In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of serving God and not being idle. He uses the parable of the talents to illustrate this point, where the servants are given talents by their master and are expected to trade with them. The preacher encourages the audience to serve God acceptably, with reverence, devotion, and fear. He also references Matthew 24:14, which states that the Gospel of the kingdom must be preached to all nations before the end will come. The sermon concludes with a prayer for God to make His Word alive in the hearts of the listeners.

May we turn again to the Gospel according to Matthew chapter 24. The Gospel according to Matthew chapter 24. We'll just read one verse, verse fourteen. And these glad tidings of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole habitable earth for a witness to all the nations and then shall come the end. The Gospel of the kingdom must be preached in the whole habitable earth as a testimony to the nations and then the end will come. Our Heavenly Father, we do praise and thank Thee for leading us behind the veil in Thy very presence. We thank Thee that in Thy presence there is life, there is light. And we do open ourselves to Thee this morning. May the light of Thy countenance shine upon us. May Thou fill us with Thy own life and may Thy light be manifested through Thy body that Thou mayest be glorified. Oh, we pray that even this morning that Thou will quicken Thy word to our hearts. Make Thy word living and operative in us. Draw us that we may run after Thee. We ask in Thy precious name. Amen. The Gospel of the kingdom. It is the gospel that our Lord Jesus Himself preached while He was on earth. It is the gospel that the apostles, as we find in the book of Acts, how they continue to preach this gospel of the kingdom. And we believe that it is the same gospel that we must preach until the end comes. In a very real sense the gospel of the kingdom brings in the end. Because it is this gospel that proclaims to the world that the King has come. And He is building His kingdom even today upon this earth. And when the spiritual reality is full then the kingdom of this world shall become the kingdom of God and of His Christ. So we do believe that the gospel of the kingdom has such significance because it hastens the return of the Lord. And it brings this world, this age, to an end. What is the kingdom? We mention again and again that this kingdom that our Lord Jesus presents to the world is a very different kingdom. A kingdom entirely different from all the kingdoms of this world. Our Lord Jesus Himself testified that My kingdom is not of this world. And because it is of such a different nature the world does not understand. And even the disciples of our Lord Jesus how they fail to understand what is the kingdom that our Lord Jesus is bringing in. You remember even towards the end of the public ministry of our Lord Jesus He was going to Jerusalem for the last time. And even at that very late hour you remember how the disciples the twelve disciples of our Lord Jesus were still striving and struggling for a greater position in the kingdom. Now especially at that moment they thought the Lord was going to Jerusalem. He was going to Jerusalem as the King of the Jews. He was going to establish His kingdom upon this earth. To the disciples their concept is still the earthly concept of a kingdom. Therefore it was such a critical moment to these disciples. And you remember the sons of Zebedee James and John the sons of the thunders how they tried to outmaneuver the other ten disciples how they got their mother involved the mother came with her two sons and they came to the Lord and said Lord promise that you will give us what we ask for. And they were very wise not telling the Lord what they wanted. But our Lord was never cheated never could be cheated so our Lord Jesus said now what do you really want? So they said in thy kingdom let my two sons sit on the two sides of you. One on your right hand and one on your left hand. In other words they thought the Lord was going to Jerusalem to take His kingdom. Therefore these two sons of Zebedee they wanted to occupy the most prominent places in their kingdom on the right and on the left of our Lord Jesus. And you remember what the Lord Jesus said to them? The Lord did not blame them for desiring the kingdom. The Lord only said are you able to drink the cup that I am going to drink? Are you able to be baptized with the baptism that I am going to be baptized with? Actually James and John did not understand what the cup was. Nor did they understand what the baptism meant. But because of their desire to have the right and left hand side these two high places in the kingdom therefore without knowing exactly what it was they answered, yes we do. We are ready, we are willing to drink the cup and we are ready and willing to be baptized. And you remember our Lord Jesus said indeed you must be baptized with the baptism that I am to be baptized with. And you must drink the cup that I am going to drink. But to sit on my right and left is not for me to give. It is for my Father who is in Heaven to give. Dear brothers and sisters often times we have the same problem. Often times we think that the kingdom means the right hand and the left hand of our Lord Jesus. We think that to get the kingdom it is a matter of striving and struggling. It is a matter of asking. But our Lord Jesus said indeed he comes to establish his kingdom but his kingdom is of a very different nature. If anyone wants to be in the kingdom