The Shaking World vs. The Unshakable Kingdom: Where Are You Building Your Life?

[00:04:47] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_04]
[00:04:47] That's how I can hear y'all. Good morning. All right. How y'all doing this morning?
[00:04:53] Good. Why don't you guys stand up? We're going to get ready for worship.
[00:04:56] I wanted to read Psalm 100. It's a real lengthy chapter. It's a whole five verses.
[00:05:04] But it says, Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with gladness, coming into his presence with singing. Know that the Lord, he is God. It is he who made us,
[00:05:20] and we are his we are his people and the sheep of his pasture so enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise and give thanks to him and bless his name for the lord is good
[00:05:36] his steadfast love endures forever his faithfulness to all generations lord thank you that we get to know your steadfast love that we get to see it all throughout our lives lord thank you that we get to know you as a shepherd one who guides us one who leads us
[00:05:59] one who walks beside of us lord so this morning we just we enter in your gates with thanksgiving lord with your with your faithfulness on our hearts lord we sing to you we sing praises to
[00:06:13] your name lord our whole mission this morning is to bless your name you are good we bless your name because you are good. So Lord, we welcome you here this morning. We open up our hearts to
[00:06:31] whatever you want to do this morning. Lord, have your way. Move how you want to. Lord, be the center of our attention as we worship you, as we hear your word. Fix your eyes on yours. Lord, I know
[00:06:52] something that I want this morning is I want to get lost in your eyes. Locking eyes with you and getting lost in the beauty of it so Jesus we love you and we worship you it's in your name
[00:07:09] amen I sing this with me we've asked if you were able and then time again worship peace can see

[00:08:03] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_03]
[00:08:03] nothing nothing nothing satisfies like father we are so thankful we are thankful for just

[00:35:40] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_00]
[00:35:40] the freedom to be able to be here, to worship you, to stand in your presence, to glorify your holy name. Because of you, we can always be filled. We can always be full to overflowing with that
[00:35:58] fount that never, ever, ever runs dry. So we thank you, and we glorify your holy name, and we bless you. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Good morning. Let's give it up for our worship team. They are
[00:36:22] so wonderful. I get the privilege of being in both services and sitting in worship, first service and second service, and it just gets better and better every time. So, well, welcome. We're glad to see
[00:36:39] you this morning. We're so happy to have you with us, and I want to say hello to our people that our streaming and watching online, our unified family online, we're glad to have you with us
[00:36:50] this morning. If this is your first time visiting and you have not ever filled out a Connect card, we'd love to have you scan the QR code. That just gives us a little bit of your information.
[00:37:03] Or if you don't like doing that, you can stop at the welcome desk and they will be happy to help you fill one out. All right. I only have a few announcements this morning. We are going
[00:37:14] to be having a baptism on February 1st, and it will take place after our second service. So if you've never been baptized and want to be baptized, it's a wonderful, wonderful time. We ask that you
[00:37:31] sign up on the app and let us know, because we have a t-shirt, we have a certificate, but it gives us an opportunity to know who is going to be baptized and how many we'll have. But
[00:37:43] it's an exciting time and I really would encourage you to do it if you haven't so all right and then the other message is help help we're moving so we are going to be moving
[00:38:04] our kids building over the next two weeks and we would love your help if you're available to help us move or pack up or other things that are going to need to be done within the next two weeks,
[00:38:18] please see, I almost did it. I called him Master Mike in the first service. I just almost did it again. So if he gets a big head, you'll know why. You can contact Pastor Mike or email the office
[00:38:38] and at when when he comes up this morning to talk to you to give his message he'll have more details about all of that but I just wanted to let you know that that need is happening also it's the end of the year and we have
[00:38:55] your end of the year giving statements all ready for you I will be in the lobby at the end of the service to hand them out if you have some already got them coming in, but I'll be out there to give them to you at the end of the second service. And with
[00:39:12] that, I would like to pray over our offering. There are four ways that you can give. You can drop it in the box in the back. You can give online. You can mail it in, or you can do it on
[00:39:23] our app. And so, Father, we are just grateful for the generous hearts in this place. You keep giving to us and it enables us to keep giving into the kingdom God and so I bless
[00:39:39] every person that gives in this place rather it be financially of their time of their prayers we're very very thankful we're thankful to you Lord and we're thankful for every person that gives into the kingdom father and so I
[00:39:56] i speak blessing over them and i thank you for them in jesus name amen all right so now is our favorite time for you to get one of our favorite times for you to get up and greet someone that
[00:40:11] you don't know or say hello to someone you haven't seen for a while okay go all right well good

[00:43:19] [SPEAKER SPEAKER_01]
[00:43:19] morning everybody great to see you all today if you guys want to come in begin to make your way back to your seats. We've really had a great time together already today and I believe we're going
[00:43:32] to keep having a good time together. I'm excited about continuing our series that we started last week. But before I do, you guys heard Claudia mention that we are moving out of our kids buildings. Let me give you guys an update of where we are with that whole process. As most of you are
[00:43:51] aware who have been here with us for a while, we kind of had an unexpected building project thrust upon us. We've been for the last 10 years, our kids church has been in the building next door
[00:44:02] to us. And we found out late November, just before Thanksgiving, that the owners of that building are taking it back for their, they have some other uses for it. And so we are currently building a new kids wing behind this wall behind me. And thankfully we've got the space for it
[00:44:18] back there. So that is getting underway. But we have to be out of this current kids building by end of this month and so i'm still waiting for for some definite answers on a few things i'll
[00:44:31] explain where we're at with stuff first of all some celebrations that we've got is this week it became official in writing this building here is no longer under any floodplain restrictions that is a celebration absolutely and that is true for this renovation that we're doing back here
[00:44:49] but also any future expansions any future work in this building if we ever decide to add on to to this building, however the Lord might lead us to do, none of those floodplain restrictions will
[00:45:00] be an issue for us anymore. And so that took a little bit of time to get that worked out.
[00:45:06] And honestly, just the timing of all this has been tough because when we got news that we had to move out of our current kids building, they, you know, we had nine weeks, which we appreciate the nine
[00:45:16] weeks, but one of those was Thanksgiving. One was Christmas. One was New Year's. And you know, things just never happen fast during those kinds of seasons, and so it's taken a while to get that
[00:45:26] floodplain thing worked out, but it is worked out. I also have the building permit already pulled. It is in hand, and so we can now start moving full speed ahead with construction, and so that being
[00:45:38] the case, it's going to take us probably, as you know, and you wives know this, you ask your husbands to do something around the house. It always takes longer than what he tells you it's
[00:45:48] going to. And you wives are always faithful to remind us every six months or so that we still have that project. But no, it always takes longer, but we're thinking it's going to take, you know,
[00:45:59] three or four months probably to finish this back here. And so what we're going to do is we're going to turn the builder loose. Now that we have that building permit in hand, all the demolition that
[00:46:09] we could do was done. And thank you to all of you that were a part of that. A number of you came and cleaned up back there, took down some old walls and things that were in the way. So now we're ready
[00:46:18] because those floodplain restrictions are gone, because we do have the building permit finally in hand, it's time to move forward.
