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THE CHURCH and

THE KINGDOM

Part 2

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JESUS' TRIAL. Jesus knew that His ministry on earth was

coming to an end, and He was preparing his apostles and disciples for the

earthshaking events of the coming few days. Jesus appreciated very much the love shown to him by the woman who poured

the expensive perfume on his head, he referred to it as a "beautiful thing". On the other hand Jesus was sad over His coming

betrayal by Judas

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Matthew 26:6-13; "to prepare me for burial"

Matthew 26:20-25; "one of you shall betray Me"

Matthew 26:36-45; "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow"

Matthew 26:47-67; "Those who arrested Jesus took Him to Caiaphas"

Matthew 27:1-10; "come to the decision to put Jesus to death"

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Jesus' prayers to His father were also sad. He took His closest

apostles with him into the Garden of Gethsemane to pray. Jesus asked that, "this cup" or the

ordeal ahead might be avoided but added, "not as I will but as you

will“ showing His complete submission and love for God, His

father.

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The arrest and trial before Caiaphas, the high priest, was a farce, showing the evil

minds of the Jewish leaders. Here they had before them the Son of God, who had lived among them for several years. They knew of Jesus' miracles and teachings, but they had closed their minds to the truth, and condemned Jesus to death, this same kind

of closed mind is keeping many today, from accepting Jesus.

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Because the Jews were under Roman rule, they could not carry

out the sentence of death. They had to take Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate was not convinced that Jesus should die, but he finally agreed to His death to keep peace

among the Jews and to protect himself from their lies.

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The preparation for death by crucifixion was painful and degrading, add to this

the sorrow of Jesus knowing that all his friends had by now deserted him, Jesus had to go through the trial with no one

other than His heavenly father.Matthew 27:11-31; "and they mocked

Him, Hail king of the Jews!" Luke 23:1-25; "Crucify Him! Crucify

Him!"

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THE CRUCIFIXIONDuring the walk from Pilate's judgement

hall to the place of crucifixion, the suffering and ridicule continued. Nor did it stop after Jesus was on the cross. One

of the criminals crucified along with Jesus also ridiculed Jesus while the

second criminal rebuked the first and asked that Jesus would remember him

when He came into His Kingdom.

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From this statement it is obvious that the second criminal recognised Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus responded that he would that day be with Jesus in Paradise. Jesus saw his mother standing, watching, so

calling from the cross, Jesus placed His mother into the care of John.

Jesus also prays father forgive them for they know not what they do.

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These three acts of Love demonstrated from the cross in the last minutes of Jesus

life show us His great love, care, and compassion for all men. After Jesus death

the soldiers pierce His side with their spear. In Jesus we see the perfect sacrifice.

That he laid down his life for us all.Luke 23:26-49; "Remember me when you

come into your kingdom"John 19:16-37; "It is finished"

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THE BURIAL OF JESUS.A man named Joseph, a member of the

council did not consent to his death and asked Pilate for permission to bury Jesus. Helped by others, Jesus' body was placed in a new tomb which had been cut into the stone wall of a

garden. Then a large stone was rolled against the tomb entrance. Pilate granted the Jews request to place a seal and a guard on the

tomb to keep Jesus' body from being removed.

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THE RESURRECTIONAt the dawn of the first day of the

week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to the tomb with spices to

anoint the body.When they arrived the stone had been rolled away from the entrance, and

an angel told them that Jesus had gone into Galilee and that they would

see Him there.

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The resurrection of Jesus Christ was the worlds greatest event in history, for many men can effect the physical lives of men, but Jesus affects us both Physically and spiritually. Jesus had overcome Satan by living a sinless life

and now He had dealt Satan a crushing blow by His resurrection from the dead. Hebrews 2:12-14;

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Death had entered by Adam and been crushed by Jesus. The

resurrection gives us all the hope of eternal life with God.

We can share the joy of the early disciples, because Jesus

has risen. 1 Corinthians 15:1-12;

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During the next 40 days many others met and talked with

Jesus, not in private visions, but in groups of three, four, twelve and even hundreds at the same time. Many who had doubted before now realised that Jesus

was the Messiah.

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The new age of God's forgiving Love had entered in, and nothing will overcome the kingdom that Jesus has established by His death burial and resurrection. We have a

saviour who has made the supreme sacrifice for our sins, and has made eternal life

available for everyone.Matthew 28:1-20; "He has risen from the

dead"Luke 24:1-49; "Look at my hands and feet"

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The ultimate climax to Jesus' three year ministry, death on the cross, and resurrection, came when

Jesus blessed his disciples and ascended into heaven. At his ascension Jesus gave his disciples a

very important charge.

Matthew 28:19; "Go make disciples of all nations" Matthew 28:16-20; "Baptising them"

Luke 24:50-53;"and he left them and was taken up into heaven"

Acts 1:1-14; "and you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes"

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THE DAY OF PENTECOST.Fifty days after the celebration of the

Israelites Passover, the feast of Pentecost was held as a day of Joy, and expression of gratitude for the

grain harvest. Every male was required to appear at the Temple.