and to be greater as it were in the kingdom then he must drink the cup that our Lord drinks and he must be baptized with the baptism that our Lord Jesus is baptized with. Now what is this cup? You remember in the garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus was agonizing in prayer, travail in prayer. And our Lord Jesus said Father if it is possible let this cup be removed from me but not my will thy will be done. And he prayed in this fashion three times. And after he prayed for three times then he said this is the cup that my Father has given to me shall I not drink it? Now this is the cup that our Lord Jesus drank. What is it? It is the Father's will. The Father's will is that cup that our Lord Jesus drinks. Whether it means bitterness, shame, curse, death, the cross. But if it is the Father's will then this is his portion that he is willing to take. And what is the baptism that he is to be baptized with? It means the cross. Even though at the beginning of his ministry you find he received the baptism of John which actually is a type or a foreshadow of the cross that he is going to be crucified. So dear brothers and sisters the kingdom that our Lord Jesus presents to us is of a very different nature. And as the king of that kingdom he sets before us a good example how he accepted the Father's will and how he died on Calvary's cross. Therefore we say the cross is the symbol of his kingdom. Dear brothers and sisters if we desire to be in that kingdom and if we desire to be greater in that kingdom then we must drink the cup and we must be baptized with his baptism. It is not something that we strive against each other. It is not a position that we try to get. It is a spiritual reality. And he who has that reality will be given that place in the kingdom. Last night we fellowship together on the sons of the kingdom. It is true that we are born again into the kingdom of God. But after we are born again into the kingdom of God the real issue is do we really live as true sons of the kingdom? And to live as true sons in the kingdom we must be disciples to Christ. In other words having received his life now we need to give ourselves over to him and let him have complete control over us. So that the Holy Spirit whom God has given to indwell us may have the right and the opportunity to work out in us that image of Christ. Our Lord Jesus is the firstborn among many brethren and he will lead many sons into glory. Therefore dear brothers and sisters to be really in the kingdom in a real spiritual sense again we say that spiritual reality has no time and space. It exceeds time and space. So even today the kingdom of God is here on earth. And whether we are living as true sons of that kingdom it depends on whether we are true disciples of our Lord Jesus. Have we given ourselves to him completely without reservation letting him be king of our lives. Let him rule over us. Let him discipline us. Let him train us. Let the Holy Spirit organize as it were the life of Christ within us transform us that we may be conformed to the image of God's Son. And when that image is being formed then you'll find we are as light as salt of this world. There is a testimony going forth. And it will be a witness to the world that the king has indeed come. And he has and he is establishing his kingdom on earth. In Colossians chapter 1 verse 13 we are told that who has delivered us from the authority of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. Now thank God through our Lord Jesus he has delivered us from the authority of darkness. In other words before we are saved we were actually under the authority of darkness. We lived in the kingdom of darkness. We were under the rule of the prince of darkness. But thank God he has delivered us from the authority of darkness. That is to say he took us out of one kingdom. The kingdom of darkness. And he has translated us transported us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. So dear brothers and sisters in one sense we who have believed in the Lord Jesus we have already been translated into the kingdom of the Son of God's love. In one sense we are already in the kingdom. In one sense we are his kingdom. And that is the reason why you find our Lord Jesus says fear not little flock for it is the good pleasure of the Father to give you the kingdom. It is the good pleasure of the Father to give us the kingdom. Now it is true there will be conflict there will be battles there will be problems there will be oppositions the world will hate those who follow the Lord. And yet we are told that it is the good pleasure of the Father to give us the kingdom. What is this kingdom? It is the kingdom of the Son of God's love. In other words the kingdom is the Son. He is the kingdom. You remember one day our Lord Jesus took three disciples to the mount and there he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun. Even his garment was white shining. And Moses and Elijah appeared and they were talking together about his departure his exit. How will he go out from this world? And suddenly Peter woke up and he saw this beautiful scene and you remember Peter blurted out and said Lord it is good to be here. Let us build three tabernacles one for you, one for Moses one for Elijah. And as Peter was speaking suddenly you find a cloud. It is a cloud a bright cloud. The shekinah glory of God suddenly came over them. And Moses and Elijah disappeared. When they opened their eyes they saw no one but Jesus only. And they heard a voice this is my beloved son. Hear him. Now