[0:00] I want to start a series with you this morning called the Kingdom Focused Church. And I think it's very relevant, especially this year and an election year that will be probably still contentious.
[0:18] But just period about what we're going through in our culture at this time. We need to know what our marching orders are.
[0:28] We need to be clear where we stand. And I hope I can make that somewhat clear as we work through some passages together. I'm going to spend some good time in Matthew, just so you know.
[0:43] But I do pray for your prayers. Ask for your prayers as we work through this together. Let's pray. Father, thank you.
[0:53] Thank you that you alone are Lord. You are God. There is none beside you. And you have drawn us into your kingdom that we might be your people.
[1:11] We might be your sons and daughters even. Who are we that you should make us your sons and daughters? By your grace we are that.
[1:23] And we rejoice in calling you Father and Jesus, our Lord and elder brother. Speak to us now. Oh Lord, there's so many isms and schisms and philosophies and ideologies and ideas just flooding us.
[1:41] We are being inundated day in and day out. And the church is wobbling in so many ways, dear God. Stabilize us.
[1:55] That we might be used for your glory. And might have life. An abundant life as Jesus promised us. Bless your word now.
[2:07] Use your unworthy servant as we begin to think about these things. Please grant me your anointing and clarity of speech and thought. As I seek to dive into your word.
[2:17] Into this Matthew passage. And throughout the series. Lord, will you speak to us. Speak to us. We need to hear your voice. And we need to see the glory and the majesty of King Jesus.
[2:31] In his name we pray. Amen. Amen. Matthew chapter 4. Verses 23 through 25.
[2:49] And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
[3:01] So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, those having seizures and paralytics.
[3:16] And he healed them. And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the Decapolis, and from Jerusalem and Judea, and from beyond the Jordan.
[3:28] That is the reading of the word of the Lord. Please be seated. Thank you, praise team.
[3:40] Thank you, choir. Amen. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm going to lay some groundwork for these next two messages, okay?
[3:51] So just hang in there with me, all right? Don't bail on me too quickly. Make America great again.
[4:05] Black lives matter. We are deconstructing the faith, Christianity.
[4:21] These mantras and messages have wrecked, racked, and wrecked our consciousness and country for several years. And I have some affinity for at least two of them.
[4:36] Yeah, basically two of them. Listen, I want our country to be great. By great, I mean a land of justice, peace, security, prosperity, and human flourishing for all.
[4:54] I want America to be great. I live here. My children live here. You, my friends and family, y'all live here. We want a great country. I confess, I think the again part is questionable to me.
[5:11] That's my opinion. But I certainly want greatness as far as that goes for our country. And of course I believe that black and brown lives should matter in this country more than historically.
[5:28] They have mattered. They have mattered. Of course I believe that. You think I'm silly? I'm one of them. I know what it means to be harassed by police officers and follow around stores and have white women cross the street when I walk down the street wearing a three-piece suit.
[5:46] I know about what that feels like. I know what it means to be harassed by police officers. I want black lives, brown lives to matter in this country. Now thank God we have made some great strides and I'm down.
[6:00] I'm the first one to say we are not the same country as we were in 1950. Hello. I'm going to get that out there.
[6:13] But is there more to be done? You have to be blind not to see that. And intentionally blind too. I have to say that.
[6:23] Deconstructing the faith. Now I have less affinity for that. You see if it meant clinging to the word of God and questioning additions to the faith that may be unnecessary.
[6:41] Then yeah I would agree with deconstructing the faith. But does it mean that? It doesn't mean that. You see as Christians we hear these mantras and others.
[7:00] And we say yes. Because they sound good. Right? We say yes. Yes. And we get behind them. But as Christians, as a Christian I must remember behind every mantra is a movement.
[7:19] Let me say that again. Behind every mantra, make America great again. Black lives matter. Deconstruct the faith. Behind every mantra, every message, I'm calling a mantra, repeat it over and over again.
[7:35] There is always a movement. The mantra may be something as a Christian I can support. But then I must examine the movement.
[7:48] Because the movement controls the mantra. The movement controls the message. And unless the movement is built on the word of God as its foundation and motivation, it will become corrupted.
[8:08] And maybe even dangerous. Movements represent kingdoms. World views.
[8:20] Ways of looking at all of life. When Christians fall for the mantra, without biblically examining the movement, we end up in some ways denying an aspect of our king's rule.
[8:37] We end up in some aspect denying our own faith. Because any movement created by a human being is flawed.
[8:52] From word go, it's flawed. If it's not built on the word of God, it will eventually fail.
