Sermon
The Doctrine of the Kingdom of God - Part 7
The Battle Gear of the Kingdom - Part 4
March 13, 2004
Pastor Donald Sheley

Let's take our notes. I know that many of you or some of you may wonder why I am spending so much time on the doctrine of the kingdom of God. But I want you to know that once the truths begin to grip your heart and you understand what the kingdom truly is, you'll be a people that will appreciate your Christian faith in a far deeper and a more wonderful way. And as I have observed, it's a subject very infrequently covered within most pulpits. And so you folks who are sitting here today, and you have for a number of weeks, and you're getting what most people would call deep theology, but here again, it's imperative that we understand the truths of the Scripture. And when we have learned that the Bible could really have another name and that is 'The Coming of the Kingdom' and that we've learned that over 130 verses in the gospels alone refer to the kingdom of God, it's imperative that we understand the subject. That's why we're just slowly working our way through, and we have come to the portion in Ephesians chapter 6 because Paul refers to this whole matter of our wrestling and it's in relationship to the battle that goes on between evil and good, the battle that goes on in the heavenlies. And this is the way Paul talks about it:

"In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [be empowered through your union with Him]; draw your strength from Him [that strength which His boundless might provides].
Put on God's whole armor [the armor of a heavy-armed soldier which God supplies], that you may be able successfully to stand up against [all] the strategies and the deceits of the devil.
For we are not wrestling with flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the despotisms, against the powers, against [the master spirits who are] the world rulers of this present darkness in the heavenly (supernatural) sphere.
Therefore put on God's complete armor, that you may be able to resist and stand your ground on the evil day, [of danger], and having done all [the crisis demands], to stand [firmly in your place].
Stand therefore [hold your ground], having tightened the belt of truth around your loins and having put on the breastplate of integrity and of moral rectitude and right standing with God.
And having shod your feet in preparation [to face the enemy with the firm-footed stability, the promptness, and the readiness produced by the good news] of the Gospel of peace.
Lift up over all the [covering] shield of saving faith, upon which you can quench all the flaming missiles of the wicked [one].
And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit [the sword that the Spirit wields] which is the Word of God.
Pray at all times (on every occasion, in every season) in the Spirit, with all [manner of] prayer and entreaty.
To the end, keep alert and watch with strong purpose and perseverance, interceding in behalf of all the saints (God's consecrated people)."

Let's follow along just for a few paragraphs in our notes. The subject that we have been considering in recent weeks is the doctrine of the Kingdom of God. We have observed that it is an immense subject, in that over one hundred verses in the four Gospels refer to it. When we ask the Christian Church, "What is the Kingdom of God? When and how will it come? we receive a bewildering diversity of explanations. There are few themes so prominent in the Bible which have received such radically divergent interpretations as that of the Kingdom of God.

One interpretation suggests that the Kingdom of God has to do with the human spirit and its relationship to God. Others define Jesus' message of the Kingdom as an apocalyptic realm to be inaugurated by a supernatural act when God's history will be broken off and a new heavenly order of existence will begin. Another interpretation relates the Kingdom of God in one way or another to the Church. Since the days of Augustine, the Kingdom has been identified with the Church. Still others have understood the Kingdom of God to be essentially an ideal pattern for the human society.

The perplexing fact is that when we turn to the Scriptures, we find an almost equally bewildering diversity of statements about the Kingdom of God. You remember our first or second lesson we went through the book of Matthew and we noted all of the various verses that related to the kingdom, and when we finished, we realized that it touched on so many areas of life, so many areas of our faith.

Now there are some very obvious things that the Bible does say about the kingdom. The word of God does say that the kingdom of God is a present spiritual reality. Paul writes, "For the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." And righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit are the fruits that God bestows now upon those who yield their lives to the rule of His Spirit. They have to do with the deepest springs of the spiritual life, and this says the inspired apostle, is the Kingdom of God.

So Paul makes the definition very clear. He says the Kingdom of God is not material, it's not eating and drinking, but it has to do with spiritual life, a life that's filled with righteousness, peace, and joy as the spirit of God dwells within the believer.

Now at the same time, the Kingdom is an inheritance which God will bestow upon His people when Christ comes in glory. Matthew says, "Then the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, O blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."" Now another facet of Kingdom truth reflects the fact that the Kingdom is a realm into which the followers of Jesus Christ have entered already. Paul writes that God has delivered us from the dominion of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son.

