This is the month of March and we will be concluding on KINGDOM SERIES today. We started by examining the introduction to the series in the first meeting, and so far, we have examined four keys in the series. The first key; the word of God, and we looked at the bond of love the second key, the third key was prayer, and last week we looked at the comprehensive name of Jesus Christ. And today the Holy Spirit is concluding this series with us in a different light, and I believe it is because of the love that God has for us that He is bringing this word our way. Today, we are looking at RELIGION VERSUS KINGDOM, where does the key actually work, and how does it work? So, we are looking at religion versus kingdom, we want to understand what religion is, and we want to understand the kingdom. We are talking about the keys of the kingdom.
If you use a wrong key for a wrong door, it won’t open. No matter how beautiful that key is. That’s why when the Holy Spirit is bringing this word our way today. So, we are looking at the keys of the kingdom series, the final one; religion versus kingdom. We are going to start by looking at RELIGION. And we will finish up by the help of the Holy Spirit with the KINGDOM. We will start our observation from Genesis 11, and we will read other Scripture as the Lord gives us grace. Genesis 11:1-9. Please I will indulge you to open the ears of your heart and the eyes of your spirit be open as you read this Scripture this morning. There is life in the word. Genesis 11 verse 1-9. Ther Bible says:
Now the whole earth had one language and one [a]speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
May the Lord bless the reading of His word in Jesus’ name. We are first considering this morning religion and our case study is the tower of babel. When Adam and Eve sinned against God, and God chased them out of the garden of Eden, the Bible says and God put the cherubim with a flaming sword to guard the entrance of the garden, especially the one leading to the tree of life. So, man was sent out of the garden. God placed a curse on man, because of His disobedience and His fall from grace, and the Bible says that from that day, the land was cursed for the sake of man, and man began to toil. So, from that instant when God chased man out of the garden of Eden, man began to toil. Before that time, man was not toiling, so that we understand the garden and the post-garden experience.
The garden experience is the experience that man had where man was put in a garden that God had made. Man was not given any responsibility but that which God assigned to Him, tend and keep the garden. Man was given the responsibility to tend the garden that God had made. I want us to notice the sequence of this. Man, never had to put any effort apart from tending and keeping the garden. Everything was made by God. When you go to Genesis two and read it from verse one, you will see that God actually placed everything. And without mincing words the Scripture made it clear that there was everything. There were four rivers in the garden, the Bible says God planted all the trees, God did everything and He put the man that He had formed into the garden He had made. So, God was the one that actually served man for man to be functioning where God placed Him. So, garden of Eden required no human effort apart from tending and keeping.
Now, let us see the post-garden of Eden experience. God chased the man out of the garden He had made and man began to toil. God said from the sweat of your face, you will eat and man began to toil. When man began to toil, it was not just about what to eat, it was also that a vacuum had been created in the life of the man. A vacuum that is irreplaceable had been created in him. The Bible records in Genesis 2, that in the cool of the day, garden of Eden experience, God will come to the garden, and converse with man. He will walk through the garden with man, there was fellowship, there was communion. Man was not looking for God; God was with man. Adam never prayed for God to visit; God was there. Adam never fasted for God to visit; God was there. So, at that time in the garden of Eden, the presence of God was not an issue for Adam. The presence of God was there.
But post-garden of Eden experience, man began to find God. Man began to find ways to please and meet God. So, you will see that from that time, the Bible says and Adam knew his wife and they gave birth to children, Cain and Abel, and Cain and Abel had to work, toil and present sacrifices to God. In the garden of Eden there was never a time where Adam needed to sacrifice to God. The sacrifice was not needed. So, sacrifice was as a result of the human effort to seek God. So, when man began post garden of Eden experience, he began to find God for himself, when the vacuum was there and it cannot be replaced, man began to find God. Because you will ask yourself, if Adam did not sacrifice to God, will Abel and Cain have done that? Who modelled the sacrifice to them? Adam! So, the Bible did not give us a detail when Adam started sacrificing. But we can see from the fruit of his life that he actually started sacrificing to God.