[9:03] It will not accomplish what you think it will. And if it does accomplish something, that something will be corrupted. Just ask our Cuban brothers and sisters.
[9:17] Castro was their hero. And where did that land them?
[9:30] Revolution. The revolution. Revolution. Where do revolutions usually end up? Replacing the tyrant with a new tyrant.
[9:46] Human movements, unless grounded in the word of God, become corrupted. And at times even dangerous.
[10:01] Quick example. Let's take deconstruction. Deconstructing the faith. Deconstruction is not new.
[10:17] Christians have launched, latched onto the term, not knowing that this is an old, this is a semi-old movement.
[10:28] Deconstruction. Deconstruction. Deconstruction. Deconstruction. Deconstruction. Deconstruction. Deconstruction. The father of deconstruction, many call him, Jacques Derrida. I'm pronouncing it wrong. He's French and I don't speak French very well.
[10:39] 20th century philosopher in France. So, the group of believers. It's also a key founder of queer theory. He wanted to remove loyalty to ideas, to learning, even to religion.
[10:52] In other words, the movement that follows him wanted to get rid of all norms. That's the basis of queer theory.
[11:06] Therefore, the Bible and God become key to get rid of because they are the ultimate norms. Right, right, right. Because now, when you talk to the deconstructionists that Christians sometimes are latching on to without knowing what we're doing, the deconstructionists will tell you, if you are still believing the Bible is the word of God, you haven't deconstructed.
[11:40] The Bible becomes the ultimate oppressor. And God, oppressive book, and God, the ultimate oppressor. We like the phrase.
[11:59] But do we understand the movements? Today, our allegiance as the Lord's people is being challenged in so many ways. Politics, justice, ethnically, sexual identity.
[12:12] What does it even mean to be human? Even our very confidence upon the word of God is being challenged at a very high rate. And I want to tell you, I don't think we're doing very well.
[12:25] Jesus, the great king, came with a message and a movement. And it is recovering his message and movement that will keep us stable and effective as his people for his glory.
[12:43] It will keep us from being swept away by all these mantras. It will keep us safe from danger.
[12:54] And being conquered by the temporary movements of this world. Because the message of our king, Jesus, is paramount because his kingdom is everything.
[13:08] Will you hold to the king's message? Will you hold to the king's message? Will you ground your feet solidly in his kingdom and his message?
[13:26] Will you keep listening to the mantras of our culture that say good things and do good things, but they are not grounded?
[13:40] And you can't give yourself to these movements. Or you will be swept away.
[13:53] Our Lord Jesus in our passage has just returned from his time of temptation in the wilderness. We saw this actually around Christmas time. Satan himself came to tempt our Lord and he overwhelmingly triumphed in the power of the Holy Spirit and the word of God.
[14:10] Now he begins his three-year earthly ministry. The light of the world began to shine as he preached. Verse 17, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[14:25] Look at his focus already. He preached that an ancient kingdom is being revealed to the nations. And immediately he begins forming a group of disciples to be with him as they respond to his kingdom message.
[14:40] He forms a movement. Now Matthew now gives us a bit more insight into Jesus' ministry, what he said and did and the immediate effect in our passage.
[14:52] And even we'll be looking into chapter 5, I think, next week. Well, we'll be looking at chapter 5 as well. The whole Matthew of gospel really shows us. But we'll be looking at just a short portion.
[15:03] That's the first thing I want you to notice. And most importantly was the message. The king's message, he says, is the gospel of the kingdom.
[15:17] The good news. Gospel means, of course, good news. The good news of the kingdom. When we say the gospel, that's really shorthand. The good news of the kingdom is shorthand for the gospel of the kingdom.
[15:30] That is the full message. The gospel of the kingdom. And Jesus came preaching it. He gave his attention, his great attention to revealing this particular idea.
[15:49] Matthew makes it very clear that this is the centerpiece of the Lord's message. And what he did. Matthew 4, 17. From that time, Jesus began to preach, saying, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[16:03] Matthew 9, 35. Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every affliction.
[16:15] In chapter 13, which we won't turn to, but I'll give that to you, we have six parables on the kingdom of heaven. That whole chapters, you call them the kingdom parables.
[16:28] In chapter 24, as we come towards the end of the gospel, Jesus is speaking of the end in kingdom language. And he says this, And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations.
[16:45] And then the end will come. When will the end come? When the gospel of the kingdom has been preached throughout the entire world.
