The Unveiling of the Kingdom
Sunday, June 18th, 2005
As we continue our walk through the Book of Matthew, we are going to pick up at the tail end of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. For the last several weeks, we’ve been looking at different parts of this sermon, as Jesus lays out the new laws for His kingdom and begins to reveal the purposes behind His coming and give the first hints at just who He really is. The people that surrounded Jesus on the mountainside that day were hearing, for the first time, a teacher who spoke with power and authority, but balanced it with love and compassion as He cast a vision of God’s Kingdom on Earth that was unlike anything that their Jewish faith could offer them. He had begun with the beatitudes and explained what those who were esteemed in this kingdom would look like. Traits like meekness, mercy, and purity would be the standards that all men would be held up to, replacing the outer trappings of religion with the inner issues of the heart. From there, he began to lay out the new laws of the kingdom, again focusing on the heart, on what was on the inside. He looked at murder, adultery, divorce, how we treat our enemies, and explained to the stunned crowd that the act was simply a reflection of the inside and that in His kingdom, because it was the inside that counted, it wasn’t the act that condemned, but the mere thought, even if not acted upon. He is letting them know that no amount of sacrifice, no amount of outward piety, can change the condition of man at his core, we are sinners. That’s why He came!
He continues to look at the inside and addresses the secrets of the Christian life, how we give, how we pray, and how we fast. All things that are to be between us and God and not to be done on the street corners with much fanfare to make sure that everyone can see how spiritual and holy that we really are. It’s in this section that Christ introduces the idea of the “secret closet” of prayer that Richard Burr elaborated on so powerfully last week. A place where there are no distractions and you can fall on your knees before God and receive strength and direction for the coming day.
Things looked pretty bleak for those listening. If they are to believe this teaching, then they certainly would recognize their guilt and shortcomings before a Holy God. But Jesus begins to show what God’s plan is in all of this. We talked a few weeks ago about worry and how Jesus tells the people that even though they are sinful, even though they fall well short of God’s standards, God will care for them, God will provide because in God’s eyes we are the most valuable of all Creation. God will give us a way into this Kingdom. In this passage we have before us today, Jesus unveils the Kingdom and let’s the people know that this will be an equal opportunity kingdom, with the doors flung open wide for all who would believe to enter and to enjoy all of the blessings that God has in store for His children.
When I was young, I thought that I had things pretty good in my life. I used to take advantage of the circumstances that I was born into and use my father’s position of authority to my benefit at any chance I could. I was the stereotypical pastor’s kid, in my limited view of life, my father owned the church, and that meant that I was untouchable. I tested my Sunday School teachers, I tested the children’s church workers. My feelings of privilege extended into other things as well. My grandfather was the district superintendent in this district when I was very young. The DS lives in Rome, NY in a home that borders and overlooks Delta Lake Camp. Every year there was a group that rented out the campgrounds for a week. They brought in all of their own equipment and that included some boats, canoes and kayaks and things like that. I can remember watching them use the boats and really wanting to try one of them, so my friend and I decided to use my lofty position to our advantage. We walked down to the waterfront and asked if we could try a canoe. When they said no, I pulled out my ace and told them that my grandfather owned the camp. I didn’t know that this was completely untrue, I figured that just like my dad owned the church because he was the pastor, my grandpa must own the camp because it was part of the district. It worked, they let us take out a canoe for the afternoon to avoid the wrath of the owner of the camp.
I thought I was pretty special. I thought that I had exclusive rights to certain things because of who I was born to. This is exactly how the Jews felt. God was their Father, no one else’s and they used and abused what they saw as the perks of that relationship. In their mind, God’s Kingdom was for them and no one else. But, as we’ve already mentioned, Jesus was coming to establish a kingdom that was equal in terms of accessibility. And not only were all welcome, but all would be called Sons and enjoy the blessings and rights of a son. In this passage, Jesus shares this with those who would listen as He lays out four fundamental truths about God’s Kingdom.
1) Available to All.
Now, I think that it’s interesting that Jesus has just concluded a section in verses 1-6 about judging others. He says don’t so it, worry about yourself and your own relationship with God and let God do the judging because only He can see the heart. He uses one of my favorite illustrations in all of scripture. He says that we get so caught up in judging others and the things that they are or are not doing that we focus on a tiny speck in their eye and don’t realize that we have a plank in our own eye that needs to be dealt with! How true is this! Often we judge others by appearance, the clothes they wear, the way they do their hair, if they have tattoos or piercings, or we look at the way that they worship, the music they listen to, or the company they keep and we sin in our attitudes and thoughts towards them. We get so caught up in our righteous indignation that we can’t see past our sin that needs to be dealt with before God. But Jesus says don’t judge. And He says this because the Kingdom he is establishing is available to all, saints and sinners alike. The ones with the flaws, the ones with the pasts, the ones with the tattoos and the funky music. The Kingdom is open to all.
