WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 The greatest revolution ever known to man was started by an obscure carpenter, blue 2 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:12.160 collar, with a group of ragtag men in an obscure village in a part of the world that hardly 3 00:00:12.160 --> 00:00:19.840 anybody knows about. 4 00:00:19.840 --> 00:00:24.120 But he started a kingdom of God revolution, his name was Jesus. 5 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:29.120 Jesus came preaching the kingdom over a hundred times in his ministry. 6 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:35.000 He spoke about the kingdom of God, he told us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be 7 00:00:35.000 --> 00:00:37.260 done on earth as it is in heaven. 8 00:00:37.260 --> 00:00:41.960 His first sermon was repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come. 9 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:46.680 When he began to teach about the kingdom, he gave us one of the greatest sermons that 10 00:00:46.680 --> 00:00:48.320 the world has ever known. 11 00:00:48.320 --> 00:00:55.240 Whether secular, atheistic, agnostic, or even Christian, all agree that one of the greatest 12 00:00:55.240 --> 00:01:01.160 sermons ever given was the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 6, and 7, and that sermon 13 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:05.840 was on the ethics and the morality of the kingdom of God. 14 00:01:05.840 --> 00:01:13.040 So Jesus came bringing a kingdom of God revolution, and I can tell you guys that I have never 15 00:01:13.040 --> 00:01:19.880 in my life been so impacted by any one concept, besides Jesus himself, than the kingdom of 16 00:01:19.880 --> 00:01:24.800 God, and even as a missionary in Japan for many years, I think it was my second or third 17 00:01:24.800 --> 00:01:30.200 year in Japan that I discovered the concepts of the kingdom of God. 18 00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:35.360 Two books that really impacted me was the Gospel of the Kingdom by a guy named George 19 00:01:35.360 --> 00:01:41.680 Elton Ladd, popular expositions on the kingdom of God, this had a huge impact, and then probably 20 00:01:41.680 --> 00:01:45.720 the greatest book on the kingdom that has impacted me the deepest was the Unshakable 21 00:01:45.720 --> 00:01:50.500 Kingdom and the Unchanging Person by E. Stanley Johns. 22 00:01:50.500 --> 00:01:51.840 So what is the kingdom? 23 00:01:51.840 --> 00:01:54.200 What is the kingdom of God? 24 00:01:54.200 --> 00:01:59.080 Very important to define it here, and I would just say that it's difficult for us to understand 25 00:01:59.080 --> 00:02:03.920 because we come out of a democracy, and in a democracy we think in terms of independence, 26 00:02:03.920 --> 00:02:10.240 we think of self-rule, we think of states under nations, but in the kingdom, a kingdom 27 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:16.040 concept, which would be in medieval times, even up to present, you know, nations like 28 00:02:16.040 --> 00:02:22.320 Great Britain and others like that, the idea of a kingdom is that there is a king, and 29 00:02:22.320 --> 00:02:33.240 the king rules over all, and that there is a land or a province or a people that a kingdom 30 00:02:33.240 --> 00:02:35.920 or a king rules over, and that's what he calls his kingdom. 31 00:02:35.920 --> 00:02:40.640 So you have two parts, you have a king, and then you have the people of the kingdom, the 32 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:42.400 people under the king. 33 00:02:42.400 --> 00:02:47.560 And so the kingdom of God as Jesus came was the reign and rule of Christ, the reign and 34 00:02:47.560 --> 00:02:50.680 rule of the Messiah, the reign and rule of Jesus. 35 00:02:50.680 --> 00:02:54.680 And wherever Jesus went when he preached the kingdom, the people of that time would 36 00:02:54.680 --> 00:03:03.000 have understood that to mean that God has come, that the king, not knowing yet that 37 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:09.560 he was Messiah, probably until after the resurrection, but this man, this rabbi named Jesus was preaching 38 00:03:09.560 --> 00:03:13.040 of a new world order. 