Thy Kingdom Come

Thy Kingdom Come (1)

March 20, 2016

Let us go today to the Word.  I want to go deep into the Word today.  Because this is quite shocking, it is shocking. The good news of the Gospel. The good news. Thy Kingdom come. The good news of the Gospel.

This is standard with almost every denomination, that this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, His birth, His crucifixion, His death and His resurrection.

John 3:16 is often quoted.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall have eternal life."

Now what we do not want to do is to deny the redemptive nature of the Cross-and the Resurrection.  Redemption was given and people were saved because of the Cross. The Principle talks about it as the alternative course, but people were saved. Salvation was given to those who believed. So again, it is important to understand that the redemptive message of Christ and His tribulation on the cross, His defeating of death with the Resurrection, is true.  We are not saying that it is not true.  However, when we talk of the Gospel, and we talk about the Gospel, in Greek it is "Evangelion," how did Jesus refer to the good news?  That is what is so important for us to understand, not only people who are part of a Christian religion or denomination, but who are Christian -- "of Christ."  Truly Christian.  If you are truly Christian, of Christ, you are not part of a religion, because Jesus did not come to build a religion, but Jesus came for the good news, He proclaimed the good news.  So let us look at it.  We have to look at Jesus' word to see what He meant by the good news.

First, let us go to Cheon Seong Gyeong 130

"God is the absolute Father, absolute True Parent, and the unique, unchanging and eternal True Father. ... Justification through attendance signifies the age of realizing the Kingdom of Heaven in daily life.  This is why we are talking about justification through attendance."

Father was all about establishing the Kingdom. A kingdom is not a religion.  A kingdom is a nation, which has a government and a political structure.  Is not it fascinating that Father was always doing these things with the Washington Times, and with the U.N., and trying to make the "Abel U.N.?"  He was saying that the "Cain U.N." had become satanic and was pushing towards totalitarianism.

How confused we were when we saw all those things!  We thought we were supposed to be a religion. But Jesus did not come to make a religion, and of course, Father did not come to make a religion. They came to make a relationship. Relationships are the Kingdom. So let us go into the Gospel, because it is very common in Christian history, we have things that are taught to be the Gospel, but when you actually look at the four Gospels and the words of Christ Himself, Christ himself defines what the Gospel is through his own words. First, He says this is how you should pray every day.

So people who are in Christ, in not only a Christian religion, a Catholic religion, an Anglican religion, a Methodist religion, a Pentecostal religion but people who are truly Christian, meaning "of Christ."  If you are of Christ, you must do the bidding of Christ, not of a religion. No matter how comfortable, no matter how familiar those things may feel to you because you may have heard of them in religion, we have to go and see the Word of God to see whether that was actually, what Christ was teaching.

So let us look at Matthew 6. This is so famous. Jesus said to pray this every day.  Every day.  What did he say?

Let us read together

"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Forgive our debts as we have also forgiven our debtors.  And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one."

Now think about it, this prayer has become so much a part of religion.  I studied Buddhism for over ten years, it is almost become like a Buddhist incantation, some kind of magical mantra that you pray, and it has almost no relationship to your actual life.  And it is just something you do, you made some sins, and now you're going to pray, in some Christian religions you are going to do the rosaries, or you are going to pray such and such a prayer ten times.  It has become a religion, it has become a religious practice, but it is not about our relationship with Christ. And this is why Christianity is faltering; this is why so many young people are leaving the church. This is why Christianity has no real strength anymore because it has lost its original Gospel. And we'll go into that when we look at the words of Christ.

He's saying every day you must pray this

"Our Father in Heaven, Thy Kingdom come."

Jesus is telling every single one of the people who say they are Christian, to pray for a kingdom to come.  A kingdom to come on this world, for God's will to be done where? Thy Kingdom come in heaven?  Now think about it, and we will see a brief video about this towards the end of today's service, but most Christian religion teaches, once you die, you should go to heaven. But what did Jesus tell you to pray every day? Did He say, once I die, I need to go Heaven, Jesus, to be with you?  He said, pray every day “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth”.