Now this verse makes it very clear that the redeemed are already in the Kingdom of God. That's you and me, and the Bible is clear. As we have yielded our lives to the presence of God's spirit within us and peace and righteousness and joy reigns, we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness and we've been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son, so we're a part of the kingdom already.

Now it may of course be objected that we must distinguish between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Christ; but this seems impossible, for the Kingdom of God is also the Kingdom of Christ. Let's pause there for a moment. Now we've already learned that in the book of Matthew, Matthew constantly refers to the kingdom of heaven. We get into Mark, Luke and John and the reference is to the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Christ.

Now we've watched in the scripture verses that they can be exchanged back and forth so when you take them and set them down in the Scriptures the meaning is the same, the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Christ. But you say, well why do you emphasize that Pastor? Because there's one very strong theologian, and some of you have his Bible probably in your hands, who takes the position that the kingdom of heaven is something totally different than the kingdom of God. And thus he says that everything from Matthew 5 clear through to Acts 7 has nothing to do with this present age. In other words, he shifts everything that relates to the kingdom to the millennial kingdom on earth, and as a result wipes out all the gospels. One of their points is that there is a difference between the kingdom of heaven, they say, and the kingdom of Christ; but that's not true. When you lay them all down in the four gospels you'll find they are interchangeable back and forth. It's just simply a false teaching. But here is the problem we're running into when you talk about the kingdom of God or the kingdom of Christ, you have these various points of view.

Going back to our notes. The Bible is also clear when it announces that the Kingdom of God is a future realm in which we must enter. "Many will come from the east and the west and sit at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven." So there's something about the kingdom that commenced with Christ. All the believers are a part of that kingdom, but it will come to some dramatic and glorious consummation in the age to come. So it's something that has begun. It's the rule or the sovereignty of God throughout the church age and will ultimately come to some glorious conclusion at the end. That's why you have the reference of the kingdom in so many different tenses.

Now the future coming of the Kingdom will be attended with great glory. Jesus told of the day when the angels "will gather out of His kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father." So the very complexity of the Biblical teaching about the Kingdom of God is one of the reasons why such diverse interpretations have arisen in the history of theology. When we read the phrase 'The Kingdom of God' in the New Testament, it refers to the rank, the authority, and the sovereignty exercised by the King, King Jesus. Remember, we said the kingdom came with the King. When Jesus Christ came to this world 2000 years ago he came to set up his kingdom. "My kingdom is at hand."

When the phrase occurs in the New Testament, it always refers to Christ's reign, His rule, His sovereignty, in the hearts and lives of believers and His ultimate rule over all the earth when the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our Christ. So it's Christ's kingdom; his rule, his sovereignty in action from the time of his coming to the ultimate consummation of time when eternity begins.

"The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His kingdom rules over all." That comes from the Psalms. When we pray 'Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done' in the Lord's prayer, is a prayer or a petition for God to reign, to manifest His Kingly sovereignty and power, to put to flight every enemy of righteousness and of His divine rule, that God alone may be King over all the earth. It's prayed every day. It's prayed by millions of people. "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come..." What are we praying for? We're praying that God's mighty power and his rule will take over the lives of men and women and boys and girls, and ultimately they'll become his followers. We're praying for Christ and his kingdom to become supreme.

Now the kingdom of God is basically then the rule of God, His reign and His divine sovereignty in action. God's reign manifests itself both in the future and the present and thereby creates both a future realm and a present realm in which men may experience the blessings of His reign. Now I place that there because again, remember I told you that when you can back away from history and you realize that when God created man way back in the garden, he put him over the rule...He made him to be over the dominion of the earth. But when man fell he gave away that dominion to Satan. Now you have God ruling, but you have Satan who is the god of this world, and throughout the Old Testament you have the conflict that's there. We talked about the conflict between the seeds, the conflict that...Satan had one desire because the promise he made that God was going to correct that, he would send his seed and that seed would ultimately be from David. And the result was that you have the conflict that goes on in the Old Testament where Satan seeks to destroy the nation through which God is going to bring his delivery. Then when Jesus comes he invades the kingdom of Satan, and now that invasion creates the battle, because you and I as followers of Jesus Christ, having his kingdom within us, we're walking and we're living in a kingdom that's ruled by Satan because he's the god of this world, and that's why this great conflict is taking place. We strive for righteousness. We live in a world that's controlled by Satan and it's a world of sin. And so Paul says in his writing in Ephesians we're wrestling because the kingdoms are at war; the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Because Christ invaded the kingdom of Satan, and as a result, everyone that becomes a child of God is taken, snatched out of the hands of Satan and he gets angry. He's losing his kingdom

