The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
How many sermons have you heard preached? What topics did they cover? I’m sure that if I started going down the list, I’ve heard a sermon on most topics and subjects in life. It’s amazing the wealth of preaching and teaching that we get to hear in our generation.
Of all of the sermons that Jesus preached up until Matthew 10, when Jesus sent the disciples on their first mission journey, He told the them to preach this one thing and this one thing alone: “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus did not tell them to look at the culture of the city that they were going into and address issues of ungodliness. He did not instruct the disciples to go into cities and preach their passion. No. He told them to preach one thing: the message of the kingdom.
Jesus wanted His disciples first and foremost in their training to be able to communicate that a new rule and reign of God was present. He wanted His disciples to take the Kingdom deposited inside of them freely and to give it to others.
The simple message of the Kingdom was to be accompanied by healing, new life, and deliverance. I often wonder if I’m missing something. Is the message of the Kingdom in my soul? Have I received the Kingdom of Heaven in a way that I can share it? If so, why am I not sharing it? Why would the message of the Kingdom not come with signs of His present Kingdom?
There are many messages that Jesus wants us to share from His Word, but let’s start with “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”
The Kingdom is not yet-to-come. The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Today, take a step.
Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to receive His Kingdom fully. Receive all that He says about the dominion of the King. Allow Him to convince you that your present reality is superseded by a Kingdom reality. Perhaps God wants you to share that Kingdom. Maybe He wants to do things in and through you that you have only read and dreamed about. Perhaps today God wants you to freely give what you have freely received.
Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.
Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.
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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 244–251, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 10:5-15) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).