Today, we'll be starting a new series that will be running alongside the Gospel of John. And as you can see from the handouts, I have chosen to entitle this series, The Kingdom of Heaven, An Introduction to the Christian Life. Over the next five months or so, whenever I get the chance to be preaching, I will be taking us through this series. Whichever camp you are in today, Whether you are in the Christian group or the non-Christian group, my desire today and for the rest of the series is really to present the Christian faith to you in such a way that it nurtures a passion for the Kingdom of God. I want to present the Christian faith to you in such a way that it forms and it shapes and it generates this loyalty to the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, What you're going to get here today is not the kind of course on Christianity that you'll find in a university. In a university, you may be taught the Christian faith as just one religion amongst many other religions. Sometimes they present the Christian faith to you from a sociological perspective or a psychological perspective. I'm not going to be taking any of those approaches here. They may have some place in the world, but not in the church, because the church is not a university. A church is a colony of the kingdom of heaven. The church as a whole is a means by which God delivers his truth into the world. And because of that, I am obligated, joyfully obligated, to present the Christian faith to you in such a way that you will feel the force of God's demands on your life. And after we are done by the end of our study, what I hope that you will see is that the Christian life, the Christian faith, there really is no better way to understand it than to say that it is life in and under the kingdom of heaven, which is why I have selected, I have given this title for my study. But to help us get started on our study, we are going to begin today by looking at a particular passage in God's word. This is Matthew chapter three, verses one to three. Earlier in the service, I read from Isaiah chapter 40, and that passage has a relationship to what this passage is saying today. In those days, John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Let us look to the Lord in prayer. Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we humble ourselves before Your Word. We bow the knee before Your Word. We acknowledge that this is Your Word. It is Your Word that is relevant to our situation today and all the various situations we have in our lives, whether we are wherever, whichever walk of life we come from, this Word is for us. Father in Heaven, we pray that you would enable us by your Holy Spirit to sense the anticipation in this passage, to be able to soak into this passage, to allow it to flow out into our blood and flow into our blood and transform us from the inside. Heavenly Father, help us to catch a glimpse of this awesome reality that you are speaking of here, the dawn of the Kingdom of Heaven, the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. Father, we pray that you would work in our hearts, that your Holy Spirit would work in us, that we would see the glory of your Son, Jesus Christ, today through your Word. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. As you can see, our passage is a short one, but I think it is an appropriate introduction to our study for two reasons. One, obviously, because of what it says. Two, because of where this passage actually stands in the entire storyline of the Bible. This passage what we are seeing here in this passage comes about just before the introduction of The Lord Jesus Christ who is the founder of the Christian faith and because of that we can also say that this passage Prepares us for the arrival of the Christian faith, which is why I have chosen Chosen to look at it. Let's take a look at verse 1 first It says in those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and in those days, those are very significant words. They're significant because they remind us that the Christian faith was born in history. Christian faith did not develop out of somebody's imagination. The Christian faith happened in history. in the context of flesh and blood, in the context of politics and economics and colonialism and religion, basically the kind of world that we know about today. This is the context of the Christian faith. It was born sometime around after the year 1826 in the region of the world we call Palestine, which is the home, ancestral home of the people of Israel. If you look at one of the handouts, I have a map for you here. so that it can make things a bit more concrete for you. This is the land of Palestine. In a short bit, I will start getting into a bit of detail about it. Also, to help us appreciate a bit more the historical situation in which the Christian faith arose, let's just ask the question, what were some things that were happening in those days? What was something that were occurring when John the Baptist emerged? Well, the first thing, one thing we can begin by saying is that in those days, the Roman Empire was the imperial military economic superpower of that part of the world. It was ruled by an emperor named