All right.

Hey, last week I talked about citizens of heaven and then last, that was
last Sunday
and then last Wednesday night I started the series for the rest of this
month and then
into June on evangelism and I did a part one called Creating a Culture
of Evangelism and
I really believe that as we begin to live out of that realm of the
kingdom where we
have a lifestyle of evangelism our Christian faith goes to another level.
We actually become very vibrant and alive in Christ.
How many of you have experienced that?
Come on, you can do better than that.
How many of you experienced when you share your faith with someone
else?
And I want to really just continue to impact that.
I believe it's a very timely word for our church.
I haven't taught on evangelism in about five years and so if you're not
able to be here
on Wednesday nights I understand some of your work schedules.
You can go back and watch those online but I encourage you to do
that.
So last week just to pick up just a little bit I want to get in to a
message.
It's sort of like the Christian Bill of Rights so to speak, right?
It's called the Gospel of the Kingdom but first just to tie in a little bit
on the citizens
of heaven message of Philippians 3 20 and 21 from last week.
Paul said this writing to the citizens of Philippi in a colony called
Macedonia.
It was a Roman colony.
They understood both being a citizen in that area of Macedonia as well
as many of them
were Roman citizens actually former veterans many of them that had
resettled there in Philippi
in that area of Greece which is modern day Greece and they were
encouraged and exhorted
to make that place a colony of Rome.
And so Paul's telling them for our citizenship is in heaven from which
we also eagerly wait
for the Savior the Lord Jesus Christ verse 21 who will transform our
lowly body in this
good news that it may be conformed to his glorious body according to
the working by
which he is able even to subdue all things to himself.
Now I want you to really see this Paul is saying that listen you are a
dual citizen
but your citizenship is in heaven.
Fix your eyes on heaven.
Oh and by the way heaven isn't some place you're necessarily going to.
Heaven is some place that you're helping usher in and you'll
understand that more as I develop
this today.
You see we are to bring heaven on earth because the rule of God's
kingdom is facilitated through
his people understand their citizenship and they begin to release the
very presence of
God the rule of God the authority of God in this earth realm and we
make earth a little
bit like heaven.
Now it is true that earth will one day be swallowed up there'll be a new
heavens a new
earth will be a new Jerusalem that comes down but the early church
had their hopes.
Someone needs to hear this today had their hope anchored in a future
resurrection.
They looked at Jesus Christ they saw how Jesus was raised from the
dead they saw his glorified
body and they knew that they too one day would have a glorified body
and they know will no
longer would suffer through the pains of this life the sufferings of this
life or even the
the aging in the body that they would have a glorified but as he is so
are we in this
world right now he's victorious he's an overcomer so are we now you
may not have that glorious
body just yet I know some of you really need it I know we're going to
have prayer at the
end okay but listen the good news is all of us one day those who have
their faith in Christ
one day we are going to have a glorified body and then it's I developed
the message last
week then Paul later could say in Philippians 4 6 and 7 be anxious for
nothing but in everything
through prayer with supplication let your request be made note of God
and then the peace
of God that passes all understanding will guard your hearts and minds
in Christ Jesus
why because you're a citizen of heaven you know that you're going to
have a future resurrected
body a glorified body that his kingdom will rule over all heaven will
encompass this realm
called earth and we have nothing to worry about some of you aren't so
sure let's talk
about our Bill of Rights now you know we have a US Constitution right
and there were some
amendments added in the early days of the Constitution which called
the Bill of Rights
they guarantee that we have certain freedoms and liberties and rights
as citizens of this
great nation you guys with me in other words we're to treat everyone
equally irrespective
of race religion social standing right we're to look without everyone
with honor how much
more so in the kingdom of heaven by the way remember you're a dual
citizen we should look
with eyes of love at all people everyone right and but because we have
those Bill of Rights
we know that as US citizens that we have some guarantees are you
with me so I want to unpack
a little bit today it's going to be a little teachy but I think you'll be all
right all
the teachers in the room say yes all those I want your stories are like
oh you know but
I want to talk about the gospel the kingdom because I think as you
understand it from
some precepts which sort of relate to your Bill of Rights I think you'll
begin to operate
in another realm of understanding your citizenship and also the
authority that's been given to
you delegated by Christ all authority has been given to him he's
delegated to us authority
in the kingdom all right so I'm going to start off on mark 10 15 so I'm
going to go through
numerous scriptures out of the gospels to build the narrative of the
gospel of the kingdom