So the Gospel is not just some spiritual path, not just some spiritual, mystical Tao that you are walking on.  The message of Jesus is about a kingdom that is coming.  And a kingdom is a territory.  There are many factors to a kingdom.  A kingdom has sovereignty; a kingdom has authority; a kingdom is centered on a king; a kingdom is centered on a king's family; a kingdom is centered upon a king's bloodline.  A kingdom has a territory; a kingdom has a means to defend that territory.  A kingdom has its own culture that is a reflection of the king. We have become so "religious". In fact, Jesus had more problems with religious people than sinners! He embraced the sinners; He brought forth the sinners; He forgave the sinners.  It was the religious people that Jesus "persecuted."  They are the ones whom He chastised, saying they are whitewashing sepulchers, dead men's tombs, painting them white to make them look good. But that's how they are, inwardly they're fake.

Outwardly, they have all the signs of religion but they are fake. They are out to impress people, they are out to impress their friends, they are out to impress their congregations, but they are fake.

They do not have a real relationship with Him. That is why, in Christianity, we have so many ministers, they are out preaching every day, "Jesus, You must give me this, and Jesus, pray for your business in Jesus' name, and then they're empty afterwards.  They do not know why they are not feeling the Holy Spirit.  Jesus chastised the religious people more than He chastised the sinners. This is so important because think of whom the religious people chastise the most, they chastise the sinners all the time when in fact they are the greatest sinners. This is so important. The identity of Christ's gospel is not some denomination or religion.  It is not, some magical mantra that you recite to get fortune and prosperity and wealth.  It is not some kind of shaman practice; it is not some kind of animist practice; it's not some kind of fortune-telling.

He is talking about a kingdom that has to come on this earth. A kingdom that has to take over the earth. A kingdom that must colonize the earth.  You see, those are not words, we are used to hearing in church!  We are not using to hearing about a kingdom that has to colonize this earth. We grew up in democratic societies; we are not familiar with the way a kingdom is. Right?

The Kingdom of Great Britain had under it Canada, and Australia, and New Zealand, doesn't it?   So New Zealand was a colony of Great Britain, do you still say, "God save the Queen?  [A member of the congregations replies "yes."]  So she's still your Queen. Now that is very interesting to understand, because a kingdom may have colonies; it may spread all over the world; it has a certain place where the king or the queen is residing. Now let us say, the Queen of England decides to move to New Zealand. Now what happens?

Is New Zealand now a colony? Now New Zealand is no longer a colony, New Zealand is the kingdom!  Do you see how that changes it around?  Wherever the king is, becomes the headquarters of that kingdom. If you go to Canada, you are going to meet people who are Canadian, and they say, "Yes, yes, God save the Queen."  What queen are you talking about, you Canadians; you are living in the arboreal forest!  I had no idea that they believe in the Queen of England as their Queen. Or in the Kingdom of England. This is very important for us to understand because we can see that Jesus is asking for a kingdom to come on this earth.

And in the Book of Revelation, He talks about, how it will cover the earth; that it will rule; the enemy kingdoms will be destroyed; it will rule. So he's talking about not us going to heaven, but heaven coming here.  Heaven coming to earth, a kingdom coming to earth.  Does this make sense?  When you become a part of a kingdom, do you become a member of that kingdom? What do you become when you are part of that nation or that kingdom? You become a citizen. As a citizen, what do you have?  You have rights.  You have rights that can be upheld in courts; rights that can be upheld in front of the king; you have rights that are now yours.  Now if you are not a citizen of that kingdom, do you receive those rights?  No, you do not. Isn't that interesting?

A kingdom is different from a religion. A religion has members. A kingdom has citizens. A religion has members who are trying to appease God. A kingdom has citizens who work, who are part of the kingdom, and who have rights in the kingdom.  Isn't it interesting, even the Principle says in the beginning when God created Adam and Eve that even God had to obey His laws that He made.  God cannot just go and break His laws.  Because His laws are an extension of His nature.

If He broke those laws, He would be going against His nature.  It is God's nature to not murder people.  It is God's nature not to steal, not to be a thief. That is why, because God is good, He's loving, because God has justice, that's why God does not steal.  It comes from His nature.  Doesn't that make sense?  So He can't just go and start breaking His laws because His laws are an extension of His nature.  If He is doing that, He is going against His nature.  In the same way, in a kingdom, the laws are an extension of the culture and beliefs of the King.  So the laws that are manifested, for example, if you look at the past kingdoms of this world, the laws of the kingdom became totalitarian.  Which then shows you that, that kingdom and that king's culture is totalitarian.  Does that make sense?  The laws become an extension of the king's nature.

