Sermon | Kim Miller

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Transcript

Being Part Of The Kingdom

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You may be seated. God is good all the time. For some reason, my heart's pounding a little harder this morning than normal. But that's good. Good for us. As I was thinking about what to um preach about this morning, the kingdom of heaven came to mind. And so my title this morning is Being a Part of the Kingdom of Heaven. Joe and James, you guys didn't know it, but you've laid a tremendous foundation for the sermon. Just in being servants, denying self, and basically serving out of heart of humility. In whatever capacity we find ourselves, being a part of the kingdom is just simply being a servant and loving God. So we're going to be looking into uh Luke chapter 13 and probably getting into chapter 14 as well. So if you want to turn with me to Luke chapter 13, we're going to do it a little different. We're just simply going to read through and as we go make comments. I told my sons it might be a long devotions this morning, but hopefully we can see what Jesus was teaching here. Jesus was teaching the Pharisees what the kingdom of heaven looks like. And they were blind to that and were more concerned about their looks, how they're appeared to the public, about their rules, not having anything against rules or anything like that, but they were, it was more important to them to hold their rules and what they thought was righteous than even being compassionate about other people. So look Luke chapter 13. I'm just gonna read from the beginning here in verse 1.

Repentance Over Heritage

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Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans who whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you too, you too will also perish. Or these eight, or those eighteen who died when the Tower of Saloon fell on them. Do you think they were more guilty than the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you no, but unless you repent, you too will perish. Just bringing out in the in the in the Pharisees here, a lot of people thought just because they were descendants from the right family, that that automatically put them in the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus is telling them here, no, you're responsible for your own souls and your relationship with me. God is bringing out here how he values our soul. We are precious. John 3 16, as we all know, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have the everlasting life.

The Fruitless Fig Tree Warning

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Going on to Luke verse 6, then he told his parable. Um, then he told this parable, and this is the parable about the fruit tree, and it's symbolic of godly living. Then he told this parable, a man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but he did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down. Why should it why should it use up m up the soil? Sir, the man replied, leave it alone for one more year and I will dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine. If not, then cut it down. And I think, James, you you love fruit trees, and I'm sure you wouldn't have too much patience with a fruit tree in your orchard that wouldn't bear fruit. You would probably just cut it down, right? And that's if we have a tree that dies, even just looking ugly, what do we do? We cut it down. So they were they were just bringing out here a comparison to to how God looks at so-called Christians who are not fruitful in the kingdom of God. Yes, he is patient with us, but there will come become a time where God just cuts us off. And we see in in Luke chapter three, let's turn to uh Luke chapter three, we see John the Baptist has a version of value of what's valuable to the kingdom of heaven. Luke chapter three.

John The Baptist On True Fruit

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Starting at verse seven. So this is John the Baptist. John said to the crowds, coming out to be baptized by him, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, We have Abraham as our father, as I had indicated earlier. The Pharisees thought, they're Abraham's descendants, so they're in the kingdom of God. We have Abraham as our father, for I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. What shall we do then? The crowd asked. John answered, The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same. Tax collectors also came to be baptized. Teacher, they asked, What should we do? Tax collectors didn't have a good reputation. Don't collect any more money. Don't collect any more than you are required to, he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, What should we do? He replied, Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely. Be content with your pay. The people were waiting expect expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. John answered them all, I baptize you with water, but more powerful than I but more far powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I will not w I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His widowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat in his barn, but he will burn up the shaft with un with unquenchable fire. And with many other words John exhorted the people and preached the good news to them. John just bringing out again what Jesus was saying, how he would cut down the fruit tree. John is saying, people in the kingdom of God that aren't fruitful are just like that dry shaft, and God will just simply destroy it. The fruit, the wheat, is what is valuable. Going back to chapter 13 again, the one I keep going here. Here it's verses 10 through 17. Religious leaders had heard had hard times, had a hard time seeing past the law. Rather than being compassionate, they were too concerned about holding up the law that they thought was righteous. Starting in verse 10, on it on a Sabbath, Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there and had been crippled by a spirit for 18 years. Now let's notice that it says crippled by a spirit. So she had a health issue that had a spirit involved with it. For 18 years she went, she was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, Woman, you are set free from your infirmity. Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue rulers said to the people, There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath. They couldn't rejoice with this woman that was that was set free from 18 years of infirmity here, or she had a health issue. Jesus was all powerful here. Rather, they were like, do this on another day, not on the Sabbath. They couldn't have compassion. The Lord answered him, You hypocrites, doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her. When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated. But the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing. They didn't make the connection here that this woman was bound spiritually. But when they saw, when Jesus brought it out to them, what really happened, this woman gained freedom, and now she is set free, they were humiliated because they saw their lack of compassion.