39 00:03:13.040 --> 00:03:17.600 And the kingdom of God really caught my heart so many years ago because I realized this 40 00:03:17.600 --> 00:03:22.480 is the total answer to man's total need. 41 00:03:22.480 --> 00:03:26.440 The famous agnostic, some would say he was an atheist, H.G. 42 00:03:26.440 --> 00:03:31.200 Wells, the famous writer and historian, when he discovered the kingdom of God and the concept 43 00:03:31.200 --> 00:03:34.160 of the kingdom of God said this, quote, 44 00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:40.800 Why here is the most radical proposal ever presented to the mind of man, the proposal 45 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:46.720 to replace the present world order with God's order, the kingdom of God. 46 00:03:46.720 --> 00:03:47.720 I mean H.G. 47 00:03:47.720 --> 00:03:52.520 Wells had a better understanding of the kingdom of God than a lot of pastors do. 48 00:03:52.520 --> 00:04:01.020 Now when Jesus came, he began his ministry by succinctly and directly and cogently giving 49 00:04:01.020 --> 00:04:03.620 the mission of which he had come. 50 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:08.360 This is the mission of Christ and this is a great definition of the kingdom of God. 51 00:04:08.360 --> 00:04:11.840 This is what Jesus said in Luke 4, 18 and 19. 52 00:04:11.840 --> 00:04:16.240 The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed me to preach the gospel of 53 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:17.240 the poor. 54 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:23.680 He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and recovery 55 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:29.760 of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable 56 00:04:29.760 --> 00:04:31.920 year of the Lord. 57 00:04:31.920 --> 00:04:38.800 Healing, liberty, bringing sight, setting free, those are all the concepts of the kingdom 58 00:04:38.800 --> 00:04:39.800 of God. 59 00:04:39.800 --> 00:04:46.920 As a matter of fact, the constitution and the early documents from the pilgrims and 60 00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:52.760 the Puritans when they came to America were built on this idea of a coming kingdom. 61 00:04:52.760 --> 00:04:57.600 As a matter of fact, the pilgrims and the Puritans talked about America being a new 62 00:04:57.600 --> 00:05:00.000 Israel, like a new Jerusalem. 63 00:05:00.000 --> 00:05:04.720 They would bring the gospel to the whole world because they had a concept of the Kingdom 64 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:05.720 of God. 65 00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:12.360 This idea that the greatness of God, the healing power of God, the miraculous works of God 66 00:05:12.360 --> 00:05:14.680 were going to take over the world. 67 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:22.200 And so a Kingdom of God revolution is a work of the Spirit in which God wants to invade 68 00:05:22.200 --> 00:05:27.800 a person's life and transform them from the inside out. 69 00:05:27.800 --> 00:05:32.000 That cascading to others becomes even a community. 70 00:05:32.000 --> 00:05:34.680 That's the power of a Kingdom of God revolution. 71 00:05:34.680 --> 00:05:39.160 And so as I look at a Kingdom of God revolution, I look at it from the perspective of culture 72 00:05:39.160 --> 00:05:40.160 too. 73 00:05:40.160 --> 00:05:42.560 Not just individuals, but how do we impact the culture? 74 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.480 Can you imagine a city? 75 00:05:45.480 --> 00:05:50.120 Can you imagine a community where every life is valued? 76 00:05:50.120 --> 00:05:57.640 Whether born or unborn, whether mentally or physically challenged, whether one is born 77 00:05:57.640 --> 00:06:06.320 out of wedlock, whether one is struggling with some disease, that all of life is celebrated. 78 00:06:06.320 --> 00:06:10.120 Imagine schools where kids are just excited to learn. 79 00:06:10.120 --> 00:06:14.640 Imagine going to your job and you're just pumped and fired up to make a difference, 80 00:06:14.640 --> 00:06:19.540 to grow your territory, to grow what God's given you to do. 81 00:06:19.540 --> 00:06:25.280 Imagine marriages where we work stuff out instead of running and getting divorces. 