KINGDOM TIMES #2
Theme: Kingdom times // Topic: Kingdom Signs
Notes provided by Maghan Eversmith - watch at our facebook page
The Kingdom
Today, we are following on from the incredible job Caleb did last week. He set us up for this month, where we are focusing on the kingdom.
Kairos and Chronos + Christos. Kairos and Chronos being words that refer to time. Kairos is qualitative, how the time is spent. Chronos is quantitative, the length or amount of time. Caleb gave the example: Chronos is that there are 100 days till June 21st. Kairos is that June 21st is Caleb’s birthday. He then showed us how Chronos and Kairos relate to the great Christos and His plan. Christ is the Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end and the calendar restarted when the Creator of time inserted himself into time.
Today, I am speaking on kingdom signs. We doubly need to know, and have it fresh in our minds what and how the kingdom of God is.
Interestingly, a lot of what we know about the kingdom of God from the Bible was given in the form of a parable. Basically, Jesus wouldn’t talk about it unless He used a parable.
Why did Jesus share about the kingdom in parables? Matt 13 shares its fulfilling prophecy that Jesus speaks in parables, doing so as a judgment to those who have hardened their hearts towards God. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, is communicating about spiritual realities that cannot be shared with mere mortal speech! Many of His audience were those who had already hardened their hearts towards God, ex: the Pharisees. Doing so, he spoke in a way that meant those who had closed their ears to God already, wouldn’t be able to hear. “Hearing they do not hear”.
The things of God are so incredibly far above our human minds. Take me, for example, I am an educated woman, I’ve got my master’s degree, a licensed therapist, and I recently was thinking about the universe and I cannot comprehend that! Do a quick search, to human standard, our universe is 93 billion light-years across….what does that even mean?! “physicists are now postulating that there may be far more universes than just our own”. There is so much beyond what we can see in the universe.
And the kingdom of God is even greater! Esther Melody Band have a song called ‘On the edge of time”, (full lyrics are provided below and check it out on streaming platforms!), a lyric is “on the edge of time I’ll be waiting for you”, I cannot comprehend that!! But I know it’s amazing! Spiritually, I engage in that truth everyday, I communicate with him everyday and He is THERE!!
WE CANNOT COMPREHEND SPIRITUAL THINGS WITH OUR NATURAL MINDS.
However, the Holy Spirit can reveal the secrets of God to us.
I’ve been through pregnancy 2 times, they give you a due date and it’s often wrong(4% accuracy). There is a lot of advanced technology, you can even get a 3D image of the baby, but the medical professionals still can’t tell you what day the baby will be born. With my first born, God showed me in a dream what day Jude would be born; weeks in advance, and guess what, it was right, the prophecy was fulfilled!
God has secrets that he wants to reveal to you! Secrets about His kingdom.
1 Cor 2: READ WHOLE CHAPTER.
What a great chapter, we have the mind of Christ, given the Spirit to know the mysteries of God.
it’s the mature believers that can hear spiritual things. How do we get to that place? Scripture tells us, to be mature we need to know and be able to teach the foundations(Hebrews 6:1-3)! Here at Mega, we have a course that walks you through those foundations, check it out!
Jesus says (Mat 13:11) Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
Let’s look at some parables!
We’re going to take a bit of time to read over some, engage our spirits as that’s the only way we will understand them, and let’s expect we catch something from God right now!
Matthew 13, there are many in this chapter alone!
Matthew 13:33- Another parable He spoke to them: “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.”
Leaven is an agent used in cooking to help things rise, “ An element, influence, or agent that works subtly to lighten, enliven, or modify a whole”.
Mat 13:31-32: Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Mat 13:47: Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the sea and gathered some of every kind,which, when it was full, they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into vessels, but threw the bad away. (Rev 22:14-15)
Matthew 20:1-16: The parable of the workers in the Vineyard. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard.”.......”So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen”.
We are saved by grace, those who put their faith in Him. Works do not make you more or less saved. A fun application for the world, economic contention! Some people let their whole life get out of wack from envy because they work for what they agreed to, then they see someone else get a better deal. This parable is addressing the heart of the matter. You worked for what you agreed to! If the same boss pays someone else the same for less work, don’t get envious! It says “Are you envious because I (the master) am good?
Now that we have our minds in the zone of the kingdom, let’s dig into our topic today!
Kingdom signs
What does that even mean, kingdom signs?
A sign can be described as a mark/note/symptom, with a description as a discernible indication of what is not itself directly perceptible (1:Merriam-Webster). Now, this is what the world says signs are, but in Biblical reality, prophecy is the sign and the proof.
Peter was an eye-witness of Jesus’ death and resurrection, yet he said what’s more sure than that is the word of prophecy, which is scripture.
2 Peter 1:19-21:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, 21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Let’s think about labor signs: the symptoms to look for when a woman is about to deliver a baby. To name a few: the baby drops, the ‘water’ breaks, contractions begin, cramps in the abdomen or back pain, etc. These are signs that throughout human history, people have learned to look for to know when a baby is on the way.