Tiberius Caesar, who considered himself a god. In those days, Roman emperors were worshipped because they were considered divine as well. Furthermore, in those days, the land of Palestine, which comprises, as you can see, Galilee to the north, northernmost region of Galilee, and then Samaria, Judea, and Edomia in the south, all these regions were part, were under this massive Roman Empire, this Roman kingdom. And to be sure, there was some degree of autonomy, some degree of freedom for the local kings to do their work, but ultimately, no one really questioned who the real power was. It was the Roman Emperor, it was Caesar. He called the shots, ultimately. And just to introduce us also to some of the important figures in the region, we can also go on to say that in those days, the northern region of Palestine, that's the region of Galilee, was ruled by a king, a local king named Herod Antipas. And the middle and the southern regions of Samaria, Judea, and Edomaia, this region was a Roman province that was ruled by a Roman governor. Actually, there's a very interesting background to this. These regions, Samaria, Judea, and Edomaia, they were once ruled by a man named Herod Archelaus. He's the brother of Herod Antipas. However, Archelaus has a very bad reputation. He was known for being extremely repressive, much like his father. He was extremely repressive and Caesar knew that as long as Archelaus stayed in power, people are going to be revolting eventually and throw the whole region into instability. So what Caesar did was he removed Archelaus, installed, that shows who has the power, he removed the local king, installed his Roman governor, and so by the time John the Baptist came around preaching, this region was under its fifth governor, a man by the name of Pontius Pilate, whom we know will play a very significant role in the life of Jesus Christ. So basically those are some things that were happening in those days. First century Palestine was under a very developed imperial bureaucracy. You had the Herod brothers, the local kings. You had the Roman governor and above all at the top of the pyramid itself you had Emperor Caesar. Something else was happening in those days. In the middle of all that we have been talking about, right under the nose of the Roman emperor, this guy named John the Baptist appears. And he comes, as our text tells us, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. So you can bring your finger down right to Judea. It is where the city of Jerusalem is located to this day. And he comes about in the desert and he comes preaching. The question is, who is John the Baptist? Very mysterious figure. Matthew doesn't really tell us too much about who he is. But if you look at the Gospel of Luke, you learn that John the Baptist is actually the son of a priest named Zechariah. And before John the Baptist was born, it's a very interesting story, Zechariah was visited by an angel. And the angel basically tells Zechariah that John is going to be a very special person. Why? Because John is going to be the one who prepares the people of Israel for the return of the Lord. That was his message his whole life. The mission of his whole life was to prepare Israel for the return of their king. Now at this point some of you might be scratching your heads, you might be wondering, what are we talking about? I thought Israel already had a king. I thought Israel's king was Caesar, who was the emperor of that part of the world. Well, not really. The Lord that John is talking about is not Caesar. The Lord that John is talking about is the God of Israel. God who also made heavens and the earth. And if you read the Bible, especially the earlier parts of the Bible, you would learn that God had a very special relationship with this particular race of people called the Israelites. This was a relationship that he did not share with other peoples of the world, at least not at the time. The Bible reveals to us the nature of this relationship. God had chosen Israel for the purpose of blessing the world. God is going to use Israel, through Israel he will save the world from its sins. Through Israel, God is going to teach the world His ways, and through Israel, God is going to unite the world, reconcile the world back to Himself. And all that is basically the hope that was right at the start of the building of the nation of Israel. Except that there was one problem. The problem was Israel itself. If you read the Bible, you would also learn that Israel never lived up to its calling. In the Old Testament, in the first half of the Bible, you see that Israel did not remain faithful to God. Instead of becoming the shining example basically Israel was destined to be the spiritual leader of the world. Instead of taking this place, Israel pretty much ended up becoming as corrupt and as bad as the nations around her. And so what God basically did was if Israel is not going to live up to her covenant, to the agreement that He has with Israel, then Israel is going to be punished. And so in the year 587 BC, something dramatic happens. whole nation of Israel was destroyed, was sent packing, and God basically surrenders, hands the nation of Israel over to a superpower of