82 00:06:25.280 --> 00:06:31.600 Imagine where life is celebrated, where there's joy in men and women's hearts, where kids 83 00:06:31.600 --> 00:06:35.080 are valued, and where the Bible is honored. 84 00:06:35.080 --> 00:06:38.000 That's a Kingdom of God revolution, and I believe that's why Jesus came. 85 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:39.880 He came to bring that. 86 00:06:39.880 --> 00:06:45.440 In his first sermon, Jesus said, I'm reading from Matthew 4, 17, 87 00:06:45.440 --> 00:06:49.360 Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 88 00:06:49.360 --> 00:06:53.360 Interesting isn't it that the first word out of Jesus' mouth in his first sermon ever 89 00:06:53.360 --> 00:07:00.560 given is the word repent, which in Greek is metanoia, and it's the idea of change. 90 00:07:00.560 --> 00:07:03.120 It means to change your mind. 91 00:07:03.120 --> 00:07:05.240 It means to change your heart. 92 00:07:05.240 --> 00:07:10.640 It's the idea of dethroning you. 93 00:07:10.640 --> 00:07:14.200 And if you want to know what the kingdom of self is, that's where you're living if you 94 00:07:14.200 --> 00:07:17.040 don't have the kingdom of God. 95 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:19.180 So someone's on the throne of our hearts. 96 00:07:19.180 --> 00:07:21.360 It's either me or it's Jesus. 97 00:07:21.360 --> 00:07:27.120 It's either me or it's God, and so to repent, Jesus is saying that's the beginning. 98 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:33.080 That's where it all starts right there, folks, is who's going to be in control of your life? 99 00:07:33.080 --> 00:07:35.680 Who's going to be on the throne of your life? 100 00:07:35.680 --> 00:07:37.640 Are you willing to surrender to me? 101 00:07:37.640 --> 00:07:46.640 Are you willing to surrender your pride, your arrogance, your selfishness, and your sin 102 00:07:46.640 --> 00:07:50.400 to me so that I can transform you? 103 00:07:51.400 --> 00:07:53.280 That's the key to a kingdom of God revolution. 104 00:07:53.280 --> 00:07:54.280 That's where it all starts. 105 00:07:54.280 --> 00:07:56.000 It all starts with repentance. 106 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:58.960 It starts with transformation and change. 107 00:07:58.960 --> 00:08:07.400 And so when he speaks of repent, change, transformation, Jesus is saying, look, there's only room for 108 00:08:07.400 --> 00:08:10.280 one on the throne. 109 00:08:10.280 --> 00:08:13.720 There's one throne, and I'd like to take over your throne. 110 00:08:13.720 --> 00:08:19.440 I would like you to give up that throne to me and let me demonstrate my power. 111 00:08:19.480 --> 00:08:24.800 Now here's what's interesting about the kingdom of God, is that wherever the kingdom comes, 112 00:08:24.800 --> 00:08:31.840 in the time of Christ, but all through history, there's a demonstration, not just a proclamation, 113 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:35.240 but a demonstration of the kingdom. 114 00:08:35.240 --> 00:08:40.679 So in many of our churches today, there's proclamation of God's word, the Bible, which 115 00:08:40.679 --> 00:08:42.000 is hugely important. 116 00:08:42.000 --> 00:08:49.560 As a matter of fact, we need that more than ever, and we need to see that done even more 117 00:08:49.560 --> 00:08:56.280 deeply than ever because of the kind of culture that we're dealing with and involved in Western 118 00:08:56.280 --> 00:08:58.480 civilization right now. 119 00:08:58.480 --> 00:09:00.280 But there's also a demonstration. 120 00:09:00.280 --> 00:09:04.120 So let me read again from Matthew 4. 121 00:09:04.120 --> 00:09:07.240 Look at the progression here. 122 00:09:07.240 --> 00:09:11.960 Then for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and Jesus said, and Jesus walking by the sea 123 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:18.520 of Galilee saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, Andrew his brother, casting a net into 124 00:09:18.520 --> 00:09:21.120 the sea, for they were fishermen. 125 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:24.240 Then he said to them, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 126 00:09:24.240 --> 00:09:26.160 They immediately left their nests and followed him. 127 00:09:26.160 --> 00:09:30.400 And then it gives a list of the early disciples. 