interact with this world around us, and it 997 00:36:45,133 --> 00:36:47,854 looks a lot like laying ourselves down in 998 00:36:47,854 --> 00:36:48,333 front of it, 999 00:36:49,132 --> 00:36:52,089 of subject ourselves to crucifixion of of putting 1000 00:36:52,648 --> 00:36:55,206 going the whole distance of and and trusting 1001 00:36:55,365 --> 00:36:57,373 God and obedience in the midst of this 1002 00:36:57,373 --> 00:36:59,282 chaos and the crazy that we live in, 1003 00:36:59,442 --> 00:37:00,157 and we live in it. 1004 00:37:01,748 --> 00:37:02,964 That's evan. 1005 00:37:03,673 --> 00:37:06,168 When we do that thing. We pro 1006 00:37:06,864 --> 00:37:10,076 the greatness of God. We pro the sovereignty 1007 00:37:10,213 --> 00:37:12,447 of god over all of this when we 1008 00:37:12,447 --> 00:37:13,819 face that stuff with confidence, 1009 00:37:14,298 --> 00:37:16,296 knowing that god can provide for us that 1010 00:37:16,296 --> 00:37:17,974 he can take care of us and that 1011 00:37:17,974 --> 00:37:19,034 he is still 1012 00:37:19,813 --> 00:37:22,231 on the throne, no matter whose 1013 00:37:22,703 --> 00:37:24,952 elected into what position God 1014 00:37:25,485 --> 00:37:26,440 is on the throne. 1015 00:37:28,904 --> 00:37:31,222 And we have to ask ourselves, because Canada 1016 00:37:31,222 --> 00:37:32,650 is now post nation, 1017 00:37:33,839 --> 00:37:35,663 and we're faced with the same question that 1018 00:37:35,663 --> 00:37:38,304 god's holy people have always been faced with 1019 00:37:38,533 --> 00:37:40,757 are we going to scramble for power and 1020 00:37:40,757 --> 00:37:41,074 influence? 1021 00:37:42,027 --> 00:37:43,695 Are we gonna play by the rules of 1022 00:37:43,695 --> 00:37:44,592 earthly kingdoms 1023 00:37:44,966 --> 00:37:45,999 or of God's kingdom? 1024 00:37:47,606 --> 00:37:49,520 What will the kingdom of heaven teach us 1025 00:37:49,520 --> 00:37:51,752 about how god structures this church? 1026 00:37:53,426 --> 00:37:55,101 How we structures our relationship? 1027 00:37:55,754 --> 00:37:57,589 With the town and the culture and the 1028 00:37:57,589 --> 00:37:58,706 politics around us? 1029 00:37:59,983 --> 00:38:02,616 How do we treat power and authority, who's 1030 00:38:02,616 --> 00:38:02,936 important? 1031 00:38:03,510 --> 00:38:05,989 To us, who has influence? Who do we 1032 00:38:05,989 --> 00:38:06,550 care about? 1033 00:38:07,190 --> 00:38:08,949 Where do we spend our time money and 1034 00:38:08,949 --> 00:38:09,269 talents? 1035 00:38:10,230 --> 00:38:11,644 What do we invest in 1036 00:38:13,506 --> 00:38:14,140 Who is rich? 1037 00:38:14,853 --> 00:38:15,567 Who is poor? 1038 00:38:16,676 --> 00:38:18,340 These are all questions we need to be 1039 00:38:18,340 --> 00:38:18,735 asking. 1040 00:38:19,307 --> 00:38:21,532 And for this, I'm very excited about the 1041 00:38:21,532 --> 00:38:23,701 upcoming series on the sermon on the mount 1042 00:38:23,916 --> 00:38:25,744 because it's going to be a sustained reflection 1043 00:38:25,744 --> 00:38:27,413 on these things. And so I'd invite all 1044 00:38:27,413 --> 00:38:27,731 of us, 1045 00:38:28,463 --> 00:38:30,081 in the weeks ahead to just 1046 00:38:31,257 --> 00:38:33,571 dive into that thing, allow it to challenge 1047 00:38:33,571 --> 00:38:33,731 you, 1048 00:38:34,768 --> 00:38:36,938 allow this thing to settle you, It's a 1049 00:38:36,938 --> 00:38:37,836 very important 1050 00:38:38,851 --> 00:38:40,525 thing to have on unsettled us because it's 1051 00:38:40,525 --> 00:38:42,119 really at the center of what crisis is 1052 00:38:42,119 --> 00:38:42,836 trying to teach us. 1053 00:38:44,923 --> 00:38:46,518 And when we live there, 1054 00:38:47,236 --> 00:38:50,665 we experience God. We experience the power and 1055 00:38:50,665 --> 00:38:51,723 sufficiency of God 1056 00:38:52,101 --> 00:38:53,137 and God is on the throne. 1057 00:38:53,775 --> 00:38:54,348 Let's great. 1058 00:38:57,137 --> 00:38:58,832 Father, we thank you for your sovereignty. 