[00:46:26] So we're going to move forward and turn the builder loose, let him do his thing.
[00:46:30] And even so, it's going to take, you know, a few months probably.
[00:46:33] And so what we've done is there's a building, it's three doors down.
[00:46:37] There's a picture you guys can see of the building here.
[00:46:39] You might have recognized that building.
[00:46:41] If you don't recognize that building, if you leave today and go that way, it is just at the stop sign.
[00:46:48] And so we have rented that building for six months.
[00:46:52] The bottom story is going to serve as our you kids space while this construction is being finished.
[00:46:59] And so what we're going to do is, now we take possession February 1st.
[00:47:04] The current tenants have to be out by January 31st.
[00:47:07] They are being very great to work with us.
[00:47:09] They're going to try to let us get in to bring stuff over there even before the end of this month.
[00:47:14] And that's really nice because the very first day of February is a Sunday. So you can see how the timing has been so tricky for us to navigate.
[00:47:23] So here's the plan. February 1st is Sunday. And so today and next Sunday, we are meeting over here for our kids' church. The first Sunday in February, we'll no longer have access to that building
[00:47:36] and we'll be taking over the building you just saw the picture of. And so February 1st, which is thankfully our baptism Sunday we're going to have all the kids in here that day and it's just going
[00:47:49] to be that one Sunday but your kids will be in here and then the second Sunday of February we'll be meeting or the kids meeting down there in that building and the way that will work is we'll have
[00:48:00] a car line of sorts you can drop your kids off as you come down here and then pick them up whenever church is over and so on February 1st while your kids are in here we're going to have an open house
[00:48:12] After both services, if you could come down and take a look at that building.
[00:48:16] Now, because it's the first day of the month, it won't be fully set up yet, obviously.
[00:48:21] We'll just be getting it, you know, in our possession.
[00:48:24] But you can see the building.
[00:48:25] You can see how it's laid out.
[00:48:27] It's got a lot of great space.
[00:48:28] Actually, about twice as much square footage as this building over here has got.
[00:48:32] And so it's going to serve us very, very well.
[00:48:36] An option would have been for me to rent a mobile classroom, which I had one ready to go.
[00:48:41] But the thing with that was two things.
[00:48:43] One, that would only have provided space for our sprouts.
[00:48:47] It wouldn't have been enough room for our older children.
[00:48:50] And so we thought, well, we could have the older kids stay in here and listen to me.
[00:48:53] And they all said, no, don't do that.
[00:48:56] But no, thankfully, this building became available, and it has more than enough room for sprouts and our older kids as well, and some room for some storage, which we also need.
[00:49:06] So it's really going to be a blessing to us.
[00:49:08] Now, if you would rather not have your kids down there, you're welcome to bring your kids in here.
[00:49:13] Your kids are always welcome in here.
[00:49:15] You know, before, during, and after all of this, kids are always welcome.
[00:49:19] But we're going to boost our staff down there.
[00:49:22] We're going to have plenty of kids workers, plenty of security personnel there as well.
[00:49:27] Since it's going to be a little bit further away, we always take care of them anyway, but especially being a few doors down, we'll make sure that we have as many people as we need
[00:49:35] to make it a seamless transition and a functioning situation for us until we get everybody back here.
[00:49:43] So a lot of information there.
[00:49:45] We're going to pass out a pop quiz right now to see who was listening.
[00:49:49] But all that being said, so the very first Sunday in February, the kids will be in here with us.
[00:49:55] The second Sunday of February, the kids will be down there.
[00:49:58] And we're going to be moving out of this building over the next couple of weeks.
[00:50:03] And so if you're able to help with that, if you'd like to, please come and see me or as claudia said email the church you can grab claudia and grab my wife nicole and let us know and we can we can plug you in i'm just waiting finally to hear from the
[00:50:17] current tenants how soon we can get in so once they let us come in we can begin moving things over and so probably the latest will be uh monday the 26th but that date is tentative we'll be sure
[00:50:29] and stay in touch if you let us know that you want to help we can get you plugged in with that so anyway, that's a lot of information. We're going to review that next Sunday. I'll have even more
[00:50:39] information, hopefully, about how soon we can be in over there. So that is the plan as of right now, and thankfully, starting probably this week, you'll start seeing construction happening back over here. So really, really good news, and we're thinking probably April or May to be able to be
[00:50:57] in there and have the kids just right behind this wall, which we are going to soundproof this wall really really well because as you know kids are loud and we are too and so we're gonna make sure we can keep the noise contained over here and over there
[00:51:11] but looking forward to having our kids wing finally as a part of this building and so it's gonna be a great thing once we navigate some of these transitions ahead of us so that being said but that all makes sense again any questions feel
[00:51:24] free to grab me after the service and I'll do my best to answer those if you want to help with the process let me know that as well and that being said We're going to begin our message for the day, for today.
[00:51:36] If you were here last week, you know we started a new series that we're going to do kind of here at the beginning of this new year called Building the Kingdom.
[00:51:44] And I brought a message last Sunday that I called The Kingdom and the Church.
[00:51:50] And if you didn't catch that message, it might be good to go back and watch that one as well.
[00:51:55] My plan today is to pick up right where I left off last week.
[00:51:59] And so we talked last week about the differences between the kingdom of God, which the Bible calls it sometimes, the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven.
[00:52:06] We're going to use those interchangeably in this series.
[00:52:09] But the kingdom and the church.
[00:52:12] We discussed what are some of the differences.
[00:52:14] And today, I want to talk about the kingdom and the world.
[00:52:19] What are the differences between the kingdom of God and this temporary world?
[00:52:25] We're going to discuss that today.
[00:52:26] I'm going to share a number of scriptures.
[00:52:28] Those will be on the screen behind me when we get to them.
[00:52:32] But let me say a couple things right out of the gate here to compare the kingdom to the world.
[00:52:38] Some things that we're going to lay these as kind of a foundation and build upon today.
[00:52:42] And then, Lord willing, we'll pick up next Sunday right where we leave off today.
[00:52:46] But here are two primary differences between the world and the kingdom.
[00:52:52] One, this world as we know it is temporary.
[00:52:56] but the kingdom is eternal.
[00:52:57] This world is not going to last the way that we understand it right now, but the kingdom is eternal.
[00:53:04] Also, this world can shake.
[00:53:08] The kingdom cannot be shaken.
[00:53:10] You look around the world now, you see the world is shaking.
[00:53:13] And there are things changing.
[00:53:14] Right now, even just this week even, look around.
[00:53:17] Nations are being changed.
[00:53:20] And there are things that have changed that might never change back.
[00:53:23] You know, there are significant things happening on the international stage.
[00:53:27] This world and this temporary world, it is shaking.
[00:53:31] But the good news for you and me as God's people is, the kingdom that we live in cannot be shaken.