you remember Peter in his epistle he told us that he actually witnessed the kingdom. In other words this vision on a mount of transfiguration is a preview of the kingdom. Or to put it in another way it is the reality of the kingdom. There on a mount of transfiguration Peter saw what the kingdom of God really is. And what is it? He thought the kingdom of God was Christ plus Moses plus Elijah. He thought the kingdom of God was Christ. But Christ with Moses and Elijah. But God corrected him and said no. The kingdom is the son. The son alone is the kingdom. This is my beloved son. Hear him. Moses and Elijah great as they are. Moses the representation of law. Elijah the representative of the prophets. But the law and the prophets speak of the son. God does not want us to be distracted by Moses nor by Elijah. God does not want us to stay with the law or with the prophets. But God wants to see no one but Jesus only. He is the son. He is the kingdom. And to be in his kingdom is to hear him. It is the kingdom of the son of God's love. Dear brothers and sisters what is the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God if it has any law. We mentioned last night that Matthew chapters 5, 6 and 7 are not the laws as it were. As we commonly understand of the kingdom of God. Matthew's chapter 5, 6 and 7 are not rules and regulations of the kingdom of God. In the kingdom of God we only see the son. And in the kingdom of God if there is a law there is only one royal law. It is the law of love. This is the kingdom of the son of God's love. Love is the law of God's kingdom. Dear brothers and sisters that is the reason why we are told by the Lord again and again that we need to love one another as he has loved us. Why? Because this is the very character of the kingdom of God. This morning we would like to continue on with our last meditation. And we would like to use one phrase out of the Bible. Now I have to say I will use it as if it is used out of context. Now I always remember that sentence a text out of context is a pretext. Now I am not going to use it as a pretext though I will take it out of context. The reason is if you read within the context of course it has its real application. But because this is such a principle of life therefore actually you can apply it in many other areas. And that is the reason why we want to use it as it were out of context. Now this little phrase is found in Matthew 2. It is in Matthew chapter 19. Matthew chapter 19 verse 12. Now of course we know the background of this occasion. The Pharisees they came to the Lord Jesus tempting him. You know they presented a problem to our question to our Lord Jesus. But their motive was to tempt him. So they came to him and said is it lawful for every lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause. In other words, is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for whatever reason it may be. And the Lord Jesus answered them with a scripture. Have you not read? And of course we know it is Genesis. Have you not read? That when God created man he created male and female. And on this account a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be united to his wife and the two shall be one flesh. So that there are no longer two but one flesh. But therefore God has joined together let not man separate. Well they came ready with their reasonings. Therefore immediately they said well wait a minute. According to what you say. Then it is not lawful for a man to put away his wife for any reason. But here is the Lord Moses. Moses told us commanded us that if any man was to put away his wife all you need to do is to give her a letter of divorce. In other words they were trying to catch our Lord Jesus and said you say something against the law of Moses. So our Lord Jesus said indeed Moses did say that if you want to put away your wife give her a letter of divorce. But you must remember why Moses said it. Moses said it because of the hardness of your heart. But in the beginning it was not so. In other words man had fallen to such a degree man's heart had become so hard that Moses as it were had to compromise not really compromise but had to take a second position and said well if it really cannot then let it be dissolved. But when our Lord Jesus came He is restoring everything back to the beginning to the original design of God. Therefore the Lord Jesus said in the beginning it was not so. I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife not for fornication and shall marry another commits adultery. And he who marries one put away commits adultery. Even if there is problem there is conflict even incompatibility but the Lord said it is not because of fornication God whom God has put together let not man separate. And when the disciples heard it they were frightened. Well they say if this is the case you have to stay with your wife or you have to stay with your husband and you have so many problems between you two and you cannot be separated then it is much better that you do not marry. In other words don't get into the problem. So the Lord Jesus said all cannot receive this word but those to whom it has been given. There are eunuchs who are born eunuchs. There are eunuchs who are made eunuchs by man and there are eunuchs who made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of the heavens. But the Lord said he that is able to receive it let him receive it. Paul says in 1st Corinthians chapter 7 the married they have to take care of their wives they have all the things of the world they have to take care