February 7, 2010 
    Acts 1:6 
 
It's been said that there are no dumb questions, only dumb answers.  I disagree.  This one appeared in an advice column.  "Why do I need to have my tires rotated?  Don't they do that while I'm driving?"  This one appears in my daughter's copy of Sleeping Beauty.  It's poor writing on the part of the author, and it's a dumb question on the part of the character.  "Then one day a young prince was out riding over the hills.  He noticed a tower rising above the trees.  'What is that castle I see in the woods', he asked."  It's a castle.  Duh.  "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"  It doesn't sound like a dumb question, and it wouldn't be if Jesus hadn't spent the last three years preaching and teaching on that subject.  According to Matthew, this is how Jesus began his very first sermon.  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."  Every preacher has one or two drums they beat regularly.  One of my favorites is man-made religion.  There's a big difference between that and an authentic relationship with Christ. I like to point that out every chance I get.  Religion makes people worse, as the Pharisees illustrate so well, while Jesus makes people better.  If Jesus had a drum it was the kingdom of God.  He talked about it everywhere he went.  In the Sermon on the Mount he even told us to make it our number one priority.  "Seek first the kingdom of God", he said.  That's not easy.  It's even harder if you have no idea what the kingdom of God is.  If the whole thing is kind of fuzzy in your mind, don't feel too bad; the disciples didn't get it either.  That's obvious from their question.  "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" Five hundred years ago, John Calvin commented on verse six. He wrote, "There are as many errors in this question as there are words".  John Stott explains what Calvin meant by that.  "The verb, the noun, and the adverb in the disciple's question all betray doctrinal confusion about the kingdom. The verb "restore" shows that they were expecting a political and territorial kingdom; the noun Israel show that they were expecting a national kingdom; and the adverbial clause "at this time" shows they were expecting its immediate establishment."  When it came to the kingdom of God, they misunderstood everything about it--the nature of it, the extent of it, and the timing of it.  

Prior to the resurrection there were a lot of things the disciples didn't understand.  That's why Jesus spent forty days explaining things to them before He left.  No doubt He walked them through the entire Old Testament, like He did those two believers on the road to Emmaus.  Luke 24:27 says, "Beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, Jesus explained what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself."  That post-resurrection Bible study cleared everything up for those two.  But not for the disciples apparently.  At least one subject still went over their heads, despite the fact that Jesus gave special attention on it.  Acts 1:4 says "he appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke to them..." Specifically, it says that he spoke to them about the kingdom of God."  And they still didn't get it.  Now there are some things in here that we'll never understand this side of heaven.  And there are other things that aren't so critical; what I mean by that is, if we don't understand them, no harm done.  But the kingdom of God isn't one of those.  It's of the utmost importance.  It's absolutely essential.  I should have covered it seven years ago.  And I should have been reviewing it every six months since then.  That's how fundamental an understanding of the kingdom of God is to our mission.  It's the foundation.  And if it's not right, nothing will be right.  That's why I'm going to spend several weeks on the subject. (How many is several). I prepared for this series within a series by making a list.  At the top, in big, bold letters I wrote, The Kingdom of God is....then I finished the sentence with everything I could think of.  We won't cover every point, just six or seven major ones.  I've already touched on the first one:  The Kingdom of God is priority number one.  The reason for that is simple; Jesus' first priority was the kingdom of God. The easiest thing in the world to do is get your priorities out of order.  Most men will tell you that their first priority is family.  A lot of them are lying.  Not to other people...but to themselves.  They really believe it, bless their self-deceived hearts. You can't spend 60+ hours a week at work and five minutes a day with your kids and say your first priority is family.  If anybody here falls into that category, I'm sorry but it's true.  And they can't say that they have to work those hours.  No, they choose to.  There are other jobs; they may not pay as good, but at least they would allow them see their kids once in a while.  

