Don’t Show me the Door!

Imagine if you will that you had decided to buy a house. You see one that you like and you make an appointment with the owner or an agent, to view. On your arrival, you meet outside the front door. Then to your surprise and amazement you are given a lengthy description of the benefits, qualities and durability of that front door. Apparently you are told that some great tree had to be felled, lose its life in order for the wood of the door to be sourced, then following a process of cutting and carving, shaping and moulding, polishing and preparing, the door was hung in place, marking the entrance, the way in, to a most beautiful house and home. Beyond that door lay all kinds of wonderful things which would most certainly enrich and enhance the lives of any who would be fortunate enough to go through it, but look again at the door, ponder its craftsmanship, review its furnishings, feel its quality, and consider its purchase. Now you would be forgiven for walking away from such “sales spiel and spin” for you had not come to buy a door,

you had come to buy a house!

My Sermon today entitled “Don’t show me the Door”

is about the Gospel of the Kingdom. Most of our Churches these days spend so much time and effort showing us the “door” to the Kingdom, and getting us through the door to the Kingdom, that then they have no time left to show us the Kingdom. Now I thank God for all who have found out that Jesus is the way to that Kingdom, He said “I am the door” and he IS the only door, there is no other, but our Churches are full of those who have come through the door, but then have gone no further. They have unpacked and moved in by the door, their minds and hearts are focused on the door week by week, and they never get to enjoy the rest of the house, so I say again “don’t show me the door” show me the house! Now do not misunderstand me; for what house would you build or buy without a Door? The Door is essential, and Jesus, His Cross, His Blood, His Sacrifice, His Mercy, His Pardon, His Life & Example are all essential to the Kingdom, and there could be no Kingdom life without any of them. But Jesus taught us that the GOSPEL is the Gospel of the Kingdom, not the Gospel of the Cross, or the Gospel of the Blood, or the Gospel of the Resurrection, or the Gospel of Calvary, or the Gospel of the rebirth, these are all vital, these are all true, but they are not the Greater Truth, the greater truth is that the Gospel is about a King, and a Kingdom, and the lesser is included in the greater!

If more than 2000 years ago, Jesus could speak of a “coming kingdom” are we any nearer today to its reality? It is time for the Church to return to its “Kingdom Mentality” .

This is my assignment for today.

But here is the real issue, here is the surprise behind the door… Jesus said “the Kingdom is already come” Luke 17:21.

During the ministry of John the Baptist, (and more about him in a moment) and prior to the Cross, both John & Jesus taught of that coming Kingdom, – but after the Cross and after the Resurrection, Jesus breathed on them and said “Receive the Holy Ghost.” John 20:22. For the Kingdom comes in the Person and Power of the Holy Spirit. This is what makes the Gospel of the Kingdom greater than any other Gospel, and this is the Gospel that must be preached to the whole world if Jesus is to return.

To preach any other Gospel only delays his coming!

Today within the Evangelical Church we have lost this Kingdom

mentality and we need to regain it. Now I expect that what I may say today that might shock you, and you may want to throw stones at me? Very well, criticise and condemn me if you must, but then go and read your Bible, for then you will discover that the things I have said, Jesus said, and I have read it in the Bible. The Bible is always my only Authority as a Preacher.

Look and Learn from the preaching of Jesus in the four Gospels and you will see that the priority of Jesus in all of His Public Preaching Ministry was preaching the kingdom. Jesus mentioned being born again only once and he never spoke of it to any crowd of people, he only spoke of it to one man in the early morning and that man was a religious leader, who had questioned him regarding “the Kingdom”. (John Ch 3)

We need to stop preaching what Jesus did not preach. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” Matthew 6:33 I want to say a word to those of you who are the Clergy, the Priests and the Pastors among you, for I know that many listen to me week by week, but this is going to be the class lesson that you didn’t have at University or Seminary. I have a Degree in Theology and a Diploma in Christian Leadership and a Citation for Counselling and Pastoralia, but in all of my many hours of study and preparation I never sat in on a single class on the Kingdom, so I got a degree but I didn’t get the message.

According to the chronology of the Bible, Adams history goes back about 7000 years and the earth could be much more than that, … we don’t know. But based on Biblical chronology mankind is about 7000 years old. When Adam and his wife disobeyed God in Genesis 3, God promised the restoration of man. But have you ever wondered WHY it took 4000 years to pass before God would send Jesus to solve the problem? Logical question, but perhaps you’ve never thought about it. For example, why did God not send Jesus during the time of Abraham, or Moses or David? God sent His son (the Bible says) in the fullness of time, (Gal. 4:4) The word fullness has nothing to do with the clock or the time of Day, instead this word fullness means that everything was in its rightful place and the setting or season was perfect.

