If The Kingdom of God is Here, Why Is The World Such a Mess? | Dr. Sam Storms

If the kingdom of God is already here, why does the world still feel like such a chaotic mess? Discover the two-fold reality of God's present reign and how His dynamic power transforms lives today.

In this sermon, guest speaker Dr. Sam Storms explores the primary focus of Jesus's ministry: the kingdom of God. Unpack why first-century believers—and many Christians today—struggle to recognize God's reign amidst suffering, injustice, and global unrest. Discover the vital distinction between the present "already" breaking-in of the kingdom and its future "not yet" final consummation at the return of Christ. Learn how the kingdom operates not as a geopolitical realm, but as the living power of the Holy Spirit bringing forgiveness, physical healing, mental restoration, freedom, and deep spiritual community.

In this episode, we cover:

• The Central Theme of Jesus's Teaching: Why the kingdom of God dominated Christ’s earthly ministry and apostolic proclamation.
• Understanding First-Century Expectations: Why John the Baptist and the Jewish people were perplexed by a Messiah who came in humility rather than immediate political conquest.
• The Two Phases of the Kingdom: Differentiating between the "already" presence of God's power in history and the "not yet" eschatological return of Christ.
• What the Kingdom Is Not: Clarifying why the kingdom cannot be identified with a nation, landmass, or political system.
• Seven New Testament Declarations of the Kingdom: Exploring how the Holy Spirit manifests God's reign through salvation, physical healing, emotional restoration, spiritual freedom, righteousness, community, and knowing Christ.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

I am the most patriotic person I know. I love our country. But folks, the United States of America is not the kingdom of God. I wish that it were, but it isn't. The kingdom of God cannot be identified with a geographical, geopolitical place on earth. The kingdom of God is not heaven, although eventually it will be. The church is not the kingdom of God. The church is the people through whom the blessings of the kingdom are proclaimed and experienced and made available. The kingdom is not a place, it's a power. It's not an issue of land, it's an issue of lordship. It is the dynamic, living reign of the omnipotent God. You see, the issue of the kingdom is not some static, lifeless thing. It's dynamic and living power that God exerts when he brings people into fellowship with himself.

SPEAKER_00 0:55

This podcast is brought to you by Grand Parkway Baptist Church, helping people to know, enjoy, and glorify God. For more information about Grand Parkway, visit our website at grandparkway.org.

SPEAKER_01 1:09

Good morning. It's good to be back in Houston. It's been quite a few months since I was here, but it's glad I'm glad to be back with you all again. Glad that you've got good weather greeting me. Appreciate that. It's not always that way. Of course, I come from Oklahoma, so it's never that way. Not quite that badly. But it is good to be with you all again today. I want to open us in prayer. The reason I'm not reading a text before we begin is because I have a whole lot of texts. We're going to be all over the New Testament today. So pray with me if you will. Gracious Father, what an incredible privilege it is. What an encouragement to be able to declare that the Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals and lead history to its consummation. Lord, we thank you for that. We thank you for the assurance we have that your promises to us in Jesus will come to pass. Lord, we thank you for the blessings of the kingdom of God. We pray that you would open our eyes as the psalmist prayed and show us wonderful things from your word. So we commit this time to you and we pray that Jesus would be honored and blessed and glorified in all things. We pray this in his name. Amen. Well, I want to begin our time today by asking you all a question. Now I'm not asking for anybody to shout out an answer or to raise your hand, but I do want you to think about this question and how you would answer it. When the Son of God became incarnate in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, what was the primary focus of his teaching? What theme, what topic dominated the ministry of our Lord in terms of what he said and how he taught? Now, there are a lot of good answers to that question. You might say, well, he focused on the character of God. He told us what God is like, what he's not like, and of course he did that. Or you might be inclined to say, well, he taught about healing and deliverance from demonic spirits, and he did that as well. And he taught how we can be saved, how we can be forgiven of our sins. All of these things are parts of the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. But I want to suggest that there's one answer to our question that is borne out by what we see in Scripture. I think his primary, but not his exclusive, but his primary focus in all that he taught was the kingdom of God. For example, at the very outset of his ministry, the first thing that Jesus ever said, as recorded in Mark's Gospel, chapter 1, verse 15, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. A little bit later in Matthew's gospel, we are told that