The Kingdom

Paul continues his missionary journey in Acts, going to Ephesus. He preaches about the kingdom of Christ, emphasizing its eternal nature. In Ephesus, they worshipped a Greek goddess, but Paul teaches about the true God. He encounters disciples who have not received the Holy Spirit, and upon receiving baptism in the name of Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit. Paul spends three months in the synagogue, boldly preaching about the kingdom of God. The kingdom is an important topic, mentioned frequently in the New Testament, and Jesus himself emphasized it. Okay, we welcome everybody out tonight. Punch the pulpit mic on. I think they turned that pulpit mic off because the music kind of squelches a little bit. Yeah, it kind of backfires a little bit. Hey, Adrian. Sorry, I had it on, but I think it squelches a little bit. We welcome everybody out tonight. We're going to continue our study in Acts. And then we're going to be seeing Paul go to Ephesus, actually. So he's on his last missionary journey. I'm not sure if it's still on, but the last missionary journey. There we go. Sorry about that, guys. All right. So he's on his last missionary journey, and he goes to Ephesus. And remember, the first time around, the Holy Spirit said, hey, don't go that direction. But now he's been told to go that direction. So we're going to see some topics tonight primarily about the kingdom of Christ. He goes into the kingdom quite a bit in detail here in Ephesus. But before we start going into this topic, let's go ahead and go to God in prayer. Let's pray. Dear God, thank you so much for this night that we can come here and worship you. And we just pray that you just help our minds and our hearts to clear out and let us absorb your word and your truth and let us hear it in a powerful way as I stay out of the way of what you want to accomplish. Forgive us for our sins. In Jesus' name, amen. So we're going to see Christ the king in the kingdom someday. We know that that's something that we look forward to. And there was this trend recently where, well, as you know, Israel got attacked pretty badly last October. And so this fall, Candace Owens posted in March or something like that. She posted, Christ is king. And everybody's like, oh, look, she's a white supremacist. And it became this, I guess, a white supremacist kind of anti-Semitic thing that went around the Internet, oddly enough. But Christ is king, and it's not anti-Semitic because Christ is a Jew. Jesus is a Jew. And we don't disagree with that at all. But we see that Paul is going to Ephesus here. We can see his journey from Antioch. That was kind of the headquarters, if you remember. Jerusalem had started there, and then they built a base in Antioch. And this was around 54 to 58 A.D. And what was Ephesus known for? Well, Ephesus was known for, of course, a Greek goddess. About every city around there was known for a Greek goddess. I don't know if you go to cities today, what they're known for. You know, like Vegas is known for purity and spirituality, I've heard. I've heard there's a revival going on there. Ask Mike about some of the sites that he saw, or don't. But, yeah, cities are known for different things. And our cities today are known maybe for the trend of all being liberal, all being more progressive. They all kind of are against God in a lot of ways, just much like these big cities were back then. No difference. And this next picture, I'll kind of go next by next here. This picture is of the Temple of Artemis and what's left of it. Not much is left of it. That shows you these big trends that people are on. The whole city was defined by this Greek goddess, and now you've got a pile of rubble. So just remember that when people think these are the biggest trends that will exist forever, and they just don't. The only thing that exists forever is God and the fact that his kingdom is coming someday, and he will reign forever from that throne. But everything else is temporary. Everything else rots and falls away. Now this next picture is of that Greek goddess Artemis. And you'll see behind her she has a deer. Looks like a baby deer, like a fawn. I like fawns. They're cool. She's in here today, so I have to sit now. I love fawns, and they're cool. But we see that she's a protector kind of of the nature, and she's associated with wild animals and associated with the hunt. And her name comes from the Latin words, diem and dies means sky and daylight. So there's different things to her. She was also the goddess of fertility and was invoked by women to aid conception and delivery. Though perhaps originally an indigenous woodland goddess, Diana Early, we see different names for her, obviously. Diana Artemis, diem and dies is the Latin version of that. But Diana Early became identified with Artemis. In her cult, because that's what it was, their Diana was also considered the protector of the lower classes, especially slaves. So you can see how they pitched these gods as caring, and they look out for the lower classes of people and stuff like that, just much like the democratic movement of today or other movements that we can be familiar with today. So nothing's new. It just has a different brand on it. But Acts 19.1, let's start there. It says, while Apollos was at Corinth, and Apollos was named after a Greek god but was a Christian, he was at Corinth, and Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples and asked them, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They answered, no, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit. So they really were lacking a lot of information. The church was still growing, still developing. Information was still getting out there. So Paul asked them, what baptism did you receive? Because when we trust Christ, we're instantly baptized with the Holy Spirit. We become new in a sense that we now have the Holy Spirit living next to our spirit and within our spirit. Not that we're going to be perfect