Senior Pastor, Robert Dennison, preached this message on March 1, 2026.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Audio Transcript
This is always the most lively moment in our service, isn’t it?
They take all of our energy with them. I invite you to take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 13. Luke chapter 13. It’s page 926 in the pew Bible. If you were following along today, we’re talking about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven as it is presented in other passages.
Luke 13, page 9 26. I begin reading. In verse 18, He said, therefore, what is the kingdom of God like and what can I compare it to? It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.
Again, he said, what can I compare the kingdom of God to? It’s like leaven that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until all of it was leavened. May we pray? Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for your word. We depend upon you to help us to understand it.
We ask you to show us what it means for us, Father, and how we are to live differently. We ask you to give us the desire to live according to your word. And we thank you that you have provided the power through your Holy Spirit to help us do what you want of us. In Jesus name, Amen. What is the kingdom of God?
We want to see that it goes all the way back to the Old Testament. So we begin in First Kings, chapter 22:19. We’re not going to see the term kingdom of God, but I want you to see here. There certainly is a kingdom that is mentioned. Micaiah the prophet said, therefore hear the word of the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on his throne and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand. Once again, it doesn’t mention the kingdom of God, but we have a king here. We have him sitting on his throne. We have an entire army. It’s all representative that the kingdom of God was in the Old Testament.
It existed before Jesus came. Even though it could not be seen, it was there. We go on to Daniel and find here a prophecy of a real kingdom that we cannot see. In Daniel 7 I read as I kept watching, thrones were set in place and the ancient of days took his seat. His clothing was white like snow and the hair of his head like whitest wool.
His throne was flaming fire. Its wheels were blazing fire. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from his presence. Thousands upon Thousands served him. 10,000 times, 10,000 stood before him.
Once again, Daniel in the Old Testament saw a very real kingdom that. That we cannot see. We also have prophecies of a coming king. In Isaiah chapter 9, we read, For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on his shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, the Prince of Peace, the men, the.
The dominion will be vast and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the Lord of armies will accomplish this. Isaiah foretold of a restored Davidic kingdom that the people of Israel were looking forward to. But when we come to Daniel chapter seven, we see that Daniel is foretelling an even vaster kingdom, a universal kingdom that is promised.
I read in Daniel 7 I continued watching in the night visions. And suddenly one, like a son of man, was coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the ancient of days and was escorted before him. He was given dominion and glory and a kingdom so that those of every people, nation and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away.
And his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will serve and obey him. The promise in the Old Testament by Daniel was for a coming king that would rule over all peoples and all nations, and it would be everlasting. We find the kingdom in the Old Testament. Now let’s go to the New Testament.
We find in Matthew chapter three that it starts with John the Baptist carrying the message about the kingdom that had been prophesied in the Old Testament, but the kingdom that also had been existing spiritually in those days. John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near. For he is the one spoken of through the prophet Isaiah, who said, a voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord. Make his pass straight. And then we find in the next chapter, Matthew, chapter four, even Jesus himself is telling about the kingdom.
From then on, Jesus began to preach. And this was his message. Repent because the kingdom of heaven has come near. So what I wanted you to see is the kingdom has always existed in the Old Testament. And when we come to the New Testament, Matthew dives right into it there in the beginning.
And then Jesus in the next chapter of Matthew, we had it in chapter three, chapter four, and chapter five in the Sermon on the Mount, he shares what the kingdom is going to be like for all of its residents, what the kingdom will be like for the citizens. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs. The citizens of this eternal kingdom will be blessed. They will be comforted. They will inherit the earth.
They will be filled. They will be shown mercy. They will see God face to face. They will be the adopted sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.
Once again in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus was sharing what the kingdom will be like for its residents and citizens. Matthew 3, Matthew 4, Matthew 5, I could go on. Matthew 6, Matthew 7. All of these chapters mention the kingdom of God. Matthew 9, Matthew 10, Matthew 11, Matthew 12, Matthew 13 has 12 references to it.
Matthew 16, Matthew 18, Matthew 19, Matthew 20, Matthew 21, Matthew 22, Matthew 23, Matthew 24, Matthew 25, and Matthew 26. What was on Matthew’s mind in all these chapters? He was thinking about the kingdom of God. And what I’m trying to point out. It’s extremely important that we understand what it is and that we live accordingly, because we tend to just read over this phrase, but it was in the Old Testament.