So as a result Paul says we're wrestling not against flesh and blood only, but against principalities, against powers, against wickedness in high places. Now one of the things that I think too soon we forget and that is that wickedness and sin is created by Satan himself, and I put that thought in there because there are a lot of people in our world today that think of evil as simply a force or an evil power, but they don't think of it in terms of the person. The Bible says very clearly that Satan is out; he goes around like a roaring lion seeking whom he made devour. We realize that when he left heaven he took many angels with him and those are the demons, and so our battle is a very personal battle. It's a battle against Satan and his entire army of evil spirits.

What I want to do now is skip over to page 6. Will you do that with me? because we want to get into this idea of the armor that God has said will make us victorious as we walk through Satan's territory. We're in enemy ground; we're in enemy territory and the battle is on, it's raging. Down in the middle of page 6 I mark -- Now we want to consider the fourth item. We've talked about in recent days the belt of truth. We talked about the breastplate of righteousness, and we talked about the feet being shod with the gospel of peace. Now we come to the fourth thing that Paul says it is absolutely imperative if we are going to win in this spiritual war of which we're involved in because we are part of God's kingdom and we're walking through Satan's kingdom and the battle is going on.

In verse 16 we read: "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Now there are several kinds of shields used by different armies in the Roman times, depending on the nature of the battle. And remember, Paul, most likely being chained to a Roman soldier, sees this soldier before him day and night and he begins to think as he sees that soldier with his various armament, and he makes the comparison to that kind of armament that in a spiritual sense that we as Christians need. So he says that we need the shield of faith.

Now there was a small round shield, curled on the edges, looking much like a giant frisbee. It was usually strapped to the left forearm of the soldier. It would be used to ward off the blows in the enemies' sword in hand-to-hand combat. This is not the shield though that Paul had in mind when he wrote this.

The other most common shield was a large shield about four and one-half feet by two and one-half feet. It was thick. It was heavy. It was called it a thureon. It was covered with either metal or leather. The metal would deflect the arrows, while the leather was treated to extinguish the fiery pitch of the arrows. And Paul is using this shield in describing the Christian armor. And the phrase 'above all' introduces three remaining pieces of armor. Now this does not mean that the shield of faith is more important than what we've already considered. Paul is using different verbs to introduce the last three pieces. In verse 14 he uses the verb 'having', having your loins girded with truth, having your feet shod with the sandals of peace, and having your breastplate on.

The verb 'having' implies permanence, something you always have on. Now Paul when he would sit beside those Roman soldiers chained to them he realized they always had their breastplate; they always had their feet shod with their sandals, and he realized these did not come off, they were on at all times. So he uses a verb 'having' to imply this is something that's permanent always on a soldier when he's prepared for battle.

These pieces of armor were always to be worn, but if there was a lull in the battle, the shield and the helmet and the sword might be laid aside. In other words, these were items that if the soldier isn't in immediate combat he lays aside; he takes off his helmet, sets down his shield and his spear. It's much like when you see the man come in off the playing field in football. He usually takes off his helmet and puts on another kind of cap and he designates himself now as one not involved in the battle.

The shield of faith, the helmet of salvation and the sword provided the double protection the soldier needed in offensive combat. Now the faith to which Paul refers here is not the body of Christian beliefs, but basic trust in God--the faith in Christ that appropriate salvation and continues to bring blessing and strength as it trusts Him for our daily provision. The substance of Christianity is believing that God exists and that He rewards those who seek Him; putting total trust in His Son as the crucified, buried, risen, and ascended Savior; obeying Scripture as His infallible and authoritative Word; and looking forward to the Lord's coming again.

Now let's pause for a moment and take our Bible. We want to talk about this whole issue of faith when Paul says I want you to take the shield of faith. Go with me to Hebrews chapter 11, because here we have the whole chapter is on faith. And look at what Paul writes here, Hebrews 11:1. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. Now here's the way it would read if we were reading with all of the shades of meaning in the Amplified. Here's what it says, NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].