Compassion Over Rule-Keeping

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I just had to think of ourselves. Sometimes it's easy for myself to be more concerned about myself than others, not having the compassion I should have towards others. Let's keep moving on here in verse 18. Here Jesus is bringing out the egg talking about what the kingdom of God. You know, the the expectations from the Pharisees was that this kingdom of God will be coming as a king. He did they didn't expect it to be coming through a baby like it came, and they were still missing the point of Jesus being the Messiah. So here we see Jesus is teaching them about what the kingdom of God and how it will how it is. Then said Jesus. Then Jesus asked, What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? It is like he was asking them that question. It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches. A mustard seed. I'm not so familiar with a mustard seed, but it is just a small seed, I believe. But it grew very fast. Again, he said, What shall I compare the kingdom of God to? It is like a it is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough. What he's bringing out here is Jesus came as a baby. The kingdom of God, it started very small here, and it but it's gonna consume the whole world. It's gonna overtake the world someday, and they weren't they weren't seeing that. Someday all every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is Lord, but it will consume the world. Moving on to verse 22 and 23, here we see Jesus

Mustard Seed And Yeast Parables

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is on his way to Jerusalem while he's preaching and knowing that uh he will be killed in Jerusalem. But Jesus, even though he knew that he kept on going, he wasn't just thinking about what he was gonna face, he was concerned about people and and telling people about the kingdom. Then Jesus went through the towns and villages teaching as he made his way to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, Lord, are only a few people going to be saved? Going on into verse 24 and 25, he said to them, Make every effort to enter through the narrow gate, through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, Sir, open the door for us. But he will answer, I don't know you, or where you come from. Then you will say, We ate and drank with you and you taught in our streets, but he will reply, I don't know you, or where you come from. Away away from me, all you evildoers. Verse 28, there will be weeping, weeping there and gnashing of teeth. When you see Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourself thrown out. People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God. Indeed, there are those who are last, who are last, who will be first and first, who will be last. Jesus was just bringing out to the Pharisees who will be in the kingdom of God, who will be saved. I'm just gonna read the commentary here of what of the commentary says. The kingdom of God will not necessarily be populated with people who expect to find, who we expect to find there. There will be some surprises, I guess. You know, we have our we

The Narrow Door And Surprises

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have our Jesus bringing out here. It's not how it looks on the outside on people. We will be surprised. There's some people that we won't expect to see in in heaven. Some perfectly respectable religious leaders claiming allegiance to Jesus will not be there because secretly they were morally corrupt. In verse 27, the people were eager to know who would be in God's kingdom, but Jesus explained that although many people know something about God, only if you have acknowledged their sins and accepted his forgiveness, just listening to Jesus' words or admiring his miracles is not enough. We must turn from our sins and trust in God to be saved. And then in 29, it says in the commentary, God's kingdom will include people from every part of the world. Israel's rejection of Jesus as Messiah would not stop God's plan. True Israel includes all people who believe in God. This was an important factor for Luke to stress as he was directing the gospel to the Gentile audience. And we see here, Jesus shook the religious, the Pharisees' world here, and who the kingdom of God was for. It was not just for the for the religious people that were trying to for the Jews here. And they were he was saying, it is for all. People will come from all corners of the world. There will be from all corners of the world is who the kingdom of God is for. Let's keep moving here in verse 31. At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and said to him, Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you. He replied, Go tell that fox, I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal. In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day, for surely no prophet can die outside of Jerusalem. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. Here we see Jesus was Jesus was kind of um it was dear to his heart. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you. How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing. Jesus longed for them to know, to see who the kingdom of God was for. But they were just so stiff-necked. And we see they were telling him Herod wants to kill you, but they

