Save Being Text with airSlate SignNow

Save companion ordered

welcome to hill city online thank you so much for tuning in no matter how you found yourself watching this video we believe that god has something to say to you today if you're joining us for the premiere be sure to log in to your youtube account so you can connect with us on the live chat another way to connect with us is by simply taking a minute to fill out one of our online connect cards let us know that you are here sign up for a life group share a step of faith that you would like to take in your life and even submit prayer requests we take time to pray for you guys and follow up with you each and every week you can find access to the connect card in the description below this video or right on our home page at hillcityboise.org we always say around here that we give because god gave that's because it's god's generosity and the gospel that motivates our generosity towards others see when we give we loosen our grip on this world and we fix our eyes upon god's kingdom so if you'd like more information about how you can support the mission of hill city church you can go to hillcity boise dot org slash give another exciting opportunity that we have to practice generosity is our next 110 campaign we are currently in the process of raising funds to set up our new church home for the next 110 years of kingdom work in downtown boise you can watch the next 110 video track our fundraising progress even see pictures of the new space and find out more information about how you can get involved at hillcityboise.org merge well in a time when the world has been thrown into disarray and is full of discouragement it has never been more important for us to make god's kingdom known here on earth our lead pastor josh has a challenging and encouraging word for us today so with that let's jump into the [Music] teaching [Music] welcome to week four of our kingdom teaching series this is the final week of our kingdom series and what i want to do right from the beginning is just do a little bit of recap especially if today is one of the first days you're joining us or even if you've joined us for the entire series it'll just be helpful to think about god's kingdom in really this holistic sense so really we began by talking about the kingdom of heaven and really defining god's kingdom as god's kingly rule and really we talked about it as a single circle uh that it was heaven and earth fully united genesis 1 and 2 tell us about that's really how god created the world he created it very very good but then what happened is sin our own sinfulness brought about another kind of kingdom and so we've rejected god's kingdom now we have another circle and we're calling that the kingdom of this world you can call it the kingdom of satan as opposed to the kingdom of god or the kingdom of darkness and there's this this expanse there's this gap that we are now separated from god we no longer live our lives as a part of god's kingdom when we live as part of the kingdom of this world last week really what we talked about is we talked about how we cannot on our own power bridge that gap we can't just you know you can't just buy a plane ticket and go to the kingdom of heaven in fact there's no way that that we as humans on our own strength or willpower or righteousness can actually earn our way back to god but the good news of the gospel is that jesus his mission was to bring god's kingdom back to us and so now we have these these overlapping circles we have god's kingdom come that the kingdom uh the now and not yet of the kingdom of heaven and so you can live on earth but not for the kingdom of this world you can actually live for the kingdom of heaven so so that's really where we're at today and we're going to finish that story that what we call the meta-narrative of scripture and talk about the kingdom yet to come and that really leaves us with the question we're answering today of what do we do while we wait for jesus to return so we believe that 2000 years ago the son of god came to this world a man named jesus christ and he he that was the first coming of the king but when he ascended to heaven he promised that he would return and so now we live in that overlap we live in this this this now and not yet this in between it's what jesus talked about when he prayed in john 17 that that we wouldn't be taken out of this world but that we would not be of the world so we are in the world but we're not of the world so how do we live because we still live in a world that there's so much brokenness there's so much evil there's so much pain there's so much suffering and yet we're called to be ambassadors for jesus here in this present age so what do we do you know it's it's kind of like that question of all right you're a part of god's kingdom now what right now what do we do and we're going to be answering that question really with a parable from jesus a short story from jesus from luke chapter 19. it's a long parable and we're going to read through the entire thing so make sure if you have a bible go ahead and open to luke chapter 19 and really jesus is addressing the question of the kingdom of heaven let's go ahead and jump in luke chapter 19 verse 11. as they heard these things he jesus proceeded to tell a parable because he was near to jerusalem and because they supposed that the kingdom of god was to appear immediately so this is that misconception about what god's kingdom is when jesus is with pontius pilate he asked jesus are you a king and jesus plainly tells him well my kingdom is not of this world and so here in luke chapter 19 this is actually the story that luke places immediately before the triumphal entry when jesus would enter into jerusalem and that's really ushering in the final week the passion week jesus's last week on earth before he would die for the sins