Jesus healed a man who was blind and who couldn't speak, and he delivered him from a demonic spirit. And he said this in the aftermath. He said, If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. We read later, for example, in Luke 17, of Jesus encountering the Pharisees, and he said to them, after having been asked, Jesus, when would the kingdom of God come? He answered them, The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, nor will they say, Look, here it is, or there. Behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you. I think what Jesus meant by that is, it's here because I am, I am in the midst. The kingdom is me in all that I'm doing and saying. And then at the very end of the book of Acts, as Paul's ministry is coming to a close, in the final verse of that incredible story, we read Paul saying that he was proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance. Now, I could go on and on giving you text like that, from the beginning of his ministry all through it to the end, the beginning of the church's existence all through the story in the book of Acts to the very end. It is about the kingdom of God. Now, my guess is that some of you are probably wondering right now, well, that's all well and good, Sam, but what does that have to do with me and where I am in the world today? In fact, I titled this message, If the kingdom of God is really here, why is the world in such a mess? That's a question I ask all the time. Why is our world still filled with crime and moral debauchery and political fighting and wars and famine and injustice? If the kingdom is here, where is it? How might we experience it? How might we know? Well, I know that you all, like me, like everybody else in our country, I'm sure, has observed events over the last several years and just shaken your head and wondered, where's the kingdom of God? I think back to the uh death of George Floyd and the eruption of discussions and debates and fights over what is racism and who is a racist. Then, of course, the protests in our streets, the global pandemic that affected so many. I think of the October 7th slaughter of Jewish men and women by Hamas. I think about the anti-Semitism that erupted on our college campuses, dividing people everywhere. Look at all the all the natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, flooding. And then, of course, there's the war between Russia and Ukraine. And we look at our world and say, it's a mess, Lord. How can you tell us that the kingdom of God is here? Now I will tell you that there are times when I share the perplexity of John the Baptist. You may remember after John had engaged in his ministry only for a very short time, preparing people for the coming of the Messiah, he was arrested and thrown in prison, and he was a little bit befuddled as he probably sat there on his first day in Herod's jail, and he told his disciples, go to Jesus and ask him, Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another? John's perplexed. He can't make sense of how the kingdom of here, how Jesus can be the king, the Messiah, if he's languishing in prison and about to be beheaded. Jesus answered them. He said, You go and tell John what you hear and see. The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have good news preached to them, and blessed is the one who is not offended by me. It is obvious that John the Baptist had expectations of what the Messiah, the king, would do when he came. And he was perplexed, he was bothered by this. He's asking himself, why is it that the presence of the kingdom doesn't banish racism from our world and injustice and all the immorality that seems to pervade our society? Rampant unemployment. Now, I don't want you to think for a moment that I personally have any doubts about who Jesus is. I don't think John did either. He was just befuddled by what he saw and didn't see in the ministry of Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, always has been, always will be. But I have to tell you, I can identify with John the Baptist. There are times when I shake my head, wondering how in the world the kingdom of God can be a present reality in the light of all that we see in our world. So what I want you to do to be able to understand this, I want to take you back and put you in the sandals of a first century Jewish man or woman, into the mindset of people in that first century. They obviously were very familiar with the Old Testament scriptures. They knew about the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the covenant made with David. And yet they live in a land that suffers under pagan oppression. Rome occupied Israel. So there you are in prison. You're John the Baptist, about to lose your life, beheaded by Herod. You've devoted your life to proclaiming the need for repentance, preparing your heart for the coming of the Messiah. And you look around you, and what do you see? Rats scurrying across the ground, that horrid stench that pervades the prison, the chafing of the chains on your body, and you wonder, how can he be king when I'm experiencing all of this? Maybe there's a Gentile in the cell next to you. And that Gentile, knowing who you are as a Jew, says, Tell me, John, I've heard you all talking about the kingdom of God. What is it going to look like when it comes? And John, if he could find the strength to say it, would