Why did you Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nyberg. In Mark chapter 1, these are
the words of our Lord when He began His public ministry. We
read in verse 14, Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus
came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of
God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God. is at hand. Repent ye and believe
the gospel. My question for this morning
is, what is the kingdom of God? He came preaching the kingdom
of God and saying the kingdom of God is at hand. What is the
kingdom of God? In Romans chapter 14, verse 17, The Apostle Paul gives a very
clear answer to that question as to what the kingdom of God
is. He tells us what it's not and what it is. Let me read this
17th verse of Romans chapter 14. For the kingdom of God is
not meat and drink, but righteousness. and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. Now, when the Lord came announcing
his preaching of the kingdom of God, he didn't say he was
the founder of a new religion. He didn't say that he was bringing
Christianity into existence. He is the king of the kingdom
of God. How old is the kingdom of God?
However old he is, now unto the king eternal. The Lord Jesus
Christ was not the founder of a new religion. He was not the
founder of Christianity. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
king of the eternal kingdom of God. When our Lord was crucified,
you remember what was put over his head on the cross? Written
in Latin and Greek and Hebrew. Latin, the language of the educated. Hebrew, the language of the religious. Greek, the religion of the common
man. And they all had the same message,
Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews. This was the accusation
brought against him that he was the king. There are well over
a hundred references to the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven,
which I believe is the same thing in the New Testament, and it
would behoove us to know what the kingdom of God is. He came
preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. His message was the kingdom
of God is at hand. repent and believe the gospel. Now, that verse of scripture
in Romans chapter 14 tells us in such clear language what the
kingdom of God is not and what the kingdom of God is. What it's
not, it's not meat and drink. It's not in external behavior. What is it? He gives us three
words of infinite importance. The kingdom of God is righteousness. The kingdom of God is peace. And the kingdom of God is joy
in the Holy Ghost. Now, why did he tell us what
the kingdom of God is not? Well, let's look at it in its
context, beginning in verse 14. Paul says, I know and am persuaded
by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself. All Jewish dietary laws have
been abolished. It's now okay for me to eat pork
chops and sausage and bacon. There's nothing unclean of itself. He goes on to say, but to him
that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. If in your heart you believe
something to be a sin, And you do it even though it's not a
sin to eat pork. But if you believe it's a sin
to eat pork and you eat pork, to you it is a sin. To him that esteemeth anything
to be unclean, to him it is unclean. There's nothing wrong with drinking
alcohol. The Lord drank wine. It's not
a sin to drink alcohol. But if you believe it to be a
sin, for you it is a sin. Whatever you esteem to be unclean,
is unclean to you now Paul goes on to say in verse fifteen but
if thy brother be grieved with thy meat now walkest thou not
charitably destroy not him with thy meat for whom Christ died
now if your brother believes it to be sinful to eat pork or
to drink alcohol then when you're around him you ought to abstain
from it If he's grieved with you, if he thinks, well, they're
sinning and doing that, you're not to say, well, that's their
problem, because they're wrong, I'm right, I'm going to go ahead
and do what I want to do. You can have that attitude, but it's
not walking in charity. It's not walking in love towards
your brother. You should abstain around your
brother is what he's saying, because he's grieved by it. Then
Paul goes on to say in verse 16, let not your good be evil
spoken of, though you understand that there's nothing wrong with
eating or drinking. You understand that there's nothing
unclean of itself. That sin is not in things. It
comes from the heart. You understand that. Let not
your good be evil spoken of. Don't let anyone say regarding
you why he's just some kind of libertine who feels like it's
okay to sin. And then he says both to the
weak brother and to the strong brother, for the kingdom of God
is not meat and drink. The kingdom of God is not about
what you eat. It's not about what you drink.
It's not about externals. Somebody says, I would never
eat pork. Good. Don't eat it. Someone says,
I would never touch alcohol. Good for you. Don't touch it.
