Lessons About Kingdom of Heaven Expansion from Matthew 11 — Part 2

I sure do love you a lot. You're my favorite

people on the earth. Best church on the planet.

Love and appreciate you so much. Could we open

our Bibles to Matthew 11? Would that be alright?

While you're doing that, let's pray over the

loss in our lives. Those of you who may be a

guest or visitor or new here, we're asking everyone

who calls the gathering their church family.

Two, we've asked you to come up with a list of

ten unsaved people in your life. If you don't

have ten, start with what you have. And for those

of you who have been around, we've asked you

just to put those initials up here on these magnets.

Nothing special about the magnets other than

it's just a visual reminder. Let's just pray

for all these people that we love, that we want

to see come to know Jesus. Father, we lift up

these names. They're not just magnets on a cross.

They're eternal souls that You've put in our

lives. We love them. We care for them. We thank

You, like Danny led us, that You allowed Your

body to be torn and Your blood poured out for

each and every one of them just like You did

for us. And so, Father, we ask whatever obstacles

are in the way of them falling... on their knees

before You and receiving this gift of life that

You would remove them. We pray that You would

give them supernatural opportunities to acknowledge

You. We pray the scales would fall from their

eyes. They would see their need for You. That

they would be saved and that we would fellowship

with them for eternity. And we will not stop

praying for this Jesus ever until we see them

come to know You. Give us strength. In Your name

we pray, Amen. Amen. So last week we finished

up talking about the kingdom is a kingdom of

honor. I think I just saw Crystal walk out the

door. As we were worshiping and I was taking

the body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness

of my sins, I really was convicted. At the beginning

of service, I made that comment about... crystal

you know doing what danny said this week and

mean not me last week and it was just a joke

to be funny and relate to people but it was dishonoring

to crystal and that's not true she shows complete

honor and so i apologize to you for that thank

you for loving me forgive me for being an idiot

and um and i'll apologize to crystal uh in person

later uh but thank you thanks for loving me You

know, sometimes I do stupid things. And my wife

is in child care today. There'd be a loud amen

from the front row over there. We're talking

about this passage in Matthew 11 where Jesus

is teaching about the kingdom of heaven through

the person of John the Baptist. I want to do

a really brief and concise review because this

is part two of last week and there were quite

a few of you that weren't here last week. First

of all, last week we started the service by I

asked for a bearded volunteer who would take

off their shoes, okay? Jeremy, several volunteers,

but Jeremy came up here and then we had like

this very personal kind of intimate interaction

where we were trying to have a visual of the

one day we're going to meet Jesus face to face.

And after service, my wife says to me, hey, Jesse,

next time you're going to have such an intense

personal interaction with somebody in which you're

touching their face, you might want to let them

know before you ask for volunteers. So, all right,

no volunteers needed today, Jeremy. I'm sorry

I touched your face. Thanks for not punching

me. But the point was, Jeremy sat here in a chair.

The whole point was, and this is still the point,

is that you and I, no matter if you're a believer

or a non -believer, the Bible clearly says that

every one of us will bow before Jesus and give

an account of our lives. And in that day, you

and I as kingdom people, as Christ followers,

What we want to do is we want to give Jesus the

return on His investment into our lives. If you

read the parables of Jesus, that's what He's

talking about over and over again. He says, and

when He and the angels come and we're before

the King, we're going to give an account. He

put investments into our lives. I don't care

who you are, what you feel like. Jesus in His

great wisdom has invested amazing, tremendous

things in you. And it's not just for your benefit,

it's for the glory of His name and the advancement

of His kingdom. And when He returns, you and

I will give Him the reward. Yes? Now, I know

you can take that and say, are we getting into

legalism about works? Well, if you know me and

have been here for any amount of time, you know

that's not true. It's about an intimacy, a love

for God, a devotion to Him. But when you love

someone, you want to be a blessing. You want

to give and not mooch. Amen? I'm going to help

all the husbands out here. If you say you love

your wife and all you do is mooch off of her,

that's not love. That's getting stuff. It's the

same way in our relationship with the Lord. So,

we're looking at this passage in Matthew chapter

Matthew 11 · chapter mention

11. We're talking about, Jesus, teach me the

lessons about your kingdom so that when I see

you face to face, can you imagine? We are going

to look into the eyes of fire. And His hair is

going to be white as wool. And His voice is going

to be like many waters. And I want to give Him

many crowns. Do you? Like the Apostle Paul, you

want to escape into heaven smelling like smoke

with nothing to offer the King? Many will. And

it will be all glory and honor to Him for His

grace and mercy. I don't want to be that man.