the time named Babylon. And this is really, it's actually very serious business because if Israel is destroyed, then basically there might not be hope for the rest of the human race. then, as always, there is good news, even in the midst of bad ones. What God did before Israel went into exile, and exile means to be cut off from your own land, to be sent away from your own land, usually for political reasons, before Israel was sent into exile, and even while Israel was in exile, God gave Israel a promise. He promised Israel that the day will come when He will return. You will return to them, and when that day comes, Israel's punishment will be over. Which is what we read in Isaiah chapter 40. Israel's punishment will be over. And not only that, when God returns to Israel, He will become the King of Israel. And when He becomes the King of Israel, He will also become the Lord of the world. Basically, that's like the end. End of history as we know it. God is King. And He will be King of His people, and He will be King of the world. When the Bible talks about God becoming king, it's important for us to know that it doesn't mean that God never had the authority to become king. That's not what it means. When the Bible talks about God becoming king, say in a passage like Zechariah chapter 14 verse 9, it is referring to the time when God actually causes people, and God actually makes people to recognize Him as King. In other words, when God becomes King, God will be recognized by His creation as King, something which, of course, has not happened yet today in its entirety. And that was the very hope of the Israelites. In the day of John the Baptist, that was the thing the Israelites were looking forward to. Enough with this colonialism. Enough with Rome. God must be our King. And many Jews wanted that day to come. And in fact, many Jews even tried forcing that day to come with military tactics. So all that was in the background of the context of what John is saying. People were hoping for the day to come when even Caesar himself would have to bow and admit that Israel's God is King. But then again, if you were living in those days, that day did not seem very near. It is true that by that time Israel had been sent back to their home, they had returned to their homeland. It is also true that at that time Israel was relatively at peace. There was some freedom given by the Roman Empire. But guess what? Instead of having Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as king, now instead you have Caesar as your king. you are basically still not your own people. And that was the issue, that was the problem. And people may have been wondering, you know, has God forgotten the promises He made? But then comes John the Baptist. And John the Baptist had a very different thing to say. Repent. The Kingdom of Heaven is coming. can sense the electricity around him when he said something like that. People listened. People paid attention. Let's think about what those words mean for the next couple of minutes. The word repent here means to change. But repent is not just any kind of change. Repent usually has religious connotations. It usually refers to change from being evil to being good. More specifically, it refers to a change that one takes from being disobedient to God to being obedient to God. John is basically saying, Be obedient to God. Stop doing evil. Be obedient to God. And why is that? The reason is given in what he says next. For the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Because heaven's kingdom is coming. Let's go back to the question. What does he mean? What do you mean the kingdom of heaven is coming? Well, let's look down in verse 3 and we see what he is saying. For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. And then we have it. Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way of the Lord. Make his path straight. John the Baptist was basically like this herald. The king is coming and he is preparing the way for him. He goes into all the towns of the cities and he announces, the king is coming, the king is coming. So basically what John means when he says the kingdom of heaven is coming is that God is coming. The God of Israel is on his way. And that is why people must repent from their evil ways. Because when God comes, two things can happen. Or rather, two things will happen. One thing is what we've already said. God comes. He brings salvation. He saves Israel. He takes up his throne as king. That's a good thing. Another thing that will happen is that when God comes, he will destroy his enemies. And that's a very frightening thing. Which side, which camp you are in, which fate you are going to be experiencing really depends on whether or not you repent. And that's the essential message of John the Baptist. Now, I just want to pause here and get us to feel the impact of what John is saying for a bit. In those days, as we have already said, Israel was under several rulers. You had Herod, you had Pilate, you had the Roman governess, you had Caesar, who was, again, basically thought of himself as a god. Given this political, religious situation, how do you think people would have received his message? How do you think his message