Someone else says, well, I realize I have the liberty to eat whatever
I want. There's nothing unclean of itself. Good for you. Enjoy
what you eat. Somebody says, I know there's
nothing wrong with me drinking wine or partaking in some kind
of alcohol. I know drunkenness is wrong,
but there's nothing wrong with drinking alcohol. Well, good
for you. Enjoy it. But understand this.
The kingdom of God is not about meat or drink. It's not about
what you eat or don't eat. It's not about what you drink
or don't drink. It has nothing to do with these
externals. Here is what the kingdom of God
is made of. The kingdom of God is righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And he goes on to say
in verse 18, Now, I have three points to this message. The kingdom
of God in Christ is righteousness. and peace and joy in the Holy
Ghost. The kingdom of God from Christ
is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And the
kingdom of God with Christ is righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost. And the first point is the kingdom
of God in Christ. is righteousness and peace and
joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, this is the righteousness
that comes from Christ's justifying work on the cross. The Scripture
says he was delivered for our offenses and raised again for
our justification. Now, an understanding of justification
is essential in understanding the Gospel. And if I understand
justification, I have an understanding of the character of God. I have
an understanding of His attributes, His holiness, His righteousness,
His faithfulness to do what He said He would do, how He cannot
let sin go unpunished. I have an understanding of God
Himself, a heart understanding of God Himself if I have a heart
understanding of this thing of justification. Now, what does
justification mean? Judge declares you justified,
that means you're not guilty. That means you didn't do anything
wrong. That means you stand without
guilt before God. Having been justified. By faith we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in Romans chapter 1, verses
16 and 17, remember the justifying righteousness of Christ is what
he's talking about, the righteousness given to the believer. In Romans
1, 16 and 17, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of
Christ, for it is the power of God and the salvation to everyone
that believeth. to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein, in the gospel, is the righteousness
of God revealed." Now, remember, the kingdom of God is righteousness. This is talking about the righteousness
of God being revealed. Now, if you ask the average person,
the average religious person, what does the gospel reveal about
God? What would 99% of people say?
Love. God is love. And that's a true
statement. God is love. But that's not the
word Paul used to describe what the Gospel reveals. He says the
Gospel reveals the righteousness of God. The righteousness of
God. Now, I'd like to read a passage
of Scripture from Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 1. Brethren,
my heart's desire The prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Two things on the very surface
of this. They were not saved and Paul
desired them to be saved. He says in verse 2, For I bear
them record, they have a zeal of God. And this is the God of
the Bible he's talking about. They're very zealous, very sincere.
in their religion, very sincere, very zealous, but not according
to knowledge. And here is what they are ignorant
of, what they don't know, for they being ignorant of God's
righteousness. Now, what is the sign that you're
ignorant of God's righteousness? This is a sure-tale sign. for
they being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about
to establish their own righteousness." Now, if you're ignorant of God's
righteousness, you think you can do something that he can
be pleased with. You think you can do something
that he can accept. You think you can do something
that will contribute to your salvation. It's called going
about to establish your own righteousness. If any aspect of salvation is
dependent upon you doing anything, you're going about to establish
your own righteousness, right down to an act of your free will.
If you think that your salvation is dependent upon your free will,
your choice, your reception, it's dependent upon you doing
this, You're going about to establish your own righteousness. Now,
anyone who's ignorant of God's righteousness thinks that God
can accept something they did. Let's go on reading. For they,
being ignorant of God's righteousness and going about to establish
their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto
the righteousness of God. They've not submitted themselves
to his righteousness in their damnation. Would God be righteous? if he let you go to hell and
never did anything for you? Well, he would, whether you know
it or not. He would be righteous in my damnation. If he sent me
to hell without ever giving me mercy, I would be getting exactly
what I deserve. And they've not submitted themselves
to his righteousness and salvation. You see, if I'm saved, I'm saved
by the righteousness of Jesus Christ being imputed to me and
becoming my own personal righteousness. I submit to him getting all the
glory, him getting all the glory in this justifying righteousness
that he gives every believer and they're declared righteous
in God's sight. Now, how does this work? Well,
2 Corinthians 5.21 tells us, For he hath made him to be sin
for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in him. And now, because I have the righteousness
of God, God is at peace with me. He does not have anything
to be angry with me about. But don't you still sin? Are
you a sinner? I have the righteousness of Christ.
