First, thanks for all the positive feedback on last week’s message. It was an aggressive message and the positive feedback tells me you are hungry for messages that challenge you, press you, and better you. Praise God for that! The last thing I would want is complacency keeping us from God’s best for our lives.

In week 1 we talked about who THAT Jesus is.
There’s the love and grace side, but there’s the challenging side, too.
Jesus will not leave you how he found you. While you will never find yourself outside of his love for you, he will show his love for you by challenging how you think, believe, and act.

In week 2 we talked about the 4 Ss: Submit, Surrender, Substantiate, and Service.
How well you submit and surrender will determine your service to God, and that submission and surrender will be substantiated, tested, proven, to see how real it is.

Last week we talked about some specific hard teachings from Jesus.
The motives in our hearts, what we are doing with God’s investment in us, determining what path you are on, if you counted and are paying the costs, and whether or not you are allowing Jesus to pastor you, which, more often than not, includes correction. A lot of correction for some of us.

So today as we wrap up this series, I want to direct our focus on how we respond to THAT Jesus.

If we are going to understand and embrace who Jesus is and what Jesus was trying to show us through these hard teachings while he was on Earth, then we need to understand what Jesus thought was so important, why he thought that, and how we should respond.

There were things Jesus constantly talked about through various parables, and sometimes very directly, that revealed what he saw as most important.

If Jesus thinks something is important, we should think it is important.

There are three things that stand out as most important, things that Jesus talked constantly about. I’d like to share those today, but for a specific reason.

How you respond to these three things is likely how you’ll respond to anything Jesus teaches.

Maybe you respond well. Maybe not. Maybe some work needs to happen.
But at the end of the day, you embracing all Jesus has for you is the key to being successful in your relationship with him, and in accomplishing your purpose.

1. Kindgom
Jesus talked incessantly about the Kingdom. According to the ESV translation of the Gospels, Jesus mentions the word "kingdom" 126 times, the phrase "kingdom of God" 53 times, and the phrase "kingdom of heaven" appears 32 times in the Gospel of Matthew alone.

Kingdom is a big deal. But what is the Kingdom of God?
If we look to a New Testament verse (not Jesus’ own words), we see in Romans 14:17
For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Let’s stop at righteousness and peace and joy. There is only one way to get to righteousness, peace, and joy. That is through a relationship with Jesus Christ. This is the good news. The Gospel.

Matthew 24:14
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world.

Often when we think “kingdom,” we think of a king ruling a realm, a people.
But God already rules it all, so the Kingdom has to be more than ruling. God’s purpose for the world is to save a people for himself and renew the world for that people, his kingly rule implies a saving and a redeeming activity on their behalf.

Jesus had a really hard time with the religious leaders, even his disciples, as he tried to explain the Kingdom.

Luke 17:20-21
20 Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, “The kingdom of God is not coming in ways that can be observed, 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or ‘There!’ for behold, the kingdom of God is in the midst of you.”

Why did Jesus answer like this? If you read on, you will see Jesus starts talking about lightning flashing and his own suffering, the days of Noah, the days of Lot, how two will be in a field and one is taken. And buried deep in his response is a hard teaching: “If you want to save your life, you’ll lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will keep it.”

What is the Kingdom to Jesus? It isn’t ruling. It is saving.
This is why the coming of the Kingdom in the New Testament is called good news.

The amount of “salvation” talk in the midst of phrases with “kingdom” in them is a clear indication to Jesus what the Kingdom was all about.

Mark 1:15
And saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

This means if you want to be in the Kingdom, then you have to embrace the Good News.

What is the Good News. John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Now that the Kingdom has a definition, now we can understand Jesus teachings surrounding the Kingdom more clearly.
Every teaching on the Kingdom is with your salvation in mind.

What does this mean for us? Three things:
1. Your salvation is necessary to enter the Kingdom
John 3:5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

2. What you seek keeps you in the Kingdom of God
Matthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

3. You’ve been tasked with deploying the Kingdom in your sphere of influence.
Matthew 28:18-20 18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

This is more than the Great Commission. This is our primary purpose as members of the Kingdom of God. If you haven’t figured out specifically what God has called you to, he’s called everyone of us to moving the Kingdom forward.

Now these three things create some challenges in us.
Have you made a confession of faith in Jesus Christ, receiving his salvation? Has this been a daily confession?
Have you been seeking God’s Kingdom more than anything else? Has the Kingdom been at the forefront of every action?
Have you been doing everything you can to share the Good News of the Kingdom of God, using your gifts, talents, and abilities to see his Kingdom become a reality in Liberty County and beyond?

If no to these, then WHY!?!?!?