Then drop down with me to verse 6. It says in our Bible, But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. In the Amplified it reads, But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].

Now let's stop there for a moment. I suggested in our notes that Paul moves beyond the basic truths of our Christian faith which we accept when we come to Christ. When we came into our faith we first of all acknowledged, realizing that we were sinners, that Jesus Christ died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins; these were the basis for our faith, that on that cross the penalty was paid, the blood was shed, and because what Jesus did for us we have one who can forgive us and cleanse us. Those are basic elements of our Christian faith. That's imperative that those be a part of that moment when we come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

But Paul is thinking of something far different, I think, in terms when he says the shield of faith. It rises above the general tenants of our faith, and what Paul is saying is that faith that's going to ward off the enemy and going to give us victory in the spiritual battle is a knowledge of God himself. Now look back at the Hebrews passage. For by it the elders obtained a good testimony, verse 2. Verse 3, By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, "and was not found, because God had taken him"; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. So without faith it's impossible to please him for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Paul says that faith is built on knowledge. We oft times put faith out there as something that you can not really begin to define. But remember, Paul said, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

In the writing of Hebrews it says faith is based upon a knowledge of who God is, and the basic...His character that He will rewards those who diligently seek Him. I believe that what Paul is talking about that when we become Christians there is the solemn obligation that's placed upon all of us to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. That is, we are to get to know God in a very wonderful way that we begin to recognize His mighty power, His glory, His majesty, His awesomeness, in other words, we come to know God in a very deep and wonderful way.

Now there's a wonderful book that some of you have read and I've suggested it many times, it's one of the great classics of our time. It's J. I. Packer's book entitled 'Knowing God'. And in one of those chapters the great theologian says that the person who knows God there are four things that are going to be characteristic of their life.

First of all...And he takes his passage from the book of Daniel chapter 11 verse 32. And this is what it says, "the people that know their God shall be strong, and do exploits". Another translation, "the people who know their God shall stand firm, and take action". So that shield of faith with which Paul is talking about is a knowledge of God that's deep and broad and personal where you have come to know Him in a way far beyond that moment when you met Him at the cross. He becomes someone so glory, someone so powerful, so mighty. It's getting to know God.

It's one of the challenges we have and that I have as your pastor to help you come to know God better each day. Those who know their God are sensitive to situations in which God's truth and honor our being directly or passively jeopardized, and rather than let the matter go by default will force the issue on men's attention and seek thereby to compel a change of heart about it -- a personal risk. People who know their God are before anything else people of prayer. I believe with all of my heart, folks, that you never get to know God unless you become a person devoted to the reading of the Scriptures and spending much time in prayer. When He becomes so personal and through the knowledge of His word and as the Scriptures reveal Him, He becomes your mighty God.

This is what made David, I believe, the man of God that he was. He spent so much time with God. He reverenced God. He worshiped God. He was awed by His power and His might and His majesty, and that knowledge of God is the shield. When we know that our faith is placed in God Almighty, the God who controls the universe, the God who can do anything that He desires...faith always has to have an object, and the object for the Christian is God.

Sadly in our world today there are some preaching you must have faith in faith. That is heresy! You have all of these people running around talking on television you've got to have faith in faith. No you don't, that's the last thing you put faith in. You put faith in God. God is the object of our faith and to put faith in God you have to know Him. You know and I know that in building relationships it often takes time and it takes experience, and sometimes transactions and sometimes long conversations until you really get to know that person so that you can really trust them. Some of us are much more cautious than others, but it takes time for that person who's going to be the object of our trust for you to get to know them so that you can trust them with anything. It's the same way with God. We must be people of prayer, people of the word, getting to know God and when you get to know God here's what J. I. Packer says, people who know their God have great energy for God.

Now he goes on to say those who know their God have great thoughts about God. In the book of Daniel and in the prayers of Daniel we are told about the wisdom, the might, the truth of the great God who rules history and shows His sovereignty in acts of judgment and mercy. God knows and He foreknows all things. He therefore will have the last word both in the world of history and in the destiny of every man. His kingdom and His righteousness will triumph in the end. And thus he says when we really get to know God and the object of our faith is solidified in our mind and we've had this personal time with Him, not only will we have great energy for Him but we'll have great thoughts about Him.