or anything, outwardly, but inwardly, we are definitely a different creature. So then Paul asked them, what baptism did you receive? They said, John's baptism, they replied. They were old school. They knew that John's baptism was a baptism of repentance, of changing their direction because of what? Because Christ was coming. And, of course, back then, even John probably thought that Christ was coming to set up his kingdom. So when they knew that the kingdom was near, John was focused on baptizing for repentance. Same thing today. We should also repent, change our direction, not for salvation, but because we want to change our direction to get ready for his return so that we are prepared when he comes back and he asks, hey, what did you do for me? We don't have to say, oh, we don't have to dig too deep. We have to make sure that we have stuff to say, hey, God, I did this for you. But verse 4 goes on. Paul said John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus. On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. Now, we know we receive the Holy Spirit right away, and this happened over and over with the apostles. They would actually lay their hands on the people, and then they would receive the Holy Spirit. This might have been a special thing reserved for the apostles to legitimize their ministry. When a new movement starts, they need all the extra help they can get. Can you imagine a new movement that, say, they worship trees or something, and they come in here and they said, hey, I have the gospel. I have the new way of thinking. We worship trees. Trees are God. You would want to make sure that they're legitimate. So this is just another way to legitimize their ministry, the fact that the Holy Spirit came on them and then outwardly expressed through them in tongues and prophecy. So this is, again, carryover from Pentecost. Well, Pentecostals, you might have heard that term. They claim that this initial boost never went away. Well, if that was the case, then, yeah, you don't receive the Holy Spirit immediately. Somebody would have to place their hands on you, but that's not biblical. But Pentecostal means of relating to or denoting any of a number of Christian movements and individuals emphasizing baptism in the Holy Spirit, evidenced by speaking in tongues, prophesying, healing, and exorcism. And they go even as far to say that you're not a Christian unless you can speak in tongues, which, remember, tongues just means languages. I took Spanish class, so I'm a Christian now because I can speak hola and yo quiero Taco Bell. Remember that commercial back in the 90s? I was so happy for that commercial because I'm like, I can finally speak Spanish. Yo quiero Taco Bell. Anybody know what that means? I want some Taco Bell. And that's always true. That's the truth with me. And then you have a different movement that is often associated with Pentecostals. You hear the Charismatics. So Charismatic Christianity, also known as Spirit-filled Christianity, very similar, I mean, is a form of Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and modern-day miracles. It doesn't necessarily mention specifically tongues and specifically exorcism, but pretty much the same type of movement. So we've got those two movements that really focus on the early Pentecost that happened, that carry on today. Verse 7 goes on, There were about 12 men in all. Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. So here he is for three months, it says three months, arguing on the topic of the kingdom of God. And he was effective and persuasive about it. Why did he want to talk about the kingdom of God? Jesus left and he, like these early apostles, thought the kingdom was going to be set up by Christ, but then he leaves them. But Paul, remember he meets Jesus later, and maybe has a warmer feel to this. But they're all focused on preaching the kingdom. And why is that? Because we need to be eternally focused, and the kingdom is an eternal mindset. So there's 155 references in the New Testament to the kingdom. So we think it's a pretty important topic. And a lot of those references were actually by Jesus himself. Acts 28, 31, he says, He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. So what's the timeline of this? You guys probably pretty much all know this, but I like to put it up there. We're in the church age right now. Through study, we think that the rapture will occur before the tribulation. And then there'll be a three-and-a-half-year period followed by another three-and-a-half-year period. Right in the middle, there'll be the desecration of the temple. And then after the great tribulation, remember, it's going to have to be cut short by the return of Christ because no one else would have survived. It's going to be so bad. It's not going to be something you want to be here for. But the return of Christ and then the millennial reign of Christ in the New Jerusalem. And then we've had the final judgment and then eternity. And the book is yet to be written beyond that final judgment and eternity. I'm sure God has a lot of stories and awesome things that are coming up in that eternity that the Bible doesn't write about. So what's the deal with looking forward to the future, to the kingdom? It keeps us positive. It keeps us motivated, focusing on a goal. Just like at work, I have goals. And right now, while I'm away, thanks to your prayers a couple weeks ago, you can back off on those a little bit because I'm literally breaking records right now and my brain is mush. It's crazy. I've done 14 loans in the last 10 days. I've never done that, even during 2020 and our boom. So definitely a miracle is occurring. But I need a miracle for my brain to not be mush too, which is coming up because I've got a vacation next week. So thank you guys for that. But we have this that says everyone needs a goal to get them through life because if you don't have something to look forward to, you may just give up. So this is where depression