It’s even more so here. Not listed all the passages, but just to make sure, you know, it’s important. It’s in Mark, Luke, John, Acts, Romans, first Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, first Thessalonians, second Thessalonians, First Timothy, second Timothy, Hebrews, James, second Peter and Revelation. So if someone says, where can I find about the kingdom of God? What do you say?
Just about everywhere in the New Testament. Then we come to the last book in the Bible and we find it mentioned even more. So here we get a better explanation about what is the kingdom of God. We go to Revelation, chapter 5, and it says, when he took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and golden bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
And they sang a new song. Would you read the song with me? We’re not going to sing it because I don’t know the melody, how the angels sang it. But let’s read it together. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slaughtered and you purchased people for God by your blood, from every tribe and, and language and people and nation.
You made them a kingdom and priests to our God. And they will reign on the earth. Revelation, chapter 12. I read. Then war broke out in heaven.
Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels also fought, but he could not prevail. And there was no place for them in heaven any longer. So the great dragon was thrown out. The ancient serpent who is called the devil, and Satan, the one who deceives the whole world, he was thrown to earth and his angels with him.
And then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God. One more slide forward, please.
One more slide forward.
Thank you. And the authority of his Christ have now come. Because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, who accuses them before our God day and night has been thrown down. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. For they did not love their lives to the point of death.
Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you with great fury, because he knows his time is short. Jesus Christ, Death, burial and resurrection brought defeat to Satan. And he’s waiting patiently now as more and more citizens are born, as people are born across the world, all of those that are going to be citizens of heaven. God is waiting patiently through all the evil and the dark days that we have so that the population will be increased there.
But in the meantime, Satan is doing as much collateral damage as possible. He knows his time is short. So whatever he can do to hurt the church, whatever he can do to keep people from coming to salvation, whatever he can do to hurt God’s people, that is what he is about. But the kingdom is secured because of what Christ did for us on the cross. We go to Revelation 19, verse 11.
We read, then I saw heaven open, and there was a white horse. Its rider is called faithful and true. And with justice he judges and makes war. His eyes were like a fiery flame and many crowns were on his head. He had a name written that no one knows except himself.
He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his name is called the Word of God. The armies that were in heaven followed him on white horses wearing pure white linen. Then we go to verse 15. A sharp sword came from his mouth so that he might strike through the nations. With it he will rule them with an iron rod.
He will also trample the wine press of the fierce anger of God the Almighty. And he has a name written on his robe and on his thigh. King of kings and Lord of lords. Without going into a lot of explanation, what Jesus started at the cross he is going to finish one day when he comes to conquer all evil and to establish the the kingdom that God has promised for us. We go now to Revelation chapter 22, and we see a description of the kingdom that will exist under the rule of God.
In verse one, I read. Then he showed me the river of the water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Down the middle of the city’s main street. The tree of life was on each side of the river bearing 12 kinds of fruit, producing its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree are for healing the nations and there will no longer be any curse.
We continue to read that the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city and his servants will worship him. They will see his face and his name will be on their foreheads. Night will be no more. People will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, because the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever. This is what the coming kingdom is going to be like.
Now let’s go back to our passage today. In Luke chapter 13, Jesus had given many examples of what the kingdom of God is like to try to help people to understand it better. And in this passage he gives us two examples. Again we read, he said, therefore, what is the kingdom of God like and what can I compare it to? First he says, it’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden.
It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches. Now, if you are familiar with botany in this part of the world, the mustard seed is probably one of the smallest seeds that you can still see. If it were on the carpet here, you would never find it. You’d have to be holding it on your finger. And that little tiny seed can become a tree that’s 6 to 16ft tall.
The smallest seed becomes a large tree that stands above all the other plants in the garden. Now, if you were growing some tomatoes, the last thing that you would want is a 16 foot tree growing over your tomatoes. Am I right? I mean, I do a little bit of gardening, okay? But the thing about it is, if you weren’t aware of what that one little seed could become, you might think, oh, it’s there in my garden, I don’t have to worry about it.
Without knowledge of the seed, someone might imagine that it would just, you know, produce a very small plant. And without knowledge of the seed, someone might allow it to fall upon the Soil of their garden and not pay any attention. Jesus is saying, so it was with this very small, humble beginning of the reestablishment of the kingdom of God among men. Let’s think back. It started in Matthew, chapter three, with a voice crying in the wilderness.