have responded by saying, Well, when the kingdom comes, the people of Israel will be reunited. The northern, southern tribes that have been divided will be formed once again together. God will restore to us dominion in the land. There will be a visible conquest of all his enemies. We will throw off the tyranny of Rome. He will finally sit forever on the royal throne of David. And we, the people of Israel, will experience all the blessings that we read about in the Old Testament, things like justice and peace and political supremacy and military victory and economic prosperity and agricultural abundance, salvation for every child of Abraham, and best of all, the presence of the king himself. That was the concept in the mind of every Jewish man and woman in the first century. That's what they thought would come to pass when the king showed up. And yet here is Jesus in Mark saying, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. That just didn't resonate with John or the Jewish people of that day. How can we be in the kingdom while Pilate is still in power over us? If pagans are not defeated and driven from the promised land, the kingdom cannot have come. Until such time as we are set free from the oppression of our enemies, the kingdom hasn't come. That's how they thought. They envisioned the kingdom being national liberation, military defeat of the pagan oppressors. That was the frame of mind. And when Jesus came and declared the kingdom of God is here, they looked around everywhere for signs that they thought would happen and there was nothing to see. In response to John's disciples, Jesus told them, You go tell John that the fulfillment of the Old Testament hope is here. It's present in my ministry, in my person. But the fulfillment is not taking place along expected lines. That's why John was perplexed. Fulfillment was happening, but without the eschatological consummation. Now that's a big word. Eschatological just simply means the end times. They thought that everything we know is going to happen at the second coming of Christ was going to happen at the first coming of the Messiah. And that's why they were so perplexed. They expected the consummation of the kingdom. That's not what Jesus came proclaiming. Jesus basically came saying, before the kingdom comes in its eschatological end of time, final consummation, it has already broken in through my presence and my ministry. In other words, the kingdom of God comes in two phases, corresponding to the two comings of Christ. First, as it is fulfilled within history, Jesus comes, Satan is defeated, people are healed, forgiven of their sins. They brought into the experience of God's blessings of salvation. But at the second coming, he will return in power, and he will destroy his enemies, and he will deliver his people and all of creation from evil, and he'll inaugurate the new heavens and the new earth. In other words, there's a twofold or dual manifestation of the kingdom of God. As I said, when Jesus first came, he didn't look much like a king. He came in humility, riding on a donkey of all things into Jerusalem. He was tortured, scourged, and eventually nailed to a cross. And yet we know he will appear a second time in power, in visible glory, subduing all of his enemies, establishing his sovereign rule forever in the new heavens and the new earth. Now, in saying that, I don't want you to think for a moment that this means that God hasn't been king forever and ever. He has. We read this in many texts in the Old Testament. Psalm 10, 16, the Lord is king forever and ever. Psalm 29, 10, the Lord sits enthroned over the flood, the Lord sits enthroned as king forever. Psalm 103, verse 19, the Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all. Jeremiah 10, verse 10, the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and the everlasting king. Daniel chapter 4, verse 34, his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation. The point is, God has always been king. But in the coming of Jesus, he chose to manifest that kingdom in a new and unexpected way in anticipation of what will happen at the end of the age. So the question then, I hope in your mind, what, Sam, is the kingdom of God? And why should we not be discouraged by all that we see in our world? Everything that seems to be running amok in chaos and confusion. Well, let me begin by basically saying what the kingdom of God is not. The kingdom of God is not a geographical realm with clearly defined boundaries. In other words, you can't take out a map or a globe and mark it and say, well, that part is the kingdom of God and this other part is not. The kingdom of God, for example, cannot be identified the way we identify Texas and Mexico, and there's a border that separates the two, or North Dakota and Canada, and we say, oh, there's a line there that you cross that boundary, you move from one end to the other. That's not what the kingdom of God is. Now, I need to be real clear about this next statement. I am the most patriotic person I know. I love our country. But folks, the United States of America is not the kingdom of God. I wish that it were, but it isn't. The kingdom of God cannot be identified with a geographical, geopolitical place on earth. The kingdom of God is not heaven, although eventually it will be. The church is not the kingdom of God. The church is the people through