Series: Kingdom of God
Sun am 5th June 2011 – Kobus Swart
Matt. 6:25-33; Dan. 2:21, 44-45; Heb. 12:25-29; (Heb. 10:31); (Heb. 4:7b); (Rev. 11:15); (Prov. 29:18); (James 5:16)
‘But seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you’ (Matt. 6:33). If you want to know what ‘these things’ is referring to, read the rest of the chapter. Sadly, life itself, is about making a living; and that gives birth to all the anxieties and insecurities and ambitions we find in the world. That is why the message of the Kingdom is so important for today because the kingdoms of this world have become (viewed from the finished perspective) the Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ (Rev. 11:15). We do not see that yet, but in God’s eyes it is done; it is complete, it is accomplished. It is when we see things from the unfinished position that we struggle.
Where there is no vision the people perish (Prov. 29:18). What is the vision of this house? It is time that we look at that again and absorb that and make it our own. At the heart of us being a family of God together in this place, we must seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. That is the only message Jesus preached – the Kingdom.
We will see a change when each one of us is seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Our inter-relationships to one another, the way we care for one another, the way we reflect honour to one another – will only come as a genuine revelation when we seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness. It will have nothing to do with class, or race, or anything that divides people groups.
Without vision (revelation) we perish (are naked). One thing the Kingdom word will always confront and dismantle, is the fact of postponing things. It is engrained in dispensationalism orfuturism ie. “Everything will happen one day.” We do not deal with things as they happen; we postpone and they pile up. We must learn to deal with things as they come up, as they challenge us, as they face us. If we talk about a “soon coming King”, it means we are kingless, and that is not correct. There is only one way to see it; He is King right now. So I am a Kingdom citizen because his Kingship rules in my life, now! Dispensationalism, which looks towards a rapture or some golden age one day, has paralyzed Christianity. The Kingdom has come, is coming, and will come. There’s always a ‘now’ and always a further unfolding and expansion of any truth in God.
The Kingdom of God is here, will continue to unfold, but finds expression first in our mutual relationships.
Jesus on the Cross, said to the robber who recognized Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Today when you hear His voice, do not harden your heart (Heb. 4:7b). Today is now, not tomorrow. It is every moment of your day. Don‘t ever postpone. When the Holy Spirit convicts you of something wrong that you have just said or done or thought, immediately confess and repent. Today when you hear His voice! Let’s get back our first sensitivity, because it seems the Church has lost it. Confess your sins to one another and be healed (James 5:16).
The vision of this Church is not a stagnant vision. It is an ever expanding and growing revelation in my heart. I want to see a Kingdom people; Kingdom minded. When the world thinks ‘kingdom’ they think of rule and control. The Kingdom of God does not come with signs to be observed; the Kingdom of God is within you. When you say, “Thy Kingdom come,” first say, “in this earth; in me.” Then it will expand and you will impact other people around you.
We are talking about seasons but also about those who discern seasons. The sons of Issachar discerned the times and the seasons and what needed to be done. They were key people in David’s army. It is vitally important for us to read the signs of the times. ‘And it is He who changes the times and epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men, and knowledge to men of understanding’ (Dan. 2:21). It is God who changes seasons; He removes kings and establishes other kings. One thing is clear; the season is changing. As the kingdom of God becomes a reality on earth, it is busy displacing other kingdoms. The Kingdom of God is beginning to show its muscle. ‘And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true, and its interpretation is trustworthy’ (Dan. 2:44-45). We are surrounded by kingdoms of man that are all shaking.
‘See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking. For if those who did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less shall we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven. His voice shook the earth then but now He has promised saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven”’ (Heb. 12:25-26). The “sun, moon and stars” are being shaken at the moment. I am not talking about the physical sun and stars, we’re talking about celebrities, personalities – they are being shaken. ‘And this expression ‘yet once more’ denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things in order that those things that cannot be shaken may remain’ (Heb. 12:27). Every structure which calls itself Church, that is not based on a revelation from the King of Kings and the God of heaven, that is not ordained by God Himself, will be shaken and might be removed. Therefore only the things which cannot be shaken will remain – that is the Kingdom of God. That is the only Kingdom that cannot be shaken and will remain. ‘For our God is a consuming fire’ (Heb. 12:29). ‘It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God’ (Heb. 10:31).