This meant that Israelites from every nation attended this annual gathering.

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This was the day selected by God to announce to the world

the New kingdom to be ruled by Jesus Christ.

It was ideal because it was told to Jews from every Nation who

would take the message back home with them.

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The Bible says the apostles were filled with the holy Spirit, which enabled

them to speak for God in every language. In this way everyone present heard what was happening in his own dialect. This event began with a sound

LIKE a mighty wind. This unusual sound drew a large crowd together to

see what was happening

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The apostle Peter stood up with the other eleven apostles and spoke to this crowd.

He delivered a magnificent speech, announcing Christianity to the world.

Peter reminds them of some of the prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ, He is the Messiah, "God has raised up Him you crucified to be both Lord and

Christ.” Acts 2:36

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Those who lived in the area of Jerusalem were sure to have told

all those who travelled in from distant parts all about the life of

Jesus, how He had been crucified, and the discussion over His

resurrection from the dead would have filled the minds of the people

over the last few weeks.

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When the crowd realised the seriousness of how they had treated Jesus, They asked "what shall we do"? Peter's reply was repent and be baptised every one of you

that your sins may be forgiven. Those who accepted Peters advice, and were baptised,

were added by God to the group. There were 3,000 that day and many more were added daily. Acts 2:1-47; "repent and be

baptised"

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Following the dramatic introduction to the world, Christianity soon became a strong

religious force. In the years since, this force has spread throughout the world.

The first Christians became a family, caring for each other and worshipping together,

They praised God for their deliverance from sin, and the promise of eternal life in Christ

Jesus, and the gift of the Holy Spirit

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In Acts 2:47; We see the important statement "and the Lord added to their

number daily those who were being saved"

This is important because we notice that when someone obeys all of Gods

commandments,God adds him to the saved, you cannot join the church or be voted into the church, you are not added

to some denomination.

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God adds you as an obedient believer to His body the church.

The qualifications for becoming a Christian have been laid down since this first day of

Pentecost, by the Lord himself, therefore no man or group of men has the right to change

Gods way into the body the church.Acts 2:42-47; "And the Lord added to their

number"Acts 11:25-27; "The disciples were first

called Christians at Antioch"

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To establish the new Kingdom, the powers of Satan, and the curse of had to be overcome. The animal sacrifice for sin were imperfect and merely

rolled forward the sins, until such time as a perfect sacrifice

could be made.

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Christ was this sinless, perfect sacrifice, Christ's blood was

shed on the cross that all men might have access to the perfect sacrifice, and His ascension into

heaven prepared the way for our ascension into heaven at the

judgement day.

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The kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven was a central teaching of both John the baptiser and Jesus. Both proclaimed the

kingdom as "at hand or coming soon".

The prophecies of the Old Testament. tied this in with the coming of the Messiah, thus

we can see the coming of the kingdom ties in with the death burial and resurrection of

Jesus.

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The kingdom of God was established with eternal power, with a loving and

understanding King ruling over it. This kingdom is open to all men who

by faithful obedience accept Jesus Christ as their Saviour, this saving grace is offered to all men without

any man made restrictions or changes.

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After the Day of Pentecost the kingdom of God is referred to as being now in the present tense. which helps us to see that the kingdom began

with Peter's preaching on Pentecost.1 Thessalonians 2:10-12; "Who calls you into

His kingdom"2 Thessalonians 1:3-5; "You will be accounted

worthy of the kingdom"Romans 14:17-18; "The kingdom of God... of

righteousness"Colossians 4:11; "Fellow workers of the

kingdom of God"

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We need to also remember that to be a citizen in this kingdom you enter one by

one not as a body, as the Jews were expecting. The gate into the kingdom is

narrow, but open to all who obey. Romans 1:4-5;

The kingdom of heaven is compared with a grain of mustard seed which

develops rapidly from a small beginning.

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There are several varieties of mustard seed which starts with tiny seeds and grow into large bushes,

some to the height of 15 feet and we can see the same in the scripture

where 12 men spread the good news to the world. What about us today are we ready

to pick up this challenge?

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CONCLUSION:A. False Religion Appeals To The Wrong

Authority! Do We Test All Things?

B. God Knows All & Will Judge All! Are We Ready?

C. The Kingdom Of Prophecy Is Established In Christ! Are We In It?

ARE WE SUBMITTING TO GOD’S RULE?

THE CHURCH and the KINGDOM

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Becoming a Citizen of the Eternal Kingdom

• Believe John 3:16

• Repent Acts 17:30

• Confess Faith Romans 10:9

• Be Baptized Mark 16:16

Added to His church, His body, His kingdom

• Be Faithful Revelation 2:10

THE CHURCH and the KINGDOM