Sermon Central
-
A New And Different Kingdom Series
Contributed by Rick Pendleton on Oct 30, 2012 (message contributor)
Summary: The kingdom of God is not a place, but rather it is a realm... "it is the invisible realm where God rules as supreme authority."
A Different Kingdom
Matthew 6:24, 32-33
"For all these things the Gentiles eagerly seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:24, 32-33).
Last week we talked about our mind as the battleground… where Satan would attack us, and how we could win the battle… build a wall of scripture around the mind.
On Sunday evening, we began to gather the stones for the wall, as we marked our bible with scriptures on COMPROMISE.
We’ll continue to gather more stones on Sunday evenings.
But in order for us to live the kind of victorious life that I have talked about for several weeks now… to be more than survivors… to be CONQUERORS… we have to prepare more than our minds.
We have to enter the Kingdom of God
You might say, “I am in the Kingdom of God… I have been saved, baptized and have a home in Heaven waiting for me when I die.”
Most people mistakenly believe the term, Kingdom of God refers to Heaven
or to being a Christian… a believer.
It is NEITHER, the kingdom of God, which Jesus came to inaugurate, is not a group of people in heaven or earth,
In fact… there are Christians who are not in the Kingdom of God…
If you don’t take my word for it, listen to Jesus…Matthew 7:21
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
OK Preacher, now you have me confused!
Well, I’ll confuse you even more…
There are even people in heaven, who were not in the Kingdom before they died.
HOW???
What is the kingdom of God?
It's one of those terms we like to use but seldom define. Part of our problem is that it is a tough thing to analyze.
Chuck Swindoll says, “Generally speaking, God's kingdom is a synonym for God's rule.”
The kingdom is the invisible realm where God rules as supreme authority.
Jesus described it best when He said, “your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Mt 6:10
The Kingdom of God is when God’s will is done here, in a human heart, as it is in heaven… perfectly!!!
That will never refer to an earthly kingdom. It does not even refer to a large group
It refers to individual hearts, individual souls who have submitted their freedom, their rights, their will to HIS
The Kingdom of God was illustrated by Jesus…in the Garden.
When He prayed, “Not my will but thine”
Others entered the Kingdom…
Stephen… the first Christian martyr
Peter… crucified upside-down
Mary… I am your hand-maiden
Joseph… “far be it from me to sin against God”
Why were these in the kingdom???
They had made that same trip Jesus did…
Through the valley of death… to self
Up the sheer cliff of submission
Down into the depths of suffering
Until their reached the place of complete emptying of self
The place where there was no longer any question of ownership
The place where God and His Will were the only choice
THERE…. RIGHT THERE… they entered the Kingdom of God
That was the place God had designed for them before creation
The place God made for them to live in the Garden
God created the place of perfect submission
The place where all was perfect because God was God and there was no other
But Man defiled that place… because he refused to be part of the Kingdom
Refused to submit… refused to bow down
He stood up and claimed HIS FREEDOM OF CHOICE
HIS POWER TO GO HIS OWN WAY
And the Kingdom was lost… peace was lost
Joy was lost
Intimacy was lost
And God has been working for thousands of years to restore the Kingdom
There were bright spots along the way… a few who chose to enter the Kingdom of God
But few… why? Too hard… no power
So God sent His Son Jesus… to issue in a new era… a new world where we were not powerless, defeated by sin and self
Jesus climbed on that cross and said… It is finished
The powerlessness and defeat
He died… grabbing the keys to death and hell
He was buried… and descended into Hell and unlocked the chains of the believers
He rose… bursting the chains of Hell… the power of Satan
He was taken up to heaven… sending the POWER… THE VICTORY
The Spirit of God
No longer did Satan hold the keys to the heart of man
No longer was man powerless over the schemes, the wiles of the Devil
Now we had a power to overcome