So, let me ask you a question. When Jesus establishes His kingdom, will it become like the kingdoms of the past, which are all 100% totalitarian?  It has to be different. These are important things to keep in mind when we are talking about a kingdom, because a kingdom is not a denomination; not a religion; not a religious experience; it is a place, which comes to the earth. Isn't that interesting?

Let us go on to our Scripture. In Matthew 6, let us read together. This is where the disciples, we saw this last week, I want to really reflect on these Scriptures, they are very important Scriptures.

They were asking Jesus, "what shall we eat, what shall we drink?"  He said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God." If you are going to seek something, seek the Kingdom first. Do not seek for clothing, water, and food.  Do not consume yourself with these things.  He says, "Do the lilies of the field concern themselves with the beauty of the flowers." Do the birds concern themselves with what they will eat every day?  No, God provides for them.  If we seek the Kingdom, the other things will follow.  Now how does that work in the real world?

Let us think about it. We have a real world, with real dynamics. We do not just live in a fantasy world.  For example in politics, the liberal progressive movement, which is a fascist movement, a communist movement, they always say, "increasing the debt limit does not increase the debt." If you increase the debt, it does not increase the debt.  Ok, well, what world do you live in?  If you are borrowing, money that you do not have and you are spending it, you are increasing the debt, and you are increasing debt!  Right?  So we live in a real world with real dynamics, real economics, real systems, real behavior, and real association all those things.  There are dynamics on the earth.

Now, when God's Kingdom comes to the earth, most of Christian history has assumed that all the laws of the universe and nature will be suspended.  And all of a sudden we'll be living in a perfect world, with no violent crime, and we'll just be walking on gold streets, and everyone will just be singing praises all day long.  This is normally what Christians, even subconsciously, assume.

But think about it, if God's Kingdom came to the earth, the laws of nature, the laws of the universe, the laws that God has given to His people are an extension of His nature.  God has order within Himself; God is not just a bundle of chaos.  God has an intellect and a mind through which He creates mathematics and He designs, He creates the architecture of the universe, which is all mathematics by the way.  Just study the Fibonacci spiral if you haven't already, it's mathematics.

There is order to the Creator, thus in the creation that order is reflected because it is an extension of His nature, does that make sense?  So, if He comes and all of a sudden, because this Kingdom is coming and all the natural laws are suspended, then God has gone against His own nature. If all mathematics is thrown out the window because the new Kingdom has come, then God has gone against His own nature. How is it possible that if you seek the Kingdom, all these things are added unto you?

Think about America, it was the freest place in the world.  Where people could have free trade, free association; could do business with whomever they wanted; where people could create communities. Many religious communities, many Christian communities, which were persecuted, came here so that they could escape persecution.

William Penn, for example, Pennsylvania, started his community here.  The Amish started their communities. They had the freedom to do so. To erect and begin their communities, to raise and educate their own children, to not have them taken away by the state.  The people who came here in the 18th and 19th century sought a better life that is how it's explained, right?  They first sought a land or a nation with a constitution, with rules. They sought a nation, which had opportunity.  They sought a kingdom.

Now the United States of course was not a kingdom, there was no king, but let us just say, for the sake of argument, they are seeking a place, a territory like a kingdom.  So they seek this place first, then as they arrive here, through the process of association, networks, they are able to get work, start businesses that they were never able to do in their own countries. Now they are able to provide a better life for their family and for their children than they ever could before in their own countries.  So they first sought the kingdom; "we've got to get there," and then those things were added unto them.

How were they added unto them?  Were they added unto to them such that when they entered that kingdom, when they got to America, everything was just given to them for free? No. They came with a mindset of self-reliance, with self-discipline. They came with a Biblical mindset of keeping the fruits of your labor, to work hard. And they came and pioneered. They sought a better land; they sought a better nation; they sought a better kingdom.

Many of those people came from kingdoms, so in their minds they thought of America as a better kingdom, with more opportunity.  They sought that kingdom first.  And as they got here, what happened?  Through the dynamics of freedom and responsibility, most of our grandparents and parents were able to thrive here. Amen. That made, of course, this country the most wealthy and prosperous country in the entire history of man.

