My wife leaned over and asked me if I asked him to sing that song and No, I didn't, but it is my favorite Richard small with song when Daniel and Patosh told me we were going to sing it Bless me and to hear you all sing it with me Thank you It wasn't for me. It was for Jesus. I'll just keep that in mind It's because it's part of my language Jesus the center of my joy. I that's my language. I it's in my speech It resonates for me the heart of our contentment hope for all we do Jesus That's playing in some ways, Jesus And so we give him All the glory all the honor all the praise we give him ourselves Let's pray Father as we come to your word now we pray that you be with us We pray that you will open our hearts to receive your words or receive from you It is your voice that we long to hear It is your will That we hope and long to do to obey You saved us that we might follow you And we would do that with all of our hearts So speak to us all Speak your word to our reality Speak your word to the deep recesses of our souls Speak your word to our ambitions our emotions Speak to our minds Correct our thinking Deepest part Correct our hearts Give us new ones all this we believe your word can do And so we come Use you unworthy servant May he preach your word In season and out of season May he preach only your word so that your people Might hear only your voice And not merely mine In Jesus' name Amen Matthew chapter 4 verses 23 to 25 he began looking at this past his last week and We'll look at it today as well before we move on Speaking of Jesus 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 So his sands spread throughout all Syria and they and they brought him all the sick Those afflicted with various diseases and pains those oppressed by demons those having seizures and paralytics and he healed them And great crowds followed him from Galilee and the the copulous which means ten cities and from Jerusalem and Judea and from beyond The Jordan River That is the word of the Lord Please you see just as a reminder what was not mentioned was that the Fitzgeralds have been married for probably 60 years. So I think they have the record Amen I don't see them So if you see them just say praise the Lord
Throughout the history of the church here in our country there have been Christians who Have said that the church should only focus on preaching the gospel preaching the word The sacrament and direct evangelism It's called the spirituality of the church this view The church does not get involved with social political issues It focuses on the salvation and equipping of the saints. That's what it does and that's it Sadly that view led to a large part of the American church tolerating and perpetuating slavery And slave owning members It also ended up supporting Jim Crow laws Dr. King Glitter from a Birmingham jail riddened the clergy and one Rabbi was an attack against such thinking
that But then we have those whose Who see in the mistake Of that first view Put their focus on doing good deeds By all means they would say preach the gospel if necessary use words For some that meant the literal message of Jesus was less important It didn't even matter really if he rose again from the day It was all about showing his love It's ethic So these folk gave themselves to fighting for justice and doing good to the neighbors but Many of them lost the message There's a two extremes But still very influential today I want to suggest to you that our Lord didn't call us to one or the other But both by his example he called us to be a kingdom focused church to give ourselves to word and deed For his glory and the flourishing of all people especially of those who trust in him But we must follow him in his kingdom As we respond to his message of grace and love we must follow him This is the revisioning if as you were as you would as as we call it of the news of new city as a kingdom focused Church we've been looking we began looking last time at the fact that the king's message came through his word And his deeds and we were focusing on the fact that Jesus According to our passage and I read others. I'm not going to review everything But I read others that suggested to us that showed us clearly that Jesus was pre-immentally a teacher and preacher of the word He was not pre-immentally a miracle worker But a preacher and teacher of the word of God he came with a message Which he called the gospel of the kingdom of God When we say the gospel that is really short and for the gospel of the kingdom That's what he came he had a message He came to give us the word of God because Jesus is not only the ultimate king the one who would fulfill all David slide all baby's hopes and dreams I mean the king david he was also the ultimate prophet The prophet is one who speaks for God and Jesus comes as the prophet And in in in in a way that was so unique Because the process of the old covenant including John the Baptist came as those who were giving the word and they gave it Jesus comes as the word made flesh He comes as God to bring us the message of God That's all the giver us a new ball game God comes And he comes To make sure that we grasp the message The God is speaking He has promised that he would create a new covenant a covenant that would be better than the old covenant Which his people broke a covenant that would not be on purpose of stone but would be running on the tables of our hearts Attach a new covenant that would be there would be that would cause us to be full of his spirit So that we are moved from the inside out To obey God The follow him Because of that the apostles were preachers Sure miracles not but they were preachers and teachers of the word of God all throughout the book of acts What do you see them doing preaching and teaching constantly preaching and teaching the message Of the gospel of the kingdom It is striking that when Paul writes in collages 316 he says let the word of Christ dwell in you richly Not poorly richly Be full of the word Be rich Not on welfare rich rich from the word of God And and and how does that play out he says teaching and And at monitoring one another in all wisdom all wisdom And then he goes singing songs and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God Notice what he what he does the teaching The dwelling of the word and us Exploding us leaves us to teaching the word and Singing the word One of the things that frustrates me With with christened them Is some of our music not our thank God but some of the music I hear on the radio Christian music It's so void of the word of God I think please somebody Go to Sunday's school of something and let's learn the scriptures before you write music