whom the blessings of the kingdom are proclaimed and experienced and made available. The kingdom is not a place, it's a power. It's not an issue of land, it's an issue of lordship. It is the dynamic, living reign of the omnipotent God. You see, the issue of the kingdom is not some static, lifeless thing. It's dynamic and living power that God exerts when he brings people into fellowship with himself. So the kingdom is not yet deliverance from political oppression, but it will be one day when Christ returns. The kingdom is not yet the renewal of the natural creation, but it will be when Christ returns. The kingdom is not yet material prosperity, but it will be when Christ returns. Now, let's move to the positive. What the kingdom actually is. I'm gonna keep it simple and straightforward, and I want to share with you seven declarations in the New Testament that identify for us the kingdom of God. Number one, the kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to bring forgiveness and salvation through the work of Christ. Let me say that again. The kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to bring us forgiveness and salvation through the work of Christ. Now, there are scores of texts that declare this, but let me just mention one. In Colossians chapter 1, verses 13 and 14, here's what Paul says: God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption and the forgiveness of sins. Paul uses this word domain, the domain of darkness, talking about Satan's kingdom. And he's saying, when you come to faith in Jesus, you receive redemption and the forgiveness of your sins, and you are, as it were, uprooted out of Satan's domain, and you're placed into Christ's. What a glorious thought it is. So again, Satan's kingdom is dominated by darkness and arrogance and sin and wickedness, but the kingdom of Christ is characterized by forgiveness and redemption. God has delivered us from Satan's tyranny and has planted us, as it were, in the kingdom of Christ. Our citizenship has shifted. He's uprooted us out of one and planted us in yet another. And folks, no amount of civil unrest, no amount of racial hostility, no amount of economic devastation can alter what God does through Christ in bringing us forgiveness and redemption. And before I leave this first point, let me just say very clearly: if any of you here today have not yet received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you have not experienced the forgiveness and the redemption that comes only through Him, it doesn't come by means of your educational accomplishments or your financial portfolio or anything else you have accomplished, doesn't matter how gifted a musician you may be, how athletically endowed you might be, how wonderful and vivacious your personality might be, if you have not trusted in Christ, you have not yet received the first and perhaps the most glorious blessing of the kingdom: forgiveness of sins and redemption through his blood. Second, the kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to bring physical healing to our bodies. Again, so many texts that say this. Let me mention one from Luke chapter 10. In Luke chapter 10, verses 8 and 9, Jesus said, Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it, and say to them, The kingdom of God has come near to you. Now, this is a fascinating passage in Luke 10. And here's why. When you go back to Luke 9, the opening verses, it says that Jesus empowered and commissioned the 12 apostles to go out and proclaim the gospel and heal the sick and drive out demons. But when he comes to chapter 10, verses 1 and following, it says he sent out 72 others. In other words, non-apostles. 72 individuals who are not named. They're anonymous. Not one single seminary grad was among them. Not one single pastor with a clerical collar was among them. These are just average, ordinary followers of Jesus, and he commissions them and sends them out to heal the sick and to drive out demons. And he says, Heal the sick, and then say to people, this means the kingdom of God has come near to you. In other words, he's not saying that healing, for example, is a sign of the kingdom. He's saying that healing is the very substance of the kingdom. It's not just an evidence of the kingdom, it's the essence of the kingdom. We know the kingdom has come. How? Because Jesus empowers his people to pray for and heal the sick. Matthew 4 23. He went about through all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people. Now I can't remember because I'm old and my memory is bad whether I told you all this story when I was at one of my previous visits. So if I did, you can just hear it again. If I didn't, you all get to hear it the first time. But I saw the manifestation of the kingdom of God in a most remarkable way. In the early 1990s, I was pastoring in Ardmore, Oklahoma. That's about halfway between Dallas and Oklahoma City. And one Sunday morning, this lady came to me, her name was Kay, her husband's name was Bill. She had her two-month-old newborn son Tommy in her arms, and she had tears coming down her face. She said, Sam, would you and the elders pray for Tommy? The doctors have said that his liver is probably never going to work. He's probably going to need a transplant or he'll die. So I said, sure, come on in. So after the service, we met together. We anointed him with oil. Each of the