We want to talk about the kingdom of God. Let’s go to Genesis 1:1. Although God uses the word earth quite a bit to refer to it, He doesn’t give us a lot of information. The scientists think they know all about the earth, about how many millions and billions of years old it is, but it’s probably not quite that old. It says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. In verse two He describes what it was like before He began to create the world. When I look in the scriptures I separate the world from the earth. A lot of people think the earth and the world is the same thing but it isn’t. Verse 2, And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. So waters covered the earth and it was just like a big ball that was dark. There was no light or anything. It was just the earth out in space, and according to the scriptures, the earth was not formed around the sun and the moon, but the sun and the moon were formed around the earth (Genesis 1:14-19). On the first day of creation God created a lot of things that we don’t think of. It says in verse 3, And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. What was that light? It says in the scriptures that Jesus is the light of men. And I used to think that it must have been that the sun was made on the first day. But it was made on the fourth day. Verse 4-5, And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day. Now, we want to look at this first day and to establish what light is and what darkness is. 1 Thessalonians 5:5, Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day. He’s talking about those who were born again, those who accepted Jesus in their heart. Jesus came with the covenant in their heart to live with them and to shed light upon their lives so they could find out how to get out of the grip of death and darkness. And so here he is saying, Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day, and that’s what it says in the beginning. He called it light, and the light He called day. …We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Which is exactly what we just read in Genesis 1. Verse 6-8, Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation. So here he is going back to the very first part of Genesis chapter one and he is teaching the people that in the beginning God said let there be light and that light was the kingdom of God on earth. That’s the first thing He established. And in that kingdom He set all the judgments that were needed to protect His creation. Because in His mind He was going to make man. And so the first thing He did was He said, “Let there be light.” And in that light were the blessings of Deuteronomy twenty eight; if you follow the Creator, this is what will happen. And He is still today giving those that are in His kingdom revelations that have never been released upon the earth before. Every generation. Just like a kernel of corn that comes out of the ground. When it’s put in the ground it’s one thing, and when it comes out of the ground it looks like something else, and every week as it’s growing it looks different. And so it’s the same way with the earth. The earth was made to grow and increase and that’s how He knew what was going to happen from the beginning to the end. Just as that kernel of corn. At each stage it’s different. When I see that corn getting up to about six feet high I start looking for the little leaf to start coming from the base of the big leaf. That little leaf starts the ear of corn. And then I feel up on the top and feel where the tassels are at. Because I know the tassels are going to come out at the same time the ear is going to come out. And in three days that one little leaf can have a little ear with a little bit of silk almost ready to come out. In just hours and days it can do all of that. It’s unbelievable how that is. But it was working from the time that the kernel died to do that, but it just came out at the right time. And that’s how God made the world. That is, He had plans from the beginning to the end and that’s how He knew you and me from the beginning of the foundation and here we are now. But the people that were in Abraham’s time didn’t know us. At the time of David they didn’t know us. At the time of Jesus they didn’t know us. But God did. He knew the time that we were going to come forth. But there were only a few who were willing to follow. And God also at the beginning had a plan for those that were faithful and it says that it has never entered into the minds of man the things that He has planned for those who are faithful to Him. And so from the very first day He had great plans for this creation on the earth and the first day He made the kingdom of God and all the promises. All of the promises and all of the things He was going to do were already there on the very first day before He did anything else. And He did it for one reason; that is, that He didn’t have to sit there and say, “Man, you were a good person but you just didn’t follow Me. I don’t know what I’m going to do. Come over to the side and we’ll see what we are going to do with you.” No, He knew from the very first day of creation the kind of people that He wanted and He wasn’t going to change. When man fell He had Christ prepared to come at the right time to deliver us from death and hell. And so everything God has done on this creation as far as the eternity part of it, was done at the very first day when light came. So therefore if you think you can sneak by, you can’t. It was already settled before you were even created. He didn’t want the kind of people who would try to take over his kingdom like satan and some of the angels did. So he threw the fallen angels on the earth and it became their grave. Then He said, I’m going to put earth people down here and give them the option to serve satan or to serve Me. The ones that want to serve Me I will take, but the ones who don’t want me will go to the same place satan does. But I’m not going to make man the way I made angels. The angels had eternal life. They were going to live forever. But not the kind of eternal life that we think of. They were made to live forever. We have eternal life, the promise of it, if we make it