Not of This World

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Transcript:

I’ve been thinking a lot about the kingdom lately, because you see, the kingdom is one of those things that we in church frequently discuss, but we very rarely define. We talk about advancing the kingdom. We talk about our ministry being for the benefit of the kingdom.

We even pray, your kingdom come, your will be done. But many of us as Christians would be hard-pressed to explain the kingdom to someone who’s not yet a believer, if we had to. But the kingdom is far too important for us not to understand it.

The kingdom is one of the topics that Jesus preached about more than almost anything else. Several of his parables described the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven, and those are two different names for the same thing, by the way. And his message of salvation was ultimately about bringing us into his kingdom.

See, Colossians, as we read over the last several weeks, Colossians says that God rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of the Son he loves. And throughout his ministry, Jesus explained the kingdom. He spent a lot of time explaining the kingdom.

And if Jesus wanted us to understand the kingdom, then we should do our best to try to understand it. Now, one of the reasons why the kingdom can be so difficult for our minds to grasp is because it’s both our current reality and the future hope that we wait for. It’s something that exists now, but it’s also something that’s coming.

That’s a little hard for our minds to grasp sometimes. In one sense, the kingdom of God exists right now. Now, if you’re familiar with Bible prophecy, that might not sound right at first, because we know we’re awaiting the fulfillment of several predictions regarding the kingdom.

But it’s true, the kingdom of God is not yet established in its full, final, eternal form. Our Baptist faith and message, our statement of faith, even says, the full consummation of the kingdom awaits the return of Jesus Christ and the end of this age. You know, we’re still waiting to see things in their final form.

But even now, the kingdom of God exists both as a reflection of his sovereignty over the whole universe, and also of his personal reign in the heart of each person who is trusted in Jesus Christ as their Savior and acknowledged him as Lord. His kingdom exists in both of those ways, the general and the specific. And we as Baptists believe that the kingdom, the kingdom of God includes both his general sovereignty over the universe and his particular kingship over men who willfully acknowledge him as king.

Now I don’t often quote the Baptist faith and message in every sermon, but I’m sharing that with you this morning so you’ll realize that what I’m saying about the kingdom is not something new, it’s something that we’ve believed all along. All right. So as we explore the biblical concept of the kingdom, it’s going to help us understand more about our relationship with God.

It’ll help us more, understand more about the value of the things that we do to serve him today. And it’ll help us to understand more about our destination when this life is over. All of those things are wrapped up in the kingdom.

So for the next several weeks, we’re going to dive a little deeper into what Jesus taught about the kingdom. We won’t have time to study everything that he said in this series, but we’re going to look at a sampling of some of his parables and conversations to learn more about this kingdom that was so prominent in Jesus’s message. So today we’re going to start in the gospel of John, John chapter 18.

You’ll find it about two-thirds of the way through the Bible, right after Luke and right before Acts. Give you just a second to turn there. John chapter 18.

Now this conversation in John 18 took place during Jesus’ final trial in Jerusalem just a couple of hours before his crucifixion. He was brought before Pontius Pilate who was the Roman governor of Judea. He was brought there by the Jewish authorities who had had him arrested on trumped up charges.

If you know the story at all, they held a spectacularly illegal trial, even according to their own laws and customs. They tried him secretly in the middle of the night. You weren’t supposed to do either of those things. They allowed him to be beaten as a prisoner.

You weren’t really supposed to do that either. They did not afford him the presumption of innocence. It was sort of guilty until proven innocent, which is backwards of even the way it was supposed to work for them.

They hired witnesses. This is a big no-no. They hired witnesses to perjure themselves. Generally, judges kind of frown on that, but the court hired witnesses to perjure themselves.

And they convicted him. They convicted him even when their made-up evidence was inconsistent and failed to prove his guilt. They said, we’re going to convict him anyway.

See, when the religious authorities got together to hold this trial for Jesus, they fabricated the charges, and they determined beforehand that they were going to find him guilty no matter what. the purpose of the trial was not to get to the truth it was to find him guilty they were desperate to get rid of jesus because they felt threatened by him by his teachings and by the following that had grown up around him see his teaching on the scriptures was a threat to their power and so they were willing to violate as many laws as necessary to get their guilty verdict the problem was their religious court didn’t have the authority to carry out the death penalty. So they were still under the sovereignty of the Romans from a political standpoint.

They didn’t have the authority to carry out the death penalty, so they took Jesus to see Pilate. Now the Romans weren’t in a hurry necessarily to get their hands dirty over a religious matter that had nothing to do with them. But if there was anything the Roman government would not tolerate, it was any kind of disorder that threatened their control.

