Bible, if not in your hand, a printed copy, maybe a digital copy. I'm just glad you have the Bible. Mark chapter 6, verse number 4 is really our text. Mark chapter 6, verse number 4. This is time change Sunday. I like this picture. It has nothing to do with my message. No, it does actually have something to do with the message about time and times, what time it is. I heard one senator or congressman that introduced a bill to make it permanent. Don't get too excited. I've been hearing that in my whole life. So the time changed. And although I think I'd rather make a permanent after we get our hour back next October. But that's neither here nor there. But time is an amazing thing to us. Does anybody know what time it is? Does anybody know what time it is? I'm Brother Reagan. I'll break out into a song here. I'm not careful with remarked childhood. But what is time? Anybody? Well, if you have any physics professors here, time is distance divided by speed. Some physics majors, Brother Dan, might want it to be velocity, because that's speed with direction, correct? Yes. So, speed with direction is important, but if you take distance and divide it by your velocity, you'll come up with time. Okay. Is everybody clear? It gets harder as we go forward, because we're about to go into Einstein's theory of relativity. Just a few basic things about, no, not really, but about time. One of the interesting aspects of Einstein's theory, some of you will know, and some of you will correct me if I'm wrong, there are other aspects to it, and sometimes quantum physics has sort of questioned some of Einstein's conclusions. But I have to tell you, it's way above my pay grade, I'm not sure I really understand all of that, but I do understand something about Einstein's theory of time slowing down as we speed up. Has anybody ever heard of that? put a clock on an airplane and fly it around the world and you have its twin clock remains here, that clock will slow down. In other words, the faster you go, the more it seems that time slows down. Now you think, what has that got to do with Mark chapter? Could we please get to the Bible? Could we talk about something that makes But actually, it proves that time is relative to whatever is happening, what's going on. Time is just a tool for measuring. Now, God's given us some wonderful tools. This globe, this Earth, rotates on its axis. about that. The Earth is not flat, but it's a globe and it rotates on its axis approximately, how long does it take the Earth to rotate on its axis? 24 hours. We call that a day. And you may have noticed that part of that day is spent in At least two people are still with me here. Happens every day, doesn't it? It doesn't really matter what time it is on the clock. I woke up at my usual time this morning and realized it's an hour later than my usual time. That's because somebody arbitrarily decided at 2 o'clock this morning to say, no, it's not 2, it's 3. No scientific reason for that that I understand, arrival of the Sun or rotation of the Earth, but the Earth rotates. And not only does our Earth rotate, but it actually orbits that big yellow thing out there. You haven't seen too much of that. It's a big yellow thing in the sky, that's the Sun. How long does it take for the Earth to go around that Sun? 365 and one-fourth day. That's why we have leap year day. It's very, very complicated, but basically a year goes by. Some of you celebrate birthdays. Some of you stop between. I don't do that. I don't do that anymore. Some of you, but a birthday comes around once a year, right? Every year. So time is measured by tools. One of the most interesting measurements of time is the week, the seven-day week, seven rotations of the Earth on its axis. How do you know when seven days go by? What astronomical tool tells you? Well, nothing. It is, in a way, almost arbitrary. Some cultures have said, we don't like that seven-day thing. It's kind of Judeo-Christian influence there. We're going to go to 10 days or 14 days. And people come up with all kinds of measurements of portions of amounts of days. But the week persists in all cultures and all countries. The seven-day week. You can't get rid of it, because it is imprinted somehow in the creation mandate. That seven days. It's really pretty amazing that God gave us that timepiece. And we keep track of it. We keep track of our weeks. We keep track of our seven-day periods. We know, more or less, there are 52 of them, and we count them. What does that to do with Mark 6 and 4? I hope you're still there. If your neighbor has dropped off, please wake them up. Now we're really getting into some more important things. But I hope I'll tie that together in a moment. We looked at the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the son of God, that's how Mark begins his biography of Jesus Christ. And although he doesn't do a genealogy or he doesn't really talk about prophecy in the Old Testament and fulfillment like