Citizens In God?s Kingdom
"Enemies of God?s Kingdom"
Matthew 13:24-30,36-43
June 2, 2002
Harry Hebert
1. Satan is busy ..... but God will take care of him.
A. Christians are engaged in spiritual warfare.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Ephes. 6:12 (NIV)
"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. John 15:18-19 (NIV)
Therefore, Christians must fight spiritually.
1. Cultivate the habit of self examination.
A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 1 Cor. 11:28 (NIV)
But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 1 Cor. 11:31 (NIV)
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test? 2 Cor. 13:5 (NIV)
Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, Galatians 6:4 (NIV)
a] Look for areas of your life that don?t look like Christ
(ill) Man moved into a house that a large rock in the front yard. Couldn?t move the rock, so he decided to do something to beautify it. So, he carved the rock into an elephant ... so real and life-like that it stopped traffic as people looked at it. A neighbor asked the man about the sculpture, and said "I didn?t know that you were an artist, that must have been very difficult."
The homeowner replied, "No, actually, it was pretty simple. I just kept a picture of an elephant with me, then I just chiseled away anything on that rock that didn?t look like an elephant."
b] You can accomplish this by asking the right questions:
* Who is your Master?
"No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Luke 16:13 (NIV)
* Where?s your passion?
I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth. Rev. 3:15-16 (NIV)
* What?s your motivation?
You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. Luke 16:15 (NIV)
It should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight. 1 Peter 3:4 (NIV)
* How do you respond to life?
Do everything without complaining or arguing, Philip. 2:14 (NIV)
These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. Jude 1:16 (NIV)
* What do you do?
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Romans 1:29-31 (NIV)
2. The preventive step is to put on the armor of God daily.
a] Know your weapons!
The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Cor. 10:4 (NIV)
* belt of truth
* breastplate of righteousness
* gospel of peace
* shield of faith
* helmet of salvation
* sword of the Spirit
b] Put them on daily!
There are two imperatives here: the armor is available, but you must put it on. And you must put it on consistently and regularly ... that is daily.
B. Satan is looking for a chance.
1. He busy sowing bad seeds.
Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 (NIV)
2. God has given us a pattern of resistance to Satan.
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:7-8 (NIV)
1. Submit to God.
2. Resist Satan. (Don?t cheapen grace by neglecting your call to live holy lives.)
3. If you follow this pattern, Satan must flee from you.
The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 1 John 4:4 (NIV)
2. The church is not perfect ..... but God will take care of that.
A. The church is God?s chosen instrument to reveal Himself to the world.
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven." Matthew 16:18-19 (NIV)
B. The church is made up of imperfect people.
We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. 2 Cor. 4:7-11 (NIV)
C. God has provided for our imperfections.
1. In Christ, we are being perfected, and there is a safety net of forgiveness.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (NIV)
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1 (NLT)
You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them are not Christians at all.) Romans 8:9 (NLT)
2. God will sort out the bad seed.
"But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit upon his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered in his presence, and he will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will place the sheep at his right hand and the goats at his left. Matthew 25:31-33 (NLT)
Then I saw the Son of Man sitting on a white cloud. He had a gold crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. Then an angel came from the Temple and called out in a loud voice to the one sitting on the cloud, "Use the sickle, for the time has come for you to harvest; the crop is ripe on the earth." So the one sitting on the cloud swung his sickle over the earth, and the whole earth was harvested. Rev. 14:14-16 (NLT)
3. One day we will reach full maturity, and God will perfect us.
We are already God's children, and we can't even imagine what we will be like when Christ returns. But we do know that when he comes we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 1 John 3:2 (NLT)
Conclusion
* God wants a complete commitment from each of us.
A kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone-a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels-a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who despise their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. All those who want to be my disciples must come and follow me, because my servants must be where I am. And if they follow me, the Father will honor them. John 12:23-26 (NLT)
That commitment will be a decision this morning: [1] to accept Christ [2] to place your membership with Community Christian and become an active part of God?s plan [3] re-submit your life to Him.
Working In God's Kingdom Matthew 13:3-9,18-23