Listen to how he puts it. Read 7-8
Everyone who asks, receives, the one who seeks, finds and the one who knocks will have the door opened for them. It doesn’t say that those who knock and are Jewish will have the door opened. It doesn’t say that those who seek and are perfect will find. No! The doors of this Kingdom are open to everyone that wants to come in, we have only to seek and ask and knock and the blessings of heaven are ours. Certainly this includes salvation. The one who seeks will find salvation for their soul through the forgiveness of sins. I think that there are times when we decide in our own minds who is worthy of being a Christian or who will respond to God if we approach them. We look at the outer and decide that God can’t change the inner. My friends, salvation is for all. When Christ hung on the tree it was once for all and we need to remember that in our lives as we seek to share his love with others. Our job is to share, God’s job is to change the heart. Certainly this includes God’s sustaining power as well, opening up heaven’s storehouses to provide for us in every imaginable way until the day we die or Christ returns to Earth.
Entering into this Kingdom gives us assurance of this.
Phil 1:6 being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
What God has begun in us through salvation, he will work and move in our lives to keep us moving forward until that work is complete and we stand before our Savior. God wants to give us all that we need if we ask and seek and knock on the door of His Kingdom.
Read 9-11
What an amazing truth. I love to give my children things that I know they’ll love. I was away most of this week and I stopped in a store and found a LeBron James basketball that I knew Ethan would love. I was so excited the entire way home and couldn’t wait for him to wake up so I could show it to him because I knew he was going to love it. When I read this now, as a father, it has a whole new meaning for me. The way I feel when I give a gift to my children and the gifts themselves pale in comparison to what God wants for us and can provide for us. There are few things in life that have gripped me like the reality of this verse, God wants to bless our lives. He orchestrates things in our lives that He can’t wait for us to uncover and to experience. Unfortunately, we miss out on many of those things because we’re so caught up in other things that distract us that we can’t see where God is leading and what He is doing in our lives. But that doesn’t change the truth that God wants to bless us and that He has opened up that blessing for all who would receive it because the Kingdom of God is available to all.
Just a side note because we don’t have time to get into this verse. Because we are not to judge and understanding that God’s kingdom is for all, should lead us to act as verse 12 commands: 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
What a difference Christians will make in this world when we live by that verse.
The second truth about this Kingdom is found in verses 13 and 14. While the Kingdom is available to all, it will be:
2) Found by Few – Read 13 and 14
Now, I think that Christianity would be much easier to live out if the narrow road were completely separate from the wide road. If we could make the choice to be a Christian and somehow we never had to deal with the temptations of the world again, that would make this walk a whole lot simpler for us.
When Erin and I lived in Atlanta, there was one thing that I could not get used to. The traffic. The city had grown so quickly that the roads hadn’t kept up with the growth and no matter where you went or what time of day you traveled, you had to be prepared to sit in traffic. We were heading out of the city to do some shopping and I saw the exit that would take us off of the major highway and onto a smaller one that would take us where we needed to go. I got into the lane to turn and as soon as we exited, things came to a complete halt. I remember being so frustrated as I watched the traffic flow on either side of us and the road I was on was not moving. I can remember wishing that I could just et off and get back onto the larger highway even though it would not take me the direction that I knew I needed to go, it was moving, things were happening.
That’s the way that our Christian walk is. The narrow gate leads to the narrow road that is not shut off and isolated from the broad road, no, it runs right down the center of it and we are called to stay on our road while we can see all that is going on around us on the other road and many get caught up in it and drive off of the narrow road for the speed and excitement of the broad road though it leads to destruction. Growing in Christ means that the way we travel narrows as we go. We are not missing out on anything that the world can offer but are gaining the abundant life that God promises for those who walk as He walked.
The road is not the only thing that is narrow; Jesus says that the gate, the entrance to that road is narrow as well. The culture we live in is diverse. Man has attempted to celebrate that diversity by preaching that the gate to God is in fact broad. All beliefs, if held with sincerity, will eventually lead you to the same place. The name of the god you worship is inconsequential as long as you believe it. I want you to understand this: That belief is a lie from the Father of lies, Satan. There are millions who are sincere in what they believe that are going to spend an eternity in hell. Jesus says that the gate is small and only a few will find it. How do we find this gate?
John 10:9 I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. He will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
There is one gate, there is one way and that is found in a relationship with Jesus Christ, no one comes to the Father any other way or through any other gate and many will miss it. Why is it so hard for some to walk through this gate?
A. Requires us to admit we were wrong.
This is hard for a lot of people. Men especially. Men don’t like to admit that they’re wrong. I don’t fall into this category. In the ten years that Erin and I have been married, I have never been right in an argument, I thought I was once but was wrong about that too! I now just assume I’m wrong when we argue, things go much more smoothly!
