Today we’re starting a new series about The Kingdom Of God. This message is crucial because many Christians understand the Church but lack comprehension of the Kingdom.
This is the most significant message of the Bible.
The message of the Bible revolves around a King and a Kingdom. That’s the essence of the Bible! The Bible’s message isn’t about religion, nor is it about a list of traditions and rituals, even though these traditions exist within its pages. The Bible truly centres on a King and a Kingdom.
What is the Kingdom compared to the Church? For many people, they are the same, but they are different!
If you grasp the understanding and revelation of the Kingdom of God, your life will be transformed!
When you understand what the Kingdom is, you’ll live a life with clear priorities, knowing where to invest your time, energy, talent, and strength and by this, avoiding wasting your time.
Jesus preached only one message! That message was introduced by Him in Matthew chapter 4 when He began His earthly ministry.
“From that time on Jesus began to preach, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven has come near.'” – Matthew 4:17 (NIV)
From that point on, that was His message!
In Matthew 13, He tried to explain the value of the Kingdom by sharing a parable about a farmer who went out to sow seeds in his field.
He described some seeds falling on good ground, rocky soil, among thorns and thistles, and He said:
“The Kingdom of God is like this farmer who goes out and sows seeds.” Matthew 13:18
Jesus employed various parables, and this particular one about the farmer troubled them because they could not comprehend it.
In chapter 13, the disciples asked Him a question:
“The disciples came to him and asked, ‘Why do you speak to the people in parables?’ He replied, ‘Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.'” – Matthew 13:10-11 (NIV)
In verse 12, Jesus continues:
“Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them.” – Matthew 13:12 (NIV)
Whoever has will receive more and will have it in abundance! Abundance of what? He who possesses what? The answer is in verse 11!
“The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.” Some people receive the “secrets of the Kingdom,” but others do not.
Verse 12: He who has will receive more, and they will have in abundance!
He who possesses what? The secrets of the Kingdom!
He who possesses even a little will receive more and will have in abundance!
He who has the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven will be given more and he will be given an abundance.
There’s so much to learn about the Secrets of the Kingdom and the more you desire to know, the more He will reveal to you. If you grasp even a little bit, He will give you more; if you get more, He will provide much more.
If you pursue it, it will open up to you! But consider the next statement:
“He who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.” – Matthew 13:12 (NIV)
He who does not have what? The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom.
This means if you don’t desire to know it, He won’t reveal it to you! If you don’t pursue it, He won’t show you.
God will never reveal to you what you’re not open to learning, and He will not give you the secrets if you don’t have a humble heart to learn!
“HE WHO DOES NOT HAVE EVEN WHAT HE HAS WILL BE TAKEN FROM HIM!”
If you already lack understanding, that’s one problem, but if you think you know, even your ignorance will become more profound!
Jesus said: “You think you have, but you don’t, and even what you have will be taken away from you.”
This is why Jesus spoke in parables!
Let’s read a significant verse, verse 16:
“But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear.” – Matthew 13:16 (NIV)
Hear what? The secrets of the kingdom!
You don’t realise how blessed you are to be in a place where someone is teaching His secrets! What secrets? The secrets of the kingdom! Jesus says: Your eyes should rejoice to finally understand the verse. You should be glad to sit and finally listen and hear the original message of God.
The next verse clarifies:
“For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” – Matthew 13:17 (NIV)
They wanted to see; they desired to hear what you are hearing! Hearing what? About the Kingdom! They wanted to understand, but they didn’t, why?
“The seed that fell on the footpath represents those who hear the message about the Kingdom and don’t understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches away the seed that was planted in their hearts.” – Matthew 13:19
Jesus said that some “prophets, righteous people, and good people” wanted to understand but did not comprehend the secrets of the kingdom. Why?
Satan himself comes to snatch away the seed that is being sowed! That’s a powerful verse!
The parable is about the sower, the teacher, the pastor, the leader who sows the seed!
The seed is the message about the Kingdom!
The parable says: when anyone hears the message of the kingdom.
In verse 20, Jesus said that in every group there are four types of people! I hope only one of them is in this room today!
In every crowd where the kingdom is being taught, there are four types of people. I hope you can determine which one of these you are!
There are rocky people – that means they sit here and say amen while I’m teaching, but the seed falls on the rock, and they walk away without understanding anything!
That’s why the devil makes you sleepy or distracted. Satan says: “Pastor Marcio is teaching, and I’m going to make sure they don’t hear!” (And you fall asleep)
According to Jesus, there are four types of people in every crowd. He gives you a 25% chance of getting it. That means the possibility is that only 25% of the people sitting here this morning are going to get the message of the Kingdom.
There are those who don’t want to listen, that’s the rocky people.
There’s another kind, where the soil is thin and shallow. This group are those who are here today, seated, and they are saying amen to everything that I say, but when the service is over, they spring up quickly, they go out and forget everything they heard! You are choked by the cares of the world—your job, your family—and these worries choke what you heard.
Many say: “I know God told me not to worry about anything, but I have to worry about my family, my children, my job, my studies,” and you let worry choke what you heard. You agree but you don’t obey; this is the other group.
Then Jesus teaches about the last group, and I hope you’re in that group!
He said there is a group of people like thick and fertile soil, and they come to the meeting with water in the soil already soaked, waiting for the seed to fall in.
Does anyone want to be in that group?
Jesus says: when the WORD OF THE KINGDOM hits them, it says the seed germinates right, and they begin to grow right in the meeting, in the service.
Does anybody received a seed and feel a change coming on in this meeting today?
Jesus said: when they leave, they bear fruit! Their fruit is the evidence they understood the Kingdom.
The key to you getting God’s priority is understanding the Kingdom.
Let’s read about God’s priority:
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?” – Matthew 6:25 (NIV)
Do not worry about your life: what you will eat, what you will drink, what you will wear, where you will live—don’t worry about them, don’t worry about your life!
“But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” – Matthew 6:33 (NIV)
Seek first His Kingdom!
God is saying to you: You don’t need to seek a lot of stuff, just seek one thing!
But seek it first.
Seek first means the most important value to your life, which is the kingdom of God!
You seek and He adds! You make Him a priority; He makes you a priority!
God says you seek, I add!
Your days of guessing about blessings are over!
God bless you, see you next week with second message about The Kingdom.