Because his children followed suit. Cain and Abel. And the Bible says and Abel gave to God a pleasing sacrifice, and the sacrifice had to go God as a sweet-smelling savor. And God rejected Cain and accepted Abel. Fast-forward to Genesis 11 the tower of Babel. In the search of man for God with human effort, men decided that at this point let us come together, the Bible says and they journey. So, they started a journey in search for God. And that is the same journey every human is on today. Every human from Adam has been on this journey in search for God. We can call it different names that we please, some will call it scientific experiment, some will tell you that what they are doing is that they are in search of knowledge. Some will say they are in search of wisdom. Some people will tell you they are in search of deeper things but every man on the face of the earth is in search of God. And when man began to search for God, the Bible says at this time the whole earth had one language and one speech, they could understand each other, there was unity, there was no language barrier, and the Bible talked about the vision that men crafted for themselves.
The Bible says in verse 4; "and they said come let us build ourselves a city" Adam never built the garden of Eden, there was not a time when men had to put it upon themselves as a burden to build a connection to God. They said let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens. When I was reading this place, I came to realize that the love that God had for man is so great. Because you will ask me what happened in Genesis 11? Was it not similar to happened in heaven? When the devil said to himself, that I want to ascend to the heights, I want to put my stars above the stars of God. I want to build myself an empire, I want to build myself a tower, I want to build myself a structure that places me in authority. And the same thing man was trying to do. They said let us build ourselves a city, now this is showing us religion.
Religion is men in search for God with human effort. These men knew that heaven existed. So, before you start blaming them or before you start to say oh these people those days were very foolish. I hope we are not in the same race? I hope that's not where we are journeying to? Hope we have not found a plain in another land? Where is the plain that we have found? Many people find different plains, and they decide to put a structure on it. A human structure that tries to connect with God is called religion. Whatever name it's called is religion. So, if the scientist or the philosophers decide to do experiment to find out who is God, is there a force that controls the earth, what is mother nature? They are building a structure with human effort to find God. And it is religion. So, it's not just the religions of the world that we know today that is religion.
Every human effort or man-made structure built in search of God is religion. And the motive of religion is self. Let us build a city. Let us build for ourselves a city and a tower. The motive of every religion is self. It is man focused, self-focused. And you would realize from the statement they made in verse 4, it said "and they said come let us" God was not involved. Their unity for a divine vision, mission and purpose was outside God. And that's what you will find outside every religion.
We structure out God, God is not in the picture. Religion structures out God in their vision and mission. And their ideas originate from man and men focused without God on the picture. So, religion says God this is our idea, endorse it. God this is what we want to do, we just need you to ratify it, just give us the support. Just give us your blessings on it, we have already decided, we have purposed this is what we want to do, this is the vision we are running with. Whether you are in it or not we don't care, we are still going anywhere. That's religion. They said we will build it and they said "let us make a name for ourselves" religion will always create a name for man. Religion is always about human recognition and accolade. If we do it like this will they clap for us?
Are we going to get more members, are we going to get more followers, are we going to get more people interested in what we doing? It is about making names. Human recognition and accolades. Religion creates a feeling of togetherness, community, social gathering, where material things and money is celebrated. It said let's make a name for ourselves lest we will be scattered across the face of the earth. In verse 3, they said to one another, "come let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly, they had bricks for stone and asphalt for mortar" they had resources. Where you see religion you will see resources, abundance of resources, because it creates a feeling of togetherness, community, social gathering, where money and materialism is celebrated. That's religion.
But one thing is this verse; but the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built, and the Lord said indeed the people are one, they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do, now nothing that they purpose to do will be withheld from them. Now usually in religion, there is a sense of progress, accomplishment, we are doing great, we are doing well, we are making progress. But this is the key, when to understand religion, this what will always happen. Verse 7 "come, this God speaking, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech" God will always resist religion, no matter how structured a religion is, or no matter how structured religions are, God resist religion.
No matter the progress they are recording, no matter the kind of structure they had built, God resist them. So, how you know that a religion has been structured or set up, God stands and resist it. Because it is the imagination of man in pride, and religion always leads to self-righteousness. They paint a picture of perfection, the dos, the don'ts, it's always legalistic, it is always law driven. They paint a picture of perfection in hypocrisy, they will tell you don't do this, these are the things you should do, and not do. But even the leaders of the religion themselves are defining those laws but are hypocritical about it. That’s religion and God resist it. No matter the structure they have put in place, in religion you will always find internal conflict. This teaching is powerful and necessary for the body of Christ, so that we understand that what God is after is not religion. And if you are leading a religion, know that God is against you, God is not pleased, you are not doing the pleasure of God.