Okay On the medallion not preaching anymore the medallion people's business I'm hurry. Oh, I gotta move on keep moving With thankfulness into your heart It's striking okay, I gotta forget but it's striking as I travel Me and Sandy and my girls to get the travel here and there and I we always visit churches It is striking them more and more you see a certain design contemporary churches black curtains black floor Incredible lighting. Listen look like that theater What do we call this area up here A stage and the preaching of the word Give us less and less or give us happy sermons Peach happy things. Tell me about my best life now How I can have a happy marriage and five easy steps How Jesus is going to make me to head and not to tell I'm not making the stuff of you know I'm telling the truth
Minimizing a robust robust thinking and engaging and praying a word of God Singing the word giving That in the word just and fact everything Jesus came teaching preaching the word of God The gospel of the kingdom We ought to be full of the word of God not entertainment Full of the word But notice the text says he came teaching and preaching teaching if you want to think of teaching He explains the passage. He's he used parables. He used stories. He he wanted to explain the word of God We're gonna see this as we move into the next part of the series is in Matthew 5 He's explaining the word to the people sitting on the standard, but it was also a preacher And they're very similar The word preaching the word for proclamation here in that test he came proclaiming is the word preaching Now preaching has to do with a message a particular message from the word of God in context But the idea here is that of a herald That's the idea that the passage is communicating to us by that word This idea of a herald the herald of that day was a messenger sent from a king That herald was giving something definite to say He was given a message a decree an announcement of importance from the king He didn't get to change the message or try to improve upon it He had to read it as it was written He spoke with confidence and conviction because he was delivering what the king gave him to deliver And by the way, it wasn't a dialogue The people were expected to listen carefully and govern themselves accordingly because the king had spoken They respected the herald because he spoke for the king to this respect or disregard him was to do so to the king who sent him And the people owed complete obedience not to the herald but to the king And only obey the herald's words as they accurately reflected the king's will You see if the herald authored the king's words That was not a good situation He'll be subject to the king's judgment I'll do it Jesus Comes and speaks for the father It's it's it's it's it's all come Voluted in one sense because he's the king of the kingdom, but yeah, he is sent by the father And and and together they come as it were and in Jesus to deliver a message He's the ultimate king who reigns and rules over God's people and all of God's creation And he is the ultimate prophet who speaks for God and he gives a definitive Message a completely a far potato word because he is the son of God in human flesh. He is the great king and his own herald But he did have a herald. You know that too. He was John the Baptist his cousin John came with a message, but he made it clear that he was not the message He was not the one who was to come He made sure that he pointed back and that there's one coming after me I'm not even worthy to untie his sandals and so Jesus comes as the preacher the preacher the greatest of creatures To give us a message and then he sent to the apostles to do the same thing bearing his likeness even performing miracles in his name. I love what I love what what what what the apostle Paul Later right as he is handing down the ministry to his disciple. I got named Timothy You know what he tells him And second thing to check the forwards won't be on the screen. So just listen or return to it in your Bible Paul says to Timothy. I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus. Do you feel the weight of this He is laying a divine weight upon Timothy I'm saying to you I'm saying this to you in the name of the Father and the Son
Who is the judge of the living and the dead and by his appearing in his kingdom and his wow He wants to make sure that Timothy feels the weight By his appearing and his kingdom and his judgment to come I give you this charge Timothy and what and what does he say the first three words he says Which the word What is your role in the church of God preach the word Now Then he says okay, let me make this clear Be ready in season and out of season and otherwise be ready at all times to preach We say be ready to preach pray or die at a moment's notice. That's my calling Be ready to preach Then he says how should what should your preaching look like? Reprove Rebuke That is all that has to do with correcting Correcting People The world is always the kingdom of darkness is always pushing in you got to bring the word you've got to Reprove and rebuke you've got to correct you've got to get in some people's faces Timothy with the word I mean in love of course now. He's not trying to be a brute or abusive But this is the calling this is a reprieve Rebuke rebuke and exhort encourage them With complete patience and teaching preach Patience because it takes a takes a while for people to get it It took you a while Timothy and certainly you Kevin And teaching now listen to what he says For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching There will not endure sound teaching healthy teaching They won't endure it. He says But having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions People who will tell them what they want to hear And we'll turn away from listening to the truth and wander off Into myths He said that the Timothy In his day I I tell you today is that day