[16:55] I skipped something. And that's Matthew 5 through 7. Matthew 5 through 7 is what we call the Sermon on the Mount.
[17:08] It is called technically the Kingdom Manifesto. It is what it looks like to live for those who come to Jesus to live in his kingdom.
[17:21] I can't go through that today, but I'll just mention some things real quick. Seven times the kingdom is mentioned in this great sermon. It begins with the Beatitudes. Those blessed statements.
[17:32] They end, they begin and end with these words, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Later in the chapter, Jesus talks about being great or least in his kingdom.
[17:45] He talks about the kingdom must be entered through righteousness. He tells us we are to pray for the kingdom to come. He tells us in the big verse, Matthew 6, 33, that the kingdom must be the priority of our lives.
[18:02] Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all things will be added unto you. Seek first, not second, not third. Priority of our lives, he says, is seeking first his kingdom.
[18:20] Then he tells us in chapter 7 that not just anyone can enter the kingdom, but only those who are willing to do the will of his Father. He even warns us that many will say to him, Lord, Lord, on that day before him, did we not do great works in your name?
[18:34] Miracles even. And he will say, depart from me, I never knew you. Scariest words in all the Bible. The kingdom. Luke mentions the kingdom several times, but in Luke chapter 4, verse 43, you find Jesus is ministering in a certain area.
[18:54] And then verse 43 says this, I mean, he's having a wonderful ministry in an area, and Jesus says, I can't stay because I'm a preacher.
[19:15] And I must go and preach the good news of the kingdom all over the place. That's my purpose, he says.
[19:30] I was sent for that purpose, to preach the good news, the gospel of the kingdom. Mark begins his gospel with a focus on the kingdom.
[19:44] Mark 1, 14 to 15. Now, after John was arrested, that's John the Baptist, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, the time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand.
[20:04] Repent and believe in the gospel. Matthew and Mark note that the kingdom is at hand.
[20:16] The kingdom is present. Right now. In the person of the king. Now, I guess a good question here at the beginning would be, is what did our Lord mean by the kingdom?
[20:34] What did he mean by the kingdom of God or kingdom of heaven? Same thing. What did he mean by that? The word speaks of the reign and rule of God.
[20:47] Reign and rule. I know all of you have, at some point or another, checked out the royal, the British royals, right? You know, we have a new king.
[20:59] Queen has reigned. Queen Elizabeth reigned for the longest reigning monarch. But here's the thing about British royalty, including Queen Elizabeth and now King Charles.
[21:11] They reign but do not rule. Okay? They don't have any real power to control stuff. They don't rule.
[21:23] They don't rule the country, the kingdom. They don't rule it. But they have a reign. They're over it in a symbolic way in many ways. They have some power. Don't get me wrong.
[21:33] But Jesus is not like that. Jesus reigns and rules. He's no paper monarch.
[21:45] He doesn't have a parliament. Or a, you know, he's not voted in and voted out. There's no Senate and Congress.
[21:59] None of that stuff. Jesus is the only wise potentate. He reigns and rules in his kingdom. And the great thing about having him is that he's holy and righteous.
[22:12] So everything he says and does is right and good. He's the only one we can trust like that. Where does he reign and rule?
[22:27] Everywhere. What? Yeah. He is creator and sustainer of all things. But the world is falling, you say.
[22:38] And people are in rebellion. People are not living like they should. They're not obeying him. Adam and Eve set us up pretty well. They were supposed to represent their father God as his son and daughter ruling his creation in his name and thus manifesting his kingdom in all of creation.
[22:58] You see, the garden kingdom was meant to become a global kingdom. That's what they were supposed to do. But they decided to make a name and a kingdom for themselves and rebelled.
[23:15] They rejected his kingdom. They rejected his rule and reign, God's rule and reign. Hence the beginning of the counterfeit kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, ruled not by humans, but by spiritual forces of darkness with their king named Satan.
[23:32] But here's the thing, saints. God's kingdom never ceased. Never ended. He continues to reign and rule even while Satan's kingdom of darkness runs amok.
[23:51] Well, how is it visible? How do you see this reign and rule? You see people doing whatever they, every, as the book of Judges says, every man did what was right in his own eyes.
[24:06] We see that constantly. How can you tell, where do we see this kingdom being made visible? People, when the old covenant was visible in Israel.
[24:19] Just before giving the people the Ten Commandments, God says to them in Exodus 19, he says, you yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians. Man, that's just a statement all by itself.
[24:34] It's like God said, you saw what I did. You mess with my people. You saw what I did to the Egyptians.