of. But for those who are unmarried they can devote themselves completely to the Lord and they do not need to be burdened with other burdens. But to whom it is given then he receives it. It is not for everyone. In other words you find there are people who are willing to remain single for the sake of the kingdom. In other words they are willing to sacrifice something which is most precious for the sake of the kingdom. Now of course we do not want to use this just within this area of marriage. And certainly I am not trying to encourage you to remain singles. If the Lord gives you the gift and if you have the desire for the sake of the kingdom that you may not be distracted in any way thank God for that. But of course it is not for everyone. But we like to use this phrase in a broader sense that will apply to everyone. In other words dear brothers and sisters there is something here. For the sake of the kingdom everyone needs to see that for the sake of the kingdom since the kingdom is such is so tremendously important then for the sake of the kingdom something we have to do. It is something that everyone has to do. To put it another way seeing the kingdom seeing the king we must respond to it. And as we respond to it that is for the sake of the kingdom. You know there are many corresponding phrases in the Bible. For instance you find in Matthew chapter 5 verse 10 it said for the sake of righteousness blessed are you who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. Righteousness is so important it is so important that we be right in the sight of God and in order to be right in the sight of God and before man you will be persecuted. Why? Because the whole world lies under the wicked one. If you go the way of the unjust you will find many companions and you will be welcome. But if you want to go the way of righteousness then you will be lonely you will be considered as odd you will be persecuted but the Lord said blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. In other words righteousness is of such importance you are willing to sacrifice something. You are willing to pay a cost for the sake of righteousness. You are willing to suffer persecution for the sake of righteousness. And then of course in verse 11 it continues the Lord said if you are hated for my sake for the sake of our Lord Jesus for no other reason and brothers and sisters how often we find people will hate you people will speak evil of you people will say things that are unreal not real about you and the one reason only reason is because you are the Lord's. The Lord said for my sake oh the Lord is so precious and if you see the preciousness of the Lord you are willing to pay the cost of being hated by the world you are willing to pay the cost of being misunderstood because they just cannot understand you are you willing for the sake of the Lord for my sake the Lord said and of course in the scripture you will find other places he said for the sake of the gospel because of the gospel you are willing to suffer for it for the sake of Christ for the sake of the Lord Jesus for the sake of the kingdom these are corresponding phrases in other words dear brothers and sisters if we see the king if we see what the kingdom of God is to God to God's purpose and His plan then brothers and sisters we must be willing for the sake of the kingdom to do something to pay some cost but before I say this I will again underline it and say it is all of grace it is the grace of God but the thing is having grace how do we respond to it it is the good pleasure of the Father to give us the kingdom and in spite of all our positions the grace of God is always available the grace of God is here but the question is how do you use this grace or do you abuse the grace the grace of God is for all and it is ever available but how do you respond to it do you respond it positively and if you do you will find grace will enable you to pay the cost and as you look back you can say it is not costly at all it really doesn't cost anything why because it is grace anyway we find there are a few things that we must do by the grace of God and these are the tokens the indications that we really respond to grace now first of all you will find that in Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 5 Matthew chapter 6 I am sorry Matthew chapter 6 verse 33 but seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you first of all we must seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness now it is true it is the good pleasure of the Father to give you the kingdom but there is the other side and the other side is you must seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness if you do not seek it you will miss it even though it is freely given to you yet if you do not seek it you may lose it now the word seek tells us that it is not something that just come automatically or mechanically the very word seek means that you have to set your heart your mind upon certain things and you have to pursue it patiently until you find it in other words seek means it is done with purpose with determination with perseverance and if you do then you will find it the Lord said the gate to the kingdom is so narrow and the way is so strengthened straightened that few have found it if you do not look for it if you do not seek for it you cannot find it you will miss it in one sense we are all seeking but what are we seeking? so far as the world is concerned they seek what shall we eat what shall we drink and what shall we be close with these are the things that the