Lament Over Jerusalem

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really, I think they were kind of tired of him. I think they were ready to get Jesus out of there. And that's how that's I believe why they were telling him that Jared was uh Herod was gonna kill, kill you. Verse 35 Look, our house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. We're just gonna go right into uh chapter 14. We're just gonna read through chapter 14 yet. But here we see it brings us down, it brings it to our to how we look at. Um, how do I want to say, what does it take to be a part of the kingdom of God? This really brings it home to each one of us in chapter 14 of what the kingdom of God looks like to be a part of it. Here again, we see right at first on chapter 14, verse 1. Jesus is healing on the Sabbath again. He's really pressing a point here. On the one Sabbath, when

Healing At A Pharisee’s House

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Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, it doesn't give him his give him uh give the name here, he was being carefully watched. There in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. Dropsy was, I guess, a um it was a medical condition here. Let me just read it here, of retaining a lot of fluids, I guess. And uh it must have been probably not a very, I don't know, to me it doesn't seem like it would have been a very pleasant sight. But here we see there was a man who was suffering from dropsy. Jesus asked the Pharisees and experts in the law, is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath or not? But they remained silent. So taking hold of the man, he healed him and sent him away. Then he asked them, If one of you has his son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out? And they had nothing to say. I don't know whether they're trying to start to think here or what, but they just remain silent. Jesus was pressing a point. It is better to do good than to how do I want to say? It's easy for us to um, I guess the question I should ask is in our lives, what's keeping us? Do we have things in our life that is keeping us from reaching out and doing good to others? What is holding us back? Keeping moving on in chapter in verse 7 here, this is talking about humanity. Humility in the kingdom of God. When he noticed how the

Choosing The Low Seat

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guests, now here we are still at the Pharisee's house, I guess there were more guests there. And they were coming in. And Jesus noticed how they were taking their place at the table. When he noticed how the guests picked the places of honor at the table, he told them this parable. When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor. For a person more distinguished than you may have been may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, Give this man your seat. Then humiliate it, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place. So that when your host comes, he will say to you, Friend, move up to a better place. Then you who will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests, for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Then Jesus said to his host, When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors. If you do, they will invite you back, and so you will be replayed, repaid. So Jesus is bringing out here of what it takes, what is expected of us here in working in the kingdom of God. Let's keep moving here. He says, Don't just do good to your friends, for you know you will be repaid. But he says, But when you give a banquet, or when you do things to others for others, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. This this struck me here when I looked at

Invite Those Who Cannot Repay

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this. Why are people poor? I have a tendency at looking at poor people and say, Well, it's the choices you made. Maybe it's the opp I get it. There's people that don't have opportunities like we do. But it doesn't say here, give to the poor. That is a result of where they come from. It doesn't say who, what kind of poor. It just says poor. That was a challenge to me. In other words, when you do something for others, don't expect to be repaid. Do it out of humility. Invite the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. Moving on to the next part. Talking about the invitation. When one of those at the table with him heard this, and one of my concerns this morning is if you rush through a little bit of a study, that you take things out of context. So if I do that, please let me know. I don't want to take things out of context this morning. When he noticed how the guests picked the place of honor at the table, he told them this parable. I'm sorry, I read that. Let's go to 15. When one of those at the table with him heard this, he said to Jesus, Blessed is the man who will eat of the feast in the kingdom of God. Jesus replied, A certain man was rep preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited.