Matthew and Luke does. He doesn't talk about the eternity of the God-man, Jesus Christ, like John does, although I think Mark does believe it and there are passages in his gospel biography that will deal with that. He talks about the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ and he really begins with John the Baptist. He says that's when this, Announcement begins, that's when this activity begins, that's when this story that I'm gonna tell you really begins, and he begins with John the Baptist, not with Mary and Joseph or the wise men or the shepherds. He begins with John the Baptist, because that's really the beginning of the public ministry of Christ. John the Baptist is the forerunner. He's the one going ahead to prepare the way. He says, the King is coming, the Messiah is coming, the Lamb of God is coming. And then he baptizes Jesus and announces that the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. And John and Jesus both begin to preach that the kingdom has arrived. The king is here. There's a repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Sometimes we're puzzled by that. And different Bible students and Bible scholars, they frame it differently. They talk about, well, what does that mean that the kingdom has come? Some people who don't believe there's a thousand-year reign of Christ yet in the future. I do believe that, but some people don't, and they say, well, this is the inauguration of some spiritual kingdom, and Jesus is the king. a spiritual, kind of like the family of God. And then there are others that say, no, we have to get the world to be good enough for Jesus to come back. Those are post-colonialists. They think we're gonna bring in the kingdom ourself and then Jesus will come back. I don't hold that view. I see less biblical evidence for that. than I do even circumstantial evidence for that, but I'm a pre-believer in this. I think, well, good for you. Well, only because I believe in the literal, grammatical, historical interpretation of the Bible do I believe there's going to be a literal thousand-year reign of Christ on the earth. And I'm real happy with it, since it's God's business. I don't think I go to seed on that. Maybe I don't preach about it enough, but I don't think I preach on it too much, and I am not angry about it. But I do believe Jesus is coming again, that's very clear. And I do believe He is going to literally sit on the throne of David again for a thousand years. But the reason I mention that is because, well, Pastor, isn't there a spiritual kingdom? Yes, there is. Actually, there is a spiritual kingdom. One of the things that happens in the first coming of Christ, I told you we'd get to the text. But Jesus said unto them, a prophet is not without honor, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. One of the peculiar things about Jesus' coming is that he is the king, and he does bring his kingdom with him. because the kingdom is Jesus' kingdom. It would make sense that there are kingdom events and kingdom occurrences when Jesus is here on the earth. And there are. In the millennium we're told that there's going to be great blessings of health and physical blessings and You've read enough with me, even if you've just read these first five chapters of Mark, to see that in the first coming of Christ, there really was kingdom blessings physically, physical healing, resurrections. We're going to see later on that there is great Prosperity, a glimpse of prosperity. We're told that the millennium will be a time of plenty and abundance and no famine. And Jesus multiplies loaves and fishes on more than one occasion and miraculously feeds 5,000, 4,000. Those are kingdom-like events. It's not really a surprise because the King is here. There are kingdom events happening in the first advent of Christ. Some people believe that Jesus actually makes an offer of the kingdom to the Jewish people. And whether you believe that or not, or I think it's entirely possible that some of the things that Jesus says here, He says in John 1 he came into his own and his own receipt did not and Luke 21 says and they shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive into all nations and They shall fall by the edge of the sword and shall be led away captive in all nations and Jerusalem shall be trodden down the Gentiles until the times the Gentiles be fulfilled you say what is that to do with Jesus coming to his own and they didn't receive him and then the dispensation of the Gentiles. What has that got to do with Mark chapter 6? Well, it's this. I believe the Jewish people as a nation, not individually. Of course, there were many Jewish people saved in the first advent of Christ. Thousands of them. Jews and Jewish proselytes converted during the earthly ministry of Christ There are 3,000 saved at Pentecost, multiply, scores of thousands saved at Jerusalem there in the early days, the book of Acts. So there were many Jews saved. But as a nation, they