elders went around the room. Each one prayed their own prayer. And I have to tell you, um, this has only happened once in my life. I've been in ministry for uh over half a century. It's happened one time to me. It's not something like a day, I wish it were a daily reality. It isn't. As they were praying, I knew that little Tommy was healed. You say, How did you know? I don't know how I knew. I just knew. I remember thinking to myself, Sam, don't get presumptuous. And every time I tried to deny the reality of what God had convicted me of, it just disappeared. It's like the spirit would not let me doubt. Like this is this is not commonplace. I wish it were. One time in over 50 years of ministry, I knew that little boy was healed. So as they were walking out the room, uh, Kay said, Well, we have an appointment tomorrow morning at 9. I'll call you and let you know what's the story. And I said, Uh, he's healed. She just froze, she stopped. I wish you could read her written letter to me. She wrote it, and in capital letters, she wrote, What in the world made you say that? I said, I think it was God. She said, Sam, I've never heard you say that to anybody for whom you've prayed. And I said, Because I never have. And I haven't since. I think God granted me a gift of faith and a gift for healing in that particular instance. And I said, Okay, Bill, he's fine. They kind of left shaking their heads. They didn't know what their pastor had gone nuts or what. The next morning she called around noon. She said, You'll never believe what happened. I said, Oh, yeah, I will. We have the doctor's testimony, the exact nature of the little boy's affliction, and the fact that he said, There's no explanation for this. He is perfectly and completely healthy. He's uh in his 30s now. I think he lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. What was that? That was a sign, the essence of that was an indication, the kingdom of God has come near. Well, I'd like to give more stories like that. They're so encouraging. Number three, the kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to bring restoration, not just to our bodies, but to our minds and our emotions. Let me give you an example. I know all of you probably are familiar with the story of the gathering demoniac in Mark V. Horrendous, graphic display of demonic power. Here was a man walking around absolutely naked, would not keep clothes on him. They tried to hold him down, they tried to chain him, he would break the chains, screaming aloud, gashing himself with rocks and stones. And Jesus came, cast the demons out. Remember this is the story where they went into that herd of pigs? And then the most glorious thing is found in Mark chapter 5, verse 15. It says that the people of the community, and I'm quoting, saw him sitting there clothed and in his right mind. That's the expression of the kingdom. Not just that Jesus heals a person, which he does, but he restores his sanity. I mean, folks, for all of the psychological and mental struggles that so many have, whether it's depression or schizophrenia or anxiety or all of the things that dominate in our thoughts, the kingdom of God is present to bring restoration of emotional and mental health. Number four. The kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to drive out demons and set people free. Let me say it again. The kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit to drive out demons and set people free. Now we just saw that in Mark 5, but let me give you an even more explicit example. Matthew chapter 12. It's an incredible scene. There's a man who's brought to Jesus. He's blind, he's mute, can't see or speak, he's seriously demonized. Jesus heals him, drives the demon out. Now, try to envision this. The Pharisees, the religious leaders, are standing right there. It's not as if they were miles away and somebody told them, hey, you'll never believe what I just saw happening over in our community. No, they're right there standing, looking at this. They're seeing it with their eyes wide open. This is no sleight of hand that Jesus pulls on them. They are left with only two options. Either this man is the Messiah, as he claims, and he did this through God's power, or he's demonized. In fact, they said, You've done it by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus responds, verse 28. If it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. Again, study. How is the kingdom seen? The Spirit of God driving out demons. Now again, he says, it has come upon you. It doesn't mean that it's on the edge of arriving or it's maybe here next week or at the end of history. It's now here. And by the way, isn't it interesting that Jesus doesn't say the kingdom of God has come upon you because I'm here, although that's true. He says the kingdom of God has come upon you because the Holy Spirit has accomplished this miracle in this man's life. Paul reaffirmed this in his speech before King Agrippa. He's defending himself. Listen to what he said in Acts 26. He said, But right, Jesus appeared to him and told me, he says, Arise and stand up on your feet, for I've appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, delivering you and your people and the Gentiles to whom I am sending you to open their eyes. Listen, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me. How is the kingdom present in the midst