comes in. If you have that feeling like you don't have anything to look forward to, that's where depression will creep in. And, you know, everybody's probably had those thoughts like there's nothing fun, there's nothing to look forward to. Always have something to look forward to, even if it's that cup of coffee at work in the morning. I mean, I look forward to that cup of coffee at work right when I wake up in the morning. This next one says happiness is pretty simple. Someone to love, something to do, something to look forward to. Pretty simple. That's happiness, something to look forward to. And that's nothing better to look forward to than the kingdom of God. The kingdom will be real life. And as I said Sunday, this is just kind of a dim reality. It says 1 Corinthians 13, 12, for now we see in a mirror dimly. If you think of the present existence that we live in now as kind of a dim mirror that you can't quite make out what's in there. I don't know what you see when you look in the mirror. If you're happy with what you see, you know, I'm getting less happy as I get older. But I like the fact that it's getting more dim. But for now we see in the mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I have also been fully known. We can't comprehend how crystal clear and crisp this new reality will be after we meet God. We don't know how crystal clear, like, you know, my grandma and grandpa, both grandpas have passed away, and I think how crystal clear their life is now compared to this dim, kind of depressing at times, reality that we live in. Occasionally we get a little glimpse of heaven. You know, when I went out to Yellowstone and the crystal clear water that flows through there and the mountains and the colors and the smells and the animals, there's little hints of this, but they're just very small. How can we not be excited about the kingdom? Jesus is going to reign from Jerusalem. We get excited if our president wins. We get excited if a local representative wins. And then what do they do? They go there and really don't do anything for us. I mean, long term anyway. But tears will be wiped away. Another thing to look forward to, there's going to be peace on earth, something that the earth has been striving for, this one world government thing. Everybody on earth, Christian or not, they have their own definition of what the world would look like as a peaceful place. Children playing with lions and lions laying down with lambs, and Jesus will physically be the light of the world instead of the sun. Somehow it's going to work. I'm not sure how that works, but Jesus will be the light of the world. So the Christians in Thessalonica were probably the best examples of new believers that were going to inherit this kingdom because the kingdom of God is a reward. So you want to make sure you're working for it so you can serve him in this kingdom in a place. I mean, he's going to give you power to do things throughout the kingdom. But these people in Thessalonica were great examples for this. Second Thessalonians 1.4 says, Therefore among God's churches we boast about your perseverance and faith in all persecutions and trials you are enduring. All this evidence that God's judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which you are suffering. So as a Christian, we are only counted worthy of eternal life. We're not counted worthy of any rewards or anything until we do something, until we sacrifice for him. And he says, God is just. He will pay back the trouble of those who trouble you. So here Paul goes, hey, you guys have been through a lot. And because you've been through a lot, because you've struggled, you will get this prize, this inheritance of the kingdom. Not only that, he's going to get justice for you because we all want justice. We don't have much justice in this world as we can see. And verse 7 says, And give relief to you who are troubled and to us as well. This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven and blazing fire with his powerful angels. So I like he's not just going to judge the world, but he's going to say, hey guys, you guys who worked hard against me, devoted your whole life to be against me, we're going to see this really heavy here in June coming up, so be prepared for that. But work so hard, wake up every morning to fight against me. By the way, I'm just going to go ahead and appear in blazing fire and remind you who I am. I'm no longer the lamb that you killed. I am the conquering king that I'm going to destroy you. And that's probably not an easy thing for God to do because he loves all those people. But he knows he has to destroy evil, otherwise it's like a cancer, it will spread. And verse 9 says, They will be punished with everlasting destruction. And shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed. This includes you because you believed our testimony to you. So these Thessalonians will see all this. We will see all this. And I want to go, I want to see all this. Him appearing in blazing glory, setting up his kingdom. So how do you do this? Well, Thessalonians, perseverance in faith and persecution specifically. We haven't really seen a ton of persecution here in this country. We've seen a little bit here and there. It's getting closer to us. Even within our own churches, it's kind of getting closer to us. So we need to persevere. Second, we seek the kingdom. But first, and it says in Matthew 6.33, it says, But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. So he's talking about having our eyes on the kingdom and being righteous while we're here and everything else will just fall into place. That's the attitude we should have. Thirdly, use what he gave you. You know, some people are given more than others, but none of that matters. Some people inherit more than others. None of that matters. It's the heart that matters. It doesn't matter how much money you have or how wealthy you are or how famous you are. It's what's been given you and how you use what's been given you. Here, I'll prove it here in Matthew 25.20. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. He said, Master, you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I've gained five more. So he must have went to the bank and saw Dane, and I'm really good at investing. Not really, I gain some, lose some. But verse 21 goes on, His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things, and I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. So again, our focus here is the kingdom reward. How do we get this reward? We use the gifts that God has given us for his glory, for his service while we're here on earth. If we're not doing that, do we deserve the kingdom reward? No, we don't. And verse 22 says, The man with two bags of gold also came. Master, you know, not quite as much, but he said, You entrusted me with the two bags of gold. See, I have gained two more, doubled his money. His master replied, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master's happiness. So, verse 24, The servant given one thousand said, So he's given a thousand. He said, Master, I know that you have high standards and hate careless ways that you demand the best and make no allowances for error. I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent. Now, if you would have put in a thousand dollars in your mattress two years ago, how much money would you have today? Well, in Bidenomics, you would have negative 50%. So, that's not a good investment to just bury it. You don't want to bury your talents. Verse 26 goes on, The master was furious. You know, and he thought he was doing a good thing, but he was furious. That's a terrible way to live. It's criminal to live cautiously like that. Pretty harsh words. If you knew I was after the best, why did you do less than the least? The least you could have done would have been to invest the sum with the bankers, where at least I would have gotten a little interest. So, he completely squandered the gifts that were given him. And, you know, there's no greater example than these awesome singers. Like, fun lessons to some really awesome singers. Like, just their voices are amazing. But, I mean, they're just singing, like, secular songs and stuff. They're not using it for God's glory, not mentioning God. I mean, nothing wrong with that necessarily, other than if you want some kingdom and reward, if you want to please God, you should use what's given to you for Him. Don't bury your talents. Or even, this is even saying, be too cautious with your talents. Maybe you can sing, or maybe you are a giving person, or maybe you are a compassionate person, but you're like, ugh, I don't want to get quite out of my comfort zone. I want to play it cautious. You try to talk yourself out of helping out, whatever it might be. But He will put you in charge of many things if you're willing. There's varying levels of gifts, you know, and varying levels of results. You know, Billy Graham, for example, had a lot of education and a lot of people around him that were very famous, and he had a very big gift for speaking and drawing people in, and so it was expected of him to go speak in front of hundreds of thousands of people. If he would have just spoken in front of ten every week and knew that God had more for him, that wasn't what he was supposed to do. Versus the widow's mite. In Mark 12, 41, it says, sitting across from the offering box, he was observing how the crowd tossed money in for the collection. Many of the rich were making large contributions. This is Jesus watching this lady. One poor widow came up and put in two small coins, a measly two cents. Jesus called his disciples over. He says, come over here, guys. The truth is, and you can see him pointing to them, the poor widow gave more to the collection than all the others put together. All the others gave what they will never miss. She gave extravagantly what she couldn't afford. She gave, the key word, she gave her all. That's a lot. As we talked about on Sunday, giving your all means being willing to lay your life down even. But you ask me to do nursery? I'm going to be reluctant. I'm going to be like, God, I'm sure you don't have that for me. I'm sure somebody else will do that. You talk yourself out of this stuff. And it's like, man, people have given their all for God, for their testimony. They've been willing to risk it. Even in modern times, she gave her all. That's what real worship is, when it's hard, when you don't want to be there, but you do it with the right attitude. You do it for the glory of God when it's a sacrifice. That's when true worship starts. It's not worship if it's not sacrifice. So who are those who will not gain the kingdom? Let's look on the other hand. We all know how to gain the kingdom now. Let's look at what not to do. 1 Corinthians 6 says, Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who have sex with men. That's pretty crystal clear. So there shouldn't be a single church teaching that this is okay, right? Well, we have in the news lately, the United Methodist Church. And I think about half of the United Methodist Church has actually come out against this. So there's a lot of good ones out there. But unfortunately, the majority actually voted to allow gay pastors even, and gay youth leaders. Would you want your kids going to somebody who struggles with something like that? I don't think so. But this is kind of a funny meme, this next one. Go ahead and play that. Becca Gurrell, clergy, New England annual conference chief, or heard, queer white adult. I'm very sorry to do this. In greater New Jersey, adult white male. Thank you, Bishop. Good morning, friends. Cisgendered white, lay male delegate from the Great Plains Conference. Okay. Clergy delegate from Minnesota, white, female, gay, adult, with pronouns she and her. White, male, straight, adult. Clergy, black woman, white, adult, female. African-American, clergy woman, pronouns she, her, white. Non-binary person. My pronouns