Evangelism Part 13: The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
Matthew 10:7 August 27, 2023
Intro
In 1867, a boy by the name of Erasmus James was working on his parent’s farm in South
Africa. He was working along the creek on their property and sat down under a tree to
rest. As he sat there he noticed the way the sun was shining down on a nearby mud
encrusted stone. He picked it up and cleaned it off in the water and put it in his pocket
because he thought it looked pretty cool.
Later on that week, Erasmus was using the stone to play a game very similar to jacks
when his mother saw it. As the stone was being tossed around she noticed a small
portion gleaming in the light. So she took it from him and kept it on a shelf for a pretty
decoration.
One day she casually mentioned the stone to a neighbor. Intrigued by the description of
the stone, the neighbor asked if he could buy it. Not thinking anything more of it, Mrs.
James gave the pretty rock away to her neighbor. She enjoyed the trinket, but if her
neighbor wanted it he could have it….it wasn’t that special.
As most of you have probably figured out, that pretty rock was a diamond. And the
James family didn’t appreciate the value of it because they could only see a small piece
of the whole gem.
Matthew 10:5-7 “5 These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among
the Gentiles and enter no town of the Samaritans, 6 but go rather to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel. 7 And proclaim as you go, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.’”
Isaac taught Kingdom of God/Heaven, all over New Testament – especially the gospels.
o Isaac’s Kingdom breakdown: Sovereignty of God’s Kingdom, Manifestation of
God’s Kingdom, and Culmination of God’s Kingdom
o Last week we talked through that fact that we are called to proclaim the Kingdom
of Heaven – the Lord’s present rule and reign, and we looked at the different
ways that the good news of Christ’s Kingdom transforms this broken world. (show
slide of below)
o In the Kingdom of Heaven:
The lost are found – Luke 15:4-6
The irredeemable are redeemed – Ephesians 1:7, Titus 2:14
The sick are healed – Matthew 4:23-24
The dirty are cleaned – John 13:8, 1 John 1:7
The enemy of God is made God’s friend – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, James
2:23
The homeless are given a home – John 14:2-3
The defeated are made victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:57
The faltering are rescued – Matthew 14:30-31
The hungry are fed and the thirsty are satisfied – John 6:35
The enslaved are set free – Galatians 5:1
Those who deserve death are given life – John 15:13, 1 Peter 2:24-25
The old is made new – 2 Corinthians 5:17
The burdened have their weight lifted – Matthew 11:28-30
The exploited and oppressed are given justice – Luke 4:18-21
The guilty are pardoned – John 8:1-11
The weak are made strong – 2 Corinthians 10:9-10
Those in darkness are brought into the light – John 1:5, 1 John 1:5-7
The deceived are given truth – John 14:6, 16:13
The vulnerable are protected – John 10:28-30
The lacking are provided for – Philippians 4:19
The failing are transformed – Hebrews 10:10
The dead are reborn and raised to life – John 3:3-6, 5:21
While we double clicked on the good news of what the Kingdom of Heaven means
practically, we’re going to zoom back out today and ask ourselves what is the Gospel
(good news). As Jesus sends us out and tells us to proclaim that the Kingdom of Heaven
is at hand – that the King of Kings is ruling and reigning right now – it is critical that we
understand the full breadth and depth of that gospel message.
So that is what we are going to do today. For many of us, we know this information, so
please take this as a reminder of the full scope of what we are called to proclaim to this
lost and broken world. For those of us who may not have thought of the gospel in these
terms, please take this in and allow is to transform and mature your understanding of
the good news of Jesus Christ.
Breadth of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
We begin with the breadth of the gospel. It is critical that we have an understanding of
the chronological scope of the good news as this allows us to explain why the gospel is
actually good news.
[Note titles of the breadth: Creation, Fall, Promises, Incarnation, Consummation]
We’ve got to recognize first and foremost that God created this world as a perfect
paradise where He walked with us in the garden and we worshipped Him and
fellowshipped with Him without hindrance. Note that His dwelling place was not with
man (Genesis 1:6-8…only day not good), but He did fellowship in their midst regularly.
But then, Adam and Eve rebelled against God, and as Romans 5:12 says “… sin came
into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men
because all sinned”
o Yet, even at the fall, when man rebelled against God, the Lord promised in
Genesis 3:15 – in a verse of scripture known as the proto-evangelion, or the
proto-good news – that He was going to send a deliverer to destroy Satan while
the devil would mortally wound the redeemer in the process.
o But why did this messiah have to be killed? Why did Jesus have to die – which is
prophesied not only in Genesis 3, but throughout the old testament (see e.g. Gen.
15:12-20, Isaiah 52:13 through 53:12)? The answer is found in one of the least
read books of the bible – Leviticus
Leviticus 17:11 “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it
for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood
that makes atonement by the life.”
Now, if I were you I’d write that down and I’d also write down Hebrews
9:22 “Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and
without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
God is love, but He is also perfectly righteous and just. His perfect
righteousness and justice requires that sin be paid for and the only way to
pay for sin, the only way to atone for sin and to be purified from it, is to
offer a sacrifice by pouring out the life blood of an unblemished creature.