There were, of course, problems that came with that wealth, but Jesus says, first seek the Kingdom. Do not stress on those small things first. First, seek the Kingdom. Those other things shall be added unto you.

Let us look at Matthew 7

"Not every one that saith unto me 'Lord, Lord' shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.  But he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven."

It is not about just saying "kingdom, kingdom, kingdom, I'm a citizen, I'm a citizen."  It is about doing the will of my Father, doing the will of God.  What was the will of God when He created man?  To give and receive love.  To be able to give and receive love with Adam and Eve. To be able to interact with His sons and daughters. To be fruitful, multiply and have dominion over the creation. What does that word "dominion" mean?  It means to rule, to reign. God gave Adam a Kingdom in which he was supposed to be the King.  He was supposed to rule over the earth, as the King; as the ruler; as the one who has to stand in God's place over the earth. A Kingdom was given in the beginning. So it's not just about saying, "Kingdom, kingdom, kingdom." But it's also about doing the will of the Father.  Which is what?  Establishing the Kingdom, preaching the Kingdom.  

Matthew 10

"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, 'Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:  But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  And as ye go, preach, saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'"

He said, 'go and preach,' what did he say?  Did He say 'go and preach my death on the cross for the redemption of all sin?'  Did He say 'go and preach that in three days from my death on the cross, I will be resurrected, I will return and show I will defeat death'? Is that what Jesus said to go preach?  This is very important. This is very hard for the Christian religion to digest. Because it has become tradition in the Catholic Church; in the Anglican Church; in the Episcopalian church; the Methodist church; in the Pentecostal church; in every single church it's become a tradition. You can go to every single seminary and you will not find one class on the Kingdom of God! You will not find it! You can study homiletics, you can study hermeneutics, but you will not find one class on the Kingdom of God.

What are the politics of the kingdom of God? What are the economics of the Kingdom of God? What is the nation of the kingdom of God?  How will that look?  It is a total blackout in the Christian world. It is so hard to look at the Scriptures, because for 2000 years we have been taught religion, we have not been taught to look at the Scriptures. Look at the Scriptures! What does it say? It says 'go and preach saying the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. The kingdom is at hand.'  This King is bringing a Kingdom.

Matthew 11.

"Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist."

Now let me ask you a question, what was John the Baptist preaching?  He was saying, 'Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.'  Jesus, right before this, also says that 'all the prophets prophesized, but greater than all the prophets was John the Baptist.' John was preaching the Kingdom. But he who is the least in the Kingdom is greater than he. If you are preaching the Kingdom, was John yet in the Kingdom? Was he a citizen of the Kingdom? So it would be like standing outside America saying, "The kingdom is there, the kingdom is there!" That is great, that is the greatest of all the prophets. But what is greater than someone who's outside saying 'the kingdom is there?' A person who is in the kingdom! He is saying the least of the citizens, the least in the Kingdom, is greater than the greatest prophet. That should blow your mind, Christians! That should blow your mind if you are a Christian. This is not taught in your religion. Jesus did not come to build you a religion in which you become a member. He came to build you a Kingdom in which you become a citizen. A citizen.  Christianity has become a religion.

Luke 4.

"And when it was day, He departed and went into a desert place; and the people sought Him, and came unto Him, and stayed Him, that He should not depart from them." [43] And He said unto them, 'I must what?'  I must preach the Kingdom.

Did He say, 'I must preach the Cross and the redemption of sin?' Did He say, 'I must preach the Resurrection and Easter Sunday?' He said, "I must preach the Kingdom of God to other cities also, for therefore am I sent." Jesus said he was sent for the reason of preaching the kingdom!  Where in the Scripture does it say, 'I am sent to die on the cross?' In fact, show me one place where Jesus says that. In fact, in the Scripture, Jesus never even preaches, publically, that he's going to die. He only teaches it, secretly to his disciples, in private, when it came to that stage. Jesus himself is speaking unequivocally. Look your religion may say one thing but what does Jesus say?  If you are a Christian, you are not supposed to be listening to what religion says. You are supposed to be listening to what Jesus says!  Not religion.