But whatever Timothy preached the word When Timothy fell off the scene he told us the disciples to do the same thing all the way down to the day The church the church Is committed to preaching and teaching the word of God
That was a weak amen, but that's okay I'm in the book. I don't know where you are That's our commitment We have a message for the We have a message and if you have a message it has to be spoken or written It's not just something you do and it is that don't get me wrong, but it has to be spoken
Because if the message is not spoken no one knows why you're doing what you're doing
I came um, I remember we had a When it wasn't passing in a DC area we had a The unification church came into our area We're trying to get pastors to join them because they were committed to the family And they wanted pastors to join them in that commitment to the family and they were trying to and it was a way of trying to authenticate Revenue some young moon That was obvious and I said that to know when they came into my office. I said, you know We think you're a cult. I just told them saying you consider a cult and But what why is it What was the hook We're going to help families this and thanks We believe in helping families
But we have a message What differentiates New city fellowship from helping families and the unification church will help for the Mormons for helping families what differentiates We they do the same things maybe sometimes With differentiates teaching and the preaching of the word It shows there's something different going on here. What's the message? But Jesus didn't just preach city Second our lowest kingdom the message was also revealed in his deeds Notice in our passage. I'm not moving fast now to them too much the clock is always chasing after me
He proclaimed the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease in a friction among the people He got so famous they started bringing him to all the sick those of diseases and pains oppressed by demons spiritual oppression those having seizures and paralytics and he healed them What did this tell us that Jesus did good deeds of mercy and healing he brought shalom He brought peace he brought well being to people what we have here is the in breaking of the Future kingdom of God into the now It's not all very yet is coming But Jesus when Jesus the king shows up he just when he does is show us what our ultimate reality is going to be So he begins to read he begins to reverse the curse and so the heal he he's the the power of the future kingdom breaks in and people are healed and touched Even demons are made subject to him Because he's the king of kings in lord of lures and creative sustainer of all things Later he'll feed The people with but just a few fish and bread he'll walk on water. He'll do a few rays folk from the dead Why again the power of the kingdom when he drives out demons remember when he'll say in Matthew 12 If if if it is by the spirit of God that I cast out demons then that kingdom of God has come upon you The power of the kingdom Jesus brings it to bear on the pains and illnesses and it's an issues of our lives And then he sent those apostles uniquely gifted and called to represent him and what you see in them Paul calls it and after this chapter 12 He saw and we see in them signs of a true apostle Signs and wonders and mighty works that authenticate their connection with Jesus because everybody thought Jesus was dead And by their ministry They declared he's alive And working in us and then the apostles taught the church Are we to go out to do signs and wonders and miracles? God's call. That's not your that's not your call
What do we do? What do we call to do indeed? Continually we are told to do good deeds preach the gospel and do good Place in 610 we reminded that we did do good up to all people especially to those of the household of faith If he's just 210 we're told that God prepared an advance for us to do good deeds And kind of chapter 2 and chapter 3 we're told to give ourselves to doing good not do it not drive by good deeds Give ourselves to doing good Give ourselves to bringing the Shalom as God would use you to bring the Shalom To bring the peace to bring wholeness and healing and well-being and furnishing to People around you. How do we proclaim the gospel? We preach the message and we do good
Why because that's what our Lord did? So we do it just like him know But we do it Because listen saints The ultimate good has been done for you He did the ultimate good deed by living and dying and rising again for your sins He did you the best good And because you've received his best good he now makes you an ambassador of his goodness
Because you live in another kingdom You are citizens of the kingdom of God now He says and he says lastly follow me Because you have a new allegiance You have a you you may be a citizen of the United States of America But there's a citizenship over that citizenship You are now in the kingdom of God is when and the king of the kingdom says Follow me stop looking at them