1059 00:39:00,324 --> 00:39:02,634 We thank you for loving us for restoring 1060 00:39:02,634 --> 00:39:03,724 us for bringing us 1061 00:39:04,321 --> 00:39:05,457 back into this 1062 00:39:06,070 --> 00:39:06,570 kingdom 1063 00:39:07,264 --> 00:39:09,411 of setting before us a vision for the 1064 00:39:09,411 --> 00:39:11,478 for your kingdom for your glory, 1065 00:39:12,289 --> 00:39:12,929 for your good. 1066 00:39:14,286 --> 00:39:15,644 Think you that we can see it even 1067 00:39:15,644 --> 00:39:15,884 now, 1068 00:39:16,683 --> 00:39:18,062 spring up around us 1069 00:39:19,079 --> 00:39:20,630 and in cups of cool water 1070 00:39:21,007 --> 00:39:22,224 when we visit those 1071 00:39:22,600 --> 00:39:23,954 who are sick or in prison. 1072 00:39:25,628 --> 00:39:28,097 It's in these small acts of justice and 1073 00:39:28,097 --> 00:39:28,576 righteousness. 1074 00:39:29,704 --> 00:39:31,795 Of reconciling people to you 1075 00:39:33,443 --> 00:39:35,034 that we see you that we see your 1076 00:39:35,034 --> 00:39:35,534 kingdom 1077 00:39:36,164 --> 00:39:37,623 and we thank you god that 1078 00:39:38,162 --> 00:39:39,920 despite all the kingdoms of the world, 1079 00:39:40,799 --> 00:39:41,998 yours has persisted, 1080 00:39:42,637 --> 00:39:44,715 yours will last. It's not going anywhere. 1081 00:39:45,369 --> 00:39:46,409 You are still on the throne. 1082 00:39:48,409 --> 00:39:50,650 Here are praise this morning and be pleased 1083 00:39:50,650 --> 00:39:51,849 we ask in Jesus name. 1084 00:39:52,489 --> 00:39:52,650 Amen. 1085 00:39:53,784 --> 00:39:55,385 Let's stand and sing praise the Lord. 1086 00:40:27,843 --> 00:40:28,343 Hope 1087 00:41:19,535 --> 00:41:20,035 in 1088 00:42:00,404 --> 00:42:00,904 god 1089 00:43:19,007 --> 00:43:19,485 Pray for. 1090 00:43:19,979 --> 00:43:20,858 Father we thank you. 1091 00:43:21,577 --> 00:43:23,015 Thank you again for the gift of your 1092 00:43:23,015 --> 00:43:24,853 son. Thank you that you are on the 1093 00:43:24,853 --> 00:43:26,770 throne that we can have confidence in this. 1094 00:43:27,264 --> 00:43:29,117 Help us to remind each other of this 1095 00:43:29,253 --> 00:43:30,765 as we go out, would you remind us, 1096 00:43:30,923 --> 00:43:32,197 Lord that it doesn't need to be a 1097 00:43:32,197 --> 00:43:34,981 great thing, but the opportunities for your kingdom 1098 00:43:34,981 --> 00:43:35,936 lie all around us. 1099 00:43:36,907 --> 00:43:38,978 Opportunities to invest and who you've called us 1100 00:43:38,978 --> 00:43:41,369 to be to to be who you say 1101 00:43:41,369 --> 00:43:43,201 we are and to do the things you 1102 00:43:43,201 --> 00:43:44,476 tell us to do in the way that 1103 00:43:44,476 --> 00:43:45,751 you've created us to do them. 1104 00:43:47,041 --> 00:43:48,713 God thank you for giving us your son. 1105 00:43:49,271 --> 00:43:51,342 As a guide as a way of showing 1106 00:43:51,342 --> 00:43:53,652 and for your spirit who teaches us and 1107 00:43:53,652 --> 00:43:54,847 moves us into these things. 1108 00:43:56,140 --> 00:43:57,579 Help us to claim your goodness, 1109 00:43:58,059 --> 00:43:58,800 your sovereignty, 1110 00:43:59,340 --> 00:44:01,260 your power and your might, and the way 1111 00:44:01,260 --> 00:44:02,539 that we give our lives up for the 1112 00:44:02,539 --> 00:44:03,260 world around us. 1113 00:44:04,140 --> 00:44:06,391 Help us to follow you, Lord. We ask 1114 00:44:06,391 --> 00:44:07,189 in Jesus name. 1115 00:44:07,987 --> 00:44:08,147 Amen. 1116 00:44:09,425 --> 00:44:12,139 Be blessed. You are dismissed. Happy Sunday. 1117 00:44:51,937 --> 00:44:52,437 And 1118 00:44:52,816 --> 00:44:53,316 keep 1119 00:45:22,742 --> 00:45:23,242 and 1120 00:45:23,617 --> 00:45:24,117 keep 1121 00:45:26,083 --> 00:45:28,151 make his face on, 1122 00:45:28,563 --> 00:45:29,063 pawn 1123 00:46:44,741 --> 00:46:45,638 we agree 1124 00:46:46,169 --> 00:46:46,407 amen. 1125 00:47:58,929 --> 00:47:59,908 And thousand 1126 00:48:01,643 --> 00:48:02,143 generations 1127 00:48:02,521 --> 00:48:03,021 your