I want to be that man that has something to offer

the one that I love. And I will spend my life

because Jesus said, do not store up for yourselves

treasures on this earth where moth and rust destroy

and thieves break in and steal. No, you store

up for yourself treasures in heaven. Well, are

we going to need treasures in heaven? What's

the point? We can lay them before our king as

gifts of faithful service. All right. I said

brief and concise. Got to preach him. All right.

So let's look just real quickly over these lessons

from last week. We'll break into this week. Number

one, disappointment and discouragement are inevitable

in the kingdom lifestyle. Refuse to be offended

at our glorious king. We looked at John. who's

in prison after surrendering his whole life,

all of his comfort, all of his dreams to be the

forerunner of Jesus, and he's in prison for it,

and he says to Jesus' disciples, go ask Jesus

if he's the one we've been waiting for. So, the

lesson is, we're all going to have disappointments

and discouragements. If we're going to be about

the kingdom, we're living for a king in an earth

that's about ourselves and our own pleasure and

the worldly flesh, then we're going to have disappointments

and discouragements. Don't be offended at Jesus.

Choose to have an unoffended heart. That's going

to be really important for your kingdom effectiveness.

Because if you're going to be a Christ follower

walking continually offended at Jesus, you're

going to be ineffective for the kingdom. Yes?

It's true. Alright, number two. Do not settle

for a powerless lifestyle. Remember, the kingdom

of God is not a matter of talk, but of power.

That comes from the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians

4 .20 in the Holy Scriptures, right? The kingdom

of God is not a matter of mere talk. It's a matter

of power. So don't settle for a powerless life.

I would say Jesus' closest friend and comrade

in the faith, in the trenches with Him the most

out of anybody, when John the Baptist questions

Him openly if He's really the Messiah, how does

Jesus respond? You go tell John, the blind have

never seen their sight. The lame are walking.

The dead are being raised. And the good news

is preached to the poor. His response to the

open question was the supernatural fruit of his

life. And that's an important lesson for us as

kingdom people because we're in a culture of

arguing. We're in a culture of criticism. And

not all of that is negative, but a lot of it

is. And what if Christians talked less on social

media and lived more like Jesus? What if we talked

less about the kingdom and operated in it more

in such a way that people go, Well, he doesn't

talk very good and sometimes he doesn't smell

good, but wow, look at the miraculous fruit of

his life or her life. I want that. Number three,

lessons about the kingdom. The kingdom of heaven

is a kingdom of honor. We will be relentless

in highly valuing each member of the body despite

personal disappointments and offenses. John the

Baptist questions Jesus openly before his disciples

and Jesus' disciples. So how does Jesus respond?

He says, go tell John the Baptist, look at the

miraculous fruit of my life. As the disciples

are walking away, Jesus begins to honor John.

I'm sure he was disappointed. I can't imagine

Jesus not feeling betrayal and hurt and disappointment

at John's question. I mean, because, right? We

do not have a high priest that cannot sympathize

with us, but one that has experienced everything

we're going to experience and be tempted like

us in every way. Yet was without sin. So you

know he was potentially discouraged about that.

So what did he choose to do? Honor. To honor

John the Baptist, even in his moment of weakness.

is so important as we the church model the kingdom

of heaven on the earth. If you didn't know this,

the kingdom of heaven is a kingdom of honor.

The Father honors the Son. The Son honors the

Spirit. The Spirit honors the Son. The Son honors

the Father. The bride should honor the bridegroom.

And the bridegroom continually honors the bride.

It's a kingdom of honor. And we need to be people

of honor. And Jesus did it this way. We talked

briefly about this. He refused to let the current

disappointment eclipse John's value in the kingdom.

If you're in church for more than five minutes,

somebody in church is going to offend you. So

what are you going to do? Are you going to focus

on what happened and how they hurt you and you

and you and you and wounded you and you and you?

