Living for the Kingdom? | Kingsmen

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Welcome to the Kingsman podcast, where we are reclaiming biblical manhood by training and equipping men for the work of the kingdom.

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I'm your host, Jon Moffitt, pastor of Grace Reform Church in Spring Hill, Tennessee, and also the host of Theocast, another weekly podcast we do about resting in Christ from a reform perspective.

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You can check that out anywhere that you download a podcast. Guys we're going to pick up where we left off last week.

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We get distracted pretty easy. And if you didn't hear that episode, I think you should go listen to it because it's going to help you understand what we're going to talk about next, which is if we're not to be distracted by what

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Satan and the kingdom of darkness is pulling us into, and we're supposed to be sober minded and be aware and not get entangled into this world's pursuits, what are we supposed to be doing?

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Well, according to Christ and our King, we're supposed to be living for the kingdom. Let me ask you guys this question.

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When Jesus says, seek ye first the kingdom of God, what does that mean?

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Jesus said a lot of things in his ministry, but that was pretty pointed. And he got at the very end of teaching them how to pray and the values of their heart, where their affections go, he says, this is what you need to be pursuing.

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Well, we're going to get to that here in a little bit. But as the podcast says, the

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Kingsman podcast, this is kind of, we wanted to give some time before we got to this episode to build it up and get ready.

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But this is kind of the heart behind the podcast, the reason why we use this concept of King.

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One of the things that I find fascinating about my own experience is that I knew a lot about Jesus when he would say

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Jesus is King, and I would hear Jesus talk about the kingdom. But to my own ignorance, when someone would say kingdom,

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I was thinking the new heavens and the new earth. When Jesus would bring the kingdom down, the eschaton, the end of all time, that's when the kingdom mattered.

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Right now, it was like, you know, preach the gospel and try not to sin. And a lot of my emphasis was on not sinning, because I cared about people's opinion about me, and I cared about how

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I felt. And so the greatest ambition in my life was to not sin, which I was an epic failure at.

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And to this day, I'm an epic failure at not sinning. And I'm not justifying my sin, and I'm not saying it's okay.

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I hate that I sin. It destroys me. The fact that Christ calls me to himself every day and says, son, you can come in with boldness and ask me for mercy, and I will give it to you, it gets me up out of the bed to try harder that day to love and support my

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King. If I didn't have that hope of forgiveness, I would have given up a long time ago.

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So but guys, overcoming your addiction, whatever it is, to porn, money, alcohol, whatever, that's not the greatest ambition of your life.

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You want to stand before everybody in the world and say, yeah, I overcame addiction. It's like, no, that's great.

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I use this joke often, but it's like, well, I've spent 41 years of my life and I've never murdered anybody. It's like, I'm so proud of that stat.

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I think I'm going to go 42 years now, you know, let's do this. And that's ridiculous. None of you are impressed that I haven't murdered anybody in 41 years, and you shouldn't be.

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You shouldn't be impressed with that. It's kind of like, well, that makes sense, John, you shouldn't do that. But I can just say,

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I can say something that King David couldn't say. So, you know, that makes me better than King David. Seriously. It's like, we get to a point where we're always like evaluating our life and our values based upon comparing ourselves to somebody else.

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And we just got to stop doing that. That's not where we find our value. So stop taking credit for the overcoming of your sin.

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That's the power of the spirit. Give him the praise and credit for that. And I want you to hear me out that at the end of this podcast,

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I think you're going to find that there's something intriguing about your life you're missing out on. And that's Satan.

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He's done his job. But we're going to put it back into our life. And we're going to give our life the most significant, meaningful, powerful push

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I think you've ever have experienced. And so I want to tell you this. Jesus dies and he raises from the grave, and he spent three years with these disciples.

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If you go to the book of Matthew, twice per page, you're going to hear Jesus talk about the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of heaven.

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And so he's about to spend 40 days with these disciples as we raise. He's about to leave.

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So if you imagine, if Jesus is going to spend 40 days right after his resurrection, they're seeing him, he's going to get them ready to do the work that he's leaving for them.

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He spends 40 days. And listen, this is Acts 1 .3. What do you think he's going to spend time telling them?

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He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about what?