The Great Banquet And Excuses

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So there's two ways, I think, here for this feast. My understanding is he's saying there was an invitation sent out, or there was a time that we let you know when this will be. You know how you do, you plan a Christmas banquet or whatever. You send out a time, but then you send out a reminder. Okay, now you can come. Now it's the time to come and eat. So this would have been probably the second, the second invitation. Jesus replied, A certain man was preparing a great banquet and invited many guests. At the time of the banquet, he sent his servant to tell those who who had been invited, come, for everything is now ready. But they all alike began to make excuses. And this is where I don't want to take it out of context. Number one, this can be an invitation for Jesus for those who don't know Christ, for lost souls, to to come and invite and accept Jesus Christ into their hearts. But it can, I believe we can also take it as being called to go do something. Or what are we called to? But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said, I have just bought a field. I must go and see it. Please excuse me. Another said, I have just bought five yoke of oxen, and I'm on my way to try them out. Please excuse me. Still another said, I just got married, so I can't come. Verse 21. The servant came back and reported this to his master. Then the owner of the house became angry and ordered his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame. Sir, the servant said, What you ordered has been done, but there is still room. Then the master told his servant, Go out to the roads and country lanes, and make them come in, so that my house will be full, I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet. I don't know, is this what the

Counting The Cost Of Discipleship

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scripture is saying, but I picture Jesus as a master here and talking to us to go out and invite others to the banquet. Is Jesus telling you, hey, be more vocal for me? There's still plenty of room at my table. There's still plenty of room at the banquet here. But you might tell them, hey, I've been doing that already. I don't care, Jesus says. You keep going. You keep going out. I still have lots of room. I tell you, not one of those men who were invited will get a taste of my banquet. Next portion here it teaches about the cost of being a part of the kingdom. Verse 25. Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said, If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, yes, even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. Suppose one of you wants to build a tower, will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see? If he has enough money to complete it? Or if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, This fellow began to build and was not able to finish. Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another, will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with 10,000 men to oppose the one coming against him with 20,000? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, any of any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple. Salt is good, but if it loses its salt in us, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear. This goes a little bit in line with what we were talking about last week about preparing for 2026. What is God asking of you in 2026? Are we willing? Are we counting the costs? Are we willing to take, to be, to do what it takes, what Jesus is asking of us? I think people that profess to be Christians, and I'm not trying to put anybody on a guilt trip here, because I do know there's people, and I was one of them when I was young. I was a very, I could go on guild trips, put it that way, to keep it simple. I had a brother the same way. No, it wasn't Sean, it was another brother, that uh yeah, I could easily be taken on guilt trip. So I'm I don't want anyone to go on a guild trip this morning. But when but what I'm trying to say is when we are called to do things, when you sense whatever it might be, and we don't do it, that's when we as that's when Jesus, we become a sore taste in Jesus' mouth. And we become of no use to him.

Saltiness, Encouragement, And Prayer

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Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? We talked about the fruit tree that Jesus, about the fruit tree that was that he cuts out. If it if he has some, if if there's if there's a fruit tree in the orchard that doesn't produce fruit, it gets cut off. And Jesus used that analogy. If we profess to be a Christian and but there is no fruit, then then then Jesus gets very. I think somewhere in scripture it says it's it's a bitter taste in his mouth. So that's my encouragement this morning. And Joe, I don't know, would you is Joe in is he out? Oh, there he is. Yeah. Would you mind leaving that song again? That that new song that you led this morning? Would you mind leaving that? That's a great song. Um, if you don't mind, we're just gonna be closing here shortly to come up and leave that after I'm done here. Um so I guess my encouragement to you, and I'm not trying to please don't take, as you know, I'm not used to these things. I take them in, and I don't know is it bothering you, but these things bother me a little bit. But what I'm trying to tell you this morning, I'm don't take it as a scolding. I'm trying to do this as an encouragement to all of you. The last thing I want to do is scold people. But we can all take encouragement to to deny self, to um, and I don't sense this in anyone here, working out of pride. But the kingdom of God, it's working out of humility, denying self only because of Him. It's all about Jesus, all about Jesus, and if we can go through life in light of that, you will be, we all will be rivers of water flowing over, giving people fresh water. And the dry land will experience the fruit that comes from our lives because of Jesus. Let's bow for a word of prayer. God, we just want to thank you for the encouragement that the scripture gives us in counting the cost and being willing to do what it takes to serve you, to be in service for you, to build your kingdom. Father, the banquet is still not closed, it's still open. I just pray that we could be those who are inviting people to you, that we could all one day be feasting in that banquet with you, Lord. We just thank you for each one in this room. Thank you for all the gifts that are in this room, Father. I just pray that we could use these gifts, John, and glorify you in Jesus' name. Amen.