February 08, 2026

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN

February 08, 2026

           Derik Idol

What do you know about the Kingdom of Heaven? Would you be able to talk with someone who asked you to explain it? When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He willingly did so. The second phrase in the model prayer is a plea for God’s kingdom to come and His will be done ‘on earth, as it is in heaven’ Matt. 6:10). This desire is for God’s peace, joy and love to be here on earth—where now we see a flailing, broken culture—as it is in the heavenly realm. We know that all who seek His forgiveness for their sins will receive God’s mercy and grace. They are made a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). One person, sold out to Christ, yearning for a deep relationship with God, will be the temple of the Holy Spirit, and the kingdom of God is within them. Will you be that person? You will become contagious, spreading the gospel. You’ll be ready to knock on doors.

Focal passages: Matthew 4:17, 13:44, 16:25, 20:26, 23:12; Mark 9:35; John 3:16-17, 18:36.

There are two Kingdoms: The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World:

  • Read Matt. 6:9-13. What are we specifically talking about when believers discuss the Kingdom of God? Are the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the ‘kingdom’ all the same? What does it consist of?
  • Read Matt. 13:44. What does this parable mean to you? Is God’s kingdom so wonderful that we should actively pray that it invades this world we live in (Matt. 6:10)? When Jesus tells us to pray that God would make this world like His kingdom, is that setting the standard for how we should live? Will it make your life a magnet, drawing others to you?
  • How does the kingdom of this world differ from God’s kingdom? Read John 12:31, 2 Corinthians 4:4, and Ephesians 2:2. Why does Satan have a partial rule over this world? When will it end? Read Rev. 11:15. Is this encouraging to you?
  • Read Col. 1:13. What happened at Calvary? Do believers have anything to fear from Satan?
  • Can you back up this statement: This world’s culture tries to convince us that the world can give us more than God can give us? Is that how Satan deceived Eve in the garden?
  • Read John 18:36. Why are the two kingdoms at odds? Who wants to be worshiped in the world? This world tells us to take care of ourselves first; what does God tell us?
  • Read Luke 17:21. Is this where everything starts, when we get saved, our body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19), and the kingdom of God is within us?

Inside the Kingdom of the World is the Kingdom of ME:

  • Read Mark 13:8, Rom. 8:22, Gal. 5:19-21, and 1 Jn. 1:8. What are some of the situations in this world that are so hard to take? Why do young people find it so easy to follow the world? What are some advertising slogans that create a “Me” culture?
  • Why do we have such a struggle with the world pulling us into its pleasures, materialism, or sins? Read 1 John 2:16. How do we shut our ears to everything but God?
  • Read 2 Pet. 2:8. Do you feel like this, day after day, as the news and media continually broadcast tragedy, horror, and ungodliness? Do you take that as a sign you are not meant for this world?

How do you get access to the Kingdom of Heaven?

  • Read John 3:16 and Matt. 4:17. What is the first step in forgiveness of sin?
  • Read Rom. 14:17. How do you strive for this?

Close: 

Recently, one of our worship songs was a praise to God for being willing to leave His throne in glory, come to the earth as a newborn baby, and, thirty-three years later, go to the cross to pay the sin debt that every man owes but cannot pay. Do we have even an inkling of what that entailed for Jesus? Probably not. The nearest we might be able to come would be the movie, The Passion of the Christ, by Mel Gibson. One of the beautiful phrases in that song, sung by Jordan Grizzard,* is ‘You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, to reign with the King.’ It was majestic, worshipful, and our hearts were lifted to God in praise during the song.

That amazing moment in the worship service, singing ultimate praise to God, was such an example of the future scene we will witness—and take part in—in heaven. We sometimes fear heaven must be boring, with nothing but singing. God says not so. It will be something so far from what we are able to imagine that our minds cannot even comprehend it. We will be in our forever home, and even those two words are more than we can imagine. How can we desire to be there unless we are transformed into the image of Christ, here on this earth? How will we enjoy the fellow believers unless we love to be with them here? We will be a KINGDOM and priests to our God! Get ready now, living each day to the fullest with His joy.

By Sandy Day

February 08, 2026

*TRBC.org/Sermon/10_26_2025.

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