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The kingdom of God. Right before Jesus leaves, what he's concerned about the most is that his disciples understand the value and the importance of the kingdom that they're a part of.

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So I want to show you from scripture just how important to Jesus and his disciples this concept of kingdom, because you aren't just a sinner who's been saved by grace, and then it's like, great, that's awesome.

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Thank you, Jesus. I'll just hang out until you come back. I'll get into my bunker, I'll get all my canned food,

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I'll get my ammo, and we're just going to wait it out till you come back. That's the exact opposite of what Jesus has called us to do, right?

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We're not going to hunker down and wait for the rapture. We have a mission, we have a plan and a purpose.

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So the first thing is we have to understand is that, man, I'm going to do some more stuff on this, guys.

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But modern -day Christian nationalism and theonomy, it is so opposite of what

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Christ has called his disciples to. We being a physical -natured people, we like to see and touch things, and we like to see progress, right?

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How many of you guys have a scale in your bathroom? My progress is not going the direction that I want it to go right now.

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But we want to see progress, right? That's why we put those in there. We use charts, right? We want to see some kind of movement where we can feel good about ourselves.

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Well, what's interesting about the kingdom of God, Jesus comes in and says, I know—because you have to understand, when

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Jesus is talking to Israel, they're in captivity to Rome. They don't have their own king, they don't have their own say.

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And so Jesus is starting to talk about a kingdom again who's sitting on the throne of David, and they're getting excited, like, yeah, yeah, let's get this done.

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I don't want to be under Rome anymore. Let's be a powerful nation again. And Jesus says, no, the kingdom is upside down.

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It's reversed in nature than what you think. This is Luke 17, verse 20. He says, being asked by the

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Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered, the kingdom of God is not coming in ways that you can observe.

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Now, this is important. Within Christian nationalism and theonomy, there's this push and a drive to where we'll be able to see the actual physical changes of God's kingdom coming down onto earth.

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Now, some could argue, well, John, you know, that was before Jesus rose from the grave. Nope, because the apostle Paul and the disciples keep the same mentality.

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We'll see this here in just a little bit. And that doesn't mean that the kingdom of God isn't here.

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It's here, but the location is a little bit different. Typically, a kingdom, you have to have a king, you have to have people, and you have to have a location, right?

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That's the kingdom. Well, we have that, and this is how Jesus describes it. This is Luke 17, 21.

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Nor will you say, nor will they say, look, here it is, or there, for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you, or within you.

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The point of it is, when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, we become the representation of the king to the people, and the kingdom, the people, are

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Christ's church, right? We are a part of this kingdom. Now, the spiritual nature of it is definitely present here, but the world can't see it.

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I mean, literally, Jesus says, unless you're born again, you will not see the kingdom of God. So, when you're trying to prove to people that you're a part of a king, with a king, and a part of a kingdom that they should see and respect, they're not going to, because they can't see it.

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It's a spiritual kingdom. So this is why Peter, in 1 Peter 2, one of Jesus' disciples, which

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I think continues to carry on the idea that our kingdom is not physical yet, it's not come to consummation, it's not fully here in the ways in which we think it will be in the new heavens and the new earth.

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So 1 Peter 2, 11 says, beloved, I urge you, I implore you, I push you, as, listen to this, sojourners and exiles.

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So he's, this is after Christ's resurrection, okay? He's talking to the church, and the mentality they're supposed to have is that the world they live in is not their home.

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Like, sojourners and exiles means that you're living in such a way where you're a citizen of somewhere else.

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So we literally live in the sphere of two kingdoms. The king lives within me, I'm a part of his kingdom, my citizenship is not here, but yet I am physically still in the kingdom of darkness.

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And because of that, listen to how he finishes his verse, to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against the soul.

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So our allegiance to Christ and understanding his kingdom is going to cause an automatic fight and war within us.

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We're going to have an adversary, kingdom of darkness versus kingdom of light. So first of all, we have to understand the upside -down nature of the kingdom.

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We definitely have to understand the spiritual nature of the kingdom, being that it is within us, it's a part of us.

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We are a part of the kingdom now. We're not waiting to be a part of it. It's now, guys. It's so good.

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We aren't left without a purpose and a mission. Our king says, I am with you, and I lead you, and I'm among you.