Yes, I still sin. Yes, I'm a sinner. And I can't
wait to die till I won't sin anymore. But when God sees every
believer, he sees them as perfectly righteous. And the way God sees
things is the way things really are. Every believer, their sins
were given to Christ. He was made sin. He became guilty
of those sins. Now, he didn't die innocent.
He died guilty. When my sins became his sins,
he was guilty of them, and he paid the price. And his righteousness,
his perfect righteousness that I didn't have any part of, he
gave it to me. It becomes mine. Just as truly
as my sin became his, his righteousness becomes mine, and God is at peace
with me. Peace on earth, goodwill toward
men is what the angels had to say. Because of Christ coming
into this world, the kingdom of God is righteousness, God's
righteousness that every believer has in the Lord Jesus Christ.
And peace, the peace that God has with me because he doesn't
have anything to be mad at. I'm justified. And the joy God
derives out of saving his people. He will rejoice over you with
singing, the Scripture says. The joy of the Lord is our strength,
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising
the shame that was set down at the right hand of God. Now, justification,
Christ's righteousness imputed, that made my peace with God. Now God is at peace with me. and what joy God gets in this
and what joy I get in this. Now, if this is all I say about
this verse, I failed to give the meaning. If I do not say
what I just said about this verse, I failed to give the meaning.
So here's the second point. The first point was in Christ,
in Christ, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. And
the second point is from Christ. righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost. Now this is talking about regeneration.
This is talking about being born again. Except a man be born from
above, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven. Remember, this is
what the kingdom of God is. It has something to do with what
comes from Christ. Righteousness, peace, and joy
in the Holy Ghost. And what happens when a man is
born from above or born again? He is given a righteous nature,
a holy nature. Here's what the Bible says about
it. Verse 29 of 1 John chapter 2, if you know that He is righteous,
you know that everyone that doeth righteousness is born of Him. You see, when God gives you the
new birth, you become a partaker of the divine nature, a new nature,
a holy nature that was not there before. This is what he says
about this new nature. 1 John 3, verse 6, "...whosoever
abideth in him sinneth not. Whosoever sinneth, hath not seen
him, neither known him. Little children, let no man deceive
you. He that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of
the devil, for the devil sinned from the beginning. For this
purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin. Somebody says, well, that means
he doesn't continue in sin as an evictual practice. He doesn't
practice sin. He might slip up every now and
then, but he doesn't practice sin. Does anybody believe that about
their own lives, that you might slip up a little bit, but you
don't practice sin? Well, you're not even being honest. You're
not being honest. Look what he goes on to say in
this ninth verse. For his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot
sin. He lacks the ability to sin because
he's born of God. God can't sin. He can't lie. He can't do anything but that
which is holy. And in the new birth, you're given a holy nature,
a righteous nature. And that is the nature that looks
to Christ. That is the nature that rests
in Christ. That is the nature that loves
the Lord Jesus Christ. And this new nature is what gives
me personally peace. Peace knowing that all that God
requires of me, He looks to Christ for. I can't express to you the
peace that gives me. To know that everything that
God requires of me, He looks to His Son for. and that I am
complete in Him. Colossians 2, 9 and 10, in Him
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are
complete. No parts lacking, nothing wrong.
If I'm in Christ, I'm complete. I'm accepted in the Beloved.
I'm perfect in the Beloved. And what peace that gives me.
And not only does it give me peace, it gives me joy. We read in Romans 15, verse 13
of the joy and the peace of belief. I believe that Jesus Christ the
Lord is all I need. As a matter of fact, Ephesians
2.14 says He is our peace. And what peace we derive. Now
if I think my salvation is dependent on me in any way, I have no peace.
