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Part 1: We’re for Jesus
WHAT JESUS?A counterfeit or the real Jesus
John 6:25-66 
John 14:5-8 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷ If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”
“Jesus isn’t rocking a cardigan, and he doesn’t talk softly through his nose. He’s a roaring lion.”-Jeff Bethke
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE “FOR JESUS”?
John 12:1-4Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.

BOTTOM LINE:BEING “FOR JESUS” IS NOT ABOUT HOLDING AN IDEAL REVERENCE TOWARDS HIM, BUT ABOUT HAVING AN INTIMATE RELATIONSHIP WITH HIMGalatians 2:2020 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Extra scripture for study:
Isaiah 26:8Matthew 6:33Matthew 8:18-22Mark 8:34-35

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Ephesians 6:10-12

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
1. Who the enemy is not (& why we get it wrong)
“For our struggle is not against flesh and blood” Ephesians 6:12

-We are living in a world that is more divided than ever, and the temptation is to view each other as the enemy.-Your enemy knows how to divide. These spiritual forces know how to divide by culture, race, skin color. These powers of this dark world know how to divide by political affiliation.-They win if they get us fighting each other. Which is why Paul wants us to declare emphatically who the enemy IS NOT.

2. Who the enemy is (& why he doesn’t want you to know)
“Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.” Ephesians 6:11

-Jesus told us about our enemy, satan (Luke 10:18)-We know that while on this earth, we are living in enemy territory (1 John 5:19)-Our enemy has a plan to destroy us (John 10:10 & 1 Peter 5:8)-The Bible’s names for satan help us understand his purposes: accuser, deceiver, father of lies, tempter, enemy.

3. Who wins the battle (& how)
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.” Ephesians 6:10

-If you are in Christ, then the victory is certain!-Some of us live in fear and we lack courage. Some of us live in foolishness and we lack wisdom.-We win this battle by fighting the right fight, not in our strength, but in the Lord’s strength.

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When it comes to the Kingdom, the call is to participation, not observation.
Acts 1:4-84 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” 6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
-This is an account of the resurrected Jesus, who has suffered on the cross, but now has been raised to life. He is preparing to ascend into heaven.-Jesus is commissioning his disciples to be his witnesses, meaning active participants in this kingdom.-Passivity will kill the church. But we are not called to passivity, we are called to action.


The Kingdom lives in you, so it must live through you.

-When we pray “thy kingdom come”, we are not just praying that the kingdom would show up in our lives. We are also asking the kingdom to come through our lives.-As we pray, the Lord invites us to be a part of seeing that prayer come to pass.-You can ask God to advance His kingdom and, at the same time, even today, you can be an agent of that advancement.

Matthew 25:14-30NIV14 “Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. 15 To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. 17 So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. 18 But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money. 19 “After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. 20 The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 22 “The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’ 23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ 24 “Then the man who had received one bag of gold came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘I knew that you are a hard man, harvesting where you have not sown and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ 26 “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? 27 Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. 28 “ ‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. 29 For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. 30 And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
-This parable always seems harsh to us, but Jesus tells it so that there would be no doubt that in the kingdom there are expectations.
-Notice it does not matter to the king how much you’ve been given. What matters is that we are called to use what we have to be participants in his kingdom.

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What does God want from you?
Series review:-Jesus taught us to pray with these three words that are proving profound in these days: “Thy Kingdom Come”-The kingdom is “God’s reign” – His action & His Lordship-In Jesus, the king has entered into our reality to show us what the kingdom is all about.-We believe that one day the king is coming back to make all right in his kingdom again, and we also believe that the kingdom matters today. His kingdom can break into our present day reality.
Mark 12:28-34 NIV28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” 29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” 32 “Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him. 33 To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

What was it that made this teacher not far from the kingdom?-There’s something this teacher knew: the rules of the kingdom.-Every kingdom has rules and expectations, and this kingdom is not different.-We have been given access to the kingdom, by faith. And what we do in response matters.-Jesus declares these two commandments as most important in his kingdom: love God with all and love others.
Micah 6:8 NIV8 He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.And what does the Lord require of you?To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
We must not view these as separate instructions or disconnected ideas, but rather ideas building on one another:-Act justly-Love mercy-Walk Humbly-With God
We cannot separate the command to love God and love others. They are interconnected. In the same way, we cannot separate the call to act justly from our love of mercy, our posture of humility, and our complete dependance on God.

If we are serious about living according to the rules of the kingdom, there are two important implications:1. God’s kingdom is not a human kingdom.2. God’s kingdom calls us to a radical view of a loving and generous community.

Matthew 20:15-16 NIV15 Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ 16 “So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

It’s as if Jesus is saying, “act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly….because I have been so generous to you!”

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You can’t have a kingdom without a king.
Luke 1:30-33

30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”-With the promise of Jesus, the king is now coming into the world.-This king will have a never-ending kingdom.-Of all the kings who have ever lived, this king will be greater than them all.
He is the king with all the power.He is the king with all the love.
John 19:1-5

1 Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. 2 The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe 3 and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. 4 Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” 5 When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!”-While the people mockingly called him king, Jesus displayed incredible love on the cross.-This king had all the power, yet gave it up. He sacrificed himself for his subjects. That is incredible love.
Philippians 2:6-8

6 Who, being in very nature God,did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothingby taking the very nature of a servant,being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man,he humbled himselfby becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!Matthew 18:23-27

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt. 26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
He is the only King that is worthy.
Worthy of what?Our worshipOur devotionOur affectionOur focusOur hopeOur trust
How you know you understand Jesus as King:-Worship takes a priority in your life-Obeying Him matters most to you-You rest in the knowledge that He is in charge-You focus on others before yourself
How you know there are gaps in your understanding of Jesus as King:-Worship tends to be a Sunday-morning-only thing for you-You prefer to having things your own way-Prayer is often a last resort, after you’ve tried to fix things-You often ask the Lord to bless what you have planned