rejected Christ. He came to his own and they rejected him, their leaders, the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Herodians, They said, no, we won't have this man. They told Pilate, crucify him, put him to death. Pilate exchanged with them, shall I crucify your king? And the Jewish people, prompted by their leaders, say, we don't have, the Caesar is our king. Which is very interesting because most of the Jews did not want to follow Caesar. They were not loyal to Caesar, but they hated Jesus so much they'd rather have than King Jesus. So, something does happen in this First Advent of Christ. Christ does manifest the glory of His Kingdom. There are, on the Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and John actually see some of the glory that we read about in the book of Revelation. Something like what John The Apostle sees in Revelation chapter 1 the glorified Christ. Peter, James, and John see that with their own eyes. There are some spectacular kingdom outbreaks of the kingdom in Jesus' first ministry. The kingdom really was here. It really was at hand. It really was near, primarily because Jesus was physically Jesus goes, the glory of his kingdom goes, and the blessing of his kingdom goes, and he shows us through that in sort of vignettes and picturesque ways how wonderful it's going to be in the kingdom. I do think that he does announce there and make it clear that there is a citizenship available in the kingdom of God to all that will repent and believe. I do think there is a spiritual dimension to the kingdom. I do think that there's a sense in which every believer right now is a citizen of the kingdom of God. But right now we're in the times the times of the Gentiles, and the Jews have been set aside nationally. Paul says, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid, but rather through their fall salvation has come unto the Gentiles for to provoke them to jealousy. Now, if the fall of the Jews, if the setting aside of the Jews be the riches of the world, we're in a different dispensation We're in the age of grace, we're in the times of the Gentiles, whatever you wanna call it. We're in the spiritual kingdom age, going to all the world, preaching the gospel to people, telling people you're a sinner, trust Christ, you can be saved. And Jesus is coming again. If you die before he returns, you'll be absent from this body. We'll place your body in a grave and you'll be with the Lord and someday the Lord will come and your body will be raised, you'll be glorified And the King is coming and He's going to set up a real earthly political kingdom here on the earth. But now the important thing is for you to turn from your sins and trust Christ. And realize that Jesus is the King of your life. So if the setting aside of the Jews is the riches of the world, I love the way Paul says this. He says, God has set the Jews nationally aside And it's been for the enrichment of the whole world. I told my Sunday school class, God's no longer telling people, come to Jerusalem to worship me, come up to the tabernacle, come to the temple, come to the Feast of the Pentecost. God has sent his messengers to the whole world. And then here we are in Addison, nowhere near Jerusalem, Nowhere near the Middle East. And here's a colony of heaven assembled to worship him and to invite people to turn from their sins and trust Jesus Christ and be translated into the kingdom. And by the way, God's not done with the Jews yet as a nation. If their fall, their setting aside brought riches to the whole world, how much more their fullness? I think that may be a prophecy about the millennium. When Jesus does come back at the end of the tribulation and rescue Israel and they turn and see the one they pierced and they trust him and they're saved. Saved by grace or faith, just like you're saved. And we go into the millennial kingdom. The Bible talks about a message then is a kingdom comes and goes. Number one, in Mark chapter six, I think there's reference to the fact that a kingdom was offered. John one says, Jesus came to his own. There's a reason why God chose the descendants of Abraham in the flesh through Isaac and Jacob, through Judah, through the house of David, ultimately, The family tree of Jesus that we read about in Luke and Matthew comes through this lineage of the Old Testament. Sometimes it's a very thin line. Sometimes there's just one descendant surviving and God spares that seed of Abraham and brings Christ into the world through Mary. And so when Jesus came to the earth, there is an offer of the kingdom. The king walks among them. The king heals their sicknesses and raises their dead, makes their blind see, their deaf hear, their lame walk. He feeds thousands with the mere blessing of a little food and multiplies it He also tells us what the constitution of the kingdom would look like. What is the way of life? How do people get along best? When Jesus rules and reigns with a rod