You are not supposed to look through your religion, look to "read into" the Gospel, you are supposed to let the Gospel preach to you!  What does it say?  He said unto them, "I must preach the Kingdom of God.  For therefore am I sent."  'That's the reason why I'm sent,' is what he said.  That is shocking for the Christian world. That is so shocking; it shakes the foundation of all the different religions they have created.  He says it.  The reason He was sent is to preach the Kingdom of God.  He did not say, the reason He was sent was to die on the cross.  I am sorry, that is not what He said.  Now you can have your religious view about it, or you can read the Scripture and see what He is saying. This is the word of God.  'I am sent for this reason, to preach the Kingdom.'

Let us look at Matthew 4.

"And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching…" Preaching what?  What did He preach?  All right, He preached the "Evangelion," the Gospel of the "Vaselia," the Greek word for "kingdom", which comes from the Greek root word for king, "Vaseliius."

What is this called?  It's called the Gospel of the Kingdom.  Where does it say, not in religious books, but in the Word of God, that Jesus was preaching the Gospel of the cross?  Where?  Where does it say that in the Gospels?  Where?  I am sorry, where is it?  "Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. And healing all manner of sickness and manner of disease among the people."  Mark 1:14.   Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came unto Galilee, and was preaching what?  The Gospel of the Kingdom.  Why are the churches not teaching the Gospel of the kingdom?  Why are they not preaching the Gospel?  The Gospel is the gospel of the Kingdom of God!

Mark 1:14-15

"And saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe the gospel."

If you are here for the first time, I hope you are shocked. I hope you are shocked.  Because are you part of a religion? Are you part of a Rotary Club of which you are a member, or are you a Christian?  Are you of Christ?

Matthew 9

Let us read together. "And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel ("Evangelion") of the "Vasilia," the Kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people."

Again, He is preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom. You go to any Christian church, it can be Protestant, it can be Catholic, and they will say the gospel is the cross, death, resurrection.  That is the good news.  We are not denying, the redemptive path of the cross, but what does Jesus say the Gospel is? What does he himself say?

"This is the Gospel," this is what it is. What does Jesus say himself?  He says it is the gospel of the Kingdom. He did not talk about the cross. He did not preach about the cross.  He did not preach about the upcoming resurrection. He preached about the Kingdom. Why is it so hard for religious Christians to understand?  Because they have become religious! They have actually become the people who are not able to see Christ now. Like the Pharisees. And we say that with the utmost love. Because, if you are Christian, you are not part of a Rotary club, or some Sunday group membership club, or some networking club. You are surrendering your life to Christ. You are supposed to be part of His gospel, his good news. Not a religion.  Amen?

Matthew 24:14

"And this gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the entire world for a witness unto all nations."  It shall be preached in the entire world.

You know, in the Constitution of the United States, when the words "shall be" are used, that is the strongest phrase or word choice, that shows that it will be done like this. "Shall not be infringed." You have heard this, right? Second Amendment, right? "Shall not be infringed." Strongest word choice. "Shall be" preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations." What shall be preached? This gospel, what is that gospel? Of the Kingdom. Why are Christians not preaching about the Kingdom? The gospel, this is the gospel. If you read the Scripture, this is the gospel. The gospel is the Kingdom of God.

Matt 21:43

"Therefore say I unto you, the Kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."  Now did he say, "It will be given unto heaven?" 

Did he say it would be given unto your emotional world? Many new age Christians are trying to psychologize Jesus, right? As if all his kingdom metaphors are really inner psychological issues that you are working through, and he's really teaching about the inner psychology of man. You have heard this kind of thing. What is he saying? He is saying it will be taken from you and given to a. . .?  Another nation!  Is a nation inside of your emotions? Is a nation inside of your psychology?  He said it will be taken from you and given to another nation. And that nation will bring forth the fruits thereof, which is what?  Of the Kingdom. The kingdom has to be a real place on earth. And look at what he said. Jesus himself said "it will be given to a nation." You see, Jesus did not come to create a religion; he came to create a nation. A kingdom. In fact his Gospel was about the kingdom.

This gospel was not about religion. We talked about this briefly, but let us look at the Scripture, last week we talked about this, but I want to show you the Scripture briefly.

This is Matthew 8, let us read this together

"And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.  The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.  For I am a man under authority; having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it”.

