We're not even close to filling the earth, despite what some of our world leaders would
like to tell us about population and how we have too many people on the planet.
That's baloney.
God knew exactly how many people this planet could sustain and He's put all the resources
there.
But it just struck me that the earth isn't even filled with humans, much less leavened
by God's kingdom.
Welcome back to Kingship Reformation.
This is class number four, and I just want to do a quick review.
I know it seems like a lot of review, but it's really important to me that we get the
big picture.
I'm all about context.
And so I just want to go back.
In class number two, we looked at basically like a seven-part chronology of the kingdom
of God on earth, from creation and Adam's dominion mandate, all the way through to the
return of the King Jesus to the earth.
So in the last class, number three, we zoomed in on one of those chapters.
And it's actually what I call our current age.
It's the time we're living in, I think it was the sixth chapter of the seven.
And so it's the time when Jesus is seated on a throne in heaven, but He's reigning as
the King of Kings through His people, His body on the earth, His church, that are His
kings and priests on the earth as we spoke about.
So we talked about three main points in class number three.
One is that the kingdom of God has come to earth in a very real way.
You can't go find a castle somewhere or a palace, but it's still a very real interaction.
When you know, in Daniel chapter two, when the stone comes in and crushes, hits the statue
and the statue crushes.
And the interpretation of that was that in the days of those kings, the Roman empire,
the God of heaven will set up a kingdom, which will never be destroyed.
He's talking about setting it up on earth because it was already set up in heaven, okay?
So it came to earth in a very real way.
Secondly, it's an ever increasing, ever victorious kingdom, and it destroys all other kingdoms.
And again, we don't do this with militia, with armies and with guns and weapons, but
we'll talk more as the course goes on about how this kingdom actually grows and defeats
the other kingdoms of the world.
And then the third thing is that it will fill the earth.
It's destined to fill the whole earth.
And again, Daniel, that same chapter two, where it talks about that stone, that stone
cut not with human hands, and we know who that and whose kingdom that represents.
It says it will grow, it will crush and put an end to other kingdoms, itself will grow
and become a mighty mountain that fills the whole earth.
And then of course, we talked about the scriptures that talk about the glory of the Lord filling
the earth like the waters cover the sea.
And you know, I love that one in Numbers 14 that where God actually says, and this is
the context where the children of Israel chose not to enter into the promised land
and be kings, basically.
And so the Lord says, I'll pardon them.
He was going to destroy them.
And he says, I'll pardon them.
He goes, but as I live, so this is God saying, I'll bet my life on this, that the earth will
be filled with the glory of the Lord.
And he said that in the context of human beings, obediently in covenant with him doing what
they were called to do, which in their case was go into the promised land and begin to
take the ways of God.
And he has not revoked that, and that declaration still hangs over us today.
That invitation, I should call it, that as God lives, he's going to fill the earth with
his glory, and he's going to use you and me, he's going to use his church to do that.
So it's interesting because I was thinking about that filling the earth, and I just was
flying out of Denver a couple of weeks ago, I've done it, I do it, it seems like weekly
these days, but you get up in the air away from the airport, maybe five to 10 minutes,
and you look down and you see nothing.
I mean, it's farms, of course, but you know, you fly over this country and most of this
country is unpopulated.
And we're not talking Antarctica here, we're talking about the United States of America.
So I was thinking about, you know, Adam was given the charge in Genesis 1 to be fruitful,
multiply, and fill the earth.
That's just, I would say that even Adam's part of filling the earth with human beings,
we're not even close to filling the earth, despite what some of our world leaders would
like to tell us about population and how we have too many people on the planet.
That's baloney.
God knew exactly how many people this planet could sustain, and he's put all the resources
there.
But it just struck me that the earth isn't even filled with humans, much less leavened
by God's kingdom and filled with his glory.
So my theory is we got time, folks.
So in this class we want to drill down deeper into those three realities.
So namely, how does the kingdom come into the earth, how does it grow in the earth,
and how does it ultimately fill the earth?
So a great place to start, and probably about 10 years ago, just through a teacher that
I used to work with, and he said,
to follow a lot. He led me to the parable of the wheat and the tares in Matthew chapter 13. And
in fact, Matthew 13, the parables of Jesus that speak about the kingdom, there's no more clear,
concise teaching about the kingdom of God than Jesus' parables in Matthew 13. And I love the
parable of the wheat and the tares. So, chapter 13, verse 24 through 30 is the actual parable.
And then Jesus comes back to explain the parable, which is where we're going to focus, and that's
verses 37 to 43. So, I'm just going to read that.