of iron in the millennium, I think the Sermon on the Mount will be clearly the constitution of that kingdom. I think for now it is a clear picture of the spiritual kingdom. How do Christians Get along with each other. How do Christians get along with people who persecute them? How do Christians pray? How do Christians give? How do Christians discern between good and evil? I think there's a lot of instructions. I think there is a manual for kingdom living in the Sermon on the Mount, spiritual kingdom. But there was an offer of a kingdom to the Jews. They say, well, that's not what happened, though. They rejected him. He came to his own, and his own received him not. He had the least honor in his own country, among his own kin, and in his own house. But there was, I think, a legitimate offer of the kingdom. And we find out, as we've read so far in Mark, that this kingdom is a kingdom that offends. loaves and the fishes that offend. It's not the physical healing that offends. It's not the interesting parables or the life rules about how to get along with people. That's not what offends them. They're not offended because Jesus gives them free stuff or heals their sickness. They would gladly have taken the political benefits of a kingdom. The economic benefits, they were signed up immediately for that. What they did not like is the call to repentance. You know what a call to repentance means? A call to repentance means you're a sinner. That's offensive. I hope you're not offended today when I tell you, you are a sinner. You fall short of the glory of God. You do not qualify for heaven. You say, you don't even know me. No problem. I know enough about you and me to know that we are all sinners. all sin and are still coming short of the glory of God, Romans 3, 23. We have sinned and are right now, right now I'm coming short of the glory of God. Right now, you are falling short of the glory of God. You say, well, what's the standard? I'm better than he is. Granted, I'm not as good as she is, but I'm getting better every day. Bad news, the standard is perfection. You say, all right, I'm gonna start being perfect today. That will not atone for yesterday's shortcomings. It doesn't work that way. The sin debt doesn't say, well, I'll do two good things and that will make up for two bad things. That's not how it works. The standard for heaven is absolute, perfect, complete righteousness that exceeds the law, that exceeds anything the parents even understood. You have to receive it as a free gift. You say, well, how do I accept a free gift? It's really very simple, but it's actually quite humbling. You just have to agree with God that you are a sinner. Is that too much to ask? Say, I need the righteousness of Christ. I need the holiness of God charged to me, imputed to me. What do I have to do to be saved? Just turn from your sins and trust Christ. Say, well, I, I don't want to repent. I don't want to admit that I'm a sinner. I don't want to agree that I fall short. Then this kingdom, this spiritual kingdom, is going to offend you because there's no entrance into this kingdom without repentance and faith, without turning from sin and trusting Christ. Don't worry that you have to Note the exact difference between repentance and faith. Actually, they're inseparable braces, the old writer said. I think that's pretty good. You can't turn from sin without really turning to Christ. You can't turn to Christ without turning from sin. If you have some other idea of what it, well, I'm just gonna get saved, but I'm gonna keep on my sin track. You really haven't understood what it means to turn to Christ. You see, but after I get saved, am I still a sinner? Yes, because you're still a sinner, you're just a saved sinner. Your sins are under the blood of Christ. You say, well, which ones of my sins? All of them, past, present, and future. So there's a kingdom offered, the Jews reject it because there's a kingdom that offends. And here's the best news for all of us who are here. The kingdom is then opened. I think in the eternal purpose of God, the sovereignty of God, He laid out this course. He knew what the Jews would do. And just like the wicked hands that slew Jesus on the cross, it's all part of His purpose, all part of His sovereignty. We're way above our pay grade, way above what we can comprehend. But He had, from eternity past, planned for this and actually incorporated the Jews' rejection into the offering of the Gospel to all the world. And the Kingdom is open. It's open today. God's kingdom is open to each and every one who will repent and believe the gospel. It's the gospel of the kingdom. It's not just the good news that someday Jesus is coming back. It's not just the good news that someday Jesus will rule and reign on the throne of David. The gospel is Christ died for our sins, He was buried and rose again. That's the good news. And that's how you get into the kingdom. You have a kingdom open, and then you have a