Are you going to look past the offense because

that's what we learned all last year? Love each

other deeply because deep love covers over a

multitude of offenses. Right? We're going to

refuse to let a person's kingdom value be eclipsed

by their current weakness. Then Jesus, instead

of focusing on the failure, He focuses on the

sacrifice and the good deeds of John. Remember,

He starts saying, what did you come out to see?

And he talks about how John lived in the wilderness

and how he gave his life as a sacrifice and how

he was the greatest of all prophets. Quite a

compliment. Right? In the midst of the disappointment,

he chooses I'm not going to let it eclipse who

John is and I'm going to recognize, I'm going

to remember all that he's done for me and my

kingdom. And you and I, we can learn an important

lesson in that because there's going to be people,

i .e. pastors, who disappoint you and hurt you,

or anybody else in the body or the kingdom of

Christ. And you can either get bound up and beat

up by the offense, or you can choose to say,

you know what? Yeah, he's a dummy. But I'm going

to choose to see his great value or her great

value for the kingdom. And then what does Jesus

do thirdly to finish up walking this out? He

begins to praise John publicly. He talks good

about John behind his back. And we need to become

a church that does that. Wouldn't it be awesome

if you were out in the community somewhere and

you were talking about this and that and they're

like, hey, I know you. I saw this guy in the

grocery store from your church and he was telling

me how faithful you are in your time of difficulty.

What if we talked good about each other? It shouldn't

be that shocking. That the church overlooks and

offenses and honors each other. That's what Jesus

does for us continually. Alright, then we close

up by saying, and I mean this, live honorably

so that it's not hard to honor you. That's an

important part of honor culture also. Don't be

a bonehead on purpose. There can be plenty of

opportunities for us to be a bonehead on accident.

Don't be a doofus, a jerk, on purpose. Live honorably

so that the rest of us don't have to work 24

-7 to honor you when it's really hard to do it.

Yeah? I mean, you think that's solid wisdom?

Alright, so that was the review. Let's look at

number four. These are kingdom lessons from John

11. It's so good. Gosh, this passage. It's rich.

Number four, because we're continuing on from

last week. Number four. Jesus has initiated the

kingdom of heaven on earth, which is incomparably

superior to this world. You are invited into

this kingdom, so do not settle for the mediocrity

of this world. I know that's wordy, because I

don't want to be wordy, but each word I feel

is inspired by the Lord in me on purpose. Let's

read verses 11 -15 again. So, Jesus has been

questioned. We've gone all over that. Jesus has

responded. Verse 11, He says, I tell you the

truth. Among those born of women, there has not

risen anyone greater than John the Baptist. Yet

he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater

than he. From the days of John the Baptist until

now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully

advancing and forceful men lay hold of it. For

all the prophets and the law prophesied until

John. And if you are willing to accept it, he

is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears,

let him hear. We're going to dive into some of

that. But here's what I'm talking about. Jesus,

anytime that Jesus says, I'm going to tell you

the truth. It usually is right before he's going

to tell us something hard to comprehend. So he's

warning us. I'm telling you the truth. In your

flesh, you're going to be tempted to think this

is too much. But I'm telling you the truth. He

says, I tell you the truth. And basically he

says this. John the Baptist, he's the greatest

man ever born of woman. Wow. Who wants to live

in such a way that Jesus talks about you like

that to his friends? Yes, Lord. He says, I want

to tell you the truth. John the Baptist, greatest

man ever born of wisdom. Then he says something

puzzling if you're not understanding the kingdom.

He says, but the person who's least in the kingdom

of heaven is greater than John. What in the world

is going on? What's Jesus saying? You have to

understand the big picture of where Jesus is

going. Jesus is not devaluing John, and He's

not overemphasizing you and I. I need you to

catch this. What He's doing is He is initiating

a sovereign kingdom timeline shift in the earth.

Are you with me? He is initiating a sovereign

shift of the kingdom of heaven in the timeline

of creation. Journey with me. It starts in the

garden. Perfect man, perfect woman, perfect environment.

Sin comes in, robs the peace and relationship

with God. Then God goes on a journey through

the sacrificial system so that he can have mankind

back in close communion with him. So he goes

through this entire sacrificial system for years

and years. But the sacrificial system never quite

does it. It says that the blood of bulls and

goats never forgave sin but only pushed it forward.