[24:46] Man, I get excited about that. How I bore you on eagle's wings and brought you to myself. You see, he wasn't just delivering them from bondage.
[24:57] God delivers us for himself. He brings us out that we might be his prized possession. We might be his people. We might belong to him. We might be family. Now listen.
[25:10] Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples. For all the earth is mine. And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.
[25:26] He's talking to Moses. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel. Moses, tell them what I said. You speak what I tell you. Tell them I said.
[25:36] Let them know. They're my kingdom. They're my treasured possession. They're my people. I'm their deliverer. I will be their God.
[25:47] They shall be my people. And I will dwell in the midst of them. That's what he's telling them. God revealed his kingdom through a people chosen by grace at that time called Jews.
[26:01] But they failed to live up to the privilege. But they failed to live up to the privilege they were given through corrupt human kings. And hearts that went after things they should not have desired.
[26:15] But God didn't give up. It was all part of the plan. It wasn't caught off guard. Oh, what am I going to do? There's got to be a plan B.
[26:25] Michael, Gabriel, plan B. No. It was all part of the plan. He knew. He knew. He promised to send a perfect king then to save all who would trust in him.
[26:40] And he gave a wonderful message to the prophet Daniel to set this thing up. He said other things throughout the Old Testament. But Daniel is my favorite.
[26:52] So forgive me. It's not on the screen. I don't think. I don't think. Daniel 7. You don't have that, do you? Okay. Listen to this. Daniel 7, 13 and 14 and 18. Three verses.
[27:03] Daniel's having a vision. I saw in the night visions and behold, with the clouds of heaven, there came one like a son of man. Jesus' favorite title for himself, son of man. He came to the Ancient of Days, God the Father, and was presented before him.
[27:18] To him, the son of man, was given dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.
[27:29] His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away. His kingdom, one that shall not be destroyed. Verse 18. The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, forever, and ever.
[27:50] Amen. So look. The kingdom is manifest in the old. The kingdom was already there in the garden. God is reigning over all things.
[28:01] Adam and Eve mess it up. God calls Abram, creates a people that will manifest his kingdom. A people whom he will rule over and bless and nurture and care for.
[28:14] But those people have clay feet too. They rebel against God. They think that, they look at the other nations and say, we want to be like them. Do you hear me?
[28:25] They look at the nations around them. And the people of the kingdom of God say, we ain't got enough. We want to be like the other nations.
[28:36] That's how they got their first king named Saul. Give us a king. But God said, Samuel, the prophet says, don't, no, no, no, no, stop.
[28:47] And God said to Samuel, they're not rejecting you, Samuel, because Samuel was leading the people. He said, they're not rejecting you. They're rejecting me as their king. Give them a king. Saul, then David, a better job there.
[29:02] But he was clay feet too. And so there's all kinds of corruption. And then finally Israel just fails. They get sent off to Babylon.
[29:13] He brings them back. Come on, y'all can do it. Come on, follow me. Follow me. Be my people. Yeah, we're there. Fail again. But it's all part of the plan.
[29:25] Jesus is coming. The great king with an everlasting kingdom. The perfect king. The one who will not fail. The one who will lead the people. And leading them, he will defeat all his enemies and their enemies.
[29:39] He will reign forever and ever. He's coming. He has dominion. He has all authority. He's coming. And so when Jesus comes in the new covenant, he creates a people, a movement, of people who are not just ancestral Jews, but they are the spiritual children of Abraham, as well as ancestral Jews who trust in Jesus, now are constituted into what the new covenant reveals as his church.
[30:19] People from all nations, tribes, and tongues who follow this king. And it's striking. It's beautifully striking that the apostle Peter picks up the same language from the old covenant kingdom people.
[30:35] In 1 Peter 2.9, he's talking about the church. But listen, he says, But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession.
[30:46] I just read that in Exodus. That you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
[30:57] So now the old covenant people are being, as it were, fulfilled. The same idea. Those, that people who trusted in the living God, who did not turn to idols, they and all those who believe and follow Jesus from every nation, tribe, and tongue, are now one people.
[31:20] One people. One covenant. One kingdom. The church now is that place where you see the reign, the rule, the presence, and the power of Christ and his kingdom.
[31:48] It is being revealed in you. Where do we see the kingdom being revealed? The church is not the kingdom.
[32:02] The kingdom is bigger. It's all created. All the created. The church manifests the kingdom. Listen, I always hear people say this kind of language, and I kind of cringe.
