What is the kingdom of God?
(Introduce this sermon with Ex. 19:3-6)
1. Under the Old Testament law God said the Hebrews would be “His possession.”
2. Israel would be a “holy nation.”
3. Before the New Testament was instituted, Israel was even a “kingdom of priests.”
4. Ex. 19:6 tells us about an important historical fact.
5. God had a kingdom on the earth, but this kingdom was headquartered in heaven.
6. God ruled this kingdom from where He dwells.
7. Beginning tonight we want to take a little time to study about the word kingdom.
8. Tonight’s material serves as an introduction to this subject.
LONG AFTER THE INFORMATION IN EX. 19 WAS GIVEN, THE HEBREWS RECEIVED A PROPHECY.
a) The promise I have in mind is described quite well in 2 Sam. 7.
b) Verse 9 of 2 Sam. 7 says God had been with king David.
c) God had made David great and given him a lot of help defeating enemies.
2) Because David was a man, he would one day die (2 Sam. 7:12).
3) In spite of leaving this earth, David would continue to be great.
4) Verse 9 promises David’s name would become one of the most well known names in the world.
5) God would accomplish this by doing two things:
a) A kingdom would be established.
b) About a thousand years after this kingdom a special descendant would come into the world (Jesus).
6)
Let’s
take a look at 2 Sam. 7:12-14 – READ.
a)
Some
of the prophecies in the Bible have what is called a dual fulfillment.
b)
We
might compare these to a tool that has more than one use.
c)
A
knife can cut food, but it can also pry two things apart.
d)
2 Sam.
7 foreshadowed two different persons:
Solomon and Jesus.
e)
Solomon would reign after David and establish a great kingdom (verse
12).
f)
Eventually Jesus would come and, notice verse 13, “build a house.”
g)
Solomon built a house.
7)
Long
after Solomon came someone else who was in the construction business.
8)
Jesus
came and He too build a house.
9)
Paul
called this house the church in 1 Tim. 3:15.
10)
As
with any construction project, a structure must have a location.
11)
Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem.
12)
The
second building project was also in Jerusalem.
13)
We are
through with 2 Sam. 7 and are now ready for Isaiah 2.
14)
First
Samuel lays a foundation and Isaiah 2 takes us to the next stage.
15)
What
Isaiah said must have been pretty important because it was repeated by
someone else.
16)
In the
opening verses of Micah 4 we find the same prophecy.
17)
For
our purposes we will look at and stay with Isa. 2:2-3.
18)
Isaiah
looked forward to a building project which would occur in the “latter
days.”
19)
Here
is what he said – READ Isa. 2:2-3.
a)
700
years before Jesus was born Isaiah referred to “Jehovah’s house.”
b)
He
spoke of a great attraction that would be of interest to all kinds of
people.
c)
By
this time Solomon had already built the temple.
The kingdom of Israel had split.
d)
At
this period in history, Solomon and the physical Jerusalem were out of
the picture.
e)
Isaiah
looked for to a building project which would unite people.
f)
“All
nations” would flow into the house of God.
g)
This
is another clue.
h)
Jews
were particular about their temple.
They didn’t want “all nations” in it.
20)
At the
end of verse 3 we find references to “Zion” and “Jerusalem.”
21)
Whatever was going to be built would also be in the area of Jerusalem.
22)
Perhaps to identify what was meant a description is given.
23)
God’s
house would be “above the hills” and have all sorts of “nations
flowing into it.”
a)
This
is one of the oddest statements in the entire Bible.
b)
On the
outside of this building there is guttering.
c)
Attached to the guttering is a series of downspouts.
d)
Water
flows into the guttering and then moves downward through the spouts.
e)
What
if we had a rainstorm where the water went up the downspouts
instead of down?
f)
Such a
strange sight would attract the attention of a lot of people.
24)
Isaiah
used this illustration to describe God’s house.
25)
Notice
again the description.
26)
The
house would be high above the hills and on a mountain but
people would flow UP to it.
27)
By
wording the point in this way he described something supernatural; a
building from God.
28)
It
certainly could not be anything like the temple built by Solomon.
29)
By
using both the old and new testaments we can determine what was built.
30)
Back
in 2 Sam. 7 it is described as a kingdom.
31)
Isaiah
presented it as something that would appeal to all nations and be built
by God.
32)
He put
the time of construction as being in the “latter days.”
33)
Furthermore, this kingdom is associated with the giving of a law
and the “word of the Lord.”
34)
When
this house was built, God would be providing a law as well as
information.
35)
As we
continue to look at the Bible we find more and more information about
heaven’s promise.