And what it was doing was what? Creating a hunger

for Jesus. Creating a hunger for the Messiah.

This is the history. So this goes on year after

year, just like Danny was talking about, Passover,

the feast, everything pointing towards Jesus.

And yet God's people keep rejecting him and stubborn

and perverting the system that God gave them

to have communion with him. And so in the end,

God says, okay. He finishes up Malachi, the end

of the Old Testament, with a prophecy about Jesus

and John the Baptist. And then for 400 years,

there's total silence from heaven. There's no

prophetic voice on the earth. There's no revelation

of God. And after 400 years of hunger and silence

and people's hearts saying, there has to be more,

there has to be more, there comes a man on the

earth, and his name was John the Baptist, and

he begins preparing the way for Jesus. And his

sermon is shorter than this one because he says,

here's the truth. Repent. Change the way you

think. for the kingdom of heaven is now near.

The kingdom's coming. The kingdom is near. And

his whole job is to prepare the way for Jesus.

And then Jesus shows up on the scene. And He's

baptized in the water. And He's baptized in the

Spirit. And He's led by the Spirit. but thrashes

the devil in the wilderness and he comes back

and he begins to preach this sermon. Repent.

Change the way you think. The kingdom is here.

The kingdom is at hand. And what Jesus is doing

is He's initiating the kingdom of heaven has

now come to earth. Are you with me? There is

a shift in the timeline of heaven in which now

the kingdom of heaven, the heaven that He came

from, that was His home, He is now establishing

it on the earth and he's conferring it through

his disciples and he's modeling it and he's teaching

about it and teaching about it and teaching about

it. The kingdom, the kingdom, the kingdom. And

when Jesus says John the Baptist was the greatest

man ever born of woman, but the least in the

kingdom is greater than he, it's not about personality

or gifting. It's about position in the timeline

of heaven. And what that's saying to you and

I is Jesus has invited us into the kingdom of

heaven on the earth. I hear all the time, man,

I just hope I make it to heaven. I'll clean the

toilets of heaven if He'll just let me in. I

got news for you. You're a toilet cleaner in

heaven. You're greater than John the Baptist.

People don't like that. That's why Jesus said,

I'm going to tell you the truth. Why? Because

He initiated a shift in the kingdom of heaven

on the earth. He said from this day forward,

the kingdom is here. The kingdom of heaven is

available to you and I. Back to number four.

Does this make sense? You have been invited by

Jesus. into this kingdom of heaven on the earth.

So I want to exhort you and exhort myself, why

are we settling for the mediocrity of this world

when we've been invited into the kingdom of heaven?

You say, well, Jesse, I mean, I get busy, man.

I've got bills to pay, kids to raise, spouses

to love. Man, I get it, but just think about

the Holy Scriptures. And we have received a kingdom

that cannot be shaken. This kingdom is not a

matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness,

peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. This kingdom

is not a matter of talk, but of power. What you

and I have been invited into, And frankly, to

be honest, is expected of us. You understand

that, right? Jesus didn't just invite His followers

into the kingdom and say, hey, if you feel like

it, live for the kingdom. It's actually the command

of our lives. That's why He said, man, when we're

talking about the kingdom, don't look over here,

don't look over there. Luke 17, 21. Why? Because

the kingdom of God is within you. hearing from

the Lord on how far to... Alright. Can I just...

No. Okay. Number five. Let's look at this one.

Number five. I want to be a person of honor to

Him and to you. Number five. These are lessons

about the kingdom I believe Jesus is teaching

in this passage. Jesus has made the kingdom of

heaven available to all believers, but only those

who are violently intentional to press into it

will take a hold of it. Jesus has made the kingdom

of heaven available to all believers. Like I

said, everyone's invited. But only those who

are violently intentional to press into it will

take hold of it. Let's look at this passage right

here. verse 12 from the days of john the baptist

until now the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully

advancing and forceful men lay hold of it some

of your translations say and the kingdom of god

has suffered violence and violent men are raiding

it or something like that i read all the versions

this week and i really did do quite a bit of

study on this because the last thing i want to

do is to be misleading in any way. So I went

to the original language. I literally spent hours

over the last couple of weeks on this passage

because there are those that say that, man, this

is a negative connotation. Jesus is saying, you

know, John's been doing this and then, you know,

forceful men outside of the kingdom are trying

to push their way in and steal it. I think there's

a few problems with that. Number one, I think

just saying, who's going to raid the kingdom

from the king? Good luck. I don't think that's

what Jesus was saying. Secondly, I think you

have to really look at the context of the passage.