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And this is where the word of God becomes powerful for us, super powerful for us.

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But Peter also understood because of the kingdom, it's part of who we are. But listen to what can happen.

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This goes back to last week. We're going to tie last week's podcast into this week. This is James 4 .4. He says, you adulterous people, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity or puts you as the enemy of God?

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Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself the enemy of God. That means there is an ethic and an affection in a way in which a citizen of the king lives.

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And it's an opposition to the world. What he means by not loving the world, he means the ethic in the way of the world, where the world puts their trust and affection.

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He says they're opposing the kingdom of God. They're opposing Christ. And so I think it's important for us to understand that, that the spiritual war that's happening, you are going to be fighting this spiritual war by still living in a physical body.

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And that physical body is still going to be drawn into the kingdom of darkness. Now here's, it's not all bad.

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This is what's so great. Living in God's kingdom while we wait for him to finish his work of rescuing all the sheep, we're going to talk about that in the coming weeks.

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He says this, that there's supernatural benefits for living in the kingdom of God. This, guys, this gets me up out of the bed in the morning right here.

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What I'm about to tell you, when my body feels beat up, I'm so exhausted by sin, I'm tired.

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What I'm about to tell you right here is what reminds me of that. I don't serve a king who leaves me without refreshments and joy and hope.

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So this is the comfort that is given to those of us who live in the kingdom. Everything the world is trying to seek but can't find, peace.

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Hey, we're always trying to find a sense of like where we feel safe, right? Freedom. When Jesus says that when the sun sets you free, you are free indeed.

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The world can't experience that freedom. They're under, they're slaves to Satan. They're slaves to their sin.

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So peace, freedom, and true joy. We are, we try and find that in so many ways, right?

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Prestige, sex, money, entertainment, and we can't. And gentlemen, what ends up happening when we don't have a purpose in life?

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We try to pursue peace, freedom, and joy through entertaining ourselves, the death. And we just try it harder and harder and harder.

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And the United States has got a great repertoire of ways to distract ourselves from the current pain and suffering that we're in by entertaining ourselves.

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John 16 .33 says this, I have said these things to you that in me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation.

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But in Christ, take heart, I have overcome the world. That is the promise that he gives to his disciples.

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This is John 14 .27, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives, do

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I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. And then Romans 14 .17,

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again, remember, well, that was before Jesus ascended. That's changed now. That's not according to his disciples.

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His disciples, Romans 14 .17, for the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness and peace and joy in the

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Holy Spirit. So good, right? You pursue the kingdom of God and he says, this is what the response will be.

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You will have, you will experience the righteousness of Christ, that joy of being clothed with Christ's righteousness.

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Not because of your obedience, but because of Christ's obedience, right? So when you have that mentality of,

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I want to be about the king and his kingdom, you will have the righteousness of the king, you will have the peace of the king, and the joy and the satisfaction and the rest of the king.

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And so where we now focus our attention is full allegiance to the kingdom.

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This is where this happens, full allegiance. I mean, guys, think about the promise, protection, hope, meaning, joy, rest.

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Allegiance to the king is, it's not a dread. You know, sometimes when people think about righteousness, it's like a trip to the dentist.

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I hate going to the dentist, right? If my dentist is listening to this, no offense against you. Love you. You're a great dude. But it's painful, right?

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It's hard. Allegiance to the kingdom is actually like full of meaning and purpose.

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The disciples so much got this, they died. They're like, yeah, death for the king. That's like normal.

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Paul and Peter both say suffering for the king is normal. Like, it shouldn't shock you, but it should also give you great hope because if you're suffering, it means you're actually causing damage.

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Like the kingdom of darkness is feeling your damage, and they're not liking it, so they're going to come and attack you back.

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And so in many ways, our suffering is a way in which to remind ourselves that, hey, we must be doing something that matters. So this is

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Matthew 6. This is where Jesus comes back and starts to talk about kind of the ethics and the ways in which we use the mentality of the kingdom.

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Matthew 6 .31, therefore, do not be anxious saying, what shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear?

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It's like, listen, allegiance to the king, right? That's the king's job. It's not my job to figure that stuff out. I'm here to fight for the king, to serve the king at his pleasure.