kingdom of opportunity. Colossians 1.13 says, God has delivered us from the power of darkness and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. That's one of the reasons I know there is a spiritual kingdom, because as I look around, I'm pretty sure I'm not in the millennial kingdom. I'm sure I'm not in a place where a child is 100 years old and people are living to be 1,000 years old. That's not the world I'm living in. I'm not living in a world where righteousness, judgment, and mercy rain down like rivers. under the power of darkness. Now, there is a light shining in the darkness. Jesus is that light. I got that. But this is past tense. He says, God has delivered us from the power of sin and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. I am right now a citizen in the kingdom of God. Right where I stand, I'm a citizen. you're not living, you don't have to live in the geographic boundaries of a kingdom to be a citizen. When we went to Brazil a couple years ago, traveling throughout that great nation, huge nation, we were still citizens of the United States. My temporary sojourn in Brazil, or Peru, or Belize, or Mexico, that does not mean that I'm not a U.S. citizen. Here I am. The Bible actually says I'm a pilgrim. I'm a sojourner. Just traveling through this veil of tears. Now, I know, as we understand, I have citizenship responsibilities here. I got that. But I am ultimately and most perfectly a citizen of a heavenly kingdom. It's Jesus' kingdom. I'm already a citizen there. I've already been admitted. I'm not waiting to find out if I get into the kingdom. I'm not waiting to find out if I qualify for the kingdom of God. I'm already, and I've been born again, I'm in the kingdom. If you're a child of God, you've been born again, you're in the kingdom right now. You're already experiencing the security. You already possess the inheritance. You already have all the promises, and they can't be broken. We've already been transferred into the kingdom of His dear Son. If you look on our passport, we've already got a passport that says we're citizens of the kingdom of God. And it doesn't expire. Over my lifetime, I've had to renew my passports. I had one passport for 10 years and never used it once. It expired. I had to get another one. I had to prove that you exist. I had to prove that you were born. I had to provide documents and do all that. I feel sorry for the people that have to do that in a hurry sometimes, because sometimes there's exigencies and difficulties. But I have to jump through all the editing. I have to do it. And even now, I think there's an expiration date on my passport. You know what, Christian? You don't have to look at your kingdom passport and say, oh, when does this expire? Or when does this become void? It doesn't expire. Isn't that the best kind of passport to have? Isn't that the best kind of travel permit to have? When I die, I don't have to, when I'm dying, I don't have to fumble through my spiritual passport and say, oh no, it expired. When it comes time for me to go, I'll be ushered immediately into the presence of God, because my passport doesn't expire. I'm already a citizen of the kingdom of the Son. And he tells us in 1 Thessalonians that we should walk worthy of God, who has called you unto his kingdom and glory. Now there is glory to come, but there is also glory now. Paul told the Ephesians, unto him be glory in the church. When we met today and prayed together, sang together, gave together, worshipped together, listened together, celebrated the salvation of someone, we were in glory. We were dwelling in heavenly places. You say, well, the geography doesn't look right. Doesn't matter. When we celebrate the good things God's doing, has done, will do, we are in the glory. Now, When we close, what should you do? Say, Preacher, I don't understand all your eschatological. I'd like to talk to you about the dispensations. I'd like to talk to you about, I didn't see a single chart. I'm a little confused about when things happen. What's next? Well, here's the thing. The only thing you have to be concerned about at this moment is do you know Jesus Christ and your Lord and Savior? I didn't say that's not important. I didn't say, But I don't believe what I think the Bible teaches about God's set aside the Jewish nation for a while and crafted in the Gentile nations. And right now, God's taking the gospel to every person in the world. He's doing that through us and people like us, by the way. He's doing that, I guess, I don't even know what time it is in Nepal. I don't know if it's yesterday or tomorrow. I guess it's yesterday. I don't know. But I know there's a point in time, this week, that dear brother stood somewhere, maybe in a borrowed room, maybe in a house of a friend, and preached Christ to those people that I may never see. This side of heaven, And you know what? He was inviting them. He says, come, come into the kingdom. Come into the kingdom of God's