world seek for and because they seek for these things well they find it but the Lord Jesus said do not say what shall I eat what shall I drink or what shall I be close with look at the birds of the air they do not sow they do not reap and yet your heavenly father has provided for them so abundantly end of side one please turn your cassette but the Lord Jesus said do not say what shall I eat, what shall I drink or what shall I be close with look at the birds of the air they do not sow, they do not reap and yet your heavenly father has provided for them so abundantly observe the lilies of the valleys they do not spin, they do not weave and your heavenly father has clothed them with such beauty that even Solomon in his glory cannot be compared with this flower, lily how much more your heavenly father will take care of you seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you dear brothers and sisters if we really see the kingdom if we really see the king, then what are we seeking after? are we as believers we are still seeking for the things of this world we are still being occupied with the cares and anxieties of this life no it is true we must live it is true we must eat it is true we must drink we must be close with our heavenly father knows that we need these things these are legitimate things but remember these are not the things that we seek for we do not set our mind upon these things we do not make up our determination that we want to get these things because our neighbors have it, we must have it dear brothers and sisters in Luke chapter 21 we are told oh how we need to be careful of it that we may not be ensnared with the cares and anxieties of life and of riches and when the Lord shall come we shall find ourselves being so bound and rooted to this earth that we cannot go up seeing the kingdom of God let us seek the kingdom of God let us seek righteousness, peace joy in the Holy Spirit let us seek to do His will let us seek His righteousness and if we really make His kingdom and His righteousness the thing that we seek for, if we seek it with intention and then you'll find not only we will find the kingdom but all these things shall be added unto us we are living in this time the end is coming soon we are living in a world that is so worldly, earthly materialistic measure everything with the wealth, the comfort the luxury pleasures of this life and what a temptation it must be to God's people oh how many of God's people have found themselves being occupied fully not only in time but even their heart and mind are occupied by all these things, remember these are the things of the world the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh the pride of life for the world and the things of the world are passing away and when they pass away if that is what you seek for you will pass away too seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you for the sake of the kingdom dear brothers and sisters do not seek the things of this world oh I feel that a Christian life the simpler a Christian life lives the better this modern life is not conducive to our spiritual growth we need to be careful let us seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness and thank God what we need he will add to us and how faithful he is second it is also in Matthew chapter eleven Matthew chapter eleven verse twelve but from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is taken by violence and the violence sees on it from the time of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of the heavens is to be taken by violence and the violence sees on it now we do not like the word violence why because the word violence today has a very bad connotation but actually the word itself is very neutral it depends on how you connect it with you know if you do not like the word violence actually it is a very expressive word if you do not like it well some translation said is taken by force you have to force your way as it were into the kingdom of God it is as if you have to use force to attack a city to break the gate of that city and to seize that city the kingdom of God is to be taken by force by violence and those that are forceful and those that are violent they seize upon it now this very expression reveals something it shows that the kingdom of God just does not come nilly willy the kingdom of God comes in such a way that you have to fight for it you have to fight for it but whom are you fighting with whom do you do violence with now it does not mean that you have to be violent with everybody like some people they feel that the world owes them something and they have a grudge against everybody and they are really enemies of everybody dear brothers and sisters this is not what the scripture teaches it is true that the kingdom of God is to be taken by violence but this violence is not to be violent with other people it is to be violent with yourself in what way you remember in Matthew chapter 19 from verse 13 you find when little children was brought to the Lord that the Lord might pray for them and how the disciples rebuked these mothers and the Lord says suffer little children come to me and do not forbid them for the kingdom of heaven is of such no it is in chapter 18 actually chapter 18 who is the greatest in the kingdom of the heaven and the Lord put a child in the midst and said unless you are converted and become as little children you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven if you humble yourself like this little children that you are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and