That’s why if you read through chapter 4-6 of Leviticus you will see
that God had very specific requirements for His people to sacrifice sin
offerings and guilt offerings to purify them from their sin.
But those OT sacrifices were an inadequate solution to permanently pay for
the sins of the whole world. Just as sin entered the world through a man, so
sin had to be atoned for by the blood of a perfect, unblemished, spotless
man.
This is why Jesus, who is fully God had to be born as a man, being
both fully divine and fully human. His humanity allowed Him to meet
God’s righteous requirement to save all the human race, and His
divinity allowed Him to be a worthy, spotless sacrifice in our place.
This is why Jesus is called John 1:29 “the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world!”
Jesus himself said a little later on in the Gospel of John 3:16-18
“16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world,
but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever
believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is
condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the
only Son of God.”
o This is atonement language directly from Jesus himself,
drawing on the understanding of the OT law. Paul later picks
this up and explains further in many of his letters.
I would encourage you to study Hebrews 7-11 to really dive into this. It is
critical that we know why Jesus had to die, why He is the only one who
could permanently provide purification from sin, and therefore, why He is
the only way to salvation.
o Our king died and rose again to life as an acceptable sacrifice – and praise God –
will return again.
Revelation 21:1-8 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first
heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud
voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with
man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself
will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their
eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor
crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 And
he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things
new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and
true.” 6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the
beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water
of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage,
and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the
faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers,
idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire
and sulfur, which is the second death.””
Depth of the Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven
o In the Kingdom of Heaven:
The lost are found – Luke 15:4-6
The irredeemable are redeemed – Ephesians 1:7, Titus 2:14
The sick are healed – Matthew 4:23-24
The dirty are cleaned – John 13:8, 1 John 1:7
The enemy of God is made God’s friend – 2 Corinthians 5:18-20, James
2:23
The homeless are given a home – John 14:2-3
The defeated are made victorious – 1 Corinthians 15:57
The faltering are rescued – Matthew 14:30-31
The hungry are fed and the thirsty are satisfied – John 6:35
The enslaved are set free – Galatians 5:1
Those who deserve death are given life – John 15:13, 1 Peter 2:24-25
The old is made new – 2 Corinthians 5:17
The burdened have their weight lifted – Matthew 11:28-30
The exploited and oppressed are given justice – Luke 4:18-21
The guilty are pardoned – John 8:1-11
The weak are made strong – 2 Corinthians 10:9-10
Those in darkness are brought into the light – John 1:5, 1 John 1:5-7
The deceived are given truth – John 14:6, 16:13
The vulnerable are protected – John 10:28-30
The lacking are provided for – Philippians 4:19
The failing are transformed – Hebrews 10:10
The dead are reborn and raised to life – John 3:3-6, 5:21
Salvation
o Romans 6:3-12 “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him
by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have
been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order
that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be
enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we
have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that
Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has
dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the
life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin
and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
o Why this matters:
If we are not saved, we are not subjects of the Kingdom of Heaven…we are
the subjects of the prince and power of this world – Satan and we will be
subject to eternal separation from God – as we studied in depth in part 4 of
this sermon series on the reality of hell.
Salvation is the entry point into the Kingdom of Heaven, which is why it is
stressed to strongly, but it is not the only portion of the good news and,
quite frankly, may not be the aspect of the kingdom of heaven that draws
someone to the Lord in a particular moment.
Transformation
o Philippians 1:6 “And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will
bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
o Why this matters:
1 Corinthians 15:1-2 “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I
preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you
are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you
believed in vain.”
The good news not only saves us, but it transforms us into the holy
Children God is calling us to be and it keeps us saved as we submit all
of ourselves to Jesus as our Lord and Master.
Invitation
o Ephesians 2:10 “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good
works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
o Why this matters:
Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And
behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
The good news of the Kingdom of Heaven gives us meaning and
purpose and a task to spread the Kingdom to all who would receive
it.
Restoration
o Colossians 1:15-23 “15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all
creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things
were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him
all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be
preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and
through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven,
making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and
hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by
his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before
him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from
the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation
under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
o Why this matters:
1 John 2:15-17 “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone
loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the
world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of
life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing
away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides
forever.”
This world is passing away. The Lord is restoring lives and giving justice in
part right now, and we have the privilege of being a part of that – but at the
consummation restoration will be complete.
Conclusion
And that brings us back to the James family and the diamond they gave away. That
diamond later became known as the Eureka Diamond because it was the first diamond
found in South Africa. Erasmus and his mother had no idea of the value of what they
had found because they didn’t see the whole of it. They only saw it in part, and they
were more than willing to give it away and lose it forever.
But when the neighbor got a hold of it, he allowed it to be cleaned, and had the excess
stone around the precious gem removed, and ultimately had the diamond cut into a
beautiful, brilliant shape that shown forth its true splendor.
Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how to STIR up one another to love and good
works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Amen. Amen.