[00:53:37] And so if our foundation, though, is built upon this world, our foundation will shake.
[00:53:43] But if you and I build our foundation on the kingdom, then our foundation cannot be shaken.
[00:53:49] And you can see in the world right now and all through the lens of history, nations have risen, nations have fallen.
[00:53:56] Kingdoms and empires have risen, they have fallen.
[00:53:59] Kings, emperors, presidents, they come to power and they leave power.
[00:54:03] That's the way things work in this natural realm.
[00:54:06] But the kingdom cannot be shaken.
[00:54:09] The kingdom does not change.
[00:54:11] So let's start together reading in 1 John.
[00:54:13] I'm going to start in chapter 2.
[00:54:15] And what I want to do is I'm going to read a passage that we have read together many, many times.
[00:54:19] I'm going to go a little bit further and read a verse that we really haven't spent much time on together.
[00:54:25] But I think it's time, though, that we go ahead and begin to venture into this as well.
[00:54:30] Kind of like you guys know I love Bob Ross.
[00:54:32] Bob Ross will do a picture and say, just for fun, put a happy little tree right over here.
[00:54:37] So just for fun today, we're going to throw in some more verses than we have read together before.
[00:54:42] But again, I believe the Lord is nudging us to go ahead and begin to look at some of these things together.
[00:54:48] But it says in 1 John 2, let me start in verse 15.
[00:54:53] It says, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world.
[00:54:58] If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
[00:55:03] Let me stop there and say, no, he's not saying that we get some Christian compound and separate ourselves from the world.
[00:55:10] That may be the worst place to be.
[00:55:12] But what he's saying is, let's don't build our foundation on the things of this world.
[00:55:16] Let's don't put our focus primarily in the things that we prioritize.
[00:55:21] Let's prioritize the kingdom, not the world.
[00:55:24] Loving the world is not the love the Father has given us, it says here.
[00:55:28] And it tells us why in verse 16.
[00:55:31] For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life is not from the Father, but is from the world.
[00:55:42] Then it says, the world is passing away, and also its lusts.
[00:55:47] But the one who does the will of God lives forever.
[00:55:51] So we can see there this distinguishing line between the world and the kingdom.
[00:55:56] The world that is passing away, that is temporary.
[00:55:59] Then it says that those of us who do the will of God, we abide forever.
[00:56:03] The will of God is in His kingdom.
[00:56:06] But now let's go ahead and let's read verse 18.
[00:56:08] We've not read this one together before.
[00:56:10] But again, I believe I've just been feeling the Lord nudging me to go ahead and venture into this.
[00:56:16] So it says, children, it is the last hour.
[00:56:20] Now, John wrote that roughly 2,000-ish years ago.
[00:56:24] If that was true of John and the generation he lived in then, how much more so is that true of you and me?
[00:56:31] How much more so are you and I alive in the last hour?
[00:56:36] So he says here, and none of us knows how much time we have.
[00:56:40] Jesus was clear about that.
[00:56:41] No one knows the day or the hour, but we know we're closer than anybody ever has been before.
[00:56:47] But here John says, Children, it is the last hour.
[00:56:51] And just as you heard that Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have appeared.
[00:56:58] From this we know that it is the last hour.
[00:57:02] Okay, I'm going to come back to that verse and what that verse has introduced to us here in just a little bit.
[00:57:07] We're going to get to that here before we're done today.
[00:57:10] But we can see that what John is saying here is that the world is passing away, and also all the lusts of the world.
[00:57:18] But whoever does the will of God abides forever.
[00:57:22] He also goes on, and we read together, he connects the spirit of this temporary world to the spirit of Antichrist.
[00:57:30] And we're going to see that.
[00:57:31] We're going to discuss it some more as we go.
[00:57:33] But you and I are called to be those that do the will of God who abide forever.
[00:57:38] This temporary world will pass away, but the kingdom is eternal.
[00:57:43] Let me read to us in Hebrews a passage that talks about this kingdom.
[00:57:48] It says that you and I are receiving this kingdom.
[00:57:52] So it says here in Hebrews chapter 12, I'm going to start in verse 25 and read down a handful of verses.
[00:57:59] We're seeing here, again, this distinguishing line, this distinction between the world and the kingdom.
[00:58:06] And that's a choice that you and I make.
[00:58:08] Even as God's people who already are saved, already have become Christians, have become believers, we still have this choice to make.
[00:58:16] Are we going to build our foundations, lay our foundations, build our lives and focus on this temporary world and the things of the world, or we build on, focus on, live our lives in the kingdom?
[00:58:30] Well, here it says in Hebrews 12, verse 25, writing to believers, by the way.
[00:58:37] So let's bear in mind that you and I are the ones that this was intended to be read by.
[00:58:41] So it says, See to it that you do not refuse Him who is speaking.
[00:58:46] Talking about the Lord here.
[00:58:48] For if those did not escape when they refused Him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape who turn away from Him who warns from heaven.
[00:58:58] And look what it says here.
[00:59:00] And 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.
[00:59:10] Let me stop there and point out, we talked about the shaking in the world.
[00:59:14] We can see that shaking going on now and also through the lens of history, all through the generations before us, this temporary world has shaken.
[00:59:22] Well, here we can see it was the voice of God that was doing that.
[00:59:25] Not just the devil shaking the world, sometimes God is the one doing this.
[00:59:30] And there's a reason for it.
[00:59:31] We're going to read that reason next.
[00:59:33] It says in verse 27, This expression, yet once more, denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken.
[00:59:43] So God's going to allow everything that can be shaken to shake so that whatever can't be shaken is going to be revealed.
[00:59:51] If you and I have built upon something that can be shaken, then it will shake.
[00:59:56] Our foundation will shake.
[00:59:57] But if we have built upon that which can't be shaken, then as the world around us shakes, we won't.
[01:00:05] Because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken.
[01:00:07] So it says here, this expression yet once more denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
[01:00:20] Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, Let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe.
[01:00:33] And then we have some very serious words in verse 29.
[01:00:36] For our God is a consuming fire.
[01:00:40] Now, this is not a fire and brimstone message, but what it is, is God is going to burn whatever can be burned.
[01:00:46] Paul said that every man's foundation will be tested and exposed because if it is made of wood, hay, and stubble, it'll be consumed.
[01:00:54] But if our foundation is on the kingdom, it's not going to burn.
[01:00:59] If our foundation is on the kingdom, it's not going to shake when the world shakes.
[01:01:03] And so God is not doing this to get us.
[01:01:05] God is exposing what is truly unshakable so that we can build on that.
[01:01:10] God is showing what is truly unshakable so that becomes our foundation and we see that it is His kingdom.
[01:01:18] And so are you and I building on that foundation?
[01:01:22] Let's go now to the book of Daniel.
[01:01:24] I'm going to read another passage here that you're probably familiar with, but it's one that we really haven't talked about together in here on Sunday mornings very often.
[01:01:32] But I'm going to read this.