of the world and raise back to life and so really this is an important parable that kind of shifts things over to the passion week and really as jesus is getting closer to jerusalem his disciples his followers people around who are seeing him do ministry they're kind of in anticipation it's not just the pharisees it's not just those hyper-religious people who thought that jesus would have been a political or a military kind of leader even his own followers to a certain degree thought that jesus would be rolling into jerusalem not on a donkey not an animal of peace but rolling into jerusalem on a war horse to overflow the roman empire and to establish a political kingdom on earth and so jesus hears kind of the murmurings and rumblings of this in the crowd and so what he does is he tells a story and this is how the story goes luke chapter 19 verse 12. he said therefore a nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a what to receive for himself a kingdom and then return calling ten of his servants he gave them 10 minus so mina is just a form of currency it's about three months wages and said to them engage in business until i come but his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him saying we do not want this man to reign over us so this might sound a little bit familiar to you especially if you've read the gospel of matthew in matthew chapter 25 jesus tells another kingdom parable and it's called the parable of the talent and it's very very similar but i want to be clear it's all it's actually distinct from the parable of the minus not only are some of the the key details different between these two parables but jesus tells them at different occasions and so that means that these are actually two separate teachings although as we'll see there's a lot of similarities and we can actually learn some from both and what jesus is doing here in this parable is he's actually playing off some current events that people would have been very familiar with really the story is about a political leader a nobleman he he kind of rules over a certain area a certain region and he leaves from that region to go to a far off country so that he can be crowned king and then that person will return and he will rule not just as a nobleman but he will be actually the king of the people well about 25 years before this herod archelaus did that very same thing so if you're familiar with the birth of christ and herod the great and and he's really king herod uh this is his son so so herod archelaus and he was made tetrarch of judea samaria and idjimiya and so he was he was really this this political leader of this this region and he actually went to rome so that he could be given the same title that his father had received king king herod he wanted to be king herod king archelaus and he went there but really he was an enemy of the jews he was a corrupt politician and he had executed a bunch of jews on you know different occasions and and really the jews hated him so what they did is they sent a delegation just like the parable they sent a delegation along with uh knowing that uh that herod archuleas was going to rome to also plead the opposite case before caesar to say this is a horrible guy and and even some of the jews from rome showed up and testified against herod archuleas and and what happened was the jews actually won their case so so herod archuleas came back and he was not crowned king he was continued to be uh the tetrarch so he was just you know just a lower level than being a king and eventually he was actually deposed he was removed from office because he was such a horrible ruler so jesus is telling the story and it has striking similarities to this actual historical event that many of the people listening to this story would have been very much familiar with but it's not the exact same as that event because the king in the parable is not some corrupt politician he's actually a good king and the king is meant to represent jesus so here's one of the main points of the parable is that jesus is coming back as the king he's coming back as the king and really what jesus is referring to is he's referring to you know he's going to be rejected he's the rejected king but as we talked about last week he's also the risen king or the resurrected king and that's really when jesus was crowned king through his resurrection his victory over sin and death and then jesus would ascend to heaven and that's really god the father exalting jesus as paul writes in philippians 2 with the name above every other name and this is also a promise that he's going to return and when jesus returns he's not going to be you know the rejected king anymore he's going to be the this daniel 7 coming on the clouds with fire and so uh really the main point here is jesus will return as the king and it'll be evident to everyone so jesus is the nobleman that's who uh that character in the story represents and then we have these other characters that are simply called the citizens so we're going to call these people the citizens of the world and really these are the people who are characterized by by being enemies of the king they say this line we do not want this man to reign over us and consistently through this teaching series we've looked at that's really what's at the root of sin that's really what sin is at the heart of it is rejecting god's rule in our lives and all of us at one point or another have made this decision we've rejected god's rule we don't want him to rule over us and really coming to christ is an acceptance of god's kingship an acceptance of god being the one who is our you know jesus is lord just that simple statement and so uh that's who the citizens of the world are and so for us when you look around at culture that's the citizens of the world uh anyone who's not following jesus anyone who's living their lives