of so much chaos in our world? It's seen every time an individual is set free from demonic oppression. I suspect that there are probably many of you here today. You didn't even know if you wanted to come because you have had such torment from the enemy. These random, out-of-the-blue, perverse images or thoughts come into your mind. You think, what's the matter with me? Those are the fiery darts of the enemy Paul talks about in Ephesians 6. Or maybe you've had demonic nightmares recently, and you wonder, why is this happening if I'm a Christian? Well, one of the things that manifests the presence of the kingdom is when people are set free from that kind of conflict and that kind of temptation from slavery to the power of Satan into the freedom and joy of the people of God. Let me share with you something that I recently preached on in Oklahoma City from the book of Ephesians. This is one of the most stunning things that I've ever seen. At the end of Ephesians chapter 1, Paul says, I want to tell you about the power of the omnipotent God that is to on behalf of and in you if you're a believer in Jesus. And then he says, the power that raised him from the dead, exalted him to the right hand of the Father, and seated him above all demonic principalities and powers, and put them in subjection to his feet. That's wonderful. But then when you read into chapter 2, Paul does the most amazing thing. He says, the very things that God has done for Jesus, he's done for you. I'm not making this up. Ephesians 2, verses 5 and 6. He says, When we were dead in our trespasses, God made us alive together with Christ. By grace you have been saved, and he raised us up with him, seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Folks, get your mind around this. When God the Father, through the power of the Spirit, raised up Jesus and seated him as right hand and put all principalities and powers. In fact, he closes the gap. There's no exception. He said, and every name that is named is beneath the feet of Jesus. And then he says in chapter 2, he did this to you. He seated you together with Christ, which means that Satan and the demonic spirits are beneath our feet as well. When I ever talk about spiritual warfare, I always tell people one thing I hope they'll remember. Can't remember where I heard this, but it's so true. Spiritual warfare, our battle with the enemy, is not a horizontal tug of war, it's a vertical chain of command. Don't ever think of yourself, well, I'm on the same footing with the enemy, and we've got to push and pull, and hopefully we might gain a little, we'll lose a little, gain a little. No, no. Spiritual warfare is a vertical chain of command. Christ is seated at the right hand of the Father. We are in Christ. We've been raised up together with him, and God has placed all things under his feet and therefore under ours as well. Number five. You may remember in Romans chapter 14, verse 17, Paul said, The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. Now, again, Paul's not saying that it's wrong to eat and drink. Remember the context of Romans 14. There was a division in the church at Rome. There were some who thought that they should only eat vegetables, eating meat was defiling. Some who thought that they shouldn't ever imbibe in wine, it was defiling others who partook freely. Some there observed one day every week as the Sabbath, other people said, every day's the Sabbath. And Paul's trying to bring harmony and peace to them. He said, Look, the kingdom of God is not about what you eat or don't eat, although I think not eating squash is the essence of the kingdom of God. I can prove it to you. You go back and read in Genesis when God cursed the ground because of Adam's fall, it says that squash came forward. I got I get sidetracked. He says it's not about what you eat and what you drink or what you don't. It's about righteousness and peace and joy. The righteousness of Jesus that has been reckoned to you, as well as the righteousness you experience as you are being transformed by the Spirit. It's about peace with God because enmity has been removed. It's also the peace of God. The very peace that God Himself experiences has come into you because the kingdom is here. And it's also joy in the Holy Spirit. I think when I read that about 1 Peter 1:8, where Peter talks about joy inexpressible and full of glory. Sixth, the kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Holy Spirit in creating and shaping a spiritual community of Christian men and women who live in harmony and love. Let me say it again. Revelation chapter 1. John says, To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom. Priest to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Did you hear that? He's saying you aren't simply in the kingdom. You're more than merely a citizen of the kingdom. You, together with other Christians, are the kingdom. So if you came to me and said, Sam, where is the kingdom? I can tell you, based on scripture, I'm looking at it. It's you. God has made you to be a kingdom and priest to our God. When Christians join together, commit themselves to a single vision, affirm certain principles of the faith, and they live to the glory of Jesus, that's where the kingdom is manifest. So I would say to, if you're a visitor, maybe you've come to this church for the first time, maybe you've been here