Then he goes on. When you listen to Daniel pray you'll see what I mean. He says, Praise be to the name of God for ever and ever; wisdom and power are his. He changes times and seasons; he sets up kings and he deposes them. He gives wisdom. He knows what lies in the darkness, and the light dwells with him. O Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of love with all those who love him and obey his commands. Lord you are righteous. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving. The Lord our God is righteous in everything that he does.

When you sit and read the prayers of Daniel, and his whole book is filled with them, you sense a man who has this tremendous confidence in a God that has revealed himself to Daniel and Daniel worships Him. Now, Paul's thought is this, if our relationship with God is one that's growing deeper and deeper every day. our faith will be getting stronger and stronger because we know the object of our faith, and then when Satan comes along with his fiery darts all we do is turn our hearts towards the God who can take care of every situation, and Paul uses the idea of those flaming missiles.

Now in those days what they did is they had arrows and then they would take cloth and they would soak the cloth in pitch and then they would wrap the arrow right behind the spear, and then just before they would shoot it they would light that cloth afire with the pitch in it and it was a fiery missile. And when it hit it would either burn the clothes or burn the individual, and so the shield was that shield that was a large one that whenever that fiery dart started coming to soldier just threw up his shield.

Paul's thinking is this, if my heart is fixed in God and I know Him personally and I'm daily getting to know Him better and He's become the awesome wonderful person in my life, no matter what Satan does to try to trip us up our strength is going to be found in the object of our faith, in God himself. And the reason why I believe many Christians lose in the battle is because they have such a weak relationship, such a limited knowledge of Almighty God. Getting to know God, spending time with Him in His word, letting Him work in your heart and life, that faith then in Him, the object, grows and becomes our defense.

You know, it's just like if you got faith in say an institution, whenever that might be, you've grown to know that institution, you've grown to put confidence in it, and you know simply nothing is going to shatter that institution because you know the strength. Paul is saying look at, if you're going to ward off Satan, if you're going to turn off those missiles you've got to know God, really kept him. And so many of us spent so little time with Him we really don't know Him, and yet He yearns for our love and for our fellowship.

There's another thing -- those who know God show great boldness for God. When you think of Daniel and his men, Meshack, Shadrack, and Abendigo, they knew God. When they are threatened, they are not going to bow down. They simply sent word back to the king, we're not going to bow down our God can deliver us, but if he doesn't it's not going to make any difference anyway. And God did deliver them. They were thrown into the fiery furnace, and all night long the king cannot sleep. They had their faith in God. The next morning not even the smell of smoke was on them. And when the old king looked in there he saw four instead of three, one like unto the son of man.

I have a song that I play. A little boy is being told by his mother is the story of Shadrack and Meshack and it says, you know, there were four. Three came out but what happened to the fourth man? And the song goes on to say he's still in the fire. And he is. The idea is when we get thrown into times of great difficulty he's still in the fire and he'll be there to protect us. They knew God. Old Daniel cannot pray they said. Daniel said I'll pray anyway. He prayed and they threw him in the lion's den. Those who really know God, those who understand his power and his love and his majesty and his greatness are going to have great boldness for God.

So here's our lesson - Paul said yes, we are children of the kingdom and the kingdom of God rules within us, but we're walking through enemy territory because Satan is the king and the power of the darkness around us. The battle will rage but never forget the object of your faith is Almighty God who controls the heavens, who controls the universe, who controls history and will wrap it all up someday! He's our God and we are on his side, and we are going to win and Satan is going to lose. Those are the facts and with that faith we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us. Amen? O that we get to know Him in a much deeper way.

Father, thank you for Your word tonight, and our prayer is that we might come to know You even in a deeper more wonderful way; the object of our faith, the one who created the universe, the one who watches over us is our wonderful heavenly Father; the one who can do all things, the one who will finish up history. God may we know You in such a glorious way and such a confidence in You that we do not falter when Satan throws his fiery missiles at us. Help us to get to know You better.

And my prayer is, Lord Jesus, that here in our church may I as the pastor encourage and lead our people into a greater knowledge of You; one who we can serve, who we can worship, who we can love, who we can trust, one with whom we can have fellowship, one with whom we can know that You hold us in the hollow of your hand. Help us to get to know You better, Almighty God. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. God bless you folks. God bless you.