36)
Daniel, another prophet, described this same subject in Dan. 2.
37)
Daniel
was living under Babylonian rule.
38)
The
king of Babylon had a bad dream that he wanted explained.
39)
After
a series of events Daniel came forward and explained what the dream
meant.
40)
Daniel’s explanation sheds lots of light on 2 Sam. 7 and Isa. 2.
41)
If you
have found the second chapter of Daniel, let’s read verses 39-40 – READ.
42)
When
Daniel spoke to the Babylonian king, Babylon was the world power.
a)
Daniel
said a change would occur.
b)
A time
would come when another kingdom would arise.
c)
Then a
third kingdom would come into power.
d)
Finally a fourth new king would arise.
43)
Daniel
spoke these words about 540 B.C.—about 500 years before Jesus came into
the world.
44)
Daniel
knew that before Jesus came along there would be 4 different world
empires.
45)
As we
look back at history, we find that he was exactly right.
46)
Babylon was in power when Daniel spoke these words and Daniel spoke
about this kingdom.
47)
Babylon came into power about 606 B.C. and lasted till 536 B.C.
48)
Not
too long after Daniel had this conversation with the king Babylon lost
its dominion.
49)
A
quick check of history says the next world empire was the Persian
kingdom.
50)
From
536-332 B.C. the Medes and Persians were in power.
51)
Then
came the Greek rule (321-146 B.C.).
Daniel said he saw four kingdoms (powers).
52)
What
is of special interest to us is that last kingdom.
53)
Verse
39 says this kingdom would “rule over all the earth.”
54)
During
the existence of this fourth kingdom God’s great promises would be
enacted.
55)
Who
was kingdom number four, and when was it in power?
56)
After
146 B.C. the Romans came into the power, the people we read about in the
New Testament.
57)
Romans
ruled from 146 B.C. to 400 A.D.
58)
Now
that we have this information let’s move down to Dan. 2:44-45 – READ.
59)
Verse
45 describes the four kingdoms as iron, brass, clay, silver and gold.
60)
Each
description was a perfect portrayal of the world powers.
61)
During
the time of the fourth kingdom (Rome/gold), something would happen.
62)
Verse
44 says another kingdom would be established.
63)
This
kingdom would “stand forever” (44b).
64)
Verse
45 associates it with a “stone” cut from a mountain and “without
hands.”
65)
How
can a stone be cut from a mountain without hands?
66)
Think
back to the point made in Isa. 2; people are pictured as flowing in an
upward direction.
67)
Both
images point to an act of God; deity doing something special and unique.
68)
Both
Isaiah and Daniel spoke about the kingdom promised in 2 Sam. 7.
69)
These
men knew what God had promised and that He would keep His word.
70)
At the
end of verse 45 we find Daniel’s words were “certain.”
71)
This
man knew beyond any certainty that his explanation was right.
72)
Take
all this information and mentally move forward to first century Israel.
73)
The
right kingdom (the fourth kingdom—Rome) was in power.
74)
A man
by the name of John the Baptist showed up and began preaching.
75)
He
spoke about the “kingdom of God” and said it was “at hand.”
Jesus then came along and began to say lots and lots of things about the
kingdom.
76)
What
God had promised long ago in the New Testament came into existence in
the first century.
a)
Jesus
and John were talking about the church.
b)
Church
and kingdom are often synonyms for the same group of people.
c)
How do
we know that?
d)
According to Eph. 4:4-5, God has only “one body.”
77)
If the
church is one body and the kingdom is another, how could Paul say there
is only one?
78)
The
word church describes those who have obeyed the gospel.
79)
Kingdom describes
this same group but deals with people who cannot be included in the
church.
80)
I
would compare the thought to the Godhead.
81)
There
is only one God, but we know there are three components to Him, Father,
Son, Holy Spirit.
82)
There
is only body of the saved, but it is designated as both the church and
the kingdom.
83)
Infants cannot be a member of the church but they are saved.
84)
Thus,
they can be described as being in the kingdom.
85)
The
church is a body of people that needs rules for daily living and service
to God.
86)
Being
in the kingdom says we will have both a king and His laws to follow.
87)
God
went to a lot of trouble to create the kingdom we know as the church.
88)
He
wants people to be a member of it and not any other.
89) Have we taken that step?
Without faith we cannot please God (Heb. 11:6).
We cannot be a child of God without repentance (Lk. 13:3).
We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God (1 Tim. 6:12; Acts 8:36-38).
Finally we must be baptized into Christ (Gal. 3:27) for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38; 22:16).
Have we done these things and are we living a faithful Christian life?