What is more important than the Kingdom?
To Jesus, nothing. To you, your family. Your job. Your hobby. Your sin. Your justice. AND THIS IS WHY WE HAVE A HARD TIME WITH HARD TEACHINGS.

It isn’t that we think Jesus is wrong. It is that we don’t really see the Kingdom as the most important thing in our lives.

Your wife comes home from work after a horrible day and she gripes at you. What does the Kingdom say do?
Proverbs 15:1-2
A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

You get on Facebook only to see people talking smack about you. What does the Kingdom say do?
1 Peter 2:12
Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

You get a bill in the mail and you begin to stress big time. What does the Kingdom say do?
Matthew 6:25
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life

You feel like you need to tell that person in line about Jesus but you are terrified. What does the Kingdom say do?
Isaiah 52:7
How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation

You are overwhelmed because your kids are being too much. What does the Kingdom say do?
Matthew 19:14
but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.

Why do we love our castles more than his Kingdom?
I don’t think it is because we don’t love the Kingdom. I think we just don’t see the importance of the Kingdom in our lives.

In my own life, I feel more complete, satisfied, full of joy, when I am serving the Kingdom. Encouraging people, loving people, being generous, being kind, helping others, etc. The only time I feel the opposite of that is when I am loving my own castle more than the Kingdom.

When the Kingdom becomes the most important thing in your life, you will begin to experience the fullness of what it means to be in the Kingdom.

Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom. He also talked a lot about something else that plays a role in all of this.

We can get so legalistic in this Kingdom talk where you might think if every waking thought isn’t about the Kingdom, then you are sinning. Don’t be a Pharisee.

Where’s your heart? That is what is important.

Jesus talked a lot about the Kingdom. He also talked a lot about the heart.

2. Heart
Jesus said things like Matthew 5:8
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Matthew 6:21
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

As Jesus interacted with people, the heart, like the Kingdom, was a constant focus. While Jesus said more verbally about the Kingdom, we can see his constant focus on the heart. Last week we talked about the rich young man. We can reference the adulterous woman brought to Jesus.
While the law said stone her, Jesus questioned the motives in the religious leaders’ hearts. We could also reference chapters like John 21 where, even though Peter’s heart was broken over how he betrayed Jesus, Jesus was quick to mend that heart and set Peter back on the right path. And while we’re on betrayal, Judas and Peter betrayed Jesus. Why was one restored and the other died? Heart posture.

Jesus knew the importance of the heart. He knew verses like Proverbs 23:7
As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.
or
Proverbs 4:23
Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

These are powerful stories and verses that reveal not only is the motive of your heart important, but how important the role is that your heart plays in your life.

What is in your heart right now?
If I were to ask you to take inventory on what you have stored in your heart, what would we find on that list? Blood. Of course. Happiness? Love? Joy? Would Jesus be in there? (figurine) What about pain? Hurt? Sadness? Depression? Unforgiveness? Hate? Broken promises and unmet expectations?

What impact is what is in your heart having on your life right now? And are those things in your heart right now helping your relationship with Jesus, or hurting it?

Think about the Samaritan Woman.
What was in her heart? Shame. Embarrassment. Hurt. Brokenness. Pain. Hopelessness. How can we know this? Jesus had already asked her for water. She was surprised that Jesus. a Jew, would talk to her since Jews refused to talk to Samaritans (remnants of the Northern Kingdom who intermarried with and adopted the idols of conquering nations). Jews believed they were better than Samaritans. She voiced that surprise and then criticized the fact that Jesus had nothing with which to draw. Jesus said If you knew who you were talking to you’d know I have living water.
She wanted some, but Jesus then said:

John 4:16-26
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Why am I bringing this up?
Because countless times, like in this story, we see a Jesus more concerned with who a person is than what they have done. About their heart more than their hands.

You cannot have a meaningful encounter with Jesus when you are more focused on your past mistakes than you are his heart for you. Jesus doesn’t want us to sin, but he is also more concerned with the status of your heart. And in fact, he’s not repulsed by a broken heart. He embraces it.

Psalm 51:16-17
16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

Hard teachings are hard enough without having the additional baggage of your past mistakes. Yet Jesus never gives a hard teaching with the intention of breaking you to pieces. He does, however, give a hard teaching with the intention of breaking the power of sin in your life, of breaking the hard and stony heart that cannot receive forgiveness, of destroying anything in the spring of your heart that will cause you to poison your soul.

This is why Jesus focused so much on the heart. You cannot receive what Jesus has for you if your heart is in the wrong posture.

Matthew 13:4-9
“A sower went out to sow. 4 And as he sowed, some seeds fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. 5 Other seeds fell on rocky ground, where they did not have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, since they had no depth of soil, 6 but when the sun rose they were scorched. And since they had no root, they withered away. 7 Other seeds fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked them. 8 Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. 9 He who has ears, let him hear.”