They Romans that Jesus intended to challenge their authority. They believed that if they did this, they would make the Romans have to get involved. So they insisted that Jesus had claimed to be the king of the Jews.

That was their charge when they brought him to Pilate. So that would have concerned the Romans because it would have sounded to them like he was planning to lead a Jewish uprising against Roman rule. So they brought Jesus to Pilate with really the one accusation that they knew would get Roman attention.

Then we start in verses 33 and 34 this morning to pick up with the rest of the story. Verses 33 and 34 say, then Pilate went back into the headquarters, summoned Jesus, and said to him, are you the king of the Jews? Jesus answered, are you asking this on your own, or have others told you about me?

Now Pilate asked Jesus here, point blank, are you the king of the Jews. It’s getting right to the heart of the matter. Because if Jesus said yes, then Pilate could go ahead and deal with him as a rebel.

If Jesus said no, then Pilate could tell the Jewish leaders to go jump in a lake. Either way, Pilate could deal with this quickly and get back to his life. He didn’t want to mess with this.

Unfortunately for Pilate, Jesus didn’t give him a yes or no answer. Jesus really didn’t answer Pilate’s question at all. We need to understand, though, when Jesus did this, he wasn’t just being evasive though.

All right. And that’s important because whether it’s a criminal suspect or a politician or even one of our own children, when somebody answers a question other than the one that’s been asked, okay, a lot of times it can be a sign that they may be lying. All right.

I’ve learned that from, well, life. You think you’re so slick, but you’re answering a question other than what I asked. Don’t think I didn’t notice that.

It’s a sign they may be lying, but not in Jesus’s case. This is something Jesus did all throughout his ministry. Jesus often redirected people’s questions, not to avoid answering them, but to try to deal with a deeper spiritual issue pertaining to them.

That’s what he did with Pilate. Pilate, just like all of us, needed to confront personally the question of who Jesus is. At that point, Pilate was just dealing with other people’s opinions about Jesus.

And so Jesus asked him what he believed. He asked Pilate if he thought Jesus was a troublemaker or if he was just going by what the Jewish leaders had said. This is just like when he asked his disciples, who had been discussing others’ opinions, He asked him, who do you say that I am?

And just like that, Jesus was directing Pilate to consider for himself who Jesus is. Look at how Pilate responded to this. Verse 35, Pilate said, I’m not a Jew, am I?

Pilate replied, your own nation and the chief priests handed you over to me. What have you done? Now, Pilate is not known for his backbone throughout this story.

And here he tried to weasel out of answering the question for himself. Jesus was redirecting the question. Pilate’s just trying to weasel out.

He acted like this whole issue was just irrelevant to him because he wasn’t a Jew. As far as Pilate was concerned, this was a religious dispute. This was an internal matter for the Jews that he shouldn’t have even been bothered with in the first place.

So he answered, telling Jesus that he wasn’t a Jew. And that meant the whole thing was nothing to him. What do I care?

but he did go on to say that Jesus must have done something wrong. He must have done something wrong to be handed over by his own people. Essentially, he blamed Jesus for the situation.

He figured that there must be some reason why the Jewish leaders were all up in arms believing that Jesus had claimed to be their king. So he put it right back on Jesus. Now Jesus answered him in verse 36.

It says, My kingdom is not of this world, said Jesus. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight so that I wouldn’t be handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.

Now, Pilate understood the implication of what Jesus had just said. Jesus didn’t explicitly call himself the king of the Jews, but he referred to my kingdom. Now, the only way Jesus could have a kingdom is if he’s a king.

So Pilate asked him the next reasonable question. Look at verses 37 and 38. You are a king then, Pilate asked.

You say that I’m a king, Jesus replied. I was born for this, and I had come into the world for this, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.

What is truth? Said Pilate. And after he had said this, he went out to the Jews again and told them, I find no grounds for charging him.

Jesus didn’t actually dispute that he was a king because he was. Because he was a king. See his answer is another example that shows that Jesus was more than just a good moral teacher and an ordinary man.

Just like he had previously claimed, openly claimed to be the son of God, here he indicated that he was a king. All throughout the gospels we see him claiming to be more than just a good moral teacher, an ordinary man. He even explained to Pilate what kind of kingdom he has.

Now, the ironic thing about all of this is that many of the Jewish leaders who betrayed him would have loved to have a Jewish king to overthrow the Romans and set up an earthly kingdom. But Jesus wasn’t the kind of king they wanted. So they took him, they took their king, And they turned him over to the Romans.

They were offended by Jesus because he turned their interpretation of the scriptures on its head. He taught the people the correct way to understand God’s word and he exposed the corruption of their leaders. So they hated him.

And when they’d finally had enough, they turned him over to Pilate. And he admitted to Pilate that he was a king. But everyone around him, everyone around him, totally misunderstood what kind of king he was and what kind of kingdom belonged to him.

They misunderstood. Jesus explained to Pilate that his kingdom is not of this world. His kingdom has a totally different nature and purpose compared to every other kingdom that’s ever existed.

And he pointed out that if his kingdom were a normal kind of kingdom, then he would not just have been handed over to the Jewish leaders like he was. If his were an earthly kingdom concerned with earthly things, then it would have been focused on earthly concerns. And the events of the previous evening were a perfect example of what he was talking about.

You see, his small army of followers, every king needs an army, right? His small army of followers had allowed him to be taken into custody by a hostile power. They’d allowed it.

What kind of kingdom does that? It stands by and lets the king be taken captive. Now, a weak or a cowardly kingdom might do that.

But we see in the story, Jesus’ followers didn’t lack the willingness to fight or the ability to inflict some damage on their opponents. During the arrest, Peter unsheathed his sword. He drew his sword and he attacked the high priest’s servant when Jesus was being arrested.

And he cut off the man’s ear. Jesus’ kingdom wasn’t weak. His kingdom just had a different set of priorities from all the others.

That’s why Jesus ordered Peter to put away his sword. That’s why Jesus healed Malchus’ ear, picked his ear up, put it back on, and healed it. And that’s why he told his followers that he was going to let himself be taken away so that he could fulfill the Father’s will.

It’s a different kind of kingdom with a different set of priorities. Now, most earthly kingdoms focus on things like earthly conquest. but Jesus’ kingdom was focused on conquering death. Earthly kingdoms seek military power or political prestige or cultural influence or economic might but Jesus’ kingdom was determined, as he said, to seek and to save the lost. That was the purpose of his kingdom.

Earthly kingdoms are based on the power of the sword but Jesus’ kingdom was based on the power of the cross. Earthly kingdoms require the people to sacrifice for the good of the king and the nation. But in Jesus’ kingdom, the king sacrificed himself for the good of the people from every nation.

Jesus’ kingdom has never been of this world. Now, its primary consideration has always been spiritual. To bring rebels back into fellowship with a loving king. That’s what his kingdom’s always been about.

And so as Jesus spoke to Pilate, he not only described a different kind of kingdom, he said that it would be populated by a different kind of subject as well. See, if his kingdom were like all the other earthly kingdoms, he would have allowed his followers to fight. But that’s not what happened.

See, he didn’t send them out to build his kingdom by force. As they were serving him and advancing his kingdom, Jesus told his followers, He said, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore, be as shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.

That’s a strange kind of army, isn’t it? As servants of a different kind of kingdom, our warfare is different. Our priorities are different and our warfare is different.

We’re called to fight for Jesus’ kingdom, but it’s a spiritual warfare. Our enemy is not our fellow man. I want you to hear me on this.

If it bleeds, it’s not the enemy. the apostle Paul wrote that our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers against the authorities against the cosmic powers of this darkness against evil spiritual forces in the heavens our enemy is Satan and our mission is to rescue as many people as possible from his kingdom bringing them into Christ’s kingdom instead that’s our warfare and Paul also said that in in this fight the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh we we don’t use physical weapons. Instead, we use the armor of God.

Things like the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of the gospel, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Those are our weapons. And as different kind of subjects in a different kind of kingdom, we can’t let ourselves get distracted by the priorities of other earthly kingdoms. It’s not about amassing a great fortune for the kingdom.

It’s not about constructing great buildings for the kingdom. It’s not about achieving political power for the kingdom. These are some of the things that we as evangelicals tend to get a little distracted by, all while thinking we’re doing it to build the kingdom.

And it’s dangerous. I’ve made some bad decisions that I deeply regret in the past, especially concerning the political aspect of it, politics, because I thought I was using this earthly tool to advance his kingdom. If we can just get the right people in place, no matter what we have to do or say, if we get the right people in place, we’ll be advancing God’s kingdom.

And maybe God uses in some way people’s efforts in that arena. I think there’s a place for us to be salt and light in our politics. Maybe God uses those efforts, but not the way I was doing it years ago.

Like Peter, Christians need to put away the earthly swords of our earthly agendas. By the way, this is not a pacifist message against self-defense. This is saying we don’t advance the agenda of the kingdom of God with physical warfare and physical weapons.

We need to put away those earthly swords of our earthly agendas. we’re a different kind of subject with a different kind of focus, different priorities, because we’re serving a different kind of kingdom. And what makes the kingdom different and the subjects different is the fact that we serve a different kind of king.

Jesus is really at the root of why everything’s different. We serve a different kind of king. Jesus told Pilate in verse 37, I was born for this, And I have come into the world for this, to testify to the truth.

And everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice. Now, earthly kings are born to rule, or at least to reign. I’ll give you an example.

Periodically, it seems like our whole country goes nuts over big news about the British royal family. Maybe nobody in here, but it happens. No offense intended toward our British friends.

But we fought for our independence in the Revolutionary War and in the War of 1812, so we wouldn’t have to do things like get up at 4 a. m. to watch royal weddings.

I don’t necessarily have anything against the British royal family, but I do have something against 4 a. m. , and I think you all know that.

Four o’clock should not come twice a day. Now, part of the fascination with the royals lately has involved Prince George, who’s Prince William’s oldest son, that lucky little guy was born third. He was born third in line to the British throne.

And from the time the pregnancy was announced in 2012, ever since then, there’s been no stop, no shortage of articles written about him and how he will likely, in all likelihood, be the king of England someday. He was born to reign as king. He was born to sit in the halls of power and influence the nation.

He was born in some way to change the world. And every time an earthly king is born, the hope is that he’s going to change the world somehow. But Jesus was born to change eternity and to transform people.

So he came to earth to reveal the truth of the gospel. He said, I came to reveal the truth, to make the truth known. He came to reveal the truth of the gospel.

And through his ministry, self-righteous sinners, think about that for a minute, sinners who don’t realize they’re sinners, self-righteous sinners realized that they could not be good enough that God would be able to accept them. And through his ministry, more blatant sinners, the sinners who realized they’re sinners, realized that they could not be bad enough that God would be unable to forgive them. Jesus revealed the truth of the gospel.

He held up a mirror. He held up a mirror that brought humanity face to face with our sin, and he caused us to see how far we had fallen short of God’s holiness. And he demonstrated the love of God every day of his life to people from every conceivable background that he encountered.

And then he went to the cross so that we could be reconciled to God, every one of us. He was able to show the truth to mankind because he is the truth personified. He’s truth with a capital T.

He had previously told his disciples, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And he added, no man, no one comes to the Father except through me. So when Pilate asked, what is truth?

It’s tragic that he failed to realize that the truth was standing right in front of him. The one who came so that he could know God, so that he could know God’s will, and so that he could have a relationship with him, the one who did all that was standing right there in front of him, and Pilate missed it. Pilate missed the truth.

The Jewish authorities missed the truth. The crowds who would shortly demand Jesus’ crucifixion, they missed the truth. And even the disciples missed the truth for a moment.

They all missed the truth because they were too focused on what was going on with earthly kingdoms. See, Pilate was preoccupied with keeping order in his domain. The religious authorities were preoccupied with holding on to their positions. The crowds in Jerusalem were busy looking for a political leader who was going to lead Israel into a golden age, and the disciples were still holding out hope that it might be Jesus.

They couldn’t see the truth, and they couldn’t see the kingdom that really mattered. Many people still look right past the kingdom today. They’re looking to build or preserve an earthly kingdom of some sort, and that’s all they can see.

And meanwhile, Jesus and his kingdom stand right in front of them, stand right in front of us with the answers to all of our deepest needs. A different kind of king presents himself to us today. He offers us citizenship in a different kind of kingdom.

Jesus Christ was nailed to the cross to pay for our sins. He shed his blood and he died because we’d rebelled against God and we owed a penalty that we could never pay. And rather than send us to hell, the Father sent the Son to pay for our sins, and Jesus died willingly so that we could be forgiven, so that we could enter into his kingdom.

Now, if you know you need God’s forgiveness, but you’ve never trusted in Christ as your Savior, it’s very simple. First, first, admit that you’ve sinned against God and that you need a Savior. Second, believe that Jesus died to pay for your sins in full and that he rose again from the dead.

And third, ask God to forgive you, trusting in Jesus Christ as your one and only Savior. See, God promises to forgive our sins completely, not because of any good that we’ve done, but because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross. Now, he promises to be a loving father to us.

He promises to receive us and to forgive us. He promises to welcome us into this kingdom that Jesus talks so much about, this different kind of kingdom. Again, if you’ve never trusted Christ as your Savior, if you say, how can I be part of that kingdom?

It starts with acknowledging your sin before God, talking to God and say, I know I’m a sinner. You’re not going to be telling God anything that he doesn’t already know. You’re just going to be admitting what God already knows and agreeing with him about it.

Acknowledge your sin. Tell God, I know I’m a sinner. I know I’ve messed up.

I know that I’m separated from you. And ask his forgiveness, believing that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay for your sins in full and rose again three days later to prove it. Believe that.

Trust Jesus as your one and only Savior and ask God’s forgiveness.