When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the Kingdom of Heaven.  But the children of the Kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth”. And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou have believed, so be it done unto thee.  And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. "

Now we talked about this briefly, but we did not look at the Scripture, that is why I wanted to show you the Scripture today.  Look at this, it is very interesting. Remember the Centurion is a man who has authority over hundreds of troops. He is a government official. He is a Roman, he is a pagan, he does not even believe in Yahweh, he does not even believe in the God of the Jews, he does not even believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is a pagan. That is important to keep in mind when you are looking at this episode. It is very important to keep that in mind.  This person is not a believer in Judaism, or in God.  He believes in Ares, he believes in Hera, he believes in Zeus.  This is what this person believes in, okay?

But he does believe in Jesus.  So he comes to him, and says, "My servant is lying, sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." Jesus said to him, "Oh, I'll come and heal him."  It is very interesting. As this person comes, this man of authority comes before the King, Jesus volunteers to go help him. That is very rare. He volunteered to go help him.  Many times Jesus ran from the crowds. But it's right there. Jesus says, "I will come and I will heal him."  Now this is interesting.  He goes through all that and says, "I am a man under authority, etc. etc."  And Jesus hears what he says, look what Jesus said!  He marveled. That means he was astonished.  He was saying, "Oh my goodness, this guy is incredible!"  That's what it means.  He marveled at this man. And what did he say?  "I have not found so great a faith, no not in Israel."

Now look, whom is he saying this to?  To them that followed him.  He is telling his disciples, who are following, they have been faithful, they have been persecuted, they are following him around, seeing the miracles, all that.  And he's saying in front of them, "I've not found so great a faith, no not in Israel."  He is saying, I have never seen so much faith like this.  Isn't that interesting?  Now this is very important to understand.  Because Jesus, if you understand that Jesus is bringing the gospel of the kingdom, he is a king within that kingdom.  When he sees another man of authority of a secular kingdom, of the Roman Empire, what did that man say?  He said, "I'm a man under authority."  That means I am under the command.  In this case, he is under the command of Caesar, who is out in Italy, he's way out there.

Thousands of miles away from Palestine, but what did he say? Just like I say to one soldier, come, and they come, go and they go, if Caesar commands me, come, I come, if he says, go, I go. He is a man under authority. He is in a government. He understands how a government, how a kingdom is operating on this earth. And Jesus sees him saying this, and he marvels, because in all the interactions, who came to Jesus and gave him this kind of example? Who gave him this kind of insider knowledge of a kingdom? Talking with understanding about how a kingdom is operating. Think about it, in the Kingdom of Heaven, Cheon Il Guk, there's also going to be a government, it's not going to be big, it's not going to go beyond ten percent, but it's still going to be there. Right? There are still officials, right?

It is just not like the Roman Empire, which is heavily centralized. But Jesus said to this man, you have the greatest faith in all of Israel. You have the greatest faith. You understand who I am. You understand I am not just a healer. I am not just a prophet. I am not just a religious figure in the woods, like John the Baptist, eating locusts and honey. And impressing you with my spiritual talent. I am a King, and you recognize that.  Does that make sense? This guy is a government official, he's in a kingdom. Jesus says you recognize your authority, but you recognize my greater authority.

Now this is very interesting, look at this.  After he says, you have the greatest faith, he says, "for many will come from east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven, but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the outer darkness, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." What is that about, folks? What is that about?  Now, if you're under the assumption that all laws are suspended of the universe when the new Jerusalem comes and you live in this fantasy land of Disneyland Christianity, or Disneyland religion, you have no idea of how you are going to interpret that. How will you understand?

Why are the children going to be cast out into the outer darkness, children of the kingdom, by the way, and will be weeping and gnashing their teeth? Did Jesus come to this earth?  Did he not breathe air?  Did he not walk on the ground?  Why are the children of the kingdom cast into the darkness and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth?  Jesus is showing us something very important.

Actually Socrates talked about this, and Plato and Aristotle; all of them were the philosophers who were looking at kingdoms, different systems of government.  And Socrates talked about it like this, in three generations a nation will decay. He talked about the first generation that pioneered that nation that built the infrastructure, they do the tilling of the farms, they do the hard labor. They create the foundation. Then the second generation comes along.  They have lived under more abundance than the first. So they become doctors and lawyers and professors, etc.