So, this is what I call, you know, this is, Jesus gives us from the time of the son of man
planting the kingdom to the time of the harvest at the end of the age. He gives us the picture
on the puzzle box of the story that we need to find ourselves in. Because I find people,
it's like you dump the puzzle pieces on the table, and they start trying to fit pieces together,
like, where does the beast go? Where does the Antichrist go? Where do these go? Where do this,
you know? And it's like, start with the right picture. This is the picture Jesus gives. It
puzzles me why, when people talk about eschatology, or the end times, or the end of the
age, why they don't start with Jesus's very clear, simple teaching here. Because he says it. He gives
the whole picture right there, and he clearly says that the harvest is the end of the age,
and the angels are the reapers. So, we're going to dig in a little more on that.
So, this parable can be broken down into three parts. So, I call it the planting, the growing,
and the harvest. So, looking at the planting, so this is how the kingdom of God gets into the
earth. He plants it. The Son of Man plants it. So, from the parable that we just looked at,
it's the Son of Man sows the sons of the kingdom, which is the wheat, into the world. So, we're
sown into the world. So, Jesus plants his kingdom. So, I might just point out, first, the kingdom is
actually planted in people. Because, you know, we have that teaching of Jesus in Luke 17, 20, 21,
where he says, the kingdom of God does not come with observation. So, don't look for an army to
come, and don't look for the royal procession. He says, nor will they say, see here or see there,
for indeed the kingdom of God is within you. So, the kingdom of God comes within you when you're
born of the Holy Spirit. You're born into the kingdom, and now it begins to grow inside of
you and transform you. But then he takes you and me, and he plants us in the earth. We're the
planting of the Lord, and we begin to leaven and change everything around us, if we're operating
by faith and we have an understanding of who we are. So, another verse that kind of speaks of this,
hints of this planting, is the parable of the leaven. The kingdom is like leaven, which a woman
took and hid in the meal. So, this yeast is stuck in. It's mixed into the dough. We're mixed into
the earth. So, and it says, until it all was leavened. So, there's a clue there too. And then
Isaiah 61.3, and where it speaks of the redeemed, it says, and then they shall be called, and this
is us, they shall be called the trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord. So, we
got to really get that through our heads that we're planted in the earth. We're not here to escape the
earth. God intends for his people to be very invested and very integral with the world. He said,
don't be of the world, but you are in the world. And we're here for a reason. So, the next chapter,
so to speak, is the growing season. So, that's between the time when the sower starts to sow
the seed and the harvest at the end of the age. So, we're going to go into this. We're going to
spend, we're kind of drilling in deeper and deeper. We're kind of zooming in as we go through these
classes. We're going to spend more time talking about the growing, because honestly, that's where
we live. That's the season. That's the chapter of the story that we're living in. So, we're going to
ultimately get to the point where we're talking about, how do we live then? How do we participate
in this growing up of the wheat field, in this leavening of the loaf process that we're all
called to be part of? So, suffice it to say, in the parable of the wheat and the tares,
there's a clue in there that it says, this is not in the explanation, but in the parable itself,
where the wheat and the tares are growing together. And remember, the servants come and
ask the master, do you want us to remove the tares? He goes, no, don't remove the tares,
less.
you uproot the wheat along with it. And I think a clue here is, and I just love to think
about this, is only God has the power to plant wheat and the devil plants tares and the wheat
actually has the power to convert the tares. The tares actually become wheat, because we
were all sons of the devil until we were born a second time and born into the kingdom. The
whole world lies under the power of the evil one until he transfers us out of the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of light. Now, would that stink for the devil? You know,
it's like, I go plant my seed, this guy plants his seed, and some of my seed become his seed.
Oh my goodness. We're on the winning side, folks. So, the yeast is leavening the whole
lump, we're in the leavening season, and that stone that struck the statue is growing into
a mighty army, or a mighty mountain, and it's crushing and putting an end to other kingdoms.
This is a growing season. These are all things that are happening between the first advent
of Jesus and the return of Jesus. So, you know, the government and peace of Jesus'
kingdom is increasing, like Isaiah foretold, of the increase of His government and peace,
there will be no end. So, I wanted to get to the harvest. I love talking about the harvest,
because looking at this parable, so there's three main points I'd like to bring out here.
The first to notice is that the harvest is the end of this age. So, here Jesus has given
us a clear picture, and granted it's a very high level picture, it's a 70,000 foot view,
but He says that the harvest is the end of the age, and the angels are the reapers. So,
you know, that's something to keep in mind as we go through this. By the way, you'll
notice that the tares are removed. I'm just going to leave that hang there, but it's,
you know, I'm tempted to use a word there, but I'll just say it again, the tares are
removed out of the earth, or out of the field. Okay, I'll leave it there. And it's a wheat
field. Okay, the second thing I would like to point out is notice that the world, or
the field, has become Jesus' kingdom. Now, that's crazy. It's just, so verse 41 says
the angels, the reapers, will gather the tares out of His kingdom, and it's Jesus, it's speaking
of Jesus. So, you have to ask the question. He said at the beginning that the field was
the world, and at the end of the age, He's saying the tares, or the weeds, are removed
from out of His kingdom. How did that happen? I mean, why didn't He say from out of the
world, or from out of the wheat field? Well, it's exactly that. The kingdoms of this world
have become the kingdom of our God, and of His Christ. So, through this process, the
earth that the seeds were being planted in has become what Jesus calls the kingdom that
the tares are removed out of. I just find that stunning. I mean, there's an incredible
transformation that happens from the beginning, when the earth starts getting planted, or
the field, and at the end, when Jesus actually refers to it as His kingdom. And there's a
major clue there for us. So, finally, the third thing I want to point out about this,
the end of the age here, and this parable, is this divine handoff. And I don't know if
you caught it, but I'm going to read again verse 41 and 42, and just listen real carefully.