128 00:09:30.400 --> 00:09:33.240 But then in verse 23, we read this. 129 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:38.560 Jesus went about all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel 130 00:09:38.560 --> 00:09:45.520 of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. 131 00:09:45.520 --> 00:09:50.440 So Jesus did a couple things here that are part of a kingdom of God revolution. 132 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.920 First, he proclaimed it, repentance. 133 00:09:53.920 --> 00:09:56.960 Second, he began to raise up disciples. 134 00:09:56.960 --> 00:10:00.000 He began to call forth people that he was going to change. 135 00:10:00.000 --> 00:10:02.000 And he said to them this, 136 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:06.000 Follow me and I will make you fishers of men. 137 00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000 So this following Jesus follows repentance. 138 00:10:10.000 --> 00:10:12.000 It's not just about repenting. 139 00:10:12.000 --> 00:10:16.000 I mean there's many religions in the world today that talk about 140 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:21.000 actualizing your spiritual self 141 00:10:21.000 --> 00:10:25.000 through distancing yourself from who you are. 142 00:10:25.000 --> 00:10:28.000 Buddhism is notorious for that. 143 00:10:28.000 --> 00:10:31.000 Christ is different though in that he says repent, 144 00:10:31.000 --> 00:10:35.000 change, be transformed, follow me. 145 00:10:35.000 --> 00:10:38.000 So it's not just about finding nothingness 146 00:10:38.000 --> 00:10:42.000 or finding this absolute nirvana 147 00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:45.000 through getting rid of all of your desire, 148 00:10:45.000 --> 00:10:49.000 but rather follow me, take your passions that you put on yourself 149 00:10:49.000 --> 00:10:53.000 and then give your passion, give your heart to me 150 00:10:53.000 --> 00:10:55.000 and let me transform you. 151 00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:58.000 Then he says I'm going to bring healing. 152 00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:02.000 I'm going to be radical transformation from the inside out. 153 00:11:02.000 --> 00:11:04.000 And that's what Jesus does. 154 00:11:04.000 --> 00:11:07.000 So become a kingdom of God revolutionary. 155 00:11:07.000 --> 00:11:09.000 Because what's happening in your heart right now 156 00:11:09.000 --> 00:11:11.000 is that's what you're longing for. 157 00:11:11.000 --> 00:11:13.000 That's what you were born to do. 158 00:11:13.000 --> 00:11:16.000 There's something deep down inside from the day you were born 159 00:11:16.000 --> 00:11:18.000 that wanted to live far, 160 00:11:18.000 --> 00:11:22.000 wanted to dream about something greater than yourself. 161 00:11:22.000 --> 00:11:25.000 And the most happy, joyful people, quite frankly, 162 00:11:25.000 --> 00:11:28.000 are people who have discovered the kingdom of God. 163 00:11:28.000 --> 00:11:32.000 Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God 164 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:34.000 and his righteousness 165 00:11:34.000 --> 00:11:38.000 and all these other things that you value will be added to you. 166 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:42.000 In other words, what Jesus is saying is everything that we long for, 167 00:11:42.000 --> 00:11:46.000 which is love, it's meaning, it's forgiveness, 168 00:11:46.000 --> 00:11:50.000 it's caring for others, it's about being even a hero. 169 00:11:50.000 --> 00:11:53.000 The idea of being a hero is something deep within us 170 00:11:53.000 --> 00:11:56.000 that wants to be a kingdom of God revolutionary. 171 00:11:56.000 --> 00:11:58.000 So join the team. 172 00:11:58.000 --> 00:12:01.000 Become a part of the greatest movement the world has ever known. 173 00:12:01.000 --> 00:12:03.000 That's where you're the most satisfied. 174 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:05.000 That's where you'll be the most joyful. 175 00:12:05.000 --> 00:12:09.000 And quite frankly, that's how you'll change the world around you.