After quoting Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, you might be tempted to say that the kingdom of God is your first priority.  But is it?  There have been times in the past when I thought that, myself, when, in fact, church was my first priority.  Oh yeah, there's a big difference between the two.  I alluded to it last week.  I'm sure I ruffled a feather or two when I said that "committee work doesn't count."  I should have elaborated then, but since I didn't I'll do it now.  I'm very grateful for every single person who serves on a committee around here, even the ones who do it reluctantly.  If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have a church.  This church is important, but it's not the first priority; the kingdom of God is.  Maybe a familiar expression will help to clear up the difference.  Have you ever heard someone say, "Don't let church work keep you from doing the work of the church".  Church work is all that stuff we do around here to maintain the institution.  There's a committee that counts the offering.  There's a committee to keep this old building from falling apart.  There's a committee that's responsible for the flowers.  They're beautiful aren't they.  But flowers don't have anything to do with why we're here.  Those flowers won't lead one person to Christ.  Counting money doesn't result in Christian conversions or dedicated disciples.  But evangelism does.  Worship does.  Fellowship does.  Ministry does.  Discipleship does.  That's the work of the Church.  Every Christian should be using one of their spiritual gifts in at least one of those five areas.  Can I be quite honest? If that was happening around here, the budget would be the least of our concerns.  Nobody would be talking about cutting back on this and cutting back on that.  In short, the economy isn't to blame for the the lack of funds and the shrinking membership of this church.  We are to blame.   Do you doubt me?  When's the last time you told somebody about Jesus and what he's done for you?  When's the last time you invited someone here so I could tell them?  Do you know what your spiritual gift is?  Have you lifted a finger to find out?  In April a team of people are coming here from across the state  to teach us all about spiritual gifts.  By the time that weekend is over, you'll know what your gift is and where you can use it to build the kingdom of God.  If that's really your first priority, you'll be there.  It's that simple.  

The second half of Matthew 6:33 says, "....and all these things will be given to you as well."  Regardless of what you want, you get it by seeking the kingdom of God first.  Food and clothes are the concern in that passage but the promise applies to anything.  For instance, if you want a happy marriage, don't seek a strong marriage; seek the kingdom of God, and you'll end up with a strong marriage.  If you want happiness, don't seek happiness; seek the kingdom of God and the by-product of that pursuit will be happiness.  Are you interested in a standing room only church?  Then let's not seek that; let's seek God.  And He will fill the place to overflowing.  Here's what that looks like, practically.  People who have the kingdom of God as their first priority just want to see folks put their faith in Christ; after that, if they attend First Baptist, great.  But that's not my goal.  If they feel led to join a church down the street, or one across town I don't give it a second thought because I'm looking at the big picture, and First Baptist is just a teeny-weeny, infinitesimal part of it.  That said, if we all kept our eyes on the big picture--this room would be full every Sunday.  You see, Matthew 6:33 isn't a proverb; it's a rock-solid promise.  If we seek first the kingdom of God, He will bless this church in ways we can't begin to imagine.    