Religion might look godly but you are denying the power thereof. There is power in God, you can't box God in the religion, no! God resist religion, He stands against it, He said let us; God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit if you look at the Bible the Us is in capital letter U, talking about the trinity. There is no force of agreement in heaven, apart from the trinity, and if the three that agrees together as witness in heaven stands against a religion, it cannot stand. There would always be internal conflict. That's why in religion there is always denominationalism, they are always divided, there is always division because it's false unity, it's not real. It's hypocritical in nature.
Religion is against the will of God. It's not God's will. God said let's go and confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech, there is always internal conflict. If you see any religion no matter how structured, it is; look closely you will see internal conflict. So, the Lord scattered them abroad. From there over all the face of the earth. And they ceased building the city. When it comes to a point, religion will stop. If we look at the vision that Daniel had, the Bible says about the structure, it said there was one that had the head of gold and different segment but it said but raised up a kingdom, a stone that was cut without human hands, and it came and scattered all the structure that had been built. That's what happens to religion when kingdom comes. It will cease. Religion will cease when the kingdom of Christ is established. Religion will always cease, it is not perpetual, it doesn't have eternal nature. There is no religion that has the attribute or the character of eternity. Only the kingdom of Christ. So, we are looking at the kingdom of Christ.
The kingdom of Christ is the kingdom of God, it is the certified and accepted way that God has chosen to reveal Himself. After the garden of Eden experience, God built a similitude. When He was leading the children of Israel, He said Israel is my first born, I will make them a nation, an example. So, the children of Israel were a nation beloved of the Lord that God used as an example, as a similitude of what He is going to build in Christ. And that's why Jesus said something; I want us to look at Matthew 11:27-30. We are looking at the kingdom of Christ. All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him. 28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Jesus is saying; come to me all religious people. Because what religion does is that it belabors people, and put on them heavy laden-laws, legalistic actions. He said come unto Me, you have been trying to find God, you have been using your human effort to find God, come to Me I will show you the Father. I will show you God. All you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. So, rest is in the kingdom of Christ.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me for I am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest, the rest that Adam had in the garden of Eden. You will find rest for your souls in Christ. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. You won't find rest in religion; rest is in the kingdom of Christ. So, the kingdom of Christ is symbolized by the institution of the cross of Christ. That's why He said take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I Am gentle and lowly in heart and you will find rest for your soul. For my yoke is easy. You find that yoke at the cross. And My burden is light, you find that burden, you pick it up at the cross. The cross of Christ is the representation of the institution that God has established for the redemption of man back to the garden of Eden experience. When you get to the cross of Christ, you get to the place of redemption. The place where you are redeemed from human effort and the works of flesh and you are translated and conveyed from the kingdom of darkness where religion is prevalent in to the kingdom of His dear Son-the cross.
John 3:1-7. “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Nicodemus was a religious leader, one of the top-ranking religious leaders at a time, but He realized there was no life in religion, He realized that there is no eternity in religion. He saw that what Jesus was showing them and doing signified and showed to them that what we need is not what we are doing. We need to switch camp. This man is showing us a way, showing us how to fill the vacuum that we have carried on for generations and ages. And he said no one do these things that you do unless God is with him. So, he recognized that God was with Jesus. “Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again”
Please this statement that Jesus made, in John 3:3, is the underlying statement that shift us from religion to kingdom. He said most assuredly I say to you, this is the truth; unless one is born again, he cannot, he will try but will not get it. He cannot see the kingdom of God. Unless one is born again, unless one has come to the cross, and receive the redemption right that the cross offers, the person cannot see the kingdom of God. You might desire the kingdom but you cannot see it. You might desire to see God; Christ is the way. There are many people looking for God, are you part of those people wondering, where is God, I want to see God, I want to know God, I want to step into the fullness of God. Christ is the way; you access God at the cross. You don't access Christ by motivational talks, you may have been born in the church, in fact you may have grown up as a pastor’s child, if you have not come to the cross, you have not found the way to God. Jesus said unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God, Christ is the way. In Galatians 5 from verse 19, the Bible says and the works of the flesh are evident; I think two years ago or last year when we were looking at the gates of decision, we looked at the narrow gate and the broad way, and the Bible says the works of the flesh are evident, there are many express ways that leads to the kingdom of darkness. You don't need to be so meticulous; you can find yourself in any. You just make a choice, pick one and the Bible stated listing them; adultery-express way, fornication, lie, lewdness etc. But the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit 'is' it's not a wrong English, it's the English. The fruits of the Spirit is… there is only one way that leads to the kingdom.