now I said last week there's some 80 references in the New Testament
in the gospels about
the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven the terms are essentially
synonymous and so
in mark 10 15 mark says by the inspiration of the spirit assuredly I say
to you whoever
does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means
enter it unless you
receive it not that your childish but you have a childlike heart and faith
a five-year-old
you tell them hey we're going to go to Disney you know Disneyland they
don't doubt you we're
gonna make a family vacation we're going to Disneyland and they're
like yes you know they
believe that's the type of faith that Jesus is talking about you must
have simple childlike
faith that believes it's not doubting and looking with you know
suspicion but I believe
that the kingdom of God is available to me this is very very important
that's why I started
the scripture so I want to ask you do you believe that the kingdom of
God and the fullness
of the kingdom is available to you today let's keep on packing this you
see if you were to
ask the average believer what the kingdom of God is or the gospel the
kingdom I suspect
most people couldn't fully answer that and so today I'm hoping to
really unpack that
now historically and as you know reading through the gospels that
many of the religious leaders
the Pharisees the Sadducees many of the Jewish people at the time
that Christ came they too
had a problem with Jesus message of the gospel of the kingdom of
God again part of that's
because historically the Jews thought that the Messiah would come
and establish the Jewish
kingdom again to overserve you know overtake the Romans that had
set up rule and that thing
there so they were looking for a hear this a political Messiah that
would bring a rulership
from a political realm it's never been God's intention and it's not today
either by the
way and so that's what they were looking for so as a result and again
they thought it would
be the restoration of the Davidic kingdom and so when Jesus came he
was rejected by
the religious leaders because they didn't see the political kingdom
enacted the way
they thought the Messiah would bring it but you see Jesus was
declaring something else
wasn't he he was talking about the kingdom of God and so it in
Matthew we won't look
at this verse but Matthew 3 2 first it's John the Baptist he begins to
declare you know
the kingdom of heaven is at hand repent and then we see in Matthew 4
17 Jesus says the
same thing from that time Jesus began to preach and to say repent for
the kingdom of heaven
is at hand now first of all the word repent from the Greek metanoia
means to change your
thinking and begin to function in a different mindset the kingdom of
heaven is at hand but
what does he mean is at hand in arm's length well certainly kingdom
of heaven is near absolutely
mark 1 14 and 15 let's keep unpacking this now after John and by the
way in the next
couple of weeks I'm going to start a series where I go through the
entire gospel of Mark
it's part of the reason I want to unpack this about the gospel the
kingdom today now in
Mark 1 14 and 15 Jesus says or it's written of Jesus now after John
was put in prison
Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of kingdom of God and
saying the time is fulfilled
and the kingdom of God is at hand repent and believe in the gospel
similar passage to Matthew
the time is fulfilled kingdom of God is at hand it's near and so what
does this mean
first of all the preaching of the gospel gospel is from a Greek word
called ooh and galleon
ooh and galleon is a reference to from the Greek Septuagint which is
the Greek translation
of the Hebrew of the Old Testament and so basically what that means
is it's a reference
to Isaiah 40 verse 9 where the speaker or the prophet was declaring
good tidings from
the top of the mountain so in other words the gospel then is a
proclamation so that
all could hear from the highest points of the good tidings of God's
kingdom so Jesus
came proclaiming the good tidings that's what the gospel is and what
was his proclamation
of the good tidings the kingdom is at hand and what does it mean at
hand it means pressing
in upon me everybody say the kingdom is pressing in upon me and not
in an oppressive way in
a life-giving way God's kingdom brings life not oppression so it's
pressing in it literally
means the gospel then means the breaking in of God into this world
God's pressing in and
he's breaking in upon this world his kingdom by the way has always
been in hand and so
let's define the kingdom of God a little bit more the kingdom is from a
Greek word basalia
and it means first the authority to rule as a king and second the realm
over which the
reign is exercised so it's essentially the rule of God is supreme in his
realm over which
he reigns the universe and all of creation psalm 103 verse 19 says this
the Lord has
established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules over all see it's
his right the authority
to rule as creator psalm 145 verse 13 says your kingdom is an
everlasting kingdom and
your dominion endures throughout all generations God's kingdom is
everlasting his rule over
all never ceases so I want you to see this so the very essence of the
understanding to
the reader at that time or the here of this message of kingdom would
be the right of a
king to rule and exercise authority that was first and foremost the
understanding of the
salient kingdom secondarily was the realm over which he rule so if
God's kingdom is
at hand it's near its pressing in upon this and God