so on and so forth and he talk about this matter of offense do not offend a little child it is much better that more profitable for him that a great millstone had be hanged upon his neck and he be sunk into the depths of the sea than to offend one of the little children and he continues on with this verse 8 and if thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut it off and cast it from thee for it is good for thee to enter into life lame or lame rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into eternal fire and if thine eyes offend thee pluck it out and cast it from thee it is good for thee to enter into life one eye rather than having two eyes to be cast into the hell of fire in other words do not offend a little child and in the same manner do not offend yourself how can you get rid of these offense if your eye offend you cut it off rather enter into life with one eye than enter into the fire of hell with two eyes if your hand or your foot should offend you cut it off rather enter into life with one foot with one hand than to enter into the fire with two hands and two feet now what does it mean dear brothers and sisters how often we find that the members of our own body try to offend us that is to say our eyes, our hands our feet try to offend us in the sense of leading us astray oh may we put it this way that this self life in us how often this self life within each one of us try to lead us astray from Christ there is the life of Christ within us but there is this self life within us always struggling with Christ life within us and often times we find this self life get the ascendancy and lead us astray not only lead other people astray lead us astray and when such things happen what should we do are we to give in to the lust of our eyes, give in to the lust of our flesh are we to give in to gratify our self life and if we do the Lord Jesus said he who gain his soul life in this age shall lose it but he who loses his self life for me and for the gospel sake he shall gain it to eternity this is what the Lord Jesus said if anyone comes after me let him deny himself take up his cross and follow me that is doing violence in a natural way we all love ourselves we love ourselves so much that we give in to our passions and our lust we are afraid to be hurt we are afraid that our self life is hurt we want our self life be satisfied but dear brothers and sisters as we try to give in to our self life it seems as if we gain our soul, why because for a time we seem to get what we want and we seem to be happy we seem to be satisfied but dear brothers and sisters actually we have offended ourselves we have done ourselves a serious wrong if we gain our soul life today we will lose it in the age to come but if for the kingdom sake we are willing to be drastic with ourselves we are willing to be desperate, we are willing to be violent with ourselves, in other words if our hands should offend us, cut it off no, of course, not literally unfortunately you know, it did happen in church history, some people did it literally and I'm afraid they do not have enough hands to cut off this is not to be taken literally, but this is to be taken spiritually that is to say if you find your hand offends you cut it off, that is to say let the cross cut that member that occasion that offends you, cut it off do not yield to the lust and the passion of your soul rather be willing to suffer old Peter says we must have the will to suffer, then we are delivered from sin often times we are not delivered because we are afraid to be hurt who can seize the kingdom the kingdom is not for the weaklings the kingdom is for those who are violent that is to say they are violent to themselves oh, do not be violent to your brothers and sisters but do be violent to yourselves again we have to say, it is grace who does not love himself or herself it is natural but because the life of Christ is in us the Holy Spirit is in us and therefore we find that as our soul life tries to struggle the Holy Spirit within us will apply the cross to our soul life if we only cooperate the power is not in us the power is in the Holy Spirit but we need to cooperate as our brother says if we cooperate you will find his grace is sufficient and his power is manifesting in our weakness if we try to struggle ourselves we will fail brothers and sisters you cannot cut off your hand or your foot you cannot pluck out your eye if you try to do it you will find you just cannot do it don't do it just yield yourself to the Lord let him do it let the Holy Spirit do it he is the power and he will do it so, in order to take the kingdom for the sake of the kingdom brothers and sisters we must be violent to ourselves deny ourselves take up our cross and follow him now thirdly you will find that in second epistle of Peter second epistle of Peter verse five and for this very reason also using therewith all diligence he of faith have also virtue in virtue knowledge in knowledge temperance, in temperance endurance in endurance godliness, in godliness brotherly love and in brotherly love love for these things existing and abounding in you make you to be neither idle nor unfruitful as regard the knowledge of our Lord Jesus for he with whom these things are not present is blind, short-sighted and has forgotten the purging of his former sins wherefore be rather brethren use diligence to make your calling and election sure for doing these things he will never fall for thus shall the entrance into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be