through to the end, to be in this kingdom of God. But for those that choose not to follow and obey Him, He’s not going to let you live with Him. And He doesn’t force you to. If you don’t want Him that’s fine. He’s going to let you live with the ones that you served. There is another element that comes into play, and that is, there are only two kingdoms. The kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. There isn’t your kingdom. Although there are many kingdoms under the kingdom of satan and there are many kingdoms under the kingdom of Christ and the Father that He allows on the earth. For many that kingdom is just your family. You are given the anointing to accomplish and to serve the living God and for you as a family to enter into the kingdom of God. And then a church body is a larger family that is laboring to do the will of God so that they can be proven to be faithful and trustworthy for all eternity. We have now the promise of everlasting life, as long as the covenant of God is in our hearts. But if we become unfaithful He removes that covenant from us because we forfeited it. And there are hundreds of scriptures in the Bible that back that up. And so the very first day of creation God set in order everything that is going to happen as far as judging whether you have made it, whether you haven’t, and it’s up to you to seek. If you seek the living God and you let Jesus live in your heart you have a light to see where you’re at. That brings us to another realm. That is, to being successful. For you to be successful physically and spiritually you must become poor in spirit. To become poor in spirit is the first step in teachability. The greatest teacher is the Holy Spirit. The second greatest teachers are those with experience who know what the Holy Spirit has taught. They can teach others so they don’t have to go through the process. They can go from there and be much greater than what the teacher was. That’s how you advance in the realms of the kingdom of light. The twelve disciples spent three and a half years with Jesus. And then Saul, who had an experience with the Lord and in just days he was changed and became Paul. In hours he was changed. Paul exploded and changed the world. Isaiah 40:1, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her warfare is accomplished. God is looking and saying, Finish your warfare. What kind of warfare is it? …That her iniquity is pardoned. That is, your self-centeredness is gone. Your pride and arrogance is gone so that I can teach you the ways that I’ve created from the foundation for you to use in this time. …For she hath received of the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Let’s turn to John 3:3, Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. I’m sure you all know women who are pregnant. We can say that to see this world, at some point the baby must come out of the womb. If they aren’t born they will never see it. So if you aren’t born into the kingdom of God how are you going to see the kingdom of God and know anything about it? And how are you going to relate into this realm? When children are born they are born with five senses as well as the spirit of life in them, which is their conscience. When we’re born again into the kingdom of God we have seven areas that we use to communicate with heaven and can see it. If you don’t have those seven eyes functioning in you then you won’t be able to see in the kingdom of God. But Jesus came with those seven eyes to give to all those who are born again, so that they can see, feel and communicate in the kingdom of God. What happens then to those that are not born again? They can’t see. Verse 4, Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? What a question. I don’t think there are any volunteers for that. Verse 5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. What are the two things that came out of Jesus’ side when He was on the cross? Water and blood. Blood represents life and water also represents life. The water is for the cleansing of the world from your life, to remove yourself from the desires of this world. And if you do not remove the desires of this world, you’re not born again. Not unless you take that water and want to have the world washed off of you. That’s why there are so few saved. The whole purpose of the water and the blood shed is that God is going to give us pure life again from Christ who had no sin. He’s going to give us pure water that we can wash ourselves of the world. If that doesn’t happen you’re not saved. The Holy Spirit comes and convicts you of needing to be born again. He does that by giving you eyes, or the light, to see who you are. When you see who you are, how wicked you are because you have the world in you, you begin to weep and say, God, I need your help. If that takes place then you begin to become poor in spirit so that the Spirit of God can begin to teach you who you are and where you need to go. And because of that you want that water to wash you of your world, to get rid of it, and to let the life of Christ come in your life so that you become good trees that bear good fruit. If that’s not there, you’re not born again. It’s that simple. And so to be born again into the kingdom of God is for the Spirit to convince you of your sin, and He does it by showing you because He turns the light on. A lot of times if I want to get up out of bed during the night and it’s really dark out I keep my hands out in front of me to keep from running into things. But if I would turn the light on I could easily see where I am going. So light helps us see to get where we need to be. And the light was made all the way back in the very first day. John 3:19, And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world. Jesus came into the world. …And men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved (exposed). The reason the people who walk in darkness hate those that have the light is because that causes them to have their conscience begin to speak to them and they don’t want it. They would rather do the evil. And so to get rid of their conscience, they hate and try to destroy the Christian. They’re not trying to destroy us, but