[01:01:35] This tells us something that God is up to in terms of the kingdom.
[01:01:39] I talked about how it was God that is the originator of some of this shaking that's going on in the world around us.
[01:01:46] Well, here we're going to see why.
[01:01:47] So we're coming into the middle of a conversation that the prophet Daniel is having with King Nebuchadnezzar.
[01:01:55] And so you probably know this passage, but Nebuchadnezzar, who at the time was probably the most powerful man in the world.
[01:02:01] He was the head of the Babylonian Empire.
[01:02:04] He was like the, I won't say the president, but he was the boss.
[01:02:07] He was the king of Babylon.
[01:02:09] And that was the most powerful nation in the world at this time.
[01:02:13] And he had a dream which troubled him because he knew it was important, but he didn't know what it meant.
[01:02:19] And so here Daniel is going to tell him not only what the dream means, but also the dream that he had.
[01:02:24] So let's read this together and see what Daniel explains.
[01:02:28] So Daniel 2, verse 31, he says, You, O king, were looking, and behold, there was a single great statue.
[01:02:36] That statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
[01:02:45] The head of that statue was made of fine gold.
[01:02:48] its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, and its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
[01:02:58] You continued looking until a stone was cut without hands.
[01:03:04] We can come back and discuss this stone in a little more detail here in just a few minutes.
[01:03:08] So you continued looking until a stone was cut without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.
[01:03:18] Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold were crushed all at the same time and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors.
[01:03:27] And the wind carried them away so that not a trace of them was found.
[01:03:32] But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain that filled the whole earth.
[01:03:40] Now if we had more time, we could look at what Daniel explained was the interpretation of this dream that Nebuchadnezzar had.
[01:03:47] what this statue represented.
[01:03:49] But we can see in reading the verses that would follow, and we can see by reading history, it confirms exactly what Daniel said.
[01:03:57] The head of gold was Babylon.
[01:04:00] That was Nebuchadnezzar himself.
[01:04:01] The other parts of the body represented the kingdoms, the empires that would follow.
[01:04:07] And so after Babylon came Medo-Persia.
[01:04:10] After Persia came Greece.
[01:04:12] After Greece came Rome.
[01:04:15] And so we can see even Rome playing out today.
[01:04:18] But here's what verse 44 says.
[01:04:20] Now we're going to see what that little stone talks about, the one that was cut without hands but grew to fill the whole earth.
[01:04:27] It says in verse 44, In the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom.
[01:04:36] That's the kingdom you and I are talking about.
[01:04:38] So in those days, the kings, in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed.
[01:04:47] This is the one that can't be shaken.
[01:04:49] It says He'll never be destroyed.
[01:04:51] And that kingdom will not be left for another people.
[01:04:54] In other words, that king is never going to have a successor.
[01:04:57] He's never going to pass off the scene.
[01:04:59] That king is Jesus.
[01:05:01] You and I, under His kingship, will always be serving the king of this kingdom.
[01:05:06] So this kingdom that will never be destroyed, that cannot be shaken, has a king that will never lose His throne.
[01:05:13] It says that kingdom will not be left for another person.
[01:05:16] it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.
[01:05:24] Now that is the ultimate interpretation of what Nebuchadnezzar saw, the dream that he had.
[01:05:29] And so we can see every other empire was temporary.
[01:05:33] Babylon, the Medes and the Persians, Greece and Rome, they were all temporary.
[01:05:37] But the kingdom of God, which ultimately displaced every one of them, will endure forever.
[01:05:44] Now we talked some last week.
[01:05:45] Again, if you didn't catch that message last week, we picked up today right where we stopped last week.
[01:05:51] And that message is available on our podcast, also on the YouTube page, or the Facebook page as well.
[01:05:57] We talked about, though, how the message of the kingdom differs from the messages that we hear oftentimes, even in the church.
[01:06:05] That was part of distinguishing the kingdom and the church.
[01:06:09] And so the message of Jesus was the message of the kingdom.
[01:06:12] He said, repent, believe the gospel, be born again, because the kingdom is at hand.
[01:06:18] Now, he went on to say in Matthew 6, verse 33, he said, Seek ye first the kingdom, and everything else that you need will be added to you.
[01:06:29] Seek first the kingdom.
[01:06:30] Again, don't love the world, but seek the kingdom.
[01:06:33] Make the kingdom your priority, and everything else that you need will be added to you.
[01:06:40] If we make the world our priority, we're going to lose the world and the kingdom.
[01:06:45] If we make the kingdom our priority, we'll have the kingdom and everything else that we need in the meantime as well.
[01:06:50] Now that was Matthew's account of that Jesus said.
[01:06:54] Let me read what Luke said to us here because Luke adds another verse here I want to bring into the conversation as well.
[01:07:00] In Luke 12, verse 31, he pretty much says what Matthew said in Matthew 6, verse 33.
[01:07:07] Luke says, but seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.
[01:07:13] Then verse 32, he said, Do not be afraid, little flock, for the Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.
[01:07:22] So the Father's heart for us, some translations say, it is the Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
[01:07:28] So this kingdom that can't be shaken, that's never going to be destroyed, Daniel said, this has a king that's never going to lose his throne, that kingdom is being offered to you and me right now.
[01:07:38] We read last week at what it says in Romans 14, verse 17, that the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.
[01:07:48] That is part of what God wants you and I to experience as our reality as His people.
[01:07:55] But those things can only truly be found in the kingdom.
[01:08:00] This world can never give us those things.
[01:08:03] Now, the world can give us human goodness, but never righteousness.
[01:08:08] I'm going to compare those two in just a minute.
[01:08:11] The world can give us human goodness, but never righteousness.
[01:08:14] We only get righteousness from the fact that Jesus, who was righteous, the Bible says, never knew any sin, became sin, so that you and I, who never knew any righteousness, could become righteous.
[01:08:28] So the king of that kingdom that will never lose his throne took the blame for what you and I did, so now we get the credit for what he did.
[01:08:37] That is found in the kingdom.
[01:08:38] So this world can give us human goodness, but never righteousness.
[01:08:42] This world, this temporary world, can give us peace that is totally circumstantial, that lasts for a short time, but it can never give us the peace of the kingdom, which is peace that goes beyond all understanding.
[01:08:55] That's only found in the kingdom.
[01:08:57] And this world can give us happiness, which also, again, is circumstantial.
[01:09:01] When things are going our way, we can be happy.
[01:09:04] But in the kingdom, there's joy that we have because of our relationship with the Lord that is in spite of circumstances.
[01:09:12] So those things are the kingdom.
[01:09:14] And God, it says it's His good pleasure to give us the kingdom.
[01:09:19] These things that are not temporary, not circumstantial, but are beyond explanation.
[01:09:26] Things only come because you and I are building upon a kingdom which can't be shaken and not prioritizing building upon a world that can be and is shaking.
[01:09:37] Now I want to go back to real close to the very beginning in Genesis chapter 4.