[32:14] Listen, we do not create the kingdom. God has not called us to create his kingdom. He has not called us to even build his kingdom. He has not called us to expand his kingdom. It already covers everything.
[32:28] He's calling us to display his kingdom. To reveal the kingdom. To reveal it. So we pray.
[32:45] Because we know we're weak. We're no better than Israel in the Old Testament. We're not better than them. We're being pulled right now.
[32:57] Like I said, Elizabeth, we're being pulled in all kinds of directions. So many of us in this room. We're all being pulled. We're not wise.
[33:11] We're not examining the movements according to the word of God, but how it sounds. Sounds good. Good.
[33:22] They're good Christians. We're no better than them. That's why we pray. Matthew 6.10, Jesus taught us to pray. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done.
[33:35] He taught us to pray that. Because he knows when you pray that, you're saying, let it begin with me. You're not saying, do it out there, Lord, first. No. When you pray the Lord's prayer, you're saying, start with me, Lord.
[33:49] We're saying as a church, start with New City Fellowship. Thy kingdom come here in New City Fellowship. Thy will be done through New City Fellowship in all of our lives. Because we know we can't do it.
[34:05] Because we know we're susceptible to idolatry too. As this message goes forth in the power of God's spirit, people see Jesus for who he truly is.
[34:23] He's the son of God, the only savior and king. And they surrender their lives to follow him. Jeremy Treat gives us a helpful summary of the kingdom of God.
[34:36] Very catchy. He says it's God's reign through God's people over God's place. The kingdom of God. God's reign through God's people over God's place. What is God's place?
[34:47] Everywhere he sends you. Yeah. Was it Abraham Kuyper for you Covenant College folk? I think it was Kuyper who said, there is no square inch in all of creation where Jesus does not say, mine.
[35:10] Mine. It's his. The church then becomes, and we're going to talk more about these things, but I'm just laying them out.
[35:24] I'm laying some foundation. I'm trying anyway. The church really becomes an embassy of the kingdom of God. Now, now, now we're a strange kind of embassy.
[35:37] We are weird. We are a weird embassy. I used to live. I told you before I used to live. Me and saying we lived in DC. We used to live near a few embassies because there was some of them were on 16th street. We were just off 16th Northwest.
[35:50] Embassies are very interesting because they are, they actually belong to the country that they represent. So that, that whole building, it'll be a building. That whole building now is the territory of Uganda.
[36:06] You step into, onto that, go into the gate, step into the building. You're in Uganda now, subject to their laws and rules. Now, the thing about human embassies created by people is they don't try to convert people to their country usually.
[36:24] I mean, that's called spying. That's espionage. We're not going to talk about that. We're not going to talk about that. No, but they, but they, they're not evangelistic, you know, as it were. They're not trying to proselytize.
[36:35] Everybody come and join Uganda. They're not trying to do that. That's, but our embassy, like I said, is weird because that's what we're trying to do. Our embassy, the embassy of the kingdom of God, which we call the church, is actually, it's heaven territory.
[36:52] We, we, we operate in this kingdom. We operate according to the laws of heaven. The law, the word of the Lord is our law. The gospel is our hope and joy that we seek to propagate and we want to go outside of our embassies into the culture to try to encourage people to come into the kingdom.
[37:13] So we're a different kind of embassy. So just so you know, but we are. And, and so we are aggressive in that way. not fighting and, no, no, no, no, aggressive in trying to reach people to bring them in.
[37:35] How are we aggressive? Well, I'm just going to start this and we're going to stop. How are we, how, how does Jesus reveal this holy aggression? the king's message comes through word and deed.
[37:49] That's what does happen in verse 23 of, of this wonderful passage in Matthew. He went throughout Galilee teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel and healing.
[38:01] Word and deed. Word and deed. His word ministry, of course, is revealed in his preaching and teaching in the synagogues as he proclaimed the gospel. That's who Jesus was.
[38:13] He was preeminently a preacher. He went from place to place, proclaiming and then teaching. He has a message from God that he must get out.
[38:24] That message is paramount. It is the good news of the kingdom. It's the good news that the kingdom has come that God has not forgotten about us. It's the good news that you can enter this kingdom by grace, not by heredity, not, not, you have to be born in the right family.
[38:41] You have to be born on the right side of the tracks. You don't have to have the right, be the right ethnic group. You have to be the right nation. No, the good news of the kingdom is that anybody is welcome if they will trust in the king.
[38:54] He's got to get this message out. It's a huge mistake today led by the enemy of our souls that so many churches are putting less emphasis on preaching and teaching of God's word.