To many, John was just an insignificant madman who dressed weird and ate hocus pocus, hocus who ate locust and honey. But his message was, the kingdom of God is at hand. To some, he might just be the court jester in the court, you know, making fun and not being serious. But that’s where the kingdom announcement started. And then he pointed out the king.
And just think about this purported king. He was like a small seed. He was considered an illegitimate child from the most insignificant part of Israel and a most insignificant town. He was just a humble carpenter. As far as we know.
He had no formal theological training in the great schools in Jerusalem. And then he puts together this ragtag team of disciples who were fit fisherman, a tax collector, and several others that everybody was like, how can they talk and say these things? Because they are not trained. They were basically in the minds of many illiterate. This small seed, this insignificant man is represented by the mustard seed.
You know, his enemies had him crucified and they had him buried, thinking, we’re done with him, nothing’s going to come from it. But just like what appears to be dead, when we plant a seed in the ground, after a while it does what it sprouts and we see life. And that plant grows a seed, insignificant in appearance, sprouted and grew until it was taller than all the other plants in the garden. And so it is that the kingdom of God is growing day by day throughout the world in the hearts of people. And so it will continue.
The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. Again, he said, what can I compare the kingdom of God to? He said, it’s like leaven that a woman took and mixed into 50 pounds of flour until all of it was leaven. Again, we’re talking about just a very small piece of yeast here. It can go unnoticed.
And it’s almost humorous what Jesus is telling us, because this woman in her home kitchen is taking 50 pounds of flour. Think about ten, five pound bags of flour. That’s a lot of flour. If I make a loaf of bread, it only takes two cups of flour. But you’re talking about an enormous amount.
Jesus is almost sounding ridiculous here. But the point is that it only takes a little bit of leaven mixed in all of that flour, and eventually it’s going to change how much of will change all of it. Now, if you’re old enough to remember watching Ricky and Lucy on television, remember how she cooked? She was a great cook. She was.
So I’ll tell you, like, one time she made rice. So she figured, okay, well, every person needs a whole cup. You. You know, and the men need two cups because there’s not much here. So she put lots of rice in the pot and she put water.
Well, of course they were exaggerated, but what happened? It just went everywhere. It filled her kitchen. She did the same thing making bread, I think, one time where she put too much in the oven and, you know, the oven exploded and the bread went everywhere. But the point is just a little bit of leaven that cannot be seen, it can’t be heard.
We can’t see it working, but in the background, it’s working silently and it’s producing great results. So it is with the kingdom of God that Jesus is working in the hearts of people to make great changes. And we may not see it happening in people’s lives, but the kingdom is growing. The kingdom is like leaven.
What is the kingdom? It’s been here all around. We’re supposed to think about it. The question is now I pose before you is how should I live in the light of the kingdom of God? And the first thing, you just need to recognize that the kingdom exists.
In Luke 17, we read when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, it isn’t coming. The kingdom of God is not coming. With something observable, no one will say, see here or there. It’s like the yeast. You can’t see it.
He said, for you see, the kingdom of God is where it is now, in your midst. Some translations say that the kingdom of God is within you, and so it is that in us individually. If we are followers of Jesus Christ, the kingdom is in us, and we need to recognize that point. The second thing is that we need to live for the kingdom. Jesus made it in utmost importance for us.
He said, seek not second or third or fourth or last, but seek first the kingdom of heaven and his righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you. In the text, what he’s saying, don’t worry about what you’re going to wear. Don’t worry about what you’re going to eat. Yes, those things are important. But what is most important is that you live for the kingdom of God.
Seek the things of God as a priority over anything in this world. Seek the salvation that is inherent in the kingdom of God. Because the salvation that we have in, in that kingdom is a far greater value than any of the world’s riches. Recognize the kingdom. Live for the kingdom.
The next thing I want you to see is that we’re supposed to be praying for the kingdom. The disciples came to Jesus in Matthew 6, and they asked him, teach us not what to pray, but teach us how to pray. What should our prayers look like? And Jesus said, therefore, you should pray like this. Our Father in heaven, your name be honored, is holy.
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. Stand out to you. That part of our prayers are supposed to be about what?