[01:09:43] And we're going to talk a little bit here about when this distinction between the kingdom and this temporary world, when it began to start.
[01:09:53] We're going back almost to the very beginning of the Bible.
[01:09:56] We're going to look at Genesis chapter 4.
[01:09:58] Then we're going to fast forward almost to the very end.
[01:10:01] And we're going to see some things here that I believe are important for us to understand.
[01:10:04] But let's start here in Genesis chapter 4.
[01:10:06] I'm going to read verses 1 through 5, and then we're going to back up and discuss some things that's really important for us to understand from this passage.
[01:10:15] Now, this is the story of Cain and Abel.
[01:10:17] And we can't read the whole story today for sake of time.
[01:10:20] We're going to read the first little bit of the story.
[01:10:22] And most of us here know this story.
[01:10:26] But if we've only read the little golden books version, there are some things that we're really going to miss.
[01:10:32] So it's important that we look at what this passage says and at what it doesn't say.
[01:10:38] Because there are some misunderstandings I believe that can be common if we don't really take a look at what the Bible says.
[01:10:44] If we just look at the little golden books version, we're going to miss some things.
[01:10:47] Let me read the first five verses here.
[01:10:50] We'll back up and discuss what I believe it's telling us as we go here.
[01:10:54] Now, so Adam and Eve have already been at this point in time driven from the garden.
[01:10:58] They made the choice to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[01:11:05] And now they've been sent out of the garden.
[01:11:07] And I'm going to edit for television the first phrase of verse 1 here because we have kids in the room.
[01:11:14] So, now the man and his wife did their laundry together and she got pregnant.
[01:11:19] Okay.
[01:11:20] We know how it goes, right?
[01:11:21] Okay.
[01:11:22] So, now the man and his wife did their laundry together and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.
[01:11:27] And she said, I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord.
[01:11:33] Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel.
[01:11:36] And Abel was a keeper of the flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
[01:11:43] Let's not forget that word, but.
[01:11:45] That's really important for us to understand.
[01:11:47] We're going to come back to that.
[01:11:48] So again, she gave birth to his brother Abel.
[01:11:51] Had Cain first, now she's had Abel.
[01:11:53] And it says, Abel was a keeper of the flocks, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
[01:12:00] So it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.
[01:12:07] Abel, on his part, also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of their fat portions.
[01:12:14] And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering, he had no regard.
[01:12:22] So Cain became very angry and his countenance fell.
[01:12:27] Now, we're going to stop right there for now, but we know what happens in the next few verses.
[01:12:32] We know the choice that Cain makes, and we know what that leads to.
[01:12:35] Well, let's back up a second here and talk about what we can see in these first five verses.
[01:12:41] Now, first of all, let me point out, God never required them to bring that offering.
[01:12:48] Notice how it never says God asked for an offering.
[01:12:51] That was a choice that they made in this passage right here.
[01:12:55] Now again, the little golden books version kind of gives the picture that God demanded that or God was requiring that.
[01:13:01] God never did.
[01:13:02] It never says that God asked for it.
[01:13:04] It also never says that God gave them any details of what the offering should look like.
[01:13:10] So how was Cain then to know what he should bring?
[01:13:13] How did Cain, if God had never said, number one, bring me an offering, and number two, this is what it needs to be, Cain had no way of knowing.
[01:13:22] So we're seeing that here in this passage.
[01:13:24] All this happened, you know, a long time before Exodus and Leviticus when God began to outline what the offerings should be.
[01:13:32] So Cain didn't know those things.
[01:13:34] Notice how it also never says that God was angry with Cain about his offering.
[01:13:39] It never says that.
[01:13:40] It says God never had any regard for it, but never says he was angry.
[01:13:45] As a matter of fact, if we kept on reading, God offers to talk it through with Cain and to help Cain understand why he didn't have regard for that offering.
[01:13:54] But we know what Cain chose instead.
[01:13:57] So God never asked for the offering.
[01:13:59] Cain and Abel both voluntarily brought that offering to the Lord.
[01:14:03] I believe we can, I mean, I think we can conclude they wanted to do that.
[01:14:07] They wanted to bring that to Him.
[01:14:10] Maybe they felt compelled to.
[01:14:11] It doesn't say that.
[01:14:13] It doesn't say, though, either that God ever required it in this case.
[01:14:17] And also God didn't detail what it should look like.
[01:14:19] And so God had regard for Abel's offering but not for Cain's.
[01:14:25] Now here's why.
[01:14:26] Here's what you and I can understand from this.
[01:14:28] Because in this story, we can see a type and a shadow of the sacrifice of Jesus.
[01:14:35] So what Cain brought forth, remember it says here in verse 2, it kind of gives us what each man's job was, what their chosen profession was.
[01:14:43] Abel was a keeper of the flocks.
[01:14:45] But, it says, Cain was a tiller of the ground.
[01:14:50] So when both men brought their offering, Abel brought the blood of a lamb, which we know that's what has saved you and me is the blood of the lamb.
[01:14:58] But what Cain brought and what Cain hoped was going to be good enough was what he had produced in his own strength.
[01:15:06] That is never going to satisfy the Lord.
[01:15:09] You and I are never saved because of what we do in our own strength.
[01:15:12] We're saved only because of the blood of the lamb, the blood of Jesus.
[01:15:18] But Cain, who was a tiller of the ground, whose mind was on the ground, tried to bring forth what he had produced in his own strength.
[01:15:28] And God was not going to receive that kind of an offering.
[01:15:31] Even though God never asked for an offering.
[01:15:34] He might have said, Oh, that was great. Thank you guys. I appreciate that.
[01:15:37] He said, Cain, that's never going to cut it.
[01:15:40] That's never going to be good enough.
[01:15:42] Because even now, the best that we can do is never going to be good enough.
[01:15:46] But right here is where we're seeing the very beginning.
[01:15:50] We're seeing in its infancy somebody whose mind was on the soil.
[01:15:55] Somebody whose mind was on the soil, the dust of this earth, because that's where He came from.
[01:16:01] We know our flesh is made from the dust of the earth.
[01:16:05] And what did God tell Adam and Eve and said about them?
[01:16:09] When He drove them from the garden, He said, you're now going to be tilling the soil from which you came.
[01:16:14] And he told the devil, you're going to eat dust all the days of your life.
[01:16:19] Well, our flesh is made from the dust.
[01:16:22] So when you and I are living in the power of the flesh, we are actually empowering the enemy.
[01:16:28] Because he was told he would eat the dust of the ground all the days of his life.
[01:16:32] Well, here Cain brings an offering to the Lord that came out of the earth.
[01:16:37] Came out of the dust of the ground.
[01:16:40] And that was never going to be enough.
[01:16:42] Abel brought the blood of a lamb.
[01:16:44] And God had regard for Abel's offering.
[01:16:48] So you and I can never be saved by the best that we can do.
[01:16:52] Our righteousness, the Bible says, is as filthy rags to the Lord.
[01:16:57] We're only saved because of His righteousness.