Let's move on.  You can't talk about the kingdom of God without talking about the Spirit of God.  Those two are inseparable.  I'll read one verse to make my point.  In Joel 2:28 God says, "I will pour out my Spirit on all people....followed a few verses later by "in those days and at that time I will restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem."  For your convenience, you'll find some other verses listed on your bulletin.  You'll notice that Jesus doesn't talk about one without the other in the introduction to Acts.  The disciples' mission was to advance the kingdom of God.  "You will be my witnesses, starting in Jerusalem and spreading to the ends of the earth."  But don't start yet, he instructed them....but wait.  For what? The gift my Father promised, the Holy Spirit? Why? Because if you set out on your own you will fail miserably.  Your strength will give out at the first sign of persecution.  You won't know what to say.  You won't know how to say it.  After a while you'll throw your hands up and go back to whatever it is you were doing before you were a disciple.  The point I'm trying to make is that the kingdom of God won't advance without the Spirit of God.  In fact, one can't enter the kingdom of God, much less understand it, without the Spirit of God.  See John chapter 3; Jesus is talking to a man named Nicodemus.  Keep in mind that Nicodemus wasn't a dim-wit.  He was a Pharisee and a member of the Jewish ruling council.  He spent a lot of time at the temple; he was well versed in Scripture. When people saw him on the street the first word that came to mind was "religious".  But you wouldn't know it to hear him talk.  After complimenting Jesus, Jesus changed the subject. "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again."  "Say what", said Nicodemus.  "How can a man be born when he is old?  Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!"  At this point Jesus backs up and tries again from a different angle.  "I'm serious, Nicodemus. There are two kinds of birth, the natural kind and spiritual kind.  When it comes to the kingdom of God, the natural kind won't cut it.  Until you're born of the Spirit, the stuff I'm talking about won't make a bit of sense to you."  That was true then, and it's just as true today.  I know that; I just wish I could remember it. It would keep me from getting down on myself so often.  Sunday after Sunday I wonder, "What did I do wrong? What did I leave out? How could I have said it clearer?"  The answers are "nothing, nothing, and "I couldn't have said it any clearer".  That's not the problem.  It goes back to something I said last week...that I spent a long time trying to conquer my doubts by convincing myself. That doesn't work.  I can't convince myself; neither can I convince you.  The key to teaching some subjects is repetition.  Say it enough times in a variety of ways and eventually it will sink in.  Unfortunately, spiritual truth doesn't work that way.  There are people who have been going to church for decades, who have heard the gospel a thousand times--saved by grace through faith-- who still don't get it.  If you asked, "where are you going when you die", they would say heaven.  If you then asked them why they would say, "because I've been a good person."  There's only one explanation for that: I Corinthians 2:14. "The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned."  Now everybody has a spirit, but not everybody's is activated.  And until God activates it, biblical truth will go right over their heads.  Their knowledge of Scripture may be extensive.  They may be able to quote a hundred verses from memory and find them in the Bible faster than anybody else, and still not understand what they mean because they've never experienced what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about in John 3.  There has never been, nor will there ever be, a better teacher than Jesus.  If anybody could have made Nicodemus understand what it meant to be "born again" it was Jesus. But he couldn't.  There was a veil over Nicodemus' spiritual eyes.  Just like there is a veil covering the eyes of every unbeliever.  Until it's removed, that individual will remain in the dark spiritually.  Blind is another word that describes their condition.  There must be something they can do on their part to receive sight.  There is.  2 Corinthians 3:16 says, "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away."  It happens in an instant.  Not everything is immediately clear but some things are.  When the veil is covering their eyes, Jesus is nothing but a historical figure who they read about in the pages of the Bible.  But the moment that veil is lifted, Jesus is a present and personal reality.  And another thing, the Bible is no longer an old, irrelevant book.  It becomes to them the living word of God.  Scripture speaks to them like no other book can.  It's a lamp to their feet and a light to their path.  At last, they see the Bible for what it is--a treasure.  It doesn't sit around on a shelf all week.  It feeds their soul every day, not just Sunday.  

Except for a couple questions, I'm done.  Is Jesus just a character you learn about and admire, or is He your close, constant companion? Is the Bible a dead book or does it come alive when you open it up?  If you're feeling bad right now, it doesn't necessarily mean that there's still a veil over your eyes, but it could mean that.  It could also mean that you have faith and that's it's genuine; it's just grown cold and stale.   In other words, you have the Spirit, you're just not walking in it.  That's where I've spent most of my Christian life, pretty much going through the religious motions.  I didn't realize it at the time.  But looking back now, that's exactly what I was doing.  And the sad thing about it is, some people prefer that kind of pastor.  They really don't want one who takes God too seriously, for couple of reasons.  Number one, they're more concerned with public image than they are with obedience.  We can't have the townsfolk thinking First Baptist has taken this faith thing too far.  Please pastor, "all things in moderation....including Jesus".  And secondly, a pastor who takes God "too seriously" is a constant reminder to some people that they don't take God seriously enough.  If I'd just lighten up a little bit, it would go a long way in easing their consciences.  I would be more than happy to oblige them, if faith wasn't a matter of life or death.  God is no joke. Eternity is no laughing matter.  Every day thousands of people step into it.  One day everybody in this room will make that journey.  For some it's a long way off.  For others it's right around the corner.  I've had the privilege of seeing a few people off over the years.  Some of them were even wearing a smile on their face when they left.  After what Jesus said, that doesn't surprise me in the least. "Let not your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.  I am going there to prepare a place or you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.  You know the way to the place where I am going."  Jesus went on to say "I am the way".

So the kingdom of God is a place.  But that's not all it is.  It's so much more than that.  It's up there; it's in here.  In one sense the kingdom of God has already arrived.  And in another sense, we're still waiting for it.  Who knows…it might come this week. If it does, I'll see you there.  If it doesn't, I'll see you back here next Sunday for part two of our mini-series, "Thy Kingdom Come".