This is like the kingdom of God, The Kingdom of God coming also has signs. The kingdom of God is shown to those who are born again (John 3:3) and we are told through scripture (which is the Word of God, God-breathed, God-inspired) that the kingdom “is at hand”. Caleb touched on this last week ‘already but not yet’. This baby example really helps express this dynamic, when the baby is in the womb, the baby is alive, it’s human, it’s part of the family and an heir to the inheritance; but it’s also yet to be born, yet to live in the fullness of what is to come.
We, as born-again, Bible-believers, experience the kingdom within but are yet to experience the kingdom in its fullness.
Mar 1:15 - and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel”.
ALREADY
The kingdom is WITHIN.
Luke 17:20-21. 20 Some of the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the kingdom of God come?” Jesus answered, “God’s kingdom is coming, but not in a way that you will be able to see with your eyes. 21 People will not say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ because God’s kingdom is within you.”
Signs and wonders:
Signs and wonders show the kingdom is at hand!
Mat 6:10: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
We should want to see the realities of the Kingdom here on earth now! To experience them within and around us, to see healings, to prophecy, tongues, and interpretation of tongues, RESURRECTION! (Lets chant: We come alive in the kingdom, come alive in Christ)
What does that look like? Today is the day of salvation. 2 Cor 6:2
We see manifestations of the kingdom now.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit
1 Cor 12:8-10: 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
NOT YET
Dispensational Premillennialism.
This is what our church believes in terms of eschatology. As in, When the fullness of the kingdom is going to happen.
We are going to do a summary, point by point of the timelines/process, from what Caleb has shared in the past. So buckle up!
Timeline:
1. The Time of gentiles Luke 21:24 & Matthew 24:14
2. The Rapture
Enoch. Gen 5:24: “And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.”
Elijah
Jesus Rev 12:5
Philip acts 8:39
Paul 2 Corinthians 12:2
The “harpazo” (Har-pad’zo, snatching away)
A generation of believers will be raptured.
Luke 17:30-34 “It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. 31 On that day no one who is on the housetop, with possessions inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything. 32 Remember Lot’s wife! 33 Whoever tries to keep their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life will preserve it. 34 I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. 35 Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left.”
Is the rapture pre, mid, or post? For us at Mega as part of our return policy is that we are of the view that it’s “Pre” tribulation. However, as we’ve said - when it happens then we will know with much greater certainty exactly when, where, how, what, who and why.
3. THE Great Tribulation: Daniel 12:1-3
4. THE Millennium: Revelation 20: 1-3
5. Satan’s ultimate loss: Revelation 20
6. THE NEW JERUSALEM // HEAVEN
God has shared that there are signs for us to look for that the times are drawing close, the Olivet discourse. Jesus is directly sharing what the signs will be.
Mat 24, Mark 13, Luke 21: Jesus predicts the destruction of the temple, the signs of the times and the end of the age, the Great Tribulation, the Coming of the Son of Man, No one knows the day or the hour, the faith servant and the evil servant.
Signs:
1. Many will come claiming to be the messiah (And WILL deceive many)
2. Wars and rumors of wars (But the end is still yet to come)
3. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom
4. Earthquakes famines and pestilences
5. These are all “Birthpains”
6. Persecution and death of believers
7. Many will turn from the faith.
8. Betrayal and Hatred
9. Wickedness will increase and therefore love for one another will grow cold.
10. The Gospel will be preached to ALL nations, then the end will come.
11. The abomination of desolation
12. False messiahs and false prophets WILL perform great signs ALSO!!!
13. Jerusalem will be surrounded by armies when the end is near
14 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.
A sobering thought:
Matthew 24:30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
Caleb was speaking against “Nice Jesus”. This is one of the false messiahs that people will believe and therefore mourn when they see that they got wrong because they were lead astray by their own selfish lusts for a Christ that fit their own fleshly fancies.
Kingdom Signs Summary
God has created a reality that we presently get the kingdom within. We, as born-again, Bible-believing Christians, get to experience the kingdom now but not fully. God has created a spiritual reality that we will one day experience and calls us to look for the signs so that we are prepared.
FINALE
Movement: I have a word from God to call us to action. I received the “let the ground rest” word, and I want to remind us that it wasn’t “let the people rest”. In the Bible, when the ground is being rested, the people were still working. We are called to action, there needs to be movement within our faith.
Faith without works is dead. We were dead in sin, alive in Christ. We have some stuff going on at Mega, and we don’t want that to interfere with the momentum.
BID:
Where can we grow action and movement in our faith? Where are we seeing kingdom signs in our life? How can we see them more?
If you want to be shown the kingdom, you must be born again. Believe in the gospel. (John 3:3, Mark 1:15) Mat 25: the oily virgins. GET THE SPIRIT
On the edge of time lyrics
Can you see me?
I’m standing right here
Waving my arms frantically
Or am I just moving air?
Can you hear me?
I’m screaming out your name
And on the edge of time I’ll be waiting for you
I am waiting, waiting for the day
You’ll run to me with open arms
I wanna hear you say that you love me
I’m hoping that you can
And on the edge of time I’ll be waiting for you