The kingdom of heaven is not like a [kingdom. 00.42.19] See, we tend to think kingdom and you're starting to get - I know you'll get wound up over this and start to think ooh, it's all about authority and control. No, it isn't see because the kingdom of heaven, the king serves. Ever found a king that would wash people's feet? I don't think so - but we have one. He's our king. Ever had a king who'd lay his life down so you could be freed? I don't think so, but we have one. See? That's our king. That's why it's not hard to serve Him. That's why these things aren't hard to follow - He's not hard to follow because He loves us, and He's shown it by demonstrating Himself sacrificially. Getting the idea? Okay, well here's another thing; government, the values and the culture. The values and the culture, of course in a democracy they constantly change and what the majority want is what happens.
I can remember years ago - we've talked about it before - that people used to stand up for God Save the Queen. Now they don't do it at all. They don't want any shorts, they just want to go straight to the movie. We got too busy, get me out of here you know? And think about the situation of divorce. When I grew up if a person committed adultery it was actually in the paper. It was such a scandalous thing that would erode the nation and family values - and so it was in the paper. I'm not saying whether that was good or bad, but now of course it happens all the time and no one even thinks about it. So you understand values are changing, so in a democracy the values change the majority determine what the values will be. Hence we have a lot of laws that maybe the majority don't necessarily agree with, but it's been pushed through anyway.
But in a kingdom well of course the king determines the values and the values are absolute, so here, well I think this is okay to live together, well I don't think it's okay. See but in the kingdom of God He just says straight something like this. Adultery is a sin. Fornication is a sin. Homosexuality is a sin. Pride is a sin. It's just quite black and white and it's never changed in 4000, 6000 years, never changed. It's unchanging, so the kingdom of heaven is unchanging in its culture, its values, its laws. It just doesn't change. What changes is our laws change, our values change, our culture changes. Before if you were on a bus, a woman got on a bus, all the men would stand up and let her have a seat. An elderly person got on a bus, all the men would stand up and let her have a seat. Kids would stand up and let them have a seat. Not now, culture's changed - and not for the better. Not for the better see, so in a democracy one of the dilemmas with a democracy is as the people forsake accountability to God and the character declines to do what people want, then the whole culture declines and of course the majority rule.
So in New Zealand only 10 per cent age Christian, so you have the majority who are not; they actually begin to determine what the culture is. Interesting isn't it? So in the kingdom of heaven it's not a vote on the culture. It's not a vote on the laws. There's no vote whatsoever. There's just how it is, this is how it operates. So when Jesus was speaking in Matthew 6, or 5, 6 and 7 and gave His Sermon on the Mount, He said this is how the kingdom operates. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, they'll receive the kingdom of heaven. You've heard people say you shan't commit [adultery. I tell you look 00.45.30] with lust in your heart, you've already committed it. He began to outline how the kingdom operates. I encourage you to read Matthew 5, have a look at it all.
Okay, here's the last couple then and we'll just finish up. The last couple here are these. Representation, representation. Now representation - so representation, the government is voted in and the government is voted out. Don't we like that? That's one good thing about democracy; if we don't like them vote them out. You like them, vote them back in again, see? But in the kingdom you can't vote the king out. You can't vote God out. He's the king because He's the king, so He's king by birth or by appointment - but He's a king. He's king because that's who He is, so you can't vote Him in, can't vote Him out. You never vote the king out. He's always there and He's always going to be there, see? The other thing is that of course when there's representation the leaders are supposed to represent the people, [yes, 00.46.18] the leaders. So our elected leaders are supposed to represent us, but in the kingdom of God - get this - people are supposed to represent the king. Think about that.