If my salvation is dependent on me doing anything first before
I can be saved, there's no hope for my salvation. But thank God,
he said, it is finished. The salvation of all his people
was completed by him. And what peace, what joy we derive
from that, the joy and the peace of believing. There's nothing
like it. It's the new righteous nature
that trusts Christ, that loves God, that loves the brethren,
that performs good works. The Lord said concerning that
woman who broke the alabaster box of ointment and anointed
his feet, he said, she hath wrought a good work on me. That's the
new nature that does that, that loves Christ, that loves his
people. Oh, what a glorious thing this is. This is what the kingdom
of God is. It's not do's and don'ts and
externals. It's righteousness, Christ's righteousness imputed
to me Christ's righteousness imparted to me, the peace God
has with me, the peace I have knowing that God's at peace with
me because of Christ, the joy God has in saving his people,
and the joy the believer experiences in knowing Christ and knowing
the gospel and resting in the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, the kingdom
of God is not meat and drink, but it's in Christ. It's righteousness
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And from Christ, what
comes from him in the new birth, it's righteousness and peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost. But thirdly, with Christ, the
kingdom of God, with Christ is righteousness and peace and joy
in the Holy Ghost. Now, what do I mean by that?
I've had Christ's righteousness imputed to me. God did this. I've had Christ's righteousness
imparted to me in the new birth. God did this. It's God's righteousness,
whether imputed or imparted, it's God's righteousness. And
He's at peace with me. And I know what it is to feel
the peace and joy of believing. But I'm still a sinner. And I can't look at myself and
say, well, you're justified. You've got a holy nature. I know
these things by faith, but not by sight. I can't look at myself
and say, I see this sinless life. I can't look at myself and say,
I have this holy nature. The only way I know I had these
things is by faith, not by sight. As long as I still sin, my sin,
my personal sin against God, it always mars my peace and it
mars my joy. And I won't have perfect righteousness. Well, I do have perfect righteousness,
but I won't enter into the experience of it until I die, this sinful
body is put away, and I'm with Him in glory. Now, in 1 John
chapter 3, beginning in verse 1, we read, Behold, John says,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we
should be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth
us not, because it knew him not. I've heard and I've even said,
I want the world to see Christ in me. And I do want the world
to see an obedient child of God, a gracious, merciful child of
God. I do want the world to see that.
I'm not in any way implying that I don't. But you know, the world
didn't see Christ in Christ. So what makes me think they'll
see Christ in me? John said, because we're the
children of God, the world doesn't know us. The world doesn't recognize
us. Didn't recognize him either.
Verse 2, Beloved, now are we the sons of God. Right now, God's
children through Christ. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be. Now, he's talking about what
it's gonna be like when I'm in heaven with Christ. I will no
longer be a sinner. I'll no longer have sinful thoughts.
I'll no longer have sinful motives. I'll no longer have sinful desires.
As a matter of fact, I won't even remember what it's like
to be a sinner. I'll know no sin. Now, I'll know as I behold
the Savior and I see His hands and feet, I see those scars.
I'll know the only reason I'm there is because of Him. But
I will not even remember what sin is. I'll be in perfect likeness
to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's read what John says.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. When the Lord returns and every
believer is enabled to see Him as He is, the beatific vision. That sight will perfectly conform
him to his image till we're just like him. Now, that is righteousness. That is peace. That is joy, to
be with him in his presence, perfectly righteous, without
sin, perfectly conformed to his image. That's the kingdom of
God. The kingdom of God is righteousness,
His righteousness imputed to where it's actually your righteousness
and His righteousness imparted to where you're given in the
new birth, this new holy nature, the kingdom of God from Christ. is righteousness, Him giving
it to you, the peace you experience in believing the gospel, and
the joy you experience in believing the gospel. And the kingdom of
God is with him. When I'm with him, I'm going
to experience perfect righteousness, a peace that never ends. Peace
is so fleeting. I'll have peace, and as soon
as I think I have it, I lose it, because I'm looking to it
rather than Christ. All these things are so fleeting.
but the kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Now, we have this message on
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