richly furnished unto you for the sake of the kingdom dear brothers and sisters we must use diligence our God is a diligent God we often say God would never use a lazy person lazy person but then I read somewhere D. L. Moody said God would never save a lazy person now you figure that out I always thought that God would never use a lazy person I can see it but D. L. Moody said God never saves a lazy person too lazy to be saved but anyway you'll find for the sake of the kingdom dear brothers and sisters we need to use diligence the very life within us is a diligent life you know lazy is the nature of our old life but diligence is the very nature of our new life the very nature of the new life within us is diligent therefore we must use diligence in other words let that nature be developed into character what is the kingdom of God the kingdom of God is the son his image he is the firstborn among many brethren he will lead many sons into glory in other words characters characters must be developed and as these characters are developed in us then we will enter into the kingdom richly with abundance faith why because it is grace it is grace therefore it requires faith faith is not that you come and do something faith is you receive what he has done grace is already given therefore have faith in his grace and if you have faith then add to it virtue in other words faith without works is dead if it is living faith it will produce its fruit but it is the work of faith it is not dead work and with virtue you add knowledge it is not just good works as you find in Colossians chapter one Paul's prayer for the Colossian believers that they may know the will of God in all wisdom and knowledge that it is not just good works it is God's will you know often times we think if it is good that it must be God's will not necessarily so we need knowledge and add to knowledge temperance self-control with knowledge you need to control yourself why because some people have knowledge and because they have knowledge they think they have the liberty to do things and they forget those weak brothers and sisters like the Corinthian believers with knowledge it is not that you may free to do anything you like with knowledge you need to have temperance self-control and with self-control there will be endurance you have to endure with endurance godliness like God with godliness brotherly love and with brotherly love love in other words use diligence that the characters of our Lord Jesus may be built up in your lives and as these characters are built up in your lives then you make your calling an election sure I am not a Calvinist laughter but I do believe in election but I so also believe that you need to make your election sure and how do you make your election sure use diligence to build the Christ characters in your life then you will enter into the kingdom richly and in abundance and finally Hebrews Hebrews chapter 12 verse 28 wherefore let us receiving a kingdom not to be shaken have grace by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear dear brothers and sisters we have received a kingdom that cannot be shaken in the preceding verse you find in verse 22 but ye have come to mount Zion we have come to mount Zion it is not only that we are coming to it we have come we have come to mount Zion and mount Zion is where the palace the throne of David is in other words it represents the kingdom we have been given a kingdom that cannot be shaken now everything that can be shaken will be shaken and we are in this period of everything being shaken and thank God let all these that can be shaken, shaken off that which cannot be shaken may remain we receive a kingdom that cannot be shaken but now notice this wherefore let us receiving a kingdom not to be shaken have grace the grace of God is given now let us have it by which let us serve God acceptably with reverence and fear we have the grace of God in us now let us use this grace to serve the kingdom of God does not allow us to be idle you remember the parable of the kingdom again a man came out in the morning and engaged people to work in his vineyard and hour after hour he came out and found some people still idling and he took them in even at the latest hour an hour before the day's work was to be closed he still engaged people into it in other words the kingdom of God does not allow us to be idle many parables spoken of the kingdom, the servants how the Lord was going to get his kingdom and he gave his properties, divided them to his three servants five talents, two talents one talent and these servants are to trade with the talent and when the king shall return then he will ask those servants what they have made dear brothers and sisters let us serve God acceptably according to his will with reverence with devotedness and with fear with awe let us be wise and faithful servant of God and in one version they put the word serve as worship they said by which let us worship God acceptably with reverence and fear our service should be a worship to God so for the sake of the kingdom dear brothers and sisters let us not be negative or passive let us press on into the kingdom and may his kingdom come shall we pray oh heavenly father we do praise and thank thee that it is thy good pleasure to give us the kingdom but lord thou dost require us for the sake of the kingdom to press on yes thou hast given us the kingdom but we have to put our foot down and step on it so just help us that we may enter into thy kingdom with abundance to the praise and glory of thy name amen