What's Jesus talking about? What's He teaching

through John the Baptist? This transition of

the kingdom. And then He's going to go into this

negative connotation. But probably most importantly,

turn to Luke 16, verse 16. Did you know Matthew,

Luke 16:16

Mark, and Luke are what's called synoptic Gospels?

They're the three Gospels telling the story of

Jesus' life from these three men's perspective.

And in Luke 16, verse 16, it's Luke's rendition

Luke 16:16

of this same teaching. And that's important to

look at. This is the only other time in all the

Bible that Jesus uses this word for violence.

This word, biazo. And violent men. Or that is

suffering violence. It's only in two places,

the Matthew 11 teaching and the Luke 16 teaching.

And in Luke chapter 16, verse 16, Jesus says,

Luke 16:16

the law and the prophets were proclaimed until

John. And since that time, the good news of the

kingdom is being preached and everyone is forcing

his way into it. The Jesus, what, Jesse, where

are you going with this? Where I'm going with

this is it's so important to understand that

you're never going to be a kingdom -minded, kingdom

-power, unshakable kingdom person by happenstance

or accident or passivity. You may get into heaven

by the grace of God. You may get out of hell

by the mercy of Jesus. But if your goal is maturity

for the glory of the name of Jesus and to be

a kingdom person, it will not be by accident

and living a passive spiritual life. These words,

I think I have these words up here. And you study

it on your own. I'm bringing what I feel like

is the deep conviction, the way the Holy Spirit

led me. You study these words, these passages.

You hold it up to the Scriptures. You have the

Spirit of truth living in you. And you will come

into agreement with Him. But this word, be also,

which is translated forcibly advancing or suffering

violence. Biazzo means to crowd oneself into,

to force, to press. Jesus is saying, listen,

forceful men are taking a hold of it. There's

a violent action. There's a pressing into, to

press oneself into the kingdom. Two Christ followers

working together in the same company. Maybe even

two cubicles next to each other. Both saved.

Both loved Jesus. Both going to heaven. One living

for the kingdoms of this world. One living for

an eternal kingdom. There'll be two completely

different men or women. Do you know what I'm

saying? Because one has said, this kingdom is

so precious, I will violently be intentional

to press myself into this kingdom. The word to

lay hold of it is translated from the Greek word

harpazo. Listen to this. It means to claim for

oneself eagerly to seize. And forceful men. And

you know men. The word is mankind. It's not just

for the male. It's mankind. When men and women

eagerly sees the kingdom for themselves. They

hear the words of Jesus. They see the life of

Jesus. They see the offer. And they say, I'm

tired of living this mediocre, powerless, religious

life. There has to be something more. Have you

ever said to yourself, there has to be something

more? For years, for years, I lived as a pastor.

I laid down my head at night and craved for something

more. It's not churches. It's not church growth.

It's not more numbers. It's not more people getting

saved. It's not more people getting baptized.

All those things are fruit. What I've learned

is that the more is coming into the reality of

the kingdom of heaven on the earth. Because when

you're in the kingdom, hooked up with the king,

every day is an adventure and a challenge. You'll

never be bored. You'll never be bored. You might

get discouraged. You might get overwhelmed. You'll

never be bored. Seek the Lord because I believe

becoming an intentional, pressing into the kingdom

man or woman is the thing you've been longing

for. You should be totally fulfilled. You know,

there's several police officers here that do

it full time for a living. I think they would

tell you it's probably like... 95 % of drudgery

and boredom and 5 % of excitement. I guess that's

probably what it's like for most people's job,

preaching including. But every once in a while,

it's fun. And this is just a couple months ago.

Children are dismissed, but I'll be sensitive.

A couple months ago, we get a call about a person

who's in a mental health crisis saying they're

going to hurt themselves. They said, come to

the house. You're going to find me in this place

in the house. We rush over there. It's in the

middle of the night. There's four of us officers.