About the kingdom of God. Let’s just talk a little bit about the prayer. It’s basically divided into two sections. The first section is about our Father in heaven. Then it says your name, your kingdom, and your will, all four references to God in heaven.
Then the second part is it goes away from God and it’s talking about us and our. And us and we and our. And us and us. Okay, so you get the two major divisions. Now the first thing that comes to our attention here is what’s the first thing in our prayer supposed to be about?
Is it to be about us or someone else? You tell me. It’s supposed to be about someone else. You have to think that prayer, prayer is just talking, not to God, but prayer is talking with God. Prayer is a conversation.
Prayer is sitting down, having coffee with God in the morning, just as you would with a friend. And when you get together with a really, really good friend, you like to ask them how they’re doing for one minute. And then you love to talk about yourselves for 59 minutes. Is that what you do? That person is not going to be a good friend for very long if all you do is talk about yourself.
And so it is. When we come to our time of conversation with God, we need to be focusing on him more than ourselves. And in Jesus example here, we make that a priority. And how do we talk to him? Well, we.
We recognize that he is our Father. That gives us the reason why we come to him in prayer. It shows us that there is a special unique relationship there for us. And the picture that we have in a father is, I’ve got three P’s here. Fathers procreate, fathers provide, and fathers protect.
We come and we talk to God because He is the source of our beginning. Without him, we would not be here. We talk to him because he provides for us. He sustains us throughout life with all good things. Food, shelter, love, instruction, and eventually a home with him in eternity.
Lastly, he’s our Father because as a good Father is in this world, he protects us. And it may seem like we go a lot of through a lot of things that he could keep us from going through. But the most important thing is that he is protecting a certain future for us, that we will live with him in eternity. And we have no fear of separation ever. We come first in prayer because he is our Heavenly Father.
Secondly, we honor his name as holy. When we pray. That means we talk about His Name, which means not only his title, but his name is his character. His name is his reputation. His name is his very person.
That’s why he says, when he gives his name to Moses, I am who I am. When you come to prayer, you recognize all these things about God. You thank him, you appreciate it, you mention them. If you don’t know how to do that, go back and just find a psalm. The psalmist are always talking about who God is and what he does.
And we, in a similar way, are to talk to Him. What does it mean to honor his name? Honor as holy is one word here. It’s talking about being set apart from everything, set apart from everyone else, distinct from every other name. God’s name is holy.
And we recognize this because there is none like our God.
After we recognize who he is, after we honor him, then we come to a part of our prayer that Jesus says is supposed to be there. We say, your kingdom come. It’s a recognition that your kingdom is coming. But it’s also this invitation that. That you’re saying, let your kingdom live in me.
The promise of an eternal kingdom, that it will come. The invitation that a present kingdom is living in our hearts, and we want to live accordingly to that. How do we live? Like we’re in the kingdom. It says, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
When we talk about God’s will, we’re talking about God’s purposes. And we talk about what brings pleasure to God in living in his kingdom. And when we pray each day, it should be God. What do I need to do today to accomplish your purpose? What is it that I need to do that brings pleasure to you here on earth to the extent that it is presently in heaven?
In the same way we are to desire and pray and talk to God about living our lives for Him. We want to see the kingdom come so that everybody in the world is following him. But we can’t bring that about except we only have control in our own lives. After you spend time talking to God, then we come down to the second part of the prayer and it’s just about us. And I just want to point out in the first part, these are all definites.
Our Father in heaven, your name be honored, your kingdom come, your will be done. It’s like four different things, but when it comes to us, it’s just like one long run on sentence with all these ands and buts. So it should be incidental after we praise God and talk about him that we say, provide us our daily bread, forgive us our sins, help us not to be tempted and deliver us from the evil one. But in our prayers we usually spend most of our time where at number two. But to live as if we are praying for the kingdom of God and wanting to live in the kingdom of God.
The first part there that Jesus emphasizes is most important.
Pray for the kingdom. The next one is be ready for the kingdom.
Mark 13 says, but in those days after that tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not shed its light, the stars will be falling from the sky and the powers in the heavens will be shaken. And then we will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory, just as he promised as he was departing from earth. And he will send out the angels and he will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven. If you’ve got any important events coming up in your life, what do you do? You use your time, you use your talents, you use your treasures.
