Six Signs that the Kingdom of God is near

 

This message was preached at Word Of Grace Church on July 9th 2023  by Ranjit Rodrigues. For the audio & video please click here.  For the worship please click here.

Six Signs that the Kingdom of God is near

Matthew 6:31-33 - ³¹ So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. ³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

When we come to Jesus, our souls find Him. We start thinking about how shall we seek, what should we do for Him.

When we come to Jesus, our souls find their home. Many children’s stories start as “Long time ago there was a kingdom and a king in it..” We were made to be ruled by a good king.

When we come to Jesus, our souls are at rest.

We are living in a very uncertain world. Very few things are stable and dependable. The Kingdom of God never goes down. If you put your money in His Kingdom, returns are guaranteed.

In the Bible, if you see, Jesus talked about His Kingdom many times. He was very clear. He has an agenda – Preaching Good News to all.

Jesus taught us the prayer – Let Your Kingdom come. Our prayers should be Kingdom prayers.

From the time of John, till now, the Kingdom of God is increasing. What should we be talking about? As you go, preach the message – The Kingdom of God is near.

Everything that Jesus is, everything that He does is for the Kingdom.

Here are the 6 signs that the Kingdom of God is near –

1. 1.     Kingdom of God overcomes spiritual darkness and Jesus becomes our King

Col 1:13 - For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves.

There’s no place called “No man’s land”. You are either in the Kingdom of Son He loves or Kingdom of darkness.

What kingdom are you in?

Martin Lloyd Jones – Before he died, he thought of only this verse –

Rev 13:8 - 8 All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

How do you get into the Kingdom of God? It is by putting our faith in Jesus.

All good things do not bring you into the Kingdom of God. St. Augustine wrote, “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they can find rest in you.”

Jesus is the King of the Kingdom. If you take Jesus out, there’s no Kingdom left. When the Queen of England died, the Kingdom did not end but continued. God’s Kingdom is greater than any other kingdom.

 

1. 2.     Kingdom of God overcomes condemnation and brings forgiveness and acceptance.

Luke 5:20-23 - 20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.” 

21 The Pharisees and the teachers of the law began thinking to themselves, “Who is this fellow who speaks blasphemy? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
22 Jesus knew what they were thinking and asked, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’?

Here, the greater issue was a sin. Man’s greatest problem is not poverty, hunger or illiteracy. Man’s greatest problem is that we are all sinners and we need a Savior. In the Kingdom of God, condemnation is taken away.

There was a man who used to steal nuts and bolts from train tracks. Someone saw him and felt that he needed a good education. So, he spent money and gave him an education at Harvard. The man after getting an education came back and started stealing the train tracks. Here, the key issue was not dealt with.

 

1. 3.     Kingdom of God overcomes confusion and wrongdoings and is replaced with righteousness.

Luke 19:8-9 - 8 But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. 

Jesus did not tell Zacchaeus to do that. When the Kingdom of God comes, everything changes. Righteousness replaces confusion and wrongdoings.

I used to smoke a lot. But after I got to know Jesus, I did not need it. I just left that habit. Righteousness is given to us and we become acceptable to God and we work out righteousness in our daily life.

1. 4.     Confusion and lack are replaced with God’s powerful peace.

Jesus said “Peace be with you.” when he met His disciples. Not as the world gives but the peace I give to you. Peace is a very powerful word.

The Greek word “Irene”. This is completely different from the English word “peace”.

The English word, “Peace” means the absence of conflict. But the Greek word, “Irene” means permanently reconciled and connected with Him. In the Kingdom of God, you and I have a permanent place and a connection with God. But peace with God precedes peace of God. How? It is by entering God’s Kingdom. All the benefits like healing, deliverance etc., follow later.

1. 5.     When the Kingdom of God breaks in even nature bows to its power

Mark 4:39 - ³⁹ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.

Do we deal with the forces of nature? Nature submits to God. So speak to fever, sickness, waves and storms of your lives.

 

1. 6.     When the Kingdom of God breaks in misery is removed and joy replaces it.

 John 15:11 - ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

Joy of the Lord is my strength and the misery of the devil is my weakness. Miserable Christians are a contradiction. Joy of the Lord is like glucose. We survive because of His joy.

Application:

a.     Seek the King and enjoy His presence

No King, No Kingdom. Let us make time and seek Jesus. Let the busyness of our lives not take over.

b.     Learn to love what the King loves and learn to hate what the King hates. When we love Jesus, we start loving everything that He loves.

c.      Let us serve the King

We don’t get rewards because of our titles but for what we do for the King and His Kingdom.

Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again),  Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English-speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service.  Word of Grace is part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.