are they, them, she, her. I am a Latinx, lay, young adult, cisgender male. Non-binary, white. I'm 34, I'm very confused on if I'm an adult or young adult, and a person living with disability. I think I agree with her. So, if you will pull out my pronouns are they, them. I think I forgot to state that when I introduced myself, I apologize. Okay. Okay, so half the Methodist Church has fallen. It's gone. I mean, that's crazy if you don't preach the truth, but that was just a few weeks ago, so I thought it was relevant. But imagine how it used to be. Paul would write letters to these churches, right? So, if you go to Methodist, if he was writing a church to the Methodist Church, they would get a nasty letter from Paul right about now. So, we need to take Paul's letters into consideration because we could have been getting a letter too if we're not preaching the truth. So, he's keeping these guys in line. We need to send them a letter. Maybe, maybe that's not a bad idea ourselves. Verse 10 goes on to talk about the other people that will not inherit the kingdom of God. And remember, this is specifically the thousand-year reign. But nor thieves, nor greedy, nor drunkards, nor slanders, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. So, basically, those who are perpetually and repentantly living a lifestyle of sin that aren't repentant ever, you know, like we all are sinners, right? We all sin every day. But it's a matter of what is our anchor? What direction is our rudder pointing? Are we like a big ship that has a large rudder? The tip of the ship may start to go off course, but it's so big and so grounded that that rudder can't help but bring it back on course. That's David. David murdered one of his best friends. He slept with one of his best friends' wife. He's going to be in the kingdom, and he's a man after God's own heart. So, it's all about that rudder. How strong is our relationship with God when the storm of sin comes? Can we shove it off and get back on track? That's what he's looking for. Verse 11 goes on, and that is what some of you were, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. So, this is all about that clean slate, and we can start fresh and clean because he died for us, which is awesome. We can wake up every morning and start fresh and clean no matter how bad we get. Is our kingdom here? That was another question. Is our kingdom here now? Because there's a lot of churches that do preach that the kingdom is here now, and it's almost more in your heart. It's not physical. Well, this is not biblical because we know the kingdom is a physical time. This next picture is a little creepy, but it says, The kingdom of God is within you all, around you, not in mansions of wood and stone. Split a piece of wood, and I am there. Lift a stone, and you will find me. You ever hear of the New Age movement where we are gods, basically? It's kind of touching on that a little bit, the fact that the kingdom of God resides in you. That's just not true at all. We know that the kingdom is a physical time period of a thousand years specifically. In Revelation 20 verse 1, we also know that Satan will not be in the kingdom, so this is good news. Revelation 20 verse 1, And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the abyss, and holding in his hand a great chain. He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years. He threw him into the abyss and locked and sealed it over him to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore. So out of all things that Satan could have done, what was his biggest thing? Deception. And he sugarcoats that deception. And to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time. You wonder how these worldwide, one world government movements get going. You wonder how the movement of the climate change to fundraise for evil causes and different movements like this get going and they're all synchronized and they're all organized. Well, it tells us right here, he deceives nations. Whole entire nations. Satan organizes well enough, it's not just one person. He takes over whole nations. Who will be there? Hopefully us. But we're going to see judges, martyrs. It says in verse 4, I saw thrones on which were seated those who have been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who have been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. So what is the kingdom of God? We see this picture. There's going to be a king, Jesus Christ. The territory is the earth. The subjects are all the people on the earth. And we're going to have law and it's going to be enforced. And we're going to be some of the enforcers of that law and it's going to be a true law. And then to finish here, let's look at this king who's going to be on the throne and how it started in verse 6 in Isaiah 9, 6. It says, To us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. And the government will be on his shoulders. So what is this talking about? The kingdom. Of the greatness of his government and peace, there will be no end. So the thousand years, yes, it's a special time, really a special time for Jesus because he created the world, he gets to rule from the world. Then he's going to make a new one after that and his reign will continue. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. So if you guys are depressed or need something to think about, think about the kingdom and how you can earn that kingdom and use the talents and the gifts that he's given you now. And that is the true source of happiness now. And you'll be much happier, trust me, in the kingdom when you're able to serve him and not having to sit on the sidelines. Let's go ahead and close in prayer tonight. Dear God, we thank you for your word and how it is much more than words. It's the Holy Spirit speaking to us through those and I just pray that you just be with us throughout the week and help us identify our talents and to use those for your glory. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.