Discipleship Matters – What is the Gospel of the Kingdom?…

Understanding the Message of the Bible:
What do you think of when you think of a kingdom? What is God’s kingdom?

Dig Into the Bible:
Luke 4:42-44,
42 Now when it was day, He departed and went into a deserted place. And the crowd sought Him and came to Him, and tried to keep Him from leaving them; 43 but He said to them, “I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent.” 44 And He was preaching in the synagogues of Galilee.

Acts 28:28-31,
28 “Therefore let it be known to you that the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will hear it!” 29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed and had a great dispute among themselves. 30 Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, 31 preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

1 Corinthians 15:1-11,
1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, 2 by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you–unless you believed in vain. 3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4 and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, 5 and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. 6 After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. 7 After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. 8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God [which was] with me. 11 Therefore, whether [it was] I or they, so we preach and so you believed.

Kings rule over kingdoms and its citizens are subject to the king. If you aren’t a citizen of the kingdom you will not enter its gates.

Sin keeps us from entering God’s kingdom and we remain outside the gates of His kingdom. But Jesus, the King of this Kingdom, gave up His own right to the Kingdom so that we could enter its gates. This is what the Bible calls salvation. This is good news.

Discover:
Answer the following questions to discover what the Bible says:
1. What do you think the gospel of the kingdom means from these passages?
2. What is so important about it?
3. What does the author of 1 Corinthians describe as the gospel?
4. How and why does this gospel save us? What are we saved from?

Apply God’s Word:
5. If you believe this is true and the good news about the kingdom is real, what does it suggest you do?
6. What stops you from believing this truth about who Jesus is?

Digging Deeper:
7. What is the most important part of this lesson to you?
8. How do you see applying this lesson to your life?

For more research in the human condition according to the Bible read and study Romans chapter 5.

For further information check out: https://coachthebible.com

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Running in Fear…

1 Samuel 21-24
Marked: 1 Samuel 21:1-2, Now David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest. And Ahimelech was afraid when he met David, and said to him, “Why [are] you alone, and no one is with you?” So David said to Ahimelech the priest, “The king has ordered me on some business, and said to me, ‘Do not let anyone know anything about the business on which I send you, or what I have commanded you.’ And I have directed [my] young men to such and such a place.

This is definitely not one of David’s finest moments. Running for his life he goes to a place he is sure to get help. But instead of being honest with Ahimelech the priest, David lies and has to continue lying to cover his first lie.

David’s lies will later exact a steep price when Saul kills Ahimelech and destroys the city of Nob and it’s inhabitants. Later, David pretends to be insane when he seeks sanctuary from the king of Gath. Had David forgotten his anointing from God?

When under stress and fear I don’t always think clearly which causes me to do things I wouldn’t normally do. Like David I need to go to the house of the Lord in prayer, but be honest with God about my fears and insecurities.

If I take time to gather my thoughts and seek God I won’t likely make the same mistakes David did.