[39:04] Now, again, I read broadly. I've talked to people. This is happening.
[39:15] It's been happening for a long time. People want more drama. That was a huge drama move. I think it's still here, but a huge drama move at one point where we had to have acting.
[39:26] We wanted to have lots of drama in the worship service. I visited one church and I'll forget that they were talking about this drama they were going to do in the worship service. It was more important than the message of the word that was going to be preached.
[39:41] I'm not exaggerating because it dealt with infertility. The drama dealt with infertility and they were really concerned that the drama might trigger some people, but they really thought they had to do it.
[39:52] And I'm sitting there going, but what about the preaching of the word? What? What? That's when God speaks clearly through his word.
[40:07] What happened? Well, no, we want more singing. Okay, singing. So now we have to hire the best orchestras and the best, you watch, they're spending tons and tons of money getting the best musicians and the best singers and the congregation sings a little, but really the congregation is watching the folk up front sing.
[40:30] Because they're the experts, they're the pros. And the message of the word, oh, amen. Ask people, how was the worship service?
[40:44] What did they tell you? Man, we had some great singing. Is that it? Jesus was preeminently a preacher and teacher of the word of God.
[40:59] Amen. A message has to be delivered. It's something that must be said. You, I'm going to stop here, but you have been given the privilege of being ambassadors of this kingdom.
[41:20] You're ambassadors. ambassadors. You and I have been gifted with the wonderful opportunity to proclaim, to preach, and to teach the word of God to all who will listen.
[41:38] To our families first, and then to those whom we come. We have a message. You are part of a kingdom that never ends. You are ambassadors of that kingdom.
[41:50] kingdom. You have been brought into that kingdom through the cross of Jesus Christ and the message of his grace. You've been forgiven of your sins. You've been transformed. We're going to talk about that next week.
[42:00] We've been transformed. You've been changed so that you might be the people of God, that you might be faithful ambassadors, endowed with his presence. His very spirit endows you with the ability now to live for him and to go and do what Jesus did.
[42:18] Proclaim his kingdom. I will tell you this. It's better than making America great again.
[42:30] It's better than Black Lives Matter. You won't have to deconstruct anything. There's nothing better. It's better than socialism.
[42:42] It's better than communism. It's better than capitalism. It's better than all the isms. Listen, this kingdom is perfect.
[42:52] This kingdom is made up of flawed people but don't worry the king is going to set it all right because he's coming again. He's going to fix it. You just give him time.
[43:03] He's going to fix it. But first of all, he's going to fix you. He's going to spend the rest of your life fixing you and me. And with me, he has a lot of work to do.
[43:22] We got the best news ever. Our king will not be voted out. Our king will not be indicted or impeached.
[43:40] Our king is perfect. Have you met this Jesus? Is this who you're? Are you standing with this king and his message of his kingdom?
[43:50] We're not done yet. We'll come back to this verse, passage. But are you standing? Where are you standing? Whose kingdom are you promoting? yours? Your brand?
[44:03] Your kingdom? Your self-help guru? Whose kingdom? You're promoting somebody's kingdom. Which one? Every day, I would challenge you.
[44:18] Wake up in the morning and say, Lord, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in me. Hallowed be your name and me. Oh, I didn't forget.
[44:31] Challenge. Remember that challenge I gave you? Social media for the month of February. It's a challenge I got. You don't have to do it, but I'll challenge you.
[44:42] If you can't do it, why not? It's manipulation, I don't. Social media for the month of February. on your social media account. Put something about Jesus.
[44:54] Forget you. Forget what you're eating, drinking, doing. Forget your kingdom. And for your month of February, remember this challenge? Y'all remember this? I challenge you to only put something on your social media that reflects Jesus.
[45:09] Scripture, a statement, whatever you want, but point to Jesus. Do it for a month. Just try. See what happens when you promote the kingdom that will never end. See what happens when you promote the kingdom that is reigning right now.
[45:23] Right now, reigning. See what happens. And then we get some testimonies afterwards to see how it went for you. Amen? Father, thank you.
[45:35] Thank you for sending Jesus with this message of his kingdom that he reigns and rules and that we can fall into this kingdom. We can be brought in and be part of your reign and rule and know you as father and know, and we have a message now to tell the world where they don't have to deconstruct, they don't have to give themselves to mantras and movements that are flawed and corrupted, but they can give themselves to you and your work and your kingdom.
[46:01] Help us to demonstrate that, Father. And then help us to tell others about this great kingdom and this great king. In Jesus' name. Amen.