destroying Jesus who is in us because He is the light of man. In John 10, Jesus gives us the keys how to enter the kingdom of God. John 10:1, Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold. The sheep represents God’s children and Jesus is the shepherd. …But climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. And so if you want to enter the kingdom of God you have to come through Jesus at the door, because He is in charge of the kingdom. And the sheepfold is a wall that is built around that every night the sheep go into to keep the enemy away from them so they are not harmed or killed. And it says that when the Lord comes back He’s going to take those that are liars and thieves that got in another way and remove them and destroy them. What does that speak to us today with sanctuary cities that are protecting thieves and robbers that enter in not by the gates of the United States, but over walls? Those that harbor them are the same. There is no difference. Because they are having compassion. Jesus said I show compassion on whom I choose to show compassion. And God’s kingdom won’t let anyone go over the wall and destroy His sheep. But He’ll take them out and destroy them. And if that wouldn’t happen, those thieves and robbers would destroy the kingdom of God. And because He’s a shepherd and He won’t allow that to take place, He removes them. Maybe we ought to compare that to what is happening in the United States today. And I don’t think I have to teach anything more on that. God has a wall for His sheepfold that He doesn’t want the enemy penetrating and getting in and disrupting the life that is in the kingdom of God. When the children of Israel came back from captivity the first thing they did was to build a wall around Jerusalem again. Everyone helped build the wall. Verse 2, But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. That’s the first example of the kingdom of God. God is a protector of His people. John 18:36, Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. So here we see that the reason that Jesus never established an earthly kingdom is because He’s wanting those that will follow Him to do something that He hasn’t told anyone. We don’t know what He wants to do. But He has something that is so awesome to do that it hasn’t even entered into our hearts or into our minds what He has prepared for those that love Him and want to be His servant; sons of the living God. Now let’s go to Matthew 6:33, But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. The first thing you do is seek the kingdom of God. Period. You seek the kingdom of God. Why is that? If we want to prosper in this world that we live in we must seek His kingdom. Because in His kingdom is a light that shows us the laws, rules, and regulations. All of the things God made in the first day is in the kingdom of heaven and you’ll see them and know them, and it’s like an owners’ manual. This Bible is an instruction manual. But you can’t understand it unless you have the light that comes from Jesus. His word is light, and you’ll see it and then you’ll begin to follow it, if you want Him. Matthew 7:21, Not every on that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. You can’t read this Bible and just do everything it says to the best of your knowledge and make it into heaven, because your ways are not God’s ways and God’s ways are not your ways. What you think is okay and right isn’t necessarily okay and right. Only by entering into the kingdom of God can you know what is right and wrong according to God’s ways. That’s what He’s talking about here. Verse 22, Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. To work iniquity is to do your own self-centered thing, even trying to follow God. How can you go and do something if you weren’t sent by God? You might say, how do you hear? Well that’s what entering into the kingdom of God is all about; learning to hear His voice. Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. Let’s get this right. You don’t get to do what you want and Jesus follow you like a little puppy dog and protect you. That’s not what a shepherd does. A shepherd leads his sheep. Therefore if you can’t follow Him you need to get on your face until you find out how to follow Him and know His will. Because in the Bible doing your own will is called iniquity. Iniquity is sin that is self-centered and doesn’t please God because you’re doing your thing with God in a fallen state and you can’t do anything that’s any good. You must be born again and have cleansed the world from you and have a renewed spirit that has the knowledge of God and His ways. And that’s entering into the kingdom of God. Then you begin to labor for Him. Matthew 11:12, And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force. When you enter into the kingdom of heaven you’re going to suffer violence by the world. And they’re going to try to take you by force. Verse 13, For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. Elijah fought against the religious people that were full of iniquity. A religious person is full of his own thoughts. A righteous person is full of God’s thoughts. And the two are at odds with each other. And those that have their own thoughts will fight against those that have God’s thoughts. And the reason is because those that have their own thoughts build their own kingdom and cause those around them to be servants to them and not to the living God. Matthew 12:28, Jesus says, But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. In other words, when the kingdom of God, or the power that is in the kingdom of God, functions in this world, it comes near you to cause an ailment or a spirit to be removed. And when that happens, the kingdom of God is near you. Matthew 13 is full of what the kingdom of God is like, and I’m going to very quickly go down through the different things but the best way to grab hold of chapter 13 is just to study it. Jesus was speaking in parables and there were people that asked Him why He spoke in parables. Verse 11, He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. Those who are not born again cannot understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God. But