[01:17:00] So we can see, I think we can misunderstand there, if we don't take a good close look at this, at what God was expecting.
[01:17:07] We also, I believe, can misunderstand a few things about Cain.
[01:17:10] So again, Cain evidently wanted to bring this sacrifice.
[01:17:14] and Cain went first.
[01:17:16] He brought his sacrifice first.
[01:17:18] Abel followed him.
[01:17:20] So Cain brought his first.
[01:17:22] I believe he wanted God to be pleased by his sacrifice.
[01:17:26] And again, God never was angry with him because he brought the wrong thing.
[01:17:30] He offered to talk it through, but Cain got angry.
[01:17:33] And Cain, who was trying to bring the best that he could bring, got mad because that was never going to be good enough.
[01:17:40] And so right there, we begin to see in his infancy see a love of the world. This temporary world, this temporary earth, that's where Cain's mindset was. So Cain, I believe, embodies for us an earthly-minded person. Somebody whose mind,
[01:17:57] somebody whose priority, somebody whose focus is on this world. That love of the world that John talked about in 1 John 2 that we read to start with today, it started right here at the
[01:18:13] Breathe the knowledge of good and evil.
[01:18:15] Now we can see this next generation takes it even further.
[01:18:18] And Cain begins to embody even more being a tiller of the ground.
[01:18:24] Now, nothing wrong with that profession.
[01:18:26] People had to eat.
[01:18:27] That's why it says, but Cain.
[01:18:30] It doesn't list, well, his brother was a plumber, he was a carpenter, or he was a banker, his brother was whatever.
[01:18:36] It says, Abel was a shepherd, but Cain's mind, his thoughts, his priority, His foundation was tilling the ground.
[01:18:48] And so we can see His focus was on the earth, this fallen world.
[01:18:52] And that focus has now become inherent in fallen humanity.
[01:18:57] And that's not what God originally intended for us.
[01:19:00] That's what Jesus came to rescue us from.
[01:19:03] But that's a choice that we make in loving the world or loving the kingdom.
[01:19:07] See, because the foundation that Cain was laying right there is one that can shake.
[01:19:11] The one that Abel was laying couldn't be because it's built on the shed blood of the lamb.
[01:19:19] And we can see, if we had more time, we could develop this more.
[01:19:22] That mindset that Cain had led to a murderer.
[01:19:26] But the mindset Abel had led to a martyr.
[01:19:30] That's the same thing in the kingdom as well.
[01:19:32] Okay, we're going to keep going here.
[01:19:34] So there at the very beginning, we can see mankind was beginning to work the soil from which he came.
[01:19:39] and Cain embodied that aspect of the curse that came from the fall.
[01:19:44] He worked the soil from which he came.
[01:19:46] So right there, we're seeing close to the beginning, the beginning stages of earthly mindedness.
[01:19:53] We're starting to see the love of the world in its infancy.
[01:19:58] And so we see it struggling against the things of the Lord.
[01:20:00] That divide, that distinction was already starting to take shape there at the beginning.
[01:20:06] Well, now we're thousands of years later.
[01:20:08] that distinction is even more important for us because this thing is now matured.
[01:20:15] This thing is maturing all the time.
[01:20:17] We're going to look at that next.
[01:20:19] And so every generation has had that choice to make.
[01:20:22] Love the world or love the kingdom.
[01:20:25] Build upon this temporary foundation in the world or build upon the kingdom that cannot be shaken.
[01:20:32] So there at the beginning we can see this thing in its infancy.
[01:20:35] Let's go toward the end of the book now And we're going to see this thing in its maturity.
[01:20:40] Okay, take a big deep breath.
[01:20:42] We're going to the book of Revelation.
[01:20:44] You guys ready?
[01:20:45] Okay, it's okay.
[01:20:46] No reason to be at all reluctant to read this.
[01:20:50] No reason to be scared of anything that we're going to read today.
[01:20:53] But we're going to see that seed that basically Cain planted at the beginning, we're going to see it now coming to maturity.
[01:21:00] That earthly mindedness coming to maturity.
[01:21:03] So it says here in Revelation chapter 13.
[01:21:07] Now this is also John writing this.
[01:21:09] John who told us, Don't love the world or the things in the world.
[01:21:12] The world's passing away, but he who does the will of God abides forever.
[01:21:16] Here we're going to see that choice portrayed here as well.
[01:21:21] So it says, Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.
[01:21:28] That sacrifice that Cain brought is where this beast is going to come from as well.
[01:21:33] Out of the earth.
[01:21:34] What we saw in its infancy back in Genesis 4, now we're seeing in its mature form in Revelation 13.
[01:21:43] And it says, Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon.
[01:21:53] All right, that beast came from the earth, the same place that Cain's sacrifice came from.
[01:21:58] This is very close to the end.
[01:22:01] Genesis 4, we saw its beginnings.
[01:22:03] That was very close to the beginning.
[01:22:05] Cain shows us the early stages of that mindset.
[01:22:09] Well, this verse shows us the love of the world in its maturity.
[01:22:13] This thing is going to come out of the earth.
[01:22:16] And a lot we can say about this that we don't have time to unpack today.
[01:22:20] But again, I believe the Lord is nudging us to go ahead and begin discussing these things some together.
[01:22:25] Let's go ahead and talk about a few things about what John saw there.
[01:22:29] As we see this maturity of the love of the world being symbolized by this beast, let's talk about this for a few minutes.
[01:22:36] So this verse shows us the love of the world in its full-grown form.
[01:22:41] It started as a baby, as an infant in Cain, Adam and Eve, and then Cain.
[01:22:45] But now we're seeing way toward the end, thousands of years have passed, and now this thing is fully grown.
[01:22:52] So the seed that was planted in the earth at the beginning has now reached its maturity.
[01:22:57] And you and I are closer to that than anybody ever has been before.
[01:23:01] And so Cain's attempt to please God in his own strength may have seemed innocent at the beginning, but he was trying to do that apart from Jesus.
[01:23:11] Mankind trying to get to God apart from Jesus will reach its maturity when this beast has come out of the earth.
[01:23:18] That's what that represents, is mankind.
[01:23:21] This thing that seemed innocent enough at the beginning has now grown to a horrible, terrible beast.
[01:23:27] So that seed that was sown in the earth at the fall, which Cain went on to embody even more than his parents did, will at the end emerge fully grown.
[01:23:38] So what does this beast represent to us now?
[01:23:41] Now again, there's more than we can unpack.
[01:23:43] There's more than anybody understands about this so far.
[01:23:46] I don't believe God has given anybody the full understanding of this.
[01:23:50] But here are some things that we do know based on what it tells us here.
[01:23:53] What I believe it represents, now it's not going to be an actual animal.
[01:23:57] It's going to be an alliance, and all this kind of stuff may be embodied by one person.
[01:24:01] But what we know is that it had horns like a lamb, appeared to be a lamb, but its voice was like a dragon.
[01:24:08] Okay, two horns like a lamb.
