Mystery #1 the mystery of the kingdom in the gospels

“He answered and said to them, because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of the heavens, but to them it has not been given.” Matthew 13:11

 

Introduction:

 

This first mystery is a spiritual kingdom in preparation for the promised physical kingdom of Jesus when He returns a second time to the earth.

Entrance into this Kingdom is part of the salvation message….Christ transforming us from the inside out. The way He accomplishes this is by the power of His Spirit conforming our hearts to His sovereign teaching and instruction. This the very reason why Jesus introduced His teaching by saying “you have heard it is said….but I tell you….” So when Jesus taught about murder that it actually begins in the heart with hatred. This is what Jesus came to set up first, a renewed heart, a spiritual kingdom within us. 

 

This power will now be in us in order to prepare us for the return of His physical kingdom. This is the reason why He said the Kingdom of God is within you. Primarily the old covenant was external methods of knowing and honoring God but through Christ and the offer of the Holy Spirit this shifted to internal methods. Once we are finished being cleansed and sanctified on the inside, we get to move back to our external lives and receive our glorified bodies in the Kingdom.

God has guaranteed that He will see us through to the end…but the question stands as to who will finish their race in time to enter the Kingdom on earth when it is to be established.

“…and they lived and reigned with Christ for 1000 years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the 1000 years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him 1000 years.” Revelation 20:4-6

 

Kingdom means sovereign rule…Divine Rulership from the top down with His sovereign instruction on how He is governing His world. This is what Jesus came to establish the first time He came. The King was setting up His spiritual Kingdom through God’s sovereign teaching. How we treat this spiritual kingdom will determine our physical inheritance. We must always remember Jesus’ words to Pontius Pilot: “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight, so that I should not be delivered to the Jews; But now, My Kingdom is not from here. Pilot therefore said to him, “Are you a king then?” Jesus answered “you say rightly that I am a king. For this reason I came, for this reason I was born to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice.” John 18:36-37 The truth of His spiritual kingdom before it becomes the physical one.

 

Through Christ’s teaching we understand, Jesus initially came to the lost tribes of Israel. First, in order to preach His kingdom message.

We found out later that because of their hardened hearts the message was given to the Gentile nations with a side effect of bringing physical Israel to jealousy. Paul reminds us in Romans that not All Israel is Israel!

 

Now we turn to the scriptures to read a soliloquy (SHOULD WE INCLUDE ALL SCRIPTURES INSTEAD OF GOING IN ORDER? Or Emphasize we are going in order? - See Keith’s notes of edits) of this evidence and allow the scriptures for themselves.

 

“Repent for the Kingdom of heaven is near…Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,

for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven…Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven…but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you…He told them another parable,The kingdom of heaven is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, till it was all leavened…and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one…Then the righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father He who has ears, let him hear…The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field…At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven…Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God…Which of the two did the will of his father? They said, The first. Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and prostitutes will get into the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even feel remorse afterward so as to believe him…This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come…Then the Kingwill say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world…But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom...Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. And saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near. Repent, and believe In the gospel…To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God but to those who are outside, all things come parables…And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David; Hosanna in the highest!…Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God…Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the kingdom of God; and he gathered up courage and went in before Pilate, and asked for the body of Jesus…And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end…I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose…The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me, To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim the liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord…Soon afterwards, He began going around from one city and village to another, proclaiming and preaching the kingdom of God. The twelve were with Him…To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ’Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand…And He sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to perform healing…Heal the sick who are there and tell them, The kingdom of God has come near to you…But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you…Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom…The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John; since that time the gospel of the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it…Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, "The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; nor will they say, Look, here it is!' or, There it is! For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst…And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who shall not certainly receive many times as much in this time, and in the age to come eternal life…While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. So He said, A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. "And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten minas and said to them, 'Do business with this until I come back…and just as My Father has granted Me a kingdom, I grant you…Nathaniel answered and said to Him, Rabbi, You are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!…Jesus answered and said to him ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God…Most assuredly I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God…

Add: John 1:13 “To all who receive Him”…1st priority = adoption into Family!

John 3: Reborn of spirit to “see the kingdom then born of water and spirit to “enter” 

 

Conclusion:

Jesus was very clear that He was offering a Kingdom to everyone and came with the promise to establish the Kingdom. This kingdom is first a sovereign rule of His teaching and conforming us to His ways in which we will be held accountable. Not everyone will be allowed to enter this kingdom. The goal was to prepare kingdom citizens that are completing their race of faith for the future return of Christ! This race is really to the Kingdom, the Millennial Kingdom of Christ. Jesus is asking for His people to go and make disciples (disciplined students) of Him. To be conformed to Christ’s teaching and to become like Him in word, deed and character. In the rabbinical teaching a disciple was known as a talmadin. It was not enough to learn book information as in the West idea of discipleship….a true disciple wanted to conform to the image of his rabbi, being like him in every way.

 

There is a process that needs to be achieved, the process of becoming. This was the process that Jesus initiated when we accepted His sacrifice and His rule.

He put us in a race of sanctification that the spiritual birth actually qualified us for a soul transformation which is what this race is all about…being conformed to His likeness. (FIND VERSE)  When He says we have to become like little children, this is a reference to this race of sanctification. What do little children do very well? They are completely dependent on their parents and have complete trust in them. Little children easily do what their parents tell them until they become rebellious teenagers. This is what it means to become like a child. It is a process of denying ourself. The secret or paradox as it pertains to faith is that we must get younger in order to be mature! As soon as we reach a certain age, we rebel against this dependency and obedient nature and we end up conforming to the ruler of this world which is Satan. Now begins the process of accountability for denying ourself once again, like a child, and surrendering our stubborn will over to the will of God which Jesus as our forerunner exemplified brilliantly with tears “Not my will Father but your will be done.”

 

This is the race that we will unfold in these mysteries throughout the rest of the book. This becomes very important to the instructions given to the church as the apostles are trying to encourage us to finish this race with two motivations…rewards and punishment (inheritance or loss) . Judgement begins at the “house of God” and this is for us, God’s people.

 

Now this race to the Kingdom begins…..

 

(See Key to the Race; Key to Heaven versus Paradise (Rest or Unrest); Key to Plural “Heavens”)