In other words, you change your schedule, you figure out what you can do, and you decide how to spend your money. Because you know something is coming. If you haven’t heard, our youngest son just got engaged and there’s going to be a wedding sometime this summer. So already we’re thinking about putting some money aside to help. And we’re thinking, well what can we do ability wise.
And our schedule has to be just completely open until they’re is a date where they can find the right place to get married. But it’s on our mind that that is about to come and we’re trying to be ready for that. That’s how we’re supposed to live for the kingdom of God. Being ready with our time, talents and treasures or schedule, abilities and money for when Jesus Christ returns. Matthew 25.
It goes on to talk about being ready for the kingdom. When the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate them one from another, just as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. The other part about being ready for the kingdom is, make sure that you are a citizen of the kingdom before the king returns. And there are many parables where Jesus expresses this.
But the day is going to come. All of a sudden, he’s going to be here and he’s going to say, you’re either a sheep and you’re a goat. You can’t change from being a goat to a sheep just like that. You need to be prepared. You need to be ready, because those that are part of the kingdom will be ruling with him.
Revelation 22:12 Again, be ready for the kingdom. Jesus said, look, I am coming in thousands of years. Is that what he says? I am coming soon now to God. A thousand years as a day.
So we don’t know how long the time is. But what it’s saying, it is imminent. Jesus could return at any moment. There is no room to say, well, I’ll get ready for him next week, or I’ll get ready for him next year. You need to be ready this moment, today for the kingdom.
Look, I am coming soon. My reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. How do I live in the light of the kingdom of God? The next statement is, accept the invitation to the kingdom. In Revelation 22:17, we read both the Spirit and the Bride.
That’s the church God is calling to people. We are to be sharing the Gospel and what our message is. Come, let anyone who hears say, come, let the one who is thirsty Come, let the one who desires take the water of life freely. We all know what it’s like to be parched with thirst. We are also, as human beings, parched with thirst.
Spiritually, emotionally, relationally, we want something. And the world says, well, you can satisfy that want with this and this and this and this. And Jesus says, if you want to really be satisfied for whatever you thirst for, he’s offering the water of life freely. But it’s an invitation that everyone has to accept individually. You have to decide that you want to be part of the kingdom.
It’s accepting what Jesus did for you on the cross and saying, I want to repent, which means to live a different life following you. I don’t want to live in my Kingdom. I don’t want to live in the world’s kingdom. I want to live in the kingdom of God. But you have to at some point accept that invitation.
Last point is, how do I live in light of the kingdom of God? Well, we should live like the kingdom of God is coming soon. Here we end the text of our Bible. He who testifies about these things says, read it with me. Yes, with certainty.
I am coming soon. Amen. That means it’s finished. And our response to him saying that is what? Come, Lord Jesus, the grace of the Lord Jesus be with everyone.
Amen. Two questions today. Are you living like the kingdom is part of your life? If you aren’t, you need to ask the Lord, how do I need to live differently? How do I need to pray differently?
How do I need to react differently? But on the other hand, there may be some among us today. You’re not a citizen of this coming kingdom. And if you’re not ready right now, when Jesus returns at any moment, you’re not going to be part of this kingdom. And it’s terrible.
But those that have lived in sin and Jesus has not paid the debt of that sin will have to suffer eternally for their wrong. But God is gracious in that he provide Jesus Christ on the cross who died, buried and was rose again, that he took the punishment for our sin. He paid the price for our citizenship in this heaven. And it’s just a matter of saying, God, I can’t do anything but thank you for giving this gift to me. The worship team is going to be coming to lead us as I pray today we’re going to have some members of the church that have are part of our prayer team.
If you want to know how to be part of the kingdom and settle that in your life, or if you just need to have someone pray with you about how you need to live your life differently, they’re going to be in the back willing to do that with you. When we stand after I pray, I just ask you to make your way to the back while we’re singing, meet with someone to talk and pray with you. Heavenly Father, we thank you now that we can have this certain future, Father, that we can live with excitement for what is coming and let us live with anticipation. Let us live with joy in our hearts and hope that in the midst of all the terrible things going on in this world, you are going to give a new creation someday and all things will be made right. May we come to you, Father, today with hearts saying, God, what do I need to do to live according to your word.
Let us all leave today in one way changed in your son’s name we pray. Amen. Please stand.