Isn’t it amazing that everything we do nowadays we do in a hurry. We want everything to be faster, – faster cars, faster internet speed, faster trains, faster food, faster cookers, and we regularly feel impatient with God for we know that he cannot be hurried. God will always make his move when the time is right, after all he is the “ancient of days” Daniel 7:9. It took 4000 years for humanity to get to the point for there to be a prototype in the earth that was the correct prototype for the kingdom of God. To understand God timing, you have to understand the concept of a Kingdom, and there was no kingdom with the Divine concept of Kingdom, until the Romans arrived. Saul’s Kingdom, David’s Kingdom, Solomon’s Kingdom, and so on, were all Kingdoms – but lacked that Heavenly Kingdom Mentality of which I speak. That is why Jesus came at the time when the Romans were in power. Let me teach you that Effective Communication depends on Correct Concepts.

When you communicate with someone you have to understand that the person must have the same concept as you, otherwise there will be a misconception. God had to get the communication right, and John the Baptist was Gods

communicator. Every kingdom that had stood before the Romans, operated in a way that when they took over a territory, they would kill the strong soldiers, then they would uproot the rest of the people and carry them off to their territory and make them slaves. The Romans were the first Kings or Governors in History to reverse that practice. They were essentially the first powerful kingdom in History, reigning across the globe from Africa to Scotland; and without realizing it, they were using a Kingdom of Heaven system and pattern!

Abraham had attempted something similar, but the Romans were the first to invent colonization of territory, in that they would leave the people in their land and appoint a king, a governor to rule them THERE! In Rome, the Creaser, (meaning Lord) would send a hand picked Leader to that territory and that person would become a Governor. (Pilate was one) They would then begin to live in the territory and the job they were expected to do was to convert it to Rome. The new territory would soon become a type or a kind of Rome itself.

So with this Roman concept in place, (when God saw it) He sent His Son, and said NOW, at this point in the worlds history, everything you say will make sense to them. The Concept will not become a misconception. {Incidentally, this is where we get the saying “when in Rome do as the Romans”} Jerusalem wasn’t Rome, but it was Roman territory, so they made you speak Latin, eat Roman Food and pay Roman taxes, and Jesus came in the middle of that, – Born into the Roman colony of Judea/Palestine and the governor of the day was Pilate. (and his title was Lord)

That is why Jesus was a problem to the Roman authorities, because he called himself Lord, and that resulted in a political conflict – two kingdoms conflicting. Jesus message was a Kingdom message. Turn with me to Matthew Chapter 3 and verse 1 …

Where we read: “In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, And saying, Repent ye:

for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John preached a kingdom, he wasn’t just a Baptist! He was submitted to a master, to a Lord, and he had his own disciples and following. Plato, Aristotle, & Socrates had disciples too as did all the great teachers of that era, … and John was a master teacher, so Jesus had to get under that kingdom philosophy (therein lies the significance of his Baptism) and from that time on Jesus began to preach “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has arrived”

Every Sermon Jesus Preached he preached it on the Kingdom. He said “I must preach the Kingdom, that is why

I was sent” Luke 4:43

He did not say that he was sent to heal the sick, or to raise the dead, or to feed the hungry, or to cloth the naked, he was sent

to preach the Kingdom.

Matthew 13.11 & Matthew 13:24 and Matthew 12:28 are all sermons on the Kingdom and he says that “If I drive out demons- this is proof of the Kingdom among you”. Understand that miracles are not religious activities but are evidence of another government, another rule, a higher rule and a higher king. He did not teach them that a new Religion had arrived -but a Kingdom. Luke 9:11 says that “He spoke unto them about the kingdom”, he didn’t speak of Calvary, or of the Blood, or of the Resurrection, no, he only spoke privately about those things to his followers, to his disciples, but he always spoke publicly to the people of the Kingdom. Throw stones at me if you will, but then go read your Bible. In Luke 12:32 he says “it is your Father good pleasure to give you the Kingdom”, not to give you religion, or law or legality. He reminded them that;

“The law and the prophets were preached until John:

since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it”. Luke 16:16.

Since John, and since Jesus we should be preaching the Kingdom, and the good news – the gospel message is that the Kingdom has arrived. The Kingdom is not only about the life hereafter, it is about the life here and now. Kingdom life is Abundant and Eternal life. It came in the person and power of the Holy Spirit. Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 16:28

” Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. In other words, Jesus was saying that there were those present on that occasion, that would not die before they would witness the Kingdom coming. And you know what happened on the day of Pentecost, how that thousands were swept into the Kingdom, that kingdom that began in the spirit and in the supernatural, will continue for all eternity, both here on earth and in the glories of the “heavenly places”.