The fruit of the Spirit is love and the Bible says God is love, and it says He has given us eternal life and this life is in His Son, those that have the Son have life, those that don't have the Son don't have life. It's not confusing, it's a simple gospel. If you have the Son you have life, you don't have the Son you don't have life. So, if you want to find God, there is only one Way-Christ. So, until you come to the cross of Christ, you don't have Christ. And Jesus said to him, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom. And Nicodemus said to him how can a man be born again when he is old? And that's the problem of religion. How can a man be born again when he is already matured? He already has the knowledge of good and evil, he has already eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, he is not dying, it looks as if he is alive, he still bouncing. Why do you need Him to be born again? See he said can he enter the second time into his mother's womb the second time.
Verse 5. Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water, The water, the word of God. And you must understand what Jesus is saying about the water. They came to Jesus and they were talking about the fact that He was blaspheming and He was saying heresies. He said you look into the Scriptures as though in it you have eternal life. Because that is what religion has taught you, look into the Scriptures, leave God behind, all you need is structure, just have the letter, but the Bible says the letter kills but the Spirit gives life. It says look into the Scriptures as though in the Scriptures you will have eternal life. He said there is no eternal life in the Scriptures, eternal life is in Christ, in the Son of His love. So, if you are not in Christ and you carry a Bible; you don't have eternal life. Eternal life is in Christ, that's the location, in His Son. And Jesus said something, He said the Scripture that you look into that you failed to see, they testify of Me. And they were wondering, what's Jesus saying?
So, you mean Moses was testifying of Him? You mean Abraham was testifying of you? Do you mean Enoch and Noah were testifying of you? And Jesus said yes to them. Because when Noah was building the ark God instructed Noah to build the ark to save his family. The Bible says and Noah built the ark as the Lord commanded. And God said go to all the people and tell them the same thing, what will save them from the flood, a flood is coming to swipe away the earth. What will save them from the flood is the ark. That experience was testifying of Christ. That a flood of sin and destruction would want to carry the lives of men but the only one that will be saved is the one that enters the ark of Christ. So, the story of Noah was testifying of Him. The ark was a similitude of what God was going to do through Christ.
The story of Abraham was testifying of Him. God said take your son, the son that you love so much, and take Him to the mountain and sacrifice him for Me, and Abraham obeyed and tool his son. In the heart of Abraham, when you read the book of Hebrews, Abraham had already killed the boy. But God said see the ram that is tied in the thicket. God was showing us the substitution power of the lamb, of the blood. In heaven the Bible still testifies that the appearance of Jesus is still like a lamb that is slain. Because that was the substitution, every time that appearance of Jesus is before the throne of God it's showing that He has substituted Himself in your place. So, when you come to Christ, you are coming to a sacrifice of substitution. The flood of sin and destruction should have wiped away your life and the earth but God said come to the ark. The Bible says and Noah built an ark and saved His family the family of God are being saved by Christ.
When you come into Christ, you come into the family of God, and you are saved. The name of the Lord is a strong tower the righteous run into it and they are saved. Even though the flood was so much, the ark was not destroyed. It floated. Your life will float in this journey of life when you are in Christ. In the midst of the turbulence, the storm and the flood, you will float, you will stay afloat because you are in Christ. The Scriptures testified of Him, so Jesus said you look at the Scriptures as though in it you have eternal life, the Scriptures testify of Me, He was saying the truth. Because if not that they were just looking at the letter, they would understand that everything God commanded Moses to build, and the interaction that happened between the children of Israel and Moses was a similitude of what God was going to do through Christ Jesus.
The Scriptures testify of Me, you don’t see that in religion, you see it in Christ. So the cross of Christ is the accepted and certified way God has chosen to reveal Himself to His people. God created a connection by the cross. Every time you come to the cross you come to God. The scripture says therefore we can come boldly before the throne of grace to obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need. Every time you are in need you can come to the cross. There is such power at the cross. That’s why when apostle Paul was speaking, he said they have a form of godliness, in religion there is a form of godliness, in religion there is a form of godliness, there is that piety, there’s a way they dress, there’s that pious nature that religion gives, but there is no liberty of the Spirit.
Religion poses that form of godliness, but it denies the power. Because, the power is at the cross. You might be doing godly things, pious things, but are you doing God’s thing? Because there is a difference, if you look at the book of James, it said even if you want to do religion, this is pure religion. I was reading that place and I realized that it was to their mock that James was speaking. He said in fact as you want to do religion at its peak, try and do pure religion, don’t do false religion. This is pure religion, that you visit the orphans, the widows, at least try and do those things. But God is in support of kingdom. The investment of God is in His kingdom. Not religion.