And they commission these and those people to build monuments, and edifices, etc. But when you get to the third generation, the generation which, when they are born, they are born into wealth and prosperity. And they become decadent. They do not even know that the buildings that they walk around and see every day are built by their grandfathers' hard labor. They have no idea of where these buildings came from. And they only want to get free things from the state, because that's what they get from their parents.

They are spoiled. Isn't that interesting? So within three generations, a society will start decaying because of decadence, because children do not learn how to work hard, to skin a buck, to till a field. They don't learn those things anymore, right?  They become decadent, they become used to getting so much prosperity, and the nation begins to decline, morally comes declined, structurally it becomes declined, sociologically and in every aspect.

Now if we understand that the world still has the same dynamics when the kingdom is here, we can understand this.  In the kingdom, one of the greatest threats to the kingdom is the new generations.  Because the new generations, if they grow up in prosperity, become decadent.  Does that make sense, folks?  How many people live in America, and you have seen how America, every generation becomes more and more decadent?  Right?  Because they are born into wealth.  This is one of the greatest threats because you will see every republic, democracy collapse into socialism.

You have the generations of people now who are given things for free, given wealth, given prosperity, so they are attracted to philosophies like Marxism, philosophies like socialism, communism, etc. And they eventually bring about the demise of that civilization. It is not because they are bad, it's just because they are spoiled.  Now in the kingdom this is one of the greatest threats, too. This is a threat, because every new generation has not fought for that freedom. Every new generation has not earned that lifestyle that they have built. Does that make sense?  So they become entitled. Socrates wrote about this.

Think about it in terms of the kingdom where there is freedom and responsibility just like the Garden. Minimal laws, God just gave one law in the Garden. One.  Can you imagine if America had just one law? We have millions of laws now. We used to have very few laws, and that is when America was thriving, prosperous, very moral, and very religious, your reputation was everything. Right? It wasn't which mogul or which big business you are connected to, which makes you, it's your reputation. How you serve others, how you take care of your patients, and your clients and your students, etc.  That is what America was built on.  But even in the Kingdom, because the New Jerusalem is the Garden of Eden coming back onto earth, even in the Kingdom you have the dynamics of the new generations.

Now that's why the Constitution of Cheon Il Guk is so important because we can see that on the local level is where you have to deal with the next generations.  The education is not at the state level.  It is not a federalized education system like the Marxists, or like the communist nations.  Local communities have local responsibility and freedom to raise their children to be moral, to love God, to be of good standing, to work hard, to serve their patients and their clients well, and to learn honor and virtue, amen. Therefore, what happens, in the Kingdom of Heaven, at the local level this dynamic has to be dealt with. This is a real dynamic that will happen in the Kingdom.

The younger children who are spoiled and entitled, they will buy into the false ideologies of Satanism, and communism, and Marxism, and they even may start revolutions on the local level to bring in anarchy and or to bring in chaos, that's possible, right?  It happens in a real world, that is possible.  When that happens, the local level is where we deal with that, we do not deal with it from a state level. It is from the local level that we deal with those things, right?  It is from a local level where we debate with that generation. If they become violent, well, we quell that violence at the local level. And if they go down that path, they are cast out into the outer darkness.

They are. They themselves are leaving the kingdom, because why? In the kingdom, there is no federalized welfare. There's not federalized free things falling from the government sky. That's illegal in the kingdom. It is prohibited. It is not allowed. You reap what you sow. You take from your day's labor. So when you understand the context of Cheon Il Guk, you can see that this is also responsibility, to raise our children to understand the value of the Kingdom. To raise our children to be smart, to have virtue, to have character.

Not everybody is perfect.  Jesus, remember, he hated religious people more than sinners, right?  Everybody sins, everybody is a sinner, but at the same time, pursuing virtue means that if you are sinning, you realize your sin, you repent, and you change from your wicked ways. Amen?  You become honorable. You become in pursuit of the good, you pursue the root of the good, which is God. You do not pursue a religion with God you pursue a relationship.  You pursue a kingdom in which you live. And that kingdom comes on earth. As Kook Jin Hyung said it is a lifestyle that, we adopt, that we have. Self-reliance, self-defense, right?  Working hard, having virtue, being honorable, these things are so critical in the kingdom.  I want to show you this video very quick, let us look at this video.  Can we turn off those lights?  This is about the Kingdom of God,

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