To walk through this gate is to admit that you are a sinner. It also requires you to admit that the way you were living your life was wrong and that you need a new direction. Acts:1415 "Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them.
The older people get, the harder it is for them to do this and to admit that they have been running after things that were worthless and had no eternal value. Many see the gate and refuse to walk in because they don’t want to admit that they’ve been wrong.
B. Requires us to admit we need help.
This is also tough for a lot of people. We are self-sufficient, dependence is often viewed as weakness and the reality that we are wholly dependent upon God for life and salvation is a truth that some simply cannot grasp and so they walk past the gate.
C. Requires us to accept the unseen.
To put it simply, faith trips up a lot of people.
HEB 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.
How can you invest your life in that which is unseen? You can see and touch money, You can see and touch possessions and people and so many put their faith in those things.
To open that gate and take your first step onto the narrow road is to take God at His word though you cannot physically see or touch Him.
2 Corinthians 4:18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
It’s the acceptance of that which we cannot touch or see that causes many to pass by the gate that leads to life.
So, we begin by asking, seeking, and knocking and continue our journey down the narrow road as we grow in our faith. When we take these steps, Jesus tells us another truth about the Kingdom:
3) Life Changing
We heard last week from Tim and Toby Banks and Tim shared a little bit of his testimony. He gave his life back to Christ 6 years ago and then something interesting happened, he changed. He went from a man who cared nothing for God or the church to a man whose passion is to reach the lost in a third world country and to raise 20 little Haitian girls as if the were his own.
When we walk through that gate, our lives are to change! We are to ask, then we are to begin to grow, then we are to let our lives show on the outside what God is doing on the inside. I remember listening to a speaker years ago who asked a simple question. If Christianity became illegal in America and you were arrested, would there be enough evidence to convict you? It’s easy to say that we are a Christian, it’s another matter altogether to back it with action. Jesus says here that if you live in the kingdom, your life has to change.
Read 15-23
It’s not enough to just hear, it’s not even enough to hear ad acknowledge that we’ve heard and say that we believe it. I don’t know how many times that I’ve had to tell Ethan not to hit or push or trip his sister. Each time he looks at me and says that he understands and that he won’t do it again and then betrays his heart by doing it again. I don’t want acknowledgement, I don’t even want his agreement, I want his obedience. I’ll know that he gets it when I see a change in his actions. In his case, understanding must translate into action, in the Christians case, understanding of God’s word and commitment to Him must translate into action as well.
Jesus says that we will be recognized by one thing. It’s not our words, it’s not how we dress, it’s not the music we enjoy, it’s not whether we like hymns or choruses, He says we will be recognized by our fruit. Certainly there is grace and forgiveness when we fall, but the world will know that we are a part of the kingdom of God on Earth and bound for that same kingdom in heaven only when they see a difference in our lives. GAL 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
These are to be the things that mark our lives as we enter the kingdom and walk the narrow road.
Finally, Jesus concludes his sermon by telling us that His Kingdom is:
4) The Only Firm Foundation
Read 24-27
Whenever I read these verses I think of those homes in parts of California that people have built on the unstable tops of hills and mountains overlooking the water. These people care more about the outer appearance, having the most beautiful home that can be seen by all in an exclusive community, and having just the right view of the ocean, than they do about the stability of that home that they’ve built. Whenever I see news of mudslides and see the pictures of these beautiful homes that have come crashing down and in many cases have ended the lives of those living there, I think of the choice those people had of where they were going to build. Had they chosen to build on a foundation that was solid and unmovable, there home and there life would have been spared.
I would rather have a shanty on a rock than a mansion on the sand.
The same is true of our spiritual choices. If we choose to build on things that are temporary, if we build our lives around money, or people, or careers, or possessions, when the rains come down, all of those things can be washed away and everything that we’ve invested in will fall with a great crash. But when our lives are built upon the foundation of God’s Truth, when are decisions and actions are based on the principles found in God’s Word and we are enjoying the relationship with our Creator that He created us to have, let the rains come. Let the world throw at us what it may. The storms may pound, the winds may blow and we will not be moved because we have built on the Rock of Ages and Jesus is that Rock. When all is said and done, only what is built on Him will last.
Look at that last verse. As Jesus wraps up His talk, the people were amazed. Jesus had just taken everything that they had ever known and revealed to them the purpose behind it. He had unveiled the Kingdom of God in their presence, clearing up lies and misconceptions as He went along. And now He had shared with them the reality of this Kingdom, an equal opportunity Kingdom that He had come to establish. A Kingdom that would be available to all, but found by only a few. And a Kingdom that would change the lives of those who entered in and would offer them a foundation on which to build their lives that could never be moved.
Call to Salvation – never entered the gate
Call to Commitment – Unfruitful, built on the Sand