We get to the house. The door's open. He said,

you're going to find me in the downstairs bathroom.

So we go in the front door, the back of the house.

There's a bathroom door cracked open, the lights

on. So we have our weapons out. We're clearing

the house all the way to the bathroom. We get

to the bathroom. There's a guy standing in the

bathtub. The big butcher knife. In the bathtub,

butcher knife. Well, that gets a police officer

a little amped up, you know? So this bathroom

is like one of those half baths with a bathroom.

I mean, it's so narrow. And you have four dudes

amped up with all their weapons trying to get

in that doorway at this guy, right? Keeping the

distance but trying to be there. So we got...

Less lethal weapons out. We got pistols out.

We got the less lethal shotgun out. And so this

guy's waving this knife around. And we're all

shouting, put the knife down. And at some point

you have to say to yourself, stop saying the

same thing over and over because he's not responding,

right? After, you know, it seems like forever.

So it's a very close quarter thing. We're all

pressed against each other trying to get in the

doorway. And I was like, and there was a corporal

there, and I was the closest. I said, oh, we

started talking to him, started trying to identify

him, and he closes the curtain. So now he's standing

with a knife in the bathtub behind a curtain.

I'm like, oh, my goodness. So I told the corporal,

I'm going to get the, my supervisor, I'm going

to get the curtain down. So I go up there. Reaching,

I yank the curtain. The curtain rod falls off

the ground, falls into the bathtub. And so the

guy just grabs the curtain and covers himself

again. I'm like, oh my goodness. So I just get

the knife under the curtain in the bathtub. So

I was like, hey, I'm going to get the curtain

again. So I'm reaching in there. I grab that

curtain. I yank out the curtain. And so it's

the guy now in the bathtub waving the knife around.

But he's getting really weak. I like to think

that it's a glorious moment, but in reality,

it wasn't as glorious as it was in my mind. But

here's this guy. At one point, he kneels down.

He puts his arm on the side of the bathtub. And

everybody's yelling all these commands. And I

was like, I'm going to get the knife to the corporal.

So I press in there, and I mobilize his wrist

on the side. And I put the knife against the

fingers, not the palm, like we've been taught.

Disarm them. I have my first knife disarm in

law enforcement. Now, the guy was like 70 and

sick and in the middle of a mental crisis. And

that's not a joke. But, you know, take it when

you can. I still have a knife disarm. It's awesome.

I felt great about it until I watched the body

cam and looked at how dumb I looked. And then

I thought, let's not show anybody that. I think

you know where I'm going with that. You're going

to have to press in if you're going to be effective.

You're going to have to press in past all the

fears. And I know it's funny, but it was actually

a very scary moment. Right? You have to press

in through the fears. You have to press in past

all the noise of the environment. How many of

you know if you're going to be kingdom minded,

there's so much noise about the world and its

kingdoms. Like 24 -7. And you're having to sort

through all the voices to hear the still small

voice. You're going to have to press in. So me

and my buddy, we've been talking about the kingdom,

just hanging out together, one of my closest

friends, stirring each other up for the kingdom.

We've been talking about, it's our goal to find

someone every day to pray for, to release the

power of the kingdom, share the love of God,

and look for a potential to share the gospel

every day. And there's been days of total failure.

There's been some good days. We get together

and we talk about it. The tendency is to say,

well, God... We talk about this openly. The tendency

is to say, God, when You have somebody You want

me to pray for, I know the Holy Spirit will make

it clear and in that moment, I'll know and I'll

have everything I need. And that's absolutely

true. But there's some of that that's an immature

son or daughter that says, I'm going to wait

for my Father to set up the perfect solution.

and the heavens open up, and I know this is the

moment. How many of you love your children even

when you have to tell them everything they ever

do? You love them. But isn't it glorious in that

moment when they take initiative and just do

what's in your heart without having to be told?

And there's something about maturity in the kingdom

that says, no, I'm pressing into it. Yeah, there'll

be times where all heaven opens up. You know,

and it's my moment to release the kingdom. Yeah,

there is. And then the other 999 times is going

to be the time you're going to have to have kingdom

perception. You're going to be looking for the

kingdom. Like the Apostle Paul says, I no longer

regard you in the flesh. I don't even look at

people in the flesh anymore. Everything's with

the spiritual eye. Everything's about the kingdom.

Immature people say, Jesus, when you make it

perfect, I'm going to obey you. Mature kingdom

people say, the kingdom is my life. I'm always

looking. I'm always ready. And I will press into

it at any given moment. I think on that day,

Jesus, you would rather hear Jesus say, Son,

that was glorious. I had to hold you back those

days when you were getting after it a little

too much for my kingdom. You went a little too

far. I had to pull you back. I would much rather

hear that than say, where was your initiative

in the kingdom? Every day you were invited to

press into it. Do you know what I'm saying? There's

a growing up process that says I will violently

be intentional about pressing into the kingdom

of heaven on the earth. Got four minutes. Would

you give me those four minutes to close here?

Number six, the kingdom of heaven is supernatural,

which means above this earth. So we should stop

attempting to perceive it by human logic and

worldly understanding. Instead, we must press

into it with faith and the expectation of the

miraculous. Look at what Jesus says in v. 13.

For all the prophets and the law prophesied until

John. And if you are willing to accept it, he

is the Elijah who was to come. He who has ears,

let him hear. Let me just finish this up. To

what can I compare this generation? They are

like children sitting in the marketplace and

calling out to others. We played the flute for

you and you did not dance. We sang a dirge and

you did not mourn. For John came neither eating

nor drinking, and they said, He has a demon.

And the Son of Man came eating and drinking,

and they say, Here is a glutton and a drunkard,

a friend of tax collectors and sinners. But wisdom

is proved right by her actions. What is Jesus

talking about with the whole Elijah thing? Well,

if you look at the last thing that God released

on the earth in the Old Testament, Malachi chapter

Malachi 4 · chapter mention

4, that before the Messiah comes, Elijah will

come first. So for 400 years, the Jewish religious

community has been saying, before the Messiah

comes, we're going to see Elijah. Elijah's coming

first. At the Passover, there's always what?

A chair open for Elijah. Elijah's coming before

the Messiah. Elijah's coming before Messiah.

And here comes Jesus, who's claiming to be the

Messiah, and we haven't seen Elijah yet. In fact,

this is so forefront in their thinking that if

you read the transfiguration of Jesus a couple

of chapters later in Matthew, Jesus takes His

disciples, His favorite ones, can we say that?

I mean, the three He took with Him to places

He never took anybody else. Anybody want to be

Jesus' favorite? It says, by the fear of the

Lord. we will be His confidant. Side note, Jesus

takes him up on the mountain. He's literally

transfigured, becomes His glorious self. The

self that we're going to experience in heaven.

Moses is there. Elijah's there. Peter's saying,

this is so awesome, let's build some tents and

live here. I'd have said the same thing. On the

way down the mountain, read it. It's interesting.

On the way down the mountain, you know what the

disciples asked? They just saw Jesus transfigured.

They saw Moses and Elijah on the mountain. You

know what they asked Jesus on the way down the

mountain? But the Pharisees say that Elijah has

to come first. And Jesus said, if you can accept

it, John is the Elijah that has come. To prepare

the way. What's Jesus saying? This kingdom cannot

be perceived by your natural logic or religious

intellect. This kingdom is perceived by the revelation

of Jesus, the King. It has to be seen with the

spiritual eyes. It has to be heard with the spiritual

ears. That's why Jesus said, if anybody has ears,

let them hear. Hey, I got news for you. Everybody

there had ears. But that's not what Jesus is

saying. He's saying, whoever has a spiritual

ear to the Spirit of God will hear what I'm trying

to convey about this kingdom. The kingdom of

heaven is supernatural. It's above the earth.

It's above nature. We should stop attempting

to perceive it by human logic and worldly understanding.

Instead, we must press into it with faith and

the expectation, Of the miraculous. Who will

take a hold of the life that Jesus has given

you and say, I'm going to stop looking at everything

in the natural and I'm going to start seeing

in the spiritual eyes. How many of you know the

Bible says you have the very mind of Christ through

the Holy Spirit? The mind of Christ Himself.