[01:24:10] It has the appearance of something good.
[01:24:13] So did Cain's sacrifice.
[01:24:15] Had the appearance of religion.
[01:24:17] So did Cain's sacrifice.
[01:24:20] But even then, we're never going to reach a time where our best efforts cut it.
[01:24:25] But mankind will never stop trying.
[01:24:28] Apart from Jesus, we'll never get there.
[01:24:30] So this thing has two horns like a lamb.
[01:24:32] We're like, God, it looks like it really is you.
[01:24:35] But the voice is the voice of a dragon.
[01:24:38] It's not the Lord at all.
[01:24:40] Just like God was never able to have regard for Cain's sacrifice, even though this thing will look like a lamb, its words will always be the words of a dragon.
[01:24:53] So we read there in 1 John 2 how John showed us the association between the love of the world and the spirit of Antichrist.
[01:25:02] Remember that?
[01:25:02] Well, now we're seeing that thing come to way more maturity even than it was in John's day 2,000-ish years ago.
[01:25:11] You and I are seeing this thing emerge right now from the earth like it never has before.
[01:25:17] Now, there'll be a generation that sees it in its fullness.
[01:25:19] Maybe ours, maybe not. I don't know.
[01:25:21] but every generation has a choice to make, including ours.
[01:25:26] Are we going to love the world or build on the kingdom?
[01:25:30] And so John showed us that connection, that association between the love of the world that he said don't have that and the spirit of Antichrist.
[01:25:41] So let me say a few things very clearly to us.
[01:25:44] Those who choose to love the world, in whatever generation it is, Those who choose to love the world will be deceived by the appearance of the Lamb.
[01:25:57] But those who live in the kingdom will recognize the voice of a dragon.
[01:26:01] And let me tell us what that voice sounds like here.
[01:26:03] We're going to begin to move toward closing here.
[01:26:05] We're going to tie a few loose ends up.
[01:26:08] Those who love the world, which again is a choice every one of us has to make on a personal level, but every generation makes it as well.
[01:26:17] See, this thing's been coming out of the earth for every generation.
[01:26:20] Now, one day it's going to come out fully blown.
[01:26:23] But right now, even now, we have this decision to make.
[01:26:26] Are we going to build on the kingdom or build on this shaking world?
[01:26:31] Those who choose to build on the world will be deceived by that appearance, which looks like a lamb.
[01:26:39] But those who build on the kingdom will recognize that thing's got the voice of a dragon.
[01:26:43] That might be human goodness.
[01:26:45] That is not God's righteousness.
[01:26:48] See, again, the world can never give us that.
[01:26:50] The kingdom is righteousness, peace, and joy.
[01:26:54] This thing might look like it can give those things.
[01:26:56] This thing really is a dragon under cover.
[01:26:59] Those who live in the kingdom will discern and recognize that.
[01:27:03] So those who live in the world, those that dwell in this fallen world as their foundation, if their focus is here, they will be deceived.
[01:27:13] I'm going to give us some examples of that deception here as we begin to prepare to close.
[01:27:19] This verse may not be on the screens, but I didn't give it to them to put on there.
[01:27:23] Let me read to you what the message of that dragon is.
[01:27:27] So again, that thing is going to look like it's really godly.
[01:27:31] It has the appearance of a lamb.
[01:27:33] But in reality, it has the voice of a dragon.
[01:27:36] Let me read to us some things that dragon is saying right now in our generation.
[01:27:41] Some things that is now being proclaimed as looking like coming from God.
[01:27:46] But it's not.
[01:27:48] Okay?
[01:27:48] It says here in Isaiah chapter 5.
[01:27:51] This may or may not be up there.
[01:27:53] If it's not, just jot it down.
[01:27:54] You guys can read this again later on.
[01:27:56] But it says here in Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.
[01:28:05] Those that are deceived by the appearance of that Lamb can no longer distinguish the two.
[01:28:11] Right now in our world, in this generation that you and I live in, it is harder to tell good from evil.
[01:28:19] Now, God also never intended for us to make that decision ourselves.
[01:28:23] That was the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[01:28:27] Let's back up and discuss that for a minute.
[01:28:29] I know we're going deeper than I have time to really develop the way I want to, but our plan, again, is to pick up next week wherever we end up today.
[01:28:37] God's plan for His people was never that we made our decisions based on our understanding, but on the leading of His Spirit.
[01:28:47] Those who are led by the Holy Spirit don't confuse good and evil.
[01:28:51] But those who are trying to make their decisions based on the knowledge of good and evil that came at the fall, they can no longer tell.
[01:29:00] And so it says here, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.
[01:29:05] And that wasn't just a tree of the knowledge of evil.
[01:29:08] It was a tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
[01:29:10] And the good side of that tree is human goodness that's apart from the righteousness of God.
[01:29:14] that good side of the tree is just as deadly as the evil side of the tree.
[01:29:19] You guys see how this is all coming together?
[01:29:21] You see how the end of the book is interpreted by the beginning of the book?
[01:29:24] We're seeing this here.
[01:29:26] And so he says, Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.
[01:29:31] And our generation is doing that.
[01:29:33] Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness.
[01:29:37] Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.
[01:29:41] Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and clever in their own sight.
[01:29:48] Eve chose to eat that fruit because that was what she saw herself getting, becoming wise in her own eyes, clever in her own sight.
[01:29:57] She saw that fruit as being attractive.
[01:29:59] It's going to make me wise, she said.
[01:30:02] This is what resulted.
[01:30:03] And what will finally result ultimately is that beast comes out of the earth, full-blown, reflecting the love of this world.
[01:30:12] It's going to deceive people because it looks like a lamb, but it speaks like a dragon.
[01:30:16] So we can see that voice of the dragon calls evil good and good evil.
[01:30:21] Here are a few more things the voice of the dragon will say and is currently saying in our generation.
[01:30:27] Now, we talked last week about the message of the kingdom and how that message differs from so many messages that are being shared today.
[01:30:36] Any message that is different from the message of the kingdom is rooted in the voice of that dragon.
[01:30:44] And here are some examples.
[01:30:45] Any message that promises salvation without the cross, that's rooted in the voice of the dragon.
[01:30:52] It might look good.
[01:30:54] It might look like a lamb.
[01:30:56] But that's words of the dragon.
[01:30:58] Any message that promises salvation without repentance, which those messages are going forth in the world today, that is the voice of the dragon.
[01:31:09] Any message that does not include surrender and denying ourselves, might have the appearance of godliness, that's the voice of the dragon.
[01:31:20] Paul said in 2 Timothy 3, verse 5, he said, there'll be those who have a form of godliness, but deny its power.
[01:31:29] He said, stay away from those people.
[01:31:31] Don't let yourself go down that road because they've got the appearance of the lamb, but they have the voice of the dragon because the wisdom of the world says you can get saved without a cross.
[01:31:42] The devil showed Jesus in the wilderness.
[01:31:44] He said, hey, look at all the kingdoms in the world.