several times, and you're trying to figure out whether or not this is a place for you. Whatever the case, you becoming a part of a community of men and women who trust Jesus is the kingdom. I'm so tired of hearing about people who profess to know Christ saying, Well, I love him, but I don't like his bride. I don't like the church. The kingdom of God is as much this community of believers that I'm looking at right now as it is anything else. Number seven, the kingdom of God is the power and presence of the Spirit to bring us into intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul prayed in Ephesians 3, 16 and 17, that they would be strengthened with power through his spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. The greatest of all the blessings of the kingdom is you know Jesus. He lives in you. You experience the reality of his love that Paul says later in that same passage cannot be measured. The height and depth and the width and breadth of that love can never be calculated. You know, it's interesting when you think about it. There is no such thing as the kingdom of God without the king himself. Our country could actually get by without a president. England could get by without a monarchy, Russia could get by without Putin. How in the world would the kingdom of God exist without Jesus the King? And yet people say, wait a minute, he has no army, he has no secret service to protect him, he has no political position or power, he has no police force, he has virtually no money. He didn't fight against Roman imperialism, but against greed and envy and lust and materialism and hatred and disease and demons. So don't ever think that the kingdom of God can exist without the king, the Lord Jesus Christ. I think it was the last time I was with you all, some of you may remember, that I preached from Luke 12, 32, which reminds us in such vivid language that the kingdom of God is the gift of God. There Jesus said to his disciples, don't be afraid, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. You can't earn it, you can't buy it, you can't bargain for it, you can't swap something with God. So you get he gets that and you get the kingdom. The kingdom of God. And all of its blessings is a gift of God. Folks, the kingdom of God is here. It may not be in the form that you had expected or that you had hoped for, but that will happen when it comes in the consummate expression at the second return of Jesus. You are already reigning with Christ. But in the age to come, that will take on a whole new dimension. We live in eternal life now, yet we have not yet entered into the fullness of what that means. The new creation is already here, but not in the way that it will be when the new heavens and the new earth are brought to bear upon us. We already have the fullness of the Spirit, but he's only a down payment on the full installment that will come when Jesus returns. So, are you here today needing forgiveness, needing to know that your sins are wiped clean? The slate has been completely obliterated. There are no charges that can be brought against you, not because of who you are or what you've done, but because of who Jesus is and what he's done. Do you need redemption? That's the kingdom of God. Do you need restoration of your mental health, your emotional well-being? That's an expression of the kingdom of God. You need to be set free from demonic oppression, from hearing voices, from being prompted to do things that you know are contrary to the will of God, that's the kingdom of God. Do you want to know Jesus better? Do you want to experience the reality of his love and the presence of his spirit? That's the kingdom of God. So I appeal to you this morning. If any of that appeals to you, if any of that makes sense and resonates with your heart, if that has awakened in you an awareness of your lost condition and your desire to be uprooted out of the domain of Satan and transplanted into the domain and kingdom of Christ, I urge you this morning to do that. Let's pray together. And Lord, I look forward to the day, as I know we all do, when the heavens will split open and the Son of God will return. And what we have only experienced in part now will come to consummate expression. And finally and forever, all wickedness will be banished. All enemies of the gospel will be subdued. All bodies will be healed, never to be sick again. Satan will be confined to the lake of fire, never to torment a single soul. You will restore emotional and mental well-being. You will awaken us to the righteousness, peace, and joy that is ours now, if only in small measure, and then we'll be in its consummate expression. Lord, we long for that day. But Father, I especially pray right now for any man or woman, young or old, who perhaps has attended church for a long time, but never, never done business with the Lord Jesus Christ. Never closed that breach between the two and laid hold of him in simple faith. Lord, you say the kingdom is a gift is your gift to your people. We thank you for that. And I pray especially for those who at this very moment are contemplating whether or not to entrust their lives and their eternal destiny to Jesus. I pray that you would move powerfully in their hearts. We ask all this in the precious name of our Savior, King Jesus. Amen.

SPEAKER_00 41:46

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