apart from the way god has designed uh who's rejecting god's rule that's the citizens of the world all right let's go ahead and continue and and see what happens when the king actually returns so the story doesn't turn out like with herod uh with herod archelaus where you know he returns and he's not the king look at what happens when this nobleman receives and is crowned king like jesus was in luke chapter 19 verse 15 when he returned having received the kingdom he ordered these servants to whom he had given the money so that's the minor to be called to him that he might know what they had gained by doing business the first came before him saying lord your mind has made 10 minus more and he said to him well done good servant or in matthew 25 good and faithful servant because you have been faithful and very little you shall have authority over ten cities and the second came saying lord your mind has made five minutes and he said to him and you are to be over five cities so here the next characters i want to look at is what we'll call these are the faithful servants so that you imagine there's 10 different servants and the master gives them all the same amount of money notice that's one of the differences from matthew chapter 25 in matthew 25 you know each one is given according to their ability and so one is given this many talents one is given more and one is given even more but here everyone is entrusted with the same exact amount so we have to ask the question what do the what does the money represent you know the money could represent actual money but i think here it actually represents something a little bit more specific because of course god wants us to use our money in a way that he sees fit he wants us to steward and manage our resources our time you know all of our lives everything god has entrusted to us he wants us to use those things for the kingdom i think the key to this is really in the command where he says engage in business until i come so we need to ask the question what kind of business is jesus in what kind of business is jesus in and in fact jesus has answered that question and his answer to that question what kind of business or what is his mission why did he come to this earth in fact in the bible verse that precedes this parable so go ahead if you're there go ahead and just just scroll back to verse 10 of luke chapter 19. this is at the end of the event with jesus and zacchaeus and zacchaeus repents and he turns and salvation comes to his house and it says this in luke 19 10 for the son of man came to seek and to save the lost that's the business that jesus is in he's in the salvation business he's in the business of seeking and saving the lost and if you have been adopted into the family of god what you also inherit is you inherit the family business you're going into the family business you're agreeing to also be about the same kind of business as god which is the business of seeking and saving the lost i love how eugene peterson puts it he says this speaking specifically about this parable from luke 19. he says in other words they were to carry on his business while he was gone continue doing what he himself would have been doing if he had been there working on his behalf taking initiative and using the knowledge and experience that they had acquired in the years of being associated with him as his servants to promote his interests i love that maybe a simple way for us to phrase that is just to ask the question what would jesus be doing if he was you and do that what would jesus be doing if he was you and and go ahead and live your life and do that it's really another way of saying kind of that that christian slogan that maybe you've seen before what would jesus do wwj d and one of the things that kind of hangs us up on that what would jesus do question is you know if you look at just uh the the gospels jesus is has a different uh life situation than so many of us uh jesus was never married he didn't have kids uh he didn't have a day job you know so for you're like what would jesus do i don't know like jesus would stay up all night in prayer but i've got little kids that wake up in the middle of the night right what would jesus do he would he would you know sleep on the side of the road and he would be a traveling rabbi because the son of man has no place to rest his head and you're like does that mean i'm not supposed to have a pillow like can i not sleep in a bed so that that question is not always super helpful we get hung up on that sometimes and just a rephrasing of that question is what would jesus do if he were you if he were you if jesus was a stay-at-home mom if jesus had a day job if jesus was retired you know if jesus was was living in your shoes if he had the resources the time all the stuff that you have available to you the the skills the abilities your experiences all of that sort of stuff how would he be using that stuff for his business knowing that his business is to seek and to save the loss and so some scholars have even gone as far as to stay that the minor because it's the same amount given to everyone represents the gospel and i think that that's a helpful way to interpret that as well that if you're a follower of jesus you're a servant of the king you've been entrusted with the gospel the good news of the gospel and now it's up to us to actually do something with that it's you know the good news of the gospel it is for our benefit but it's not for our benefit only for those of us who have received that salvation from god it's now up to us to do something he jesus is saying to you engage in business engage in business do something with the good news of the gospel that he's entrusted to us and what i love about you know this phrasing it from eugene peterson is this this isn't guesswork for the servants see the servants there's this whole backstory