for those that are born again He begins to reveal to you the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven. That’s why people say, prove to me that there’s a living God and I’ll serve Him. You can’t. Why? Because from the very first day that God made He hid His kingdom from those that don’t want Him. It’s like a wall. Which is what Jesus said about the sheep. My sheep come through My door and enter into the sheepfold for the night and then I bring them out to green pastures and quiet waters. But for those that don’t want to come through the door but want to come over the wall, I will remove them. They’re not going to be with My sheep. My sheep hear My voice and they follow Me and obey. But you that are thieves and robbers do what you want to. You do what you were doing before you got over my wall because you weren’t changed. The sheep that are in My sheepfold have been changed to be teachable and led out of the things of this world to a place of quietness and peace because I’m going to protect them. Then in verse 19, When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. The word is like a seed and if you receive it, it comes in and begins to grow in you. But the enemy will come and try to steal it. Now in this case, the word was preached but they never even received the seed and it fell on the pavement and the birds came along and ate it up, which represents the enemy. They never even got any use out of the word. That word had light in it. If they would have received it they would have had light to understand and see their condition. Now remember these were all parables that they couldn’t understand. Only those that wanted Him with everything in them could. Going back to Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. If you seek God first and get rid of your self-centeredness then you will use the prosperity that God gives you to increase His kingdom. But if He would just prosper you without any conditions then you could use it against the kingdom of God, which is what a lot of people do. But that wickedness will destroy you. If you receive life, life increases, multiplies and expands. And the only thing you can do is increase in the living God. And so if you’re doing anything that does not increase, multiply or expand, then it is not of the kingdom of God. There is no death in God so therefore everything He does increases. That’s why He’s been around for a long time. Just look at all the galaxies and stars and everything that are light years away. He’s been here a long time. He knows how to help you. He knows how to change you. But you have to be willing to do it. Because He is not an accuser. Those that accuse you come from the devil, because God doesn’t accuse. But He lets you do something and then He tells you what you did. And if you’ve done it and the paper trail leads back to you, then no one is accusing you of it. Accusing is without merit or proof. But when you have proof it’s no longer accusing. When you do something, the Father has proof of who you are. Now the question is, do you want to change? If you don’t want to change then He has proof of you that you’re not worthy to be with Him forever. Going back to Matthew 13, verse 35 says, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet. A lot of people think that the prophets have nothing to do with today. But the prophets were the ones who saw what was coming in the growth of the world from the beginning to the end. And so as God showed them they prophesied what was coming and even the nations who were going to do the things they are. And so the prophets labored to help us in this end time to know what is going on and how to fight and how to win. Let’s read it again, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world. So all along the way the prophets prophesied the next growth period in the world coming closer to the end. And it was kept secret. There is a fire that is waiting to burn the elements of the earth to destroy the entire world that He created and make a new world, or a new earth. And so the elements, that means, all of the wicked energy that is released through witchcraft and all of the lies and all of the wickedness that satan has corrupted this world, there is a fire waiting to melt all of the sin and everything that satan brought on the earth. The fire is going to wipe it out and make it clean so that God’s people will inherit a clean earth. We’re not going to inherit the world. We got rid of the world. He’s going to wipe the world out with a fire and then we’ll have the new earth. It will be the same place. It’s just going to be cleansed and purified. And then we won’t even need the sun because God will be the light. Verse 38, The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; Verse 41, The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Those are the ones that didn’t come in through the door. He’s going to pull every one of them out that didn’t come through the door and He’s going to throw them in the lake of fire. Because you can’t have two different kingdoms in the same kingdom. If we’re not careful in this nation we will be a third world nation because third world people are coming into this nation and not changing. We need to do like we did back in the 1920’s where they shut down all immigration for 40 years so that the people who came from other nations took on the dream of the United States. That may or may not happen, but we know what is going to happen when God comes with His kingdom. He’s already told us what He’s going to do. He’s going to remove those that have no certificate of citizenship. He will remove them and destroy them. But for those who have come through the door legitimately and hear His voice and follow and obey, those people will not upset His kingdom. That’s what God thinks. We have a long way to go but the first thing to do is finish your warfare that it might be complete so that you are poor in spirit and of a contrite heart. God will not reject you because you’re teachable and then He will release upon you all the other things that you desire and need because it will be for His kingdom.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |