Strive to Enter His Kingdom

11/23/2014BOLGPC

Dr. Joseph Chang

• 16 律法和先知到約翰就結束了。從此，　神的國的福音就傳開了，人人都要努力進去。【路 16:16 】16The law and the prophets were until John. From that time the gospel of the Kingdom of God is preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it. 【 Luke 16:16 】

• Paradise-

• Kingdom of God-

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation,

• Kingdom of God-

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation, it is the work of Christ for us.

• Kingdom of God-

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation, it is the work of Christ for us. It is a grace.

• Kingdom of God-

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation, it is the work of Christ for us. It is a grace.

• Kingdom of God-The purpose of salvation,

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation, it is the work of Christ for us. It is a grace.

• Kingdom of God-The purpose of salvation, it requires hard work to attain it.

• Paradise-The beginning of salvation, it is the work of Christ for us. It is a grace.

• Kingdom of God-The purpose of salvation, it requires hard work to attain it. It is a reward.

• The Characteristics of Kingdom of Heaven/ 天國的特質

I. It is a physical kingdom• 31"You saw, O king, and behold, a great image.

This image, mighty and of exceeding brightness, stood before you, and its appearance was frightening. 32The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, 33its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. 【 Dan 2:31~ 】

I. It is a physical kingdom• 34As you looked, a stone was cut out by no

human hand, and it struck the image on its feet of iron and clay, and broke them in pieces. 35Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver, and the gold, all together were broken in pieces, and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors; 【 Dan 2:31~ 】

I. It is a physical kingdom• and the wind carried them away, so that not a

trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. 【 Dan 2:31~35 】

II. The Kingdom is currently in the believers’ heart.

• The Kingdom is currently in the believers’ heart and will be fulfilled completely in the second coming of Christ.

II. The Kingdom is currently in the believers’ heart.

• 20Being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them, ""The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to 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." " 【 Luke 17:20~21 】

We live in two kingdoms• Two Kingdoms:• 1. The Kingdom of Adam• 2. The Kingdom of Christ

The Kingdom of Adam• the cravings of sinful man, • the lust of his eyes, • and the boasting of what he has and does.

The Kingdom of Christ• (1) Man does not live on bread alone, but on

every word that comes from the mouth of God.

• (2) Do not put the Lord your God to the test.• (3) Worship the Lord your God and serve him

only.

Already and not yet

亞當的國度Kingdom of Adam

基督的國度Kingdom of God

• 1""For the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard." 2"After agreeing with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard." 3"And going out about the third hour he saw others standing idle in the marketplace," 4"and to them he said, 'You go into the vineyard too, and whatever is right I will give you.' “ 【 Matt 20:1~ 】

• 5"So they went.""Going out again about the sixth hour and the ninth hour, he did the same." 6"And about the eleventh hour he went out and found others standing. And he said to them, 'Why do you stand here idle all day?'" 7"They said to him, 'Because no one has hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into the vineyard too.'“ 【 Matt 20:1~ 】

• 8"And when evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last, up to the first.'" 9"And when those hired about the eleventh hour came, each of them received a denarius." 10"Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius." 【 Matt 20:1~10 】

Two Rules• (1). God is eager for people to enter into his

kingdom. • (2). God is very generous.

• 39One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, "Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!" 40But the other rebuked him, saying, "Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 【 Luke 23:39~ 】

III. The reward depends upon our labor

• 41And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." 42And he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." 43And he said to him, ""Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise." " 【 Luke 23:39~43 】

III. The reward depends upon our labor

The Banquet of the Lamb• 7Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for

the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." 【 Rev 19:7~9 】

The Banquet of the Lamb• 7Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for

the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. 9And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." 【 Rev 19:7~9 】

IV. We are to give it all we have• 13Brothers, I do not consider that I have made

it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 【 Phil 3:13~14 】

IV. We are to give it all we have• 12"From the days of John the Baptist until

now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." 【 Matt 11:12, ESB 】

• 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 【 Matt 11:12NIV 】

IV. We are to give it all we have• 12"From the days of John the Baptist until

now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force." 【 Matt 11:12, ESB 】

• 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it. 【 Matt 11:12NIV 】

• 2014/11/23

泛基督徒人口微升 6.95 ％ 千人教會 61 所

• Taiwan Presbyterian （ 247,179 人、 1226 堂會）、

• Assembly of God （ 156,636 人、 256 堂會）、• Bread of Life （ 70,794 人、 148 堂會）、• True Jesus （ 54,991 人、 246 堂會）、• Chinese Baptist （ 48,733 人、 217 堂會）、

• Taiwan Lutheran （ 26,434 人、 76 堂會）、• Taiwan Holiness （ 19,626 人、 93 堂會）、• 中華基督教行道會聯會（ 16,872 、 45 堂會）、• Local Church （ 11,964 人、 27 堂會）、• 旌旗教會（ 10,078 人、 9 堂會）。• 7 declining denominations 。

• 2011: 43 thousand people church• 2013: 61 thousand people church• 2444 churches under 100 people (53.6%)