where the servants you know they've worked with the master as a nobleman for years and so there's been plenty of days where he hasn't been on you know the job site where he hasn't been there to specifically supervise but because they know his character they've spent time with him it's this process of being with jesus becoming like jesus and now they're able to do the kinds of things that jesus actually did and then what we see here is these faithful servants which we are really you know we want to be like the faithful servants they're rewarded but what are they rewarded with and this is kind of a little strange for us to think about they're rewarded with responsibility you know the the guy who uh gets 10 times as much you know out of the money that he's entrusted he he's given one money he gets 10 minus back uh he's given 10 cities to be in charge of and the one who makes five times as much he gets five cities and that's yeah we have to ask the question what does that mean you know do i have to be you know responsible for cities in heaven or how is that exactly going to work now we don't want to read too much into this metaphor because remember it's a parable it's heavily symbolic but i think one of the things that it really implies and teaches us is that work doesn't stop in heaven that heaven is not this you know retirement plan where you're just going to kick up your feet for all of attorney because that's to be honest that's actually incredibly boring you hear that from people who are retired they're like what am i going to do now to keep my hands busy i want to do something and the reason for that is because work is not a result of the fall you look at pre-genesis 3 god gave actually adam and eve responsibilities he gave them work to do because we are designed and we are created as human beings for a purpose there's a calling there's a purpose on your life one of the greatest joys in this world is actually to take on and say yes to the calling and the purpose that god has for you and so we will still work we'll have i don't know if we'll have like you know jobs in heaven but we will there there will be work to do we will continue to join god in the work of really ruling over the world we will get back to the work that we were always created for from the very beginning and to me that's exciting that's a beautiful thing it won't be a job or a work that you dread or is a bore or that you wish you could get you wish you could quit it's going to be the most life-giving and we know that right whenever you accomplish something or you finish a project and you look back and you're just like that's very good you know like god looking back on creation this is very good there's just something that that's ingrained in us we are image bearers of god and we are created for a calling and for a purpose and to do work so that's one of the beautiful implications of this but again not to not to go too far about you know literally ruling over cities i love what german theologian helmut thylek says about the rewards that god has for us because it's all different symbols and metaphors in the new testament for the rewards waiting for us in heaven this is what he says he says for heaven does not consist in what we shall receive whether this will be white robes and heavenly crowns or ambrosia and nectar but rather in what we shall become namely the companions of our king and i love that because really what is happening in this parable is the faithful servants are elevated to now they are they're not necessarily on equal playing field of the king because he is still the king right he's still ruling over but they're elevated and now they're companions of the king and they get to join him and partner with him in ruling over the world and i also think about peter because peter asked this question you know so what about the cost of following jesus what about the cost of you know everything we give up for the sake of the kingdom and what jesus says is in matthew chapter 19 he tells peter he promises him whatever you give up for the kingdom now you're going to receive back 100 times as much in the kingdom yet to come and so we don't want to get too focused on the rewards right we don't want to be doing things just for the rewards but in our lives we can be certain and guaranteed that that god sees even the things we do in secret that's why you don't have to have a selfie stick when you're doing works of righteousness because god sees even what you do in secret and he will ensure that we are rewarded for a life lived as a faithful servant let's go ahead and continue the story in luke 19 verse 20. what about another kind of servant says this then another came saying lord here is your miner which i kept laid away in a handkerchief for i was afraid of you because you are a severe man you take what you did not deposit and you reap what you did not sow and he said to him i will condemn you with your own words you wicked servant you knew i was that i was a severe man and taking what i did not deposit and reaping what i did not sow why then did you not put my money in the bank and at my coming i might have collected it with interest and he said to those who stood by take a minute from him and give it to the one who has 10 minus and they said to him lord he has 10 minus and i tell you that everyone who has more will be given but from the one who has not even what he has will be taken away here we have a different kind of servant we're going to call this other servant the fearful servant that's one of the words you used to describe him he says i was afraid of you right i was afraid of you because you are a severe man in matthew 25 jesus also calls this this this kind of servant the lazy servant right so the fear for the lazy servant i was afraid of you so i did what i did nothing i did nothing he he took the money he hid it away you know in this case it's with you know within a handkerchief and he kept it safe and he returned it but he didn't actually do anything so what is this man afraid of well he could be afraid of opposition remember there's those the citizens that are in the surrounding cities uh the citizens in the region where this man is reigning over they rejected him they rejected his kingship so this this servant could be fearful of them you know what if i try and uh go about my master's business for us what if we try and share the gospel what if we try and spread the kingdom of heaven on earth and what if we receive persecution for that what if you know they oppose jesus what if they oppose us and jesus promised in john 15 because the world has hated him the world will hate us when we go about the master's business so they could be afraid of opposition they could be afraid of failure you know what if they try you know what if the servant tries to to do the master's business but they just don't do very well you know what if they fail you know fear of failure is paralyzing for so many of us i howard marshall really i think hits the nail on the head we talked about what does this man say he's afraid of he says he's afraid of the master he says i was afraid of you this is what i howard marshall says it says the servant appears to have feared that he would get no return for his work and all the prophet would have been taken by the master at the same time he may have feared that if he incurred loss on the capital he would have to make it up for the master so he's afraid if i fail i'm gonna have to i'm gonna have to pay back the master out of my own pocket right and so he's using these excuses he's using these excuses as a means to say well that's why i didn't do anything and of course the king returns to settle his accounts and he says no that's not it at all in fact i'm going to use your own words against you see non-participation is the same thing as disobedience in god's kingdom it's the same thing in his eyes and maybe another term this is maybe another option that we could view this this fearful servant as is we could view him as a fake servant a fake servant that's someone who has all the external appearances of being a servant but he doesn't actually serve he doesn't actually obey the master uh you know we could we call ourselves followers of jesus right you know christian is just really a follower of jesus but what do you call a follower of jesus who doesn't follow jesus not a follower of jesus at all right a follower of jesus who doesn't follow jesus in their lives ever is not actually a follower of jesus so that's another option we could view this this the servant as maybe maybe what this servant is counting on is maybe he's counting on that delegation from the citizens of this world who hopefully we're going to you know overthrow that king's kingdom who are rejecting that king's kingdom maybe he's counting on the king not returning as a king at all maybe he's more influenced by the citizens of this world or the culture of this world maybe this servant is playing both sides of the field that he wants to on one hand you know be on the master's good side in case he comes back as king but then he actually wants to live his life selfishly and live his life for the kingdom of this world see jesus in matthew chapter 7 21 says it's not everyone who says lord lord will enter into the kingdom but only the one who does the will of his father and so the evidence of our faith the evidence of you know who is really the king of our lives is how do we live our life are we going to live our lives as faithful servants and that's really the fate that this fearful or this fake servant suffers is rejection and condemnation from the king well what of the fate of the citizens the citizens of this world there's one more verse here at the end of the parable in luke 19 verse 27 but as for the enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them bring them here and slaughter them before me yep you can read that twice you can you can see that verse and i know you know as i've read through this you know that word slaughter them just kind of jumps out at me and it's shocking and it's abrasive and to be honest you know this last bible verse it would be much easier for me to just skip it and to just not deal with this final bible verse and believe me it does not bring me any joy to talk about eternal punishment or to talk about hell but at the same time it would be it would be inaccurate it would be incomplete it would not be what god calls me to do as a preacher of the word to acknowledge that the person who taught the most about hell and punishment is jesus christ himself and so we have to take verses like this very seriously because this is what happens to the citizens of the world to those who reject god's kingship throughout their whole lives here in this present age they will continue to reject god's kingship in the age to come and in result they will also be rejected so here's the the the most simple way to say is this those who reject the king get rejected those who reject the king get rejected by the king when he returns once again i don't say this to try and scare you into becoming a christian or to try and manipulate you into becoming a follower of jesus but i do want you to take this very very seriously in revelation chapter 19 there's a different picture of jesus than you know the suffering servant or the lamb he's more like the lion in revelation 19 where jesus returns and he's riding on a war horse this time and he has a sword and he has come to judge the world and so when jesus returns it's not going to be good news for everyone because for those who have continued to live their lives in rejection of god's kingship they will be punished and they will meet their destruction and so for you i urge you if you have not responded to the gospel if you have not put your faith in jesus to take that decision incredibly seriously because the hour is now every day that we live our lives is one day closer either to the end of our lives or one day closer to jesus coming back and the good news of the gospel is that god himself doesn't take any joy in punishing those who are rejecting him in fact god does not long for any to perish but for all to come to repentance and in fact that's why that's why jesus hasn't returned yet so that more people can hear the good news of the gospel and can respond in faith and so i call on you today if you've never put your faith in jesus to respond to that message that god loves you so much and he sent his one and only son into this world to die for your sins on the cross and that pays the penalty that you deserve that i deserve that we deserve for our own sins and rebellion against god and jesus rose from the grave and now he can raise you up into a new life that's the grace and the mercy that god has for you but we receive god's grace by trusting jesus as our lord by saying jesus is lord and declaring that he is now the king of our lives now i want to invite you to make that decision of faith today today can be the day of salvation for you one resource you can look at the way that jesus invited us to to really declare our faith is a step called baptism you can watch our baptism 101 video course at hillcityboise.org baptism i would invite you if you've never been baptized to consider that to pray about that step to get baptized and to put your faith in jesus because when we do when our faith is in jesus the return of the king is one of the most beautiful things that we have to put our hope in and to look forward to so let's go ahead and read from revelation 21 not revelation 19 you know the judgment of the world revelation 21 this is what things will be like this is how the story ends revelation 21 1 and then i saw a new heaven and a new earth the first heaven and the first earth had passed away and the sea was no more and i saw the holy city new jerusalem coming down out of heaven from god prepared as a bride adorned for her husband and i heard a loud voice from the throne so god ultimately will be on the throne saying behold the dwelling place of god is with man and he will dwell with them and they will be his people and god himself will be with them as their god and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore for the former things have passed away and he who is seated on the throne said behold i am making all things new this is really how the story comes to its conclusion and in a sense in in comparison to eternity really the story just begins there and so for us our main idea for today is the old has to pass away for the new to come the old things the former things uh the sickness the mourning the death the evil the the hatred the sin in our own lives has to pass away for the new things to come for god to do that that work of redemption and renewal in our lives but it also means those who are in rebellion and rejection against god have to pass away and be cast out for god's kingdom to come and his will to be done for all of eternity and that's such good news for those who have a faith in jesus it means the worst nightmares the deepest heartaches the things that just wreck our souls here in this present age all of our worst nightmares will become untrue because god will make all things new and so one last circle to look at we've looked at the overlapping kingdoms but here's really where the story is going it's just one kingdom it's just heaven and earth fully re-united this is the new heavens the new earth or we can just say this is the kingdom yet to come this is what all followers of jesus have to look forward to this is the good news of the gospel we have a hope in heaven but you don't have to wait to actually experience the new thing that god has for you in christ jesus so we we have the now the not yet of the kingdom of heaven but even right now we can experience newness in christ this is what paul says in second corinthians 5 17 therefore if anyone is in christ he or she they are a new creation the old has passed away and behold the new has come and so the work that god does in us when the holy spirit comes to live and dwell within us is really a work of renewal it's that revelation 21 the first fruits of that right here right now in our lives and so today really what i want to i can ask you to consider to pray about to ask god to reveal to you is what is the new thing god is doing in you today what is the new thing god wants to do in you today maybe it's one of those good works that god is calling you to and it's a way to join him right here right now in the work of redemption and sharing the gospel and getting the good news out and inviting someone to church and sharing you know the online teaching and something god is calling you to do maybe the new thing that god is calling uh doing in you today is really a work of sanctification it's a freedom from sin it's not just the forgiveness that you're no longer guilty from sin it's actually a freedom there's been a sin that really you've struggled with for years maybe it's an addiction or just something that always consistently comes back maybe that's the new thing god wants to do in you today and you can experience the first fruits and the renewal and redemption of god's spirit maybe it's a fruit of the spirit it's something that god wants to grow in you he wants to give you supernatural joy or peace or or love or kindness and god wants to do a new thing in you today maybe god wants to reconcile a relationship in your life something that's been broken god wants to man so today this week consider that question what is the new thing god wants to do in you and start living the life of heaven on earth [Applause] [Music] you