[01:31:46] You can have those if you just worship me.
[01:31:48] Well, God already planned to give Jesus all those things, but there was a cross that was necessary for Jesus to have them.
[01:31:55] The enemy always offers us sometimes good things, but he never includes a cross in his plan.
[01:32:04] So any message that promises salvation without the cross, any message that does not include repentance, any message that does not include surrender and denying to ourselves, any message that says we can get to God by human goodness
[01:32:20] and does not require the righteousness of God, that is coming from the mouth of the dragon.
[01:32:27] We've got to come back to the truth of the gospel.
[01:32:31] We've got to be a generation that makes that decision.
[01:32:35] Building our lives on the kingdom is building our lives on a truth and we don't compromise that truth.
[01:32:43] When the world does, when the world says, no, no, no, no, you're not being very loving in what you're saying, oftentimes that is the voice of that dragon.
[01:32:52] It looks like it's godly, but it's denying the power that can change people, not leave them the way they are.
[01:32:59] The message of the world is, you're okay, you're fine the way you are, be whoever you say you are.
[01:33:04] What Cain tried to do.
[01:33:06] Cain brought his own strength, his own abilities, his own understanding, and it didn't work.
[01:33:10] one day we're going to see this thing full-blown.
[01:33:13] We're closer than ever to seeing that now.
[01:33:17] Anytime we compromise the truth of God's Word so we don't offend the world, we're more aligned with the voice of the dragon and the gospel of Jesus.
[01:33:29] My plan is to pick up there next week.
[01:33:32] Let me say it again, though.
[01:33:33] Anytime we compromise the truth of God's Word so we don't offend the world, We are more aligned with the love of the world, the appearance of the lamb possibly, but the voice of the dragon.
[01:33:48] Now that being said, Jesus, I don't think you look at His life, I don't think you can see that He walked around being unnecessarily offensive.
[01:33:58] He didn't just needlessly stir the pot.
[01:34:01] But because the truth of the gospel doesn't always jive our natural minds, the truth of God's Word will sometimes offend our natural minds.
[01:34:10] The part of us that's still building in this natural world.
[01:34:13] The part of us that's more at home here than in the kingdom.
[01:34:17] So again, Jesus didn't walk around as many people do and try to be unnecessarily offensive and needlessly stir the pot.
[01:34:27] He did offend the natural minds of people because the kingdom isn't received in our brains, in our hearts.
[01:34:33] So Jesus often was offensive to the natural minds of people whose focus was on the world instead of the kingdom.
[01:34:44] Let me say this, and I'm going to read one more passage over us, and we're going to pray together.
[01:34:50] Based on what I just said, the fact that I don't think Jesus was ever unnecessarily offensive.
[01:34:55] He didn't make it His point to just go around being a jerk, thankfully, in spite of the fact that sometimes people do.
[01:35:03] Even so, if you and I have never been confronted by the truth of the gospel, I wonder if we've ever really heard it.
[01:35:12] because the cross is offensive.
[01:35:16] We discussed that word surrender last week.
[01:35:18] We discussed that word deny.
[01:35:20] Deny says you've got to say no to something you want to say yes to.
[01:35:24] You've got to surrender our own understanding, our own preferences at times, the way that we define things, and allow those things to be defined by the Word of God.
[01:35:33] If we have never been confronted and possibly even offended by the truth of the gospel, I wonder if we've ever really heard it.
[01:35:45] We've got to be a generation that hears it and that proclaims it.
[01:35:49] We've got to align ourselves with the kingdom.
[01:35:51] We're going to pick up there next week.
[01:35:53] Let me read one more thing over us here, then we're going to pray together.
[01:35:57] I want to read some words that Jesus prayed for you and me.
[01:36:01] This is one of the final prayers the Bible records Jesus praying before He went to the cross.
[01:36:06] And He says here He was praying for His disciples, the ones that He had then, and everybody who would become His disciple later.
[01:36:14] That includes you and me.
[01:36:18] We began today by reading what John said about not loving the world, but doing the will of God instead.
[01:36:26] Here Jesus says, pray unto His Father, But now I come to you, and these things I speak in the world, so that they may have my joy made full in themselves.
[01:36:39] and joys in the kingdom.
[01:36:42] Let's not forget that.
[01:36:44] I have given them your word and the world has hated them because they are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
[01:36:53] I do not ask you to take them out of the world.
[01:36:55] Again, don't get our Christian compound, but to keep them from the evil one.
[01:37:01] They are not of the world even as I am not of the world.
[01:37:04] Sanctify them in the truth.
[01:37:07] Your word is truth.
[01:37:10] Okay, our plan is to pick up there next week.
[01:37:13] Let's go ahead and let's close today by talking to the King.
[01:37:18] Talking to the King that you and I are serving.
[01:37:21] The King of the kingdom in which you and I live.
[01:37:25] The King whose kingdom cannot be shaken, that will never be destroyed.
[01:37:32] The kingdom that is the Father's good pleasure to give it to you and me.
[01:37:36] Let's talk to that King together here for just a few minutes.
[01:37:44] So Jesus, right now, Lord, in a fresh way, we proclaim that we are in your kingdom.
[01:37:54] We want to build in your kingdom.
[01:38:00] And so Jesus, we come right now to your kingdom where you are in charge, where you are the king, you are the Lord, and we submit ourselves to your kingship, to your lordship.
[01:38:12] And our heart, Jesus, is not to build on the foundation of this natural world, but to build on the foundation of your eternal kingdom.
[01:38:31] So we just keep our eyes on you today.
[01:38:35] And we shift our focus to you in any area where we need to.
[01:38:40] Holy Spirit, would you show us any area where our focus may be on this world?
[01:38:48] any area where we are tilling the ground thinking that's going to be the correct foundation but instead as your people who were saved by your precious blood you the Lamb of God who came to take away the sin of the world
[01:39:05] to restore us back into right relationship with the Father we submit to you today we say yes to you today and we say yes to that kingdom I pray, Holy Spirit, also that You would guide us in the weeks to come
[01:39:28] as we continue this conversation together.
[01:39:31] Would You teach us?
[01:39:33] We ask You to teach us.
[01:39:35] Jesus said that You would guide us and lead us into all the truth.
[01:39:39] That You would show us things to come.
[01:39:42] That You would bring to our remembrance all that Jesus has said to us.
[01:39:46] And You would teach us all things.
[01:39:48] So we submit to You as well.
[01:39:53] You who are inside of us as God's people.
[01:39:57] We submit to you.
[01:40:01] May we be those, Jesus, who never compromise, who don't take the message of the world, but we are true to the message of the gospel.
[01:40:14] We thank you for this in Jesus' name.
[01:40:16] Amen.
[01:40:18] All right, we're going to have the prayer team come up now.
[01:40:20] They'll be either side of the stage.
[01:40:22] If you guys need prayer for anything specific, please come and see them.
[01:40:26] Otherwise, I hope you have a great week.
[01:40:28] I hope to see you next week.