In John 3:16, the Bible says: for God so loved the world, that He gave. In the kingdom God gives, in religion men give, God gives and in the example of God we give. In religion men give only to be expecting that God should give. But in the kingdom, God gives, He gives us first an example and we follow suit. In religion, men model to God what they want God to do for them. So, God gave love, He served in love, and He led us into love. That’s the cross. The cross requires no human effort. When Jesus was on the cross, He said it is finished, and the Bible says; He gave up the ghost. So, when He was saying to Nicodemus, unless a man is born of the water, and the Spirit, He cannot enter the kingdom of God. So, even though you have the keys, you can’t enter, you can’t use it, it can’t work. The kingdom key cannot work in religion. So how many kingdom keys have we looked at in this series? We looked at prayer, the word, the bond of love, the name of Jesus, it will not work in religion.
So, have you been wondering how come the keys I am holding are not working? You can even have the key holder and it’s not walking, it’s because you are in religion. You are in the wrong place. You can’t stay at a wrong door with a wrong key, and you expect to enter, you stay at the right door with the right key. So, for you to pray successfully, you are in Christ. For you to actually experience the bond of love, through unity, you are in Christ, for you to use the comprehensive name of Jesus Christ, you are in Christ. For us to be able to use the word of God, to wield the sword of the Spirit it has to be in Christ. No wonder apostle Paul said in Him we live, in Him we move, in Him we have our being. That’s kingdom, that’s not religion. Religion is not in Him; kingdom is in Him. Are you in Christ? The cross gives us rest. For all those that are thirsty and hungry, come to the cross.
The cross has the saving power, you don’t labor, you are not given heavy burdens at the cross. He said My yoke is easy and My burden is light. You find rest at the cross. Our language is unified at the cross, that’s where true unity is. There is no denomination in Christ. No wonder apostle Paul said; why are you people trying to do denomination, I am for Paul, I am for Apollos, is it Paul or Apollos that died for you? We are all one in Christ, one Lord, one Spirit, one baptism. The church is unified at the cross; the church can never be unified in religion. We are all unified in Christ, we are all members of one Body-Christ. Religion does not glorify God, the kingdom glorifies God, the cross glorifies God. The tower of Babel did not glorify God, God came down and said what are they doing? What are these people up to? And He scattered them. God resisted them. But at the cross you find grace, because the cross humbles you, the cross brings you to a posture to receive the grace of God. And the Bible says; God gives grace to the humble, but He resist the proud. That’s why God will always resist religion, but He gives grace to everyone that wants to enter the kingdom.
It says in verse 6, that which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. Jesus is telling us the difference between religion and kingdom. Kingdom is spiritual, religion is fleshly, there is carnality in religion, that’s why the celebration of the things that are done in religion are money and materialism. Kingdom is spiritual, you are born spiritually, you live spiritually, you have your being spiritually, your identity and recognition is spiritual. That’s why you will see in religion, many things are done from the soul, religion is soulish but kingdom is spiritual. That’s why those in religion are doing soul travel, religion stops people at the realm of the soul, it magnifies your soul. But in the kingdom, our spirit magnifies the Lord. We are connected to our core as spirit. And see what Jesus said in verse 7, “do not marvel that I said to you, you must be born again. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes, so is everyone in the kingdom, so Is every one of the Spirit.”
There is liberty of the Spirit. You are not boxed, your boundary in the kingdom is to the degree of God. But in religion, boundaries are made to the degree of men. You go as far as the man in the religion can take you. But in the kingdom, you go as far as Christ can take you. No limits, no boundaries. I would be closing with a story in Luke 10:38-42, about Mary and Martha, Jesus showed us kingdom versus religion in that story. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at [k]Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore, tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.
In religion you have worries and troubles about many things. But see what happens in the kingdom. But one thing is needed, kingdom is about one thing, kingdom is about one way, religion is about many things. It says and Mary has chosen that good path which will not be taken away from her. Men can take religion away from you, but they can’t take away the kingdom. The world can stifle you in religion, but in the kingdom, you have liberty. Religion puts you in bondage and death, but kingdom is eternal. It says and you will know the truth, the truth of the kingdom and truth will make you free, do you want to be free? You want to stay afloat in the midst of the flood of the world? Get into the ark of Christ Jesus. Get to the cross, come for an exchange at the cross.
Amen!