I guess I can almost see the Lord going right here right here Right here come on come on Andrew right here follow me I guess it's up to me because I got spiritual ADD. I'm
Lord look at that right here boy follow me And then following him we follow him and and again proclaiming and doing proclaiming and doing the Proclamation empowers the good that we do the teaching Builds us up so that we can do with with perseverance Don't you understand without the gospel in your life that the word of God constantly building you up you will give up You will give up doing Some I every church I've been in I've met folks that I'm tired. I ain't doing that I ain't doing that else You just showed that the word of God is not dwelling in you richly You got to go back Following us and open the book and once again let the Lord empower you let the gospel empower you so that you keep going Because it's easy to give up when Paul told Timothy To preach the word earlier in one of his other letters. He told him stop being afraid If he was he was sick on them folks and at these ineffices he was taught he was scared and tired. They were running him ragged And he wanted to quit and Paul said stir up the gift in you stir up that work of God. I got that God has put in you get up Timothy past Timothy if you Timothy was married I can see Timothy on Sunday morning Hide him behind the bed and his wife comes in and says You have to go to church you to pastor. I was Timothy telling him when I get to heaven we'll talk Yes, you can The word the message empowers the ministry the message gives purpose to the ministry Without the message the ministry gets old and it gets off track We have to always bring the ministry back to the message to get it reformed and and and and empowered and strengthened But listen the ministry the good that we do also reveals the message It says it's real to me It says this king of the kingdom is all over me. He's not just a theology He's real a person of being And so Jesus He keeps you too good To do maximum good That do I have you doing good when you want to do that When you meant to you meant to say something of the word of God rises up in you or you meant to do something the word of God said It comes back the spirit of God said hold it. You remember the word don't go there. Don't do that It's when you when you need wisdom. You're trying to make a decision and and and the word of God rises up But the spirit is at work. Brothers and sisters. We need both To be faithful in the kingdom Word and deed Always remember Paul said in Philippians 320 our citizenship is in heaven and from it we wait a savior the Lord Jesus Christ Listen, I'm an American. I'm glad to be an America. I love my country I do Mess with my country mess with me You might think they messed up, but they might think All right, but that is not my identity. I have another kingdom kingdom that defines me A kingdom that is eternal a kingdom that says when America is wrong you stand with me And America is me wrong quite a bit
Christian nationalism is idolatry It puts America first even sometimes above the kingdom Family you are a system of the kingdom of God. That is where you are. Then it is your first loyalty is not Listen, don't you understand? This is what the early church dealt with too They were in the midst of the Roman occupation The reason they got in the so much trouble is because they would not say Caesar is Lord The Romans had this emperor occult where they worshiped the emperor as a God and they said you must say Caesar is Lord And then early Christians said we can't say that we are we are good citizens of the empire Paul says that are Romans and Romans 12 they be good citizens. They were good citizens more than 13 excuse me Be good citizens, but they had a higher citizenship And so therefore they could not see say Caesar is Lord and then that's when they became
And so our four bears were persecuted and persecuted and murdered Because when you refuse to give into a totalitarian regime as a Christian you are now a threat It's happening around the world now Christians are a threat in China because because they refuse to say Communism is king They have a they want to be good citizens, but they refuse to make the state their god Family we're dealing with the same thing here Not totalitarianism yet. No, it might come But we are fighting the battle of making the state Lord And when and you know it's happening because how we vote is dividing the church Who's in the office is dividing the church The early Christians worship under Caesar We ain't got nothing like that nothing like that And Paul told them to respect him Why? Because he was not in control King Jesus was your citizenship is in heaven And when you unathematize or call your brothers and sisters a curse because they vote for a Can you don't like you are functioning in another kingdom
You are functioning in another kingdom The kingdom of darkness the kingdom of this world That kingdom will fight But for us Jesus follow me Linda unto Caesar he says the things that are Caesar and Linda unto god the things there are gods and what is God Us our hearts are so alive That's where our hearts go Brothers, this is fear not the election fear god Trust in the king of kings and the Lord of lords That's where your citizenship is and because of that you can do good in this light And you must do good and you will do good if if you are full of his message full of his love Full of the messes of the gospel of the kingdom you will do good And you will be persecuted and all I can say to that is Amen Father May your word find us May we follow Jesus No matter what Being ambassadors declaring his message Doing the deeds He gives us to do that are good And profitable for all
May we do that even as we share This message of reconciliation That you are reconciling the world to yourself in Jesus Then we point people to him as they behold How we love one another and even love them In christening will continue to remind ourselves that Jesus