And yet, when calamity comes or frustration or

hardship or whatever it may be, in an instant

we switch to carnal mindset. Like, how am I going

to fix this? This happened to me yesterday. Saturday,

it's our Sabbath. Got a fun day planned. Just

chilling out. Played Monopoly. Watched movies.

Ate good food. Hung out as a family. Refused

to leave the house. Glorious. Well, about mid

-morning, one of my kids outside in the yard

throws up. Sick. Throws up in the yard. That

rarely happens. We are not a throwing up kind

of people. In fact, I have one kid that's so

strong -willed, can will themselves not to throw

up. It's really impressive. So, comes inside.

This child is colorless. Throwing up outside.

goes, lays in their bed, and immediately I'm

like, alright. Man, day's shot. There goes our

fun day. There goes the Sabbath. We lay around

and try not to get the rest of us sick. What

can I call? Who can I call? What medication can

I get? I mean, you know, a dad. It's going to

dad mode. Just boom, boom, boom, boom, boom.

The Spirit of God says to me, Think like the

kingdom. So I go to my child. I said, hey, let's

agree together. Jesus has given us total authority

over this sickness. Complete authority. So a

kid's laying in the bed. Put my hand on that

child. Start just praying in the name of Jesus.

Not long, not fancy. Take authority in Jesus'

name. Say rest. Walk out of the room. Not 30

minutes later, that child comes into the living

room with a granola bar, full color, saying,

I'm hungry. Got to whoop that child in Monopoly.

Got to watch a movie together. Spent the whole

day relaxing, enjoying. Some of you are like,

hey, Jesse, not that big a deal. It's a tummy

bug. You've got to steward the small moments.

If you want to be ready to be kingdom minded

in the big ones. You know what I'm saying? I'm

studying this morning to preach this message

on this point right here. And I get a text from

my son who's in the Navy in San Antonio. And

this disastrous thing has happened to him. This

is like 6 o 'clock in the morning. He texts.

I'm not going to go into his business, but it's

a big deal has happened to him. And he's in complete

despair. So I go to type back, well, maybe. And

the Lord just speaks to me. No, we live in the

kingdom. And so I authoritatively prayed through

text that this issue would be resolved today

in the authority of Christ and quickly. I'm telling

you, not 15 minutes later, He texts, and it had

been resolved. All I'm saying is, you know me.

Let's clap. I've got 10 ,000 failures we could

talk about. About how I missed the kingdom all

last week. But what I'm sharing with you is that

what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to no longer

perceive the world in a worldly way. In every

person and every situation, I'm trying to perceive

through the Kingdom of Heaven how Jesus can I

bring the Kingdom of Heaven to the earth right

now for the glory of Your name. You have to begin

to perceive it that way. So, thank you for your

patience. Could we stand? And I want to give

you this opportunity to respond. Can I just put

a call out there right now for anybody that would

like to repent, that would like to change the

way you think according to the Word of God, and

maybe you've been perceiving the kingdom of heaven

in a passive way, like just whenever it's convenient,

or that's only for the fanatical Christians,

or whatever lie the enemy is throwing at you,

and you want to repent and say, no, the kingdom,

is my destiny in God. It's why I'm still alive.

Otherwise, when I got saved, I would have been

raptured from the earth. If you need to repent,

would you just commit to the Lord? I will violently

press myself into Your kingdom because You're

worthy. If you've been storing up for yourself

treasures on the earth and have forgiven... completely

neglected the Kingdom of Heaven, would you just

repent today? I'm with you. I already have. It's

easy to do in our culture. For some of you, you

are analytical thinkers and it's extremely difficult

to lay down some of the the intellectual thought

processes of logic and religion. Human religion

I'm speaking of, not divine religion which is

taking care of widows and orphans and keeping

yourself from being defiled by the world. I'm

talking about human constructs. Would you just

be willing to say, Lord, if this is true of me,

I want to surrender it to You. I want to stop

perceiving the world in the eyes of the world

or through the eyes, and I want to begin to have

a kingdom perception. If you'd like to, put your

hands out in front of you in a receiving posture.

I just want to pray this over my heart and yours.

Father, would You give us an awareness of Your

kingdom everywhere we go this week? And would

You... raise up in us an expectation of Your

miraculous glory everywhere You send us. Do you

receive that today? Amen.