The Son of Man will send out of His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom, that's
the Son of Man's kingdom, Jesus. They'll gather out of Jesus' kingdom, the tares, and will
cast them into the furnace of fire, and then it goes on to say, then the righteous will
shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Wait a second, how come it doesn't
say they'll shine forth in the kingdom of Jesus, or they'll shine forth in my kingdom?
Now I don't want to split hairs and get into semantics, because I know that the Father
and the Son are one, but to me it seems like there's been a divine handoff that's happened
here. Because it's called the kingdom of Jesus when the tares are removed, but then it says
the wheat, or the righteous, shine forth in the kingdom of their Father. And this hit
me about three years ago, and it was stunning. I was in a quiet time, and the Lord led me
to go back and read the Lord's Prayer. And so I'll double back on that, but I just want
to give one more scripture to look at in light of this context, and it's 1 Corinthians 15-24.
And it says, then the end will come, and by the way, this is talking clearly about when
Jesus returns to the earth, and it says, then the end will come when He, Jesus, hands over
the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power.
And we're actually given the picture that Jesus steps back in line and subjects Himself
again to the Father. So the picture I see here is that Jesus, last Adam, comes as a
man, the Son of Man. He comes, wins back the dominion for man, as a man, and man with the
head at the throne, Jesus Christ at the head.
on his throne as the head over the body who's on the earth,
his kings and priests, have completed the job that was
actually first given to Adam way back in Genesis, which was to
fill the earth, really to fill the earth with God's glory. So
it's like, it's almost like this project earth is done. It's now
become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ, and it's
handed back to the father. So, so the human epic of bringing
the kingdom, God's kingdom on earth is complete. Now, God
could have started the king, he could have, he could have
created earth and instantly it was his kingdom, meaning the
fullness of it had been brought into his order. But he decided
he, he uniquely designed man for earth and earth for man, so that
we would be the ones to bring his glory and to bring his
character and his ways and his kingdom into fullness on the
earth. Now, why would he do that? And so, um, anyway, back
to the Lord's prayer. This is what, this is what the Lord kind
of struck me with a few years ago. As I was reading it, Jesus
is instructing his disciples to pray to the father. He said,
pray to our father, Jesus's father and his disciples, his
brothers, us. He says, let's pray to our father who art in
heaven. And it says, thy father, thy kingdom come on earth. And I
thought that's, I thought that was interesting. So I went back
and looked and found these scriptures and it's like, this,
this is it. It's, it's this kingdom is handed back to the
father. So father's initial commission for man to bring his
kingdom to this earth so that the kingdom on earth, it won't
look exactly like heaven, but it will be adhered to. It will be
enjoyed. It will be, it will be fully manifest according to the
will of God for earth, just as his will is fully manifest in
heaven. Heaven looks different than earth, but, but in this
way, there'll be similar to the extent that there's obedience to
God. There's joyful obedience. There's submission to him.
There's enjoyment of him. There's glory. There's joy.
That's what it looks like in heaven. I believe he wants those
same things to be the case on earth. And, and I don't, I don't
see why he would change his mind about it. So I would say the
father's kingdom has come on at the end of the age will have
come on earth as it is in heaven when the kingdom is handed back
to the father. So at that point in time, what do we have going
back to the parable of the wheat and the tares? What is the
harvest? Think about that. We hear a lot. We talk a lot about
the, the billion soul harvest. And what that really means is a
billion people coming into the kingdom. That's actually just
bringing more plants in to be planted in the field. So the
harvest that we're talking about in, in a, by the way, I love
evangelism on all, I'm all for getting people saved, but what
I'm really all for is seeking first the kingdom where these
saved people, we, the planting of the Lord are planted in the
earth until this earth looks like the kingdom at the end of
the age. It's, it's a mature wheat field. So Jesus's harvest,
since he's the farmer, he's the one sowing the seed. Why would
his harvest be anything different than mature wheat? So
we're the wheat field, we be wheat. And, uh, I'll just
conclude by saying it's a terrible day for the devil.
Thanks for joining us and we'll see you next time.