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For Gentiles seek after these things, and your heavenly father knows that you need them all.

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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

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Meaning that, guys, don't worry about temporal situations. Like, don't worry about what you're going to do. Now, that doesn't mean that we abandon our job so that we get confused here, right?

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It's like, well, then I don't need a job, I'm just going to pursue the king. And no, actually, having a job is part of being a part of the kingdom.

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We're going to talk about that in coming weeks as well. But there's a negative side of this, and I want you to hear this.

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This is earlier on, Matthew 6 .19, he says, do not lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.

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But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth...the opposite of that. And what he means by it, it's not like the works lay up treasures.

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What he's saying is the position of the treasure. If you think that you're going to have value here in this earth, you're going to leave the world like you came into it, with nothing, right?

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He's saying, if your value is Christ, and the righteousness of Christ, and the inheritance of Christ, and his kingdom to come, he goes, let your heart be there.

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And because your heart, meaning that that's where you trust it, your actions and affections will follow.

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Now, it's fascinating how Jesus describes this in verse 21, for wherever your treasure is, there your heart be also.

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Guys, our hearts are so easily distracted by this world. And so,

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Jesus is saying, trust my promises, and your heart will not...

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I love this in Romans 5. He says, your hope will not put you to shame. Hoping in the promises of Christ will not put you to shame.

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But then he has a pretty fair warning. No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

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You cannot serve God and money. It is interesting how the world hates God, but they love their himself.

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They love money. And we, as Christians, we can feel this pull, where the world starts to pull our affections, and we become cold and distant to God.

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And we can even start to resent God, because, well, God's just not getting on board with what we're doing. Well, gentlemen, that's the ploy of Christ's call, that there's something significant about who we are and what we're doing.

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And that significance is far greater than your job, than your family, than your country.

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America will come and go. Nations will rise and nations will fall. But God's kingdom has been here for 2 ,000 years.

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Christ came, he brought it, and is succeeding. The gospel is advancing. The kingdom of light is going into the kingdom of darkness, and it cannot be stopped.

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Now, we can either be a part of that effectively, and finding the joy of being effective and taking the kingdom of light into the kingdom of darkness, or 2

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Peter says, we can be blinded, having forgotten that we have been cleansed from our former sins. And I think a lot of us are struggling with that.

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We've lost the meaning and purpose of our life. And I'm here to say, I think it's biblical, and it's exciting to say, allegiance with the king is life itself.

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Trusting in him and living for him is all what matters to us.

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So, I'll leave you with this, and we'll pick this up next week when we pick up our next episode. It's this, 2

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Corinthians 5 .20, therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ. That's so exciting to think about, that me, this wretched sinner, this person who can't seem to put two non -sinful thoughts together, right?

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Two righteous thoughts together, who can't seem to formulate words without messing them up.

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Paul says, we're the representative of Christ. Like, I wear him.

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I communicate him. And the world goes from bondage and slavery to freedom.

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You know, some of you are like, oh, great, John's going to be talking about evangelism, like handing out these awkward gospel tract that are like this weird art on them.

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No, no. Next week, we are not talking about evangelism where it's awkward and weird, and you have to say and do these awkward things.

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We're going to talk about what does it mean to don Christ as the ambassador and the representative of the king.

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And it says, he ends it this way, God making his appeal through us. God making his appeal to slaves of sin through us.

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Guys, it's so good. It's so good. So we're going to continue next week with finding our purpose as kingdom and all of life, our jobs, our marriages, our country, our hobbies, everything in our life.

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How is it that we become the ambassador of Christ and we reclaim evangelism? We're taking it back, guys.

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This weird, everybody gets awkward, and you know what it is. I say the word evangelism, everybody gets sick, like, oh, great, this is awkward.

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And some of you guys who are super self -righteous are like, yeah, you know, street preaching, you guys are a bunch of wimps. You need to get out there and preach.

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It's like, we're not wimps. That's not...it's not either or. And I know I stepped on a lot of toes, but you have to come back next week to figure that out.

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Come back, I promise you, you're going to be encouraged and strengthened, that there's more to your life. There's something that's significant.

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It doesn't matter what your age is. It doesn't matter what your career is. It doesn't matter what your body type is. If you love