We almost always see this parable as a verse about the challenges of evangelism. Some the birds steal, some are rocky ground, some are thorny, some are good.

We almost never see this parable as a verse about the posture of our heart.

Is the reason you are unable to fully embrace hard teachings and challenges from Jesus because of the posture of your heart?
- Maybe your heart is solid like a trampled path and nothing can penetrate it.
- Maybe your heart is full of hurts like rocks that keep you from growing roots.
- Maybe your heart is surrounded by enemies looking to choke the seed.

At the end of the day, the posture of your heart will determine how well you can receive what Jesus has for you.

So what should we do?
Psalm 51:7-12
7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

“Lord is there anything in my heart that is keeping me from embracing all you are and everything you have for me?”

3. Faith
The Bible mentions the word “faith” 24 times in the Synoptic Gospels
Of those 24 times faith is mentioned, 23 of those times the word was spoken by Jesus.

In 8 separate events, Jesus specifically focused on the faith of 13 individuals (10 men, 3 women).
1) Jesus observed that He had not found so great faith in Israel as in a Gentile Centurion who sent servants to ask Him to heal another of his servants who was sick.
2) Jesus observed the faith of a paralyzed man and that of his four friends who carried him on a bed to a house in which Jesus was preaching the Word.
3) Jesus told a woman that because of her faith she was healed from a disease that had caused bleeding for 12 years.
4) Two blind men followed Jesus crying “thou son of David, have mercy on us.” They answered yes when Jesus asked them if they believed he could give them sight. Jesus touched their eyes and told them that according to their faith it would be, and they were then able to see.
5) Jesus told a blind man named Bartimaeus his faith had saved him.
6) Jesus told a Canaanite woman her faith was great and answered her request to heal her daughter who was grievously vexed with a devil.
7) Jesus told a woman described as a sinner that her sins were forgiven, her faith had saved her and bid her to go in peace.
8) Jesus told a Samaritan man who had been afflicted with leprosy that his faith had made him whole.

What do we repeatedly see as the reason they were healed? Faith.

Why is faith such a huge deal in the context of embracing hard teachings?
James 1:5-8
If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

If you have no faith in Jesus, then you are incapable of receiving from him.

Why would you not have faith?
Past hurts. Times where Jesus “didn’t come through for you.” Not understanding why bad things happened. Struggling with the logic. At the end of the day, if you are struggling with faith, then you are struggling with who Jesus really is to you.

Examples:
If you worry all the time, but Jesus says not to, why are you worrying?
Do you really believe he has it under control?
If you have a hard time understanding a sickness or event in your life, but Jesus says he has a plan, why do you struggle with his plan?
Do you really believe he is in control?

So what do I do about it?!?!? Simple. You have faith. Duh lol.
I understand this is hard, but if you are struggling with faith in an area of your life, you are in incredible company.

Luke 17:20
5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

Matthew Henry
"Increase our faith, and perfect what is lacking in it." Let the discoveries of faith be more clear, the desires of faith more strong, the dependences of faith more firm and fixed, the dedications of faith more entire and resolute, and the delights of faith more pleasing.

Jesus respond to them with v6
And the Lord said, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

What am I saying?
You don’t have to have the mustard orchard’s worth of faith. Just start with a seed.

What would change in your life if you just gave Jesus a little faith?
I know you still have your doubts and your fears and your worries. I get it.
But if you just gave Jesus the benefit of the doubt in your current situation, you might see something incredible - maybe even miraculous - happen.

So what does it look like in your situation to give Jesus a mustard seed sized benefit of the doubt?

If you give that to him, I can promise you at least one thing: Psalm 34:8
Taste and see that the Lord is good;

You don’t even have to eat all of your Jesus peas. Just try him. If you do, you’ll understand why faith is such a big deal.

The Kingdom. Your Heart. Faith.
These are three things Jesus talked a lot about and three things we need to grasp if we are going to embrace his hard teachings

So how do you respond today?
If you are not moving the Kingdom in your sphere of influence, why not?
What is one thing you can commit to doing this week to get in the game?

If your heart is not in the posture to receive from God, why not?
What is one thing you can do this week to improve the soil of your heart?

If you are not living a faith driven life, why not?
What is one mustard seed sized move you can make this week to give Jesus the benefit of the doubt and experience his goodness?

THAT Jesus wants you in the Kingdom.
THAT Jesus wants to pour into your heart.
THAT Jesus wants you to have faith in him.

What commitment do you need to make today to embrace THAT Jesus?

Let’s pray.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?