This Kingdom Mentality, opens up all kinds of possibilities to the believer, and opens up heaven on earth, but there were those in Jesus time, (and they are still around today) who do not want us to live and walk under an open heaven, for it could threaten all their nice little religious ideologies. Jesus said:

“woe to those of you who shut the kingdom up” and are bent on teaching their own kind of religion. Look at it in Matthew 23:13 “But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in”.

These preachers of religion who won’t go in themselves and who would prevent you from going in. Religious people do not want you to know this. Yet it is the only message that Jesus said we are to preach. Isn’t it interesting that Jesus never had a single problem with sinners, his greatest opposition was from religious people. But Jesus warns that those who preach another Gospel will be left in a “desolate” in a decaying and derelict house.

Matt 23:38

I know there are many others Gospels that are doing the rounds today. But the good is often the enemy of the right in Spiritual things. Just because the sermon is good, does not make it right, and the coming of the King to reign in His Kingdom is dependant on the right being done, and the right message being preached. Don’t show me the door, don’t keep me at the door, don’t tie me in the hallway, – I want to live and love in the House. I want it all. Preach me the Kingdom.

Jesus said in his last words to His disciples and followers, in

Matt 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come”.

The end of the world is dependent on a message. Could it be that the Church is holding him back because we are preaching our own stuff. On another occasion the answer Jesus gave as to when the end of the world was coming was “As the days of Noah” Matt 24:38 You see not until Noah’s ark was finished and the door was closed, did the rain and the floods come. So shall it be. The judgement was not waiting on God, but on Noah. The rain was waiting on Noah, and Gods is waiting on You and I – “preaching the Kingdom”. Make sure that the missions and ministries that you are supporting are preaching

the Gospel of the Kingdom, otherwise they might just be

hindering the work and return of the Lord?

Jesus died and rose again and gave us the Holy Spirit, the new

governor is already here. The Kingdom is supposed to be working in you and me every day – we have been given the keys. If you keep putting the Kingdom in the future you can never experience it now. That’s why so many of us are living in defeat and in depression. We have lost any Holy Expectation of the Good and Great things we have NOW in Christ. We have lost the peace that Jesus gives and we live from one crisis to another. Time now will allow me to teach you but only one of the privileges of Kingdom living. In a Kingdom, the army fight, (not the citizens) and God has His own army, the angels – who are fighting every day on our behalf.

“He will give his angels charge over you, to keep you” Luke 4 :10… therefore stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.

(And remember one angel destroyed Pharaohs army- Numbers 20:16)

Jesus is a King, not a religious man, He didn’t speak in Caiaphas Courtroom, a Religious court, it was the wrong place for Him, but then see how in Pilate’s Courtroom, he speaks up, Kingdom against Kingdom. In John 19:11. He tells Pilate:

“You could have no power over me except it was given to you from above” At that very moment he could have called on 10 legions of angels, to deliver him, but He came to die so he tells Pilate to get on with it! Do you know that a legion is 6000 soldiers, Ten legions are 60,000 and remember only ONE destroyed Pharaohs army. (So no wonder Pilate felt threatened)

Do you know that the Angels work for you in the Kingdom,

– you have to give them instructions – you are their boss.

Heb 1:14 tells us “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to do service for the sake of them that shall inherit

salvation” But if you don’t believe the Bible it wont work for you, and if you don’t believe in Angels they wont work for you either. They await your bidding. That may be why your house was broken into because you left home and didn’t leave them instructions. Thank God He is a great Governor. We serve a mighty and all-powerful King!

NOW THIS FINAL WORD

Paul writing to the Colossians says:

God “hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son” Col 1:13

This is not something that God is planning to do, or waiting to do, or hoping to do, or expecting to do, this is something that has already been done. We have already been translated, transferred, catapulted into the Kingdom of His Beloved Son.

Delivered from these worldly kingdoms and citizenships and have been transferred into His Kingdom, becoming citizens of heaven, enabling us to bring Heaven to Earth! That is why Paul could say in 2 Cor 5:16 “we regard no fellow believer from a human point of view.” We are no longer to consider ourselves part of any human race, we are part of a glorious heavenly race. We are no longer Human but Heavenly, of another Kingdom.

If you can believe it, “old things have passed away, and all things have become new” Hallelujah.

So what about you, are you able to bring Heaven to that bit of the world you occupy this week, will the world seem a better place because you are changing and challenging it? Follow the example of Jesus, walk in Love, and you can change your world

today.

God Bless you.