would have Affected people you think they would just have you know ignored him? Thought he was just some loony. You know this guy comes out of nowhere. He starts talking about this or Do you think they paid very careful attention to what he was saying? I? Suspect it was the second because you see when when Israel's God comes Rome cannot share the position When Israel's God comes, what John is basically doing then is challenging Rome. Today, of course, in our schools and in our media, we have been conditioned to think that religion should have little to no place in politics and culture. Even though there is such a thing as a legitimate separation of church and state, I think we ourselves, as Christians, when we try to learn Christianity afresh, when we take a step back and we return to the Bible and try to understand the Christian faith anew, we have to see that the Christian faith appeared precisely to address the powers and the authorities of the world, whether they like it or not. Christianity does have political implications, and it is right here. It is in the concept of the coming of God's Kingdom. And if John was right, And if God did return to Israel, then this has tremendous implications for us. All of which we will not be able to talk about today because it is just so big. But of course that is not to say that we cannot understand what John's main point is. It really is very simple. Beyond the complexities, John's essential message is very simple. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Or if we, standing here today in the year 2007, perhaps we can update what John has to say. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has arrived. And the question is, how did it arrive? Well, that's the story in itself, isn't it? After years of waiting, God of Israel kept his promise, and he came back in the form of a man named Jesus. When Jesus lived his life with his people on earth, he basically did what Israel failed to do as a nation. Jesus received, he embraced the Word of God, he taught the Word of God, He lived out the Word of God. He showed us what it means to live under the Word of God. And not only that, as God in human flesh, Jesus also did what people expected God to do. Heal the sick, make the blind see, raise the dead, cast out demons. He did all of those. But there was one thing that Jesus did that the people never expected that God would do. Or rather, I should say that there was one thing that Jesus did not do that people expected God to do, and that was to bring the judgment. Jesus did not destroy Rome. He did not burn prostitutes, or tax collectors, or thieves, or murderers. This key aspect of judgment in the return of the Lord was strangely absent from Jesus' ministry. And why is that? Because Jesus knows that if judgment came, no one would be standing. Not even Israel. Some of those, you read the Gospels and you see that you always see this element that there are these people, the Pharisees, who always saw themselves as holy, as the guardians of holiness. And Jesus basically tells us in the book of Matthew, if your righteousness does not exceed the Pharisees, you won't be in the kingdom of heaven. In other words, even the Pharisees were not holy enough. If the kingdom of God came in judgment when Jesus arrived, there would be no one standing. And so, Jesus knows that the main problem has to be dealt with in the first place. And the main problem is the very thing that ignites the anger of God. And what is it? It is sin. I'm not talking about sin here simply as an act single act that is done in disobedience to God. Sin here is the whole lifestyle, it is the whole state of being in disobedience to God. That is the issue. Sin was the reason why Israel was under Rome in the first place. And sin is the reason why Rome and all the other nations of the world were not able to recognize and acknowledge God as King. And it is this very thing that prevents the human race, that keeps the human race in a state of rebellion, and that prevents the human race from coming to God. And Jesus knows full well, in order for Israel and the rest of the world to have a future with God, sin must first of all be removed. And He came to do precisely this. And how did He do it? He took sin upon Himself. Jesus took the sin of Israel He took the sin of the Romans and he placed it upon himself. No one expected this to happen. Galatians chapter 3 verse 13 puts it this way. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, how? By becoming a curse for us. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 21. For our sake he made him who knew no sin, referring to Jesus. He made him who knew no sin to be sin. so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. In a very real sense, we can say that Jesus did bring judgment, but the judgment he brought, he took it upon himself. We might even say with the appropriate qualifiers, of course, that God himself suffered under his own punishment so that his people can be free. That is the meaning of the cross of Jesus Christ. Thankfully, of course, the story doesn't end there. Because if Israel's king had stayed dead, pretty much, you're going to be back in square one. Israel will still be in her sins. The world will still be in their sins. And Israel will still be without a king. And so, to complete the salvation of the world, Jesus rose from the dead. He demonstrated in doing so, he demonstrated not only that he has destroyed sin, not only that he has gone right into hell and thrown sin into the farthest corners of the universe, but by rising from the dead, Jesus has shown that he has accomplished what he came for. And by rising from the dead, Jesus is making a statement. This is the King of Israel. He is the King of Israel. And not only the King of Israel, He is the King of the world. Jesus is saying, the Kingdom of God has come. And now, the reign and the dominion and the empire of the Lord Jesus Christ begins. When Jesus rose from the dead, I like to put it this way, that when Jesus rose from the dead, the whole creation entered a new political situation. As we speak, the rulers and the governments of the world are now under the Lord Jesus Christ. All the nations of the world, all the different ideologies of the world, Jesus Christ is Lord. He is the one who has rightful and legitimate and absolute political authority over the nations of the world because He is the Lord. Now if this is so, and actually that has tremendous implications, which we will not talk about today, but we're going to just focus again primarily today on our response. If this is so, if Jesus is Lord, and I mean it in a literal sense, this is not just some kind of spiritual Lordship, as if this is, you know, not some kind of a non-literal Lordship, a spiritual Lordship that doesn't affect anything that you do. This is a literal Lordship. There is a man occupying the throne of the universe. And if this is so, How should we respond? I think the answer is simple. Repent. Repent and acknowledge Him as your King. That is the first lesson of the Christian faith. You want to know what it means to be a Christian? This is it. This is lesson number one. Repent because the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is the Kingdom of Heaven, has come. Repent from your sins. Submit to the Lord Jesus Christ. Make it your life's ambition to obey him and to love him and to serve his kingdom. And of course there are, Jesus being our king, there are certainly benefits in doing so. If you give Jesus your loyalty, what happens is that Jesus will then apply His work on the cross into your life. He will free you from your sins. He will give you new meaning to your life. In fact, He will actually give you new direction to your life. Direction you never thought you could have. Those are some of the benefits that Jesus gives you. And above all, He brings you into His kingdom. He embraces you as one of His own. But what happens if we do not repent? Well, if you do not repent, then what we're going to find is that we're going to be on the other side of the fence. The day of the Lord is not yet over. It has two parts. First time Jesus came, it was to achieve the forgiveness of sins. When Jesus came the first time around, he came to die on the cross, he came to bear our sins, he came to remove our sins. That was the first time, that was the first part of the day of the Lord. But the second part of the day of the Lord is going to be very different. This time when Jesus returns, and that is in the future. It will be the destruction of his enemies. So if you do not repent, you are not going to face Jesus as a Savior. You are going to be facing Jesus as an enemy. And guess what? You won't win. But the good news is what we have now. The judgment will be in the future. What we have now in the present, today, is the day of salvation. Today is the day of forgiveness. Today, when you come to Jesus Christ, He gladly gives you forgiveness. He bestows His forgiveness upon you and He brings you into His kingdom. And that is the thing, that is the promise that we have now today, even as we sit here. Jesus Christ is Lord. Jesus Christ is King. And Jesus Christ is willing and ready and eager to forgive our sins. What we have to do is to turn to Him and embrace Him as our Lord. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for your word concerning your Son, Jesus Christ, who has been raised from the grave, who even now sits in the throne of heaven and is worshipped by the angels. Lord Jesus Christ, we acknowledge you as our King. We acknowledge you as our Lord. And even this day, Lord, we admit that we love to live our own lives. We love to live as if we are in control. We love to be focused in on ourselves, and we will worship anything that pleases us. Lord Jesus, we ask that you would forgive us. We ask that you would remember what you have done on your cross and put away our sins. And even now, Lord Jesus, we come to you and we acknowledge you as our King, as our Lord. And we humbly bow down and worship you and serve you. And we devote everything that we have, all our thoughts, all our desires, all our emotions, our flesh and blood, we devote to you. Lord Jesus, would you save us from our sins? Would you bring us into your kingdom? Would you make us your servants? Empower us by your Holy Spirit to serve you and to live a life that is pleasing to you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.