dear son. Don't you like the title of that? The kingdom of God's dear son. God's loved son. God's only begotten son. Come, come into the kingdom. I have the privilege today of inviting anybody, any man, woman, boy, or girl who's old enough to understand their sinner and old enough to see Christ as their Savior, I can say, come into the kingdom. God will transfer your sinnership right where you're sitting from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of his dear son. I pray you can do that right now. You can trust Christ right where you're sitting. You don't have to walk forward to trust Christ. You don't have to shake my hand. You don't have to say something. With the heart, you believe in the righteousness. Now, do I invite you to come? If you have questions, do I want you to come and share that blessing with us like Darlene? Yes, please do come. But right now, I'm asking just You've walked in darkness too long. You've walked as an enemy of God too long. Lay down your arms, repent of your sins, come into the kingdom. And number next, serve in the kingdom. What should I do when I'm a citizen of the kingdom? Well, take up the gifts God's given you, the abilities God's given you, and go to work. Work till Jesus comes. So what kind of work is it? Well, there's praising, and there's giving, and there's worshiping, and loving, and helping. There's all kinds of ministries to be done practically and spiritually. Serve in the kingdom. We are citizens of a heavenly kingdom. Our loyalty should be to Christ, not to any earthly leader. Our loyalty to earthly leaders should be so far below our loyalty to Christ that we do not have to think about whether we would obey Jesus. You see, the wonderful thing about Jesus, we don't have to sit and say, is what Jesus asked me to do. If Jesus asks me to do something, will he help me to do it? Will he carry me through it? Yes, absolutely. Earthly leaders can disappoint you. Earthly leaders, they don't know what they've asked you to do. They don't always have the right to ask you, but Jesus does. And he says, serve in the kingdom. And then lastly, wait for the king. The Bible says Jesus is coming. We still live. geographically, physically, in the neighborhood of the kingdom of darkness. And there are difficult things, and there are disappointments, and there are heartbreaks. There are loved ones who are sick, and there are loved ones we've said farewell to, and there's daily the difficulties of living in a sin-cursed world. But the King is coming. And He's going to wipe away every tear. He's going to take away every sorrow. He's going to take away this old Adamic sin nature in which we still inhabit. Even though we're children of God, we still He's going to take all that away. He's going to make all things right. He's going to establish His perfect and good Kingdom. He's going to feed all the hungry. He's going to heal all the sick. He's going to make everything right. You say, well, how is He going to do that? I don't know. That's Jesus' responsibility. All I need to do is wait for Him. Come into the Kingdom, serve in the Kingdom, and wait for the King. Let's bow our heads. I wonder where you sit there if right now you would trust Christ as your Savior. It comes to my mind that someone could be here and you think, well, Pastor, I've had my name on the church grove. That's not what I'm asking you. I'm asking you, have you been translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son? Have you been born again? Have you agreed with God that you're a sinner and accepted Jesus Christ as the free gift Would you do that right now? I wouldn't wait for the music. I wouldn't wait for the singers. I would trust Christ right now where I am. If you've not done that, do it right now. If you need to ask a question, I wouldn't wait for me to stop talking. I wouldn't wait for the piano to start playing. I would just get up and come to the front and find a place at the front and let the pastor know by that that you want to talk to somebody or you want to talk to me. You want to trust Christ as your Savior? Or you have trusted Christ and you want to follow the Lord in baptism like Darlene told us earlier? Or you're a... The Holy Spirit's told you that this is the church where you should be a member. This is the colony of the kingdom where you should be serving. This is the colony of the kingdom where you should be waiting for Jesus. What joy that would be, if only. Father, I pray you bless hearts and ears today. Thank you for saving all sinners, such as I. Thank you for darling salvation. Father, if there's someone here who doesn't know Christ, tell them to care enough about their soul to come and ask questions. If someone has trusted Christ, tell them to come and profess Him publicly. Help someone come to present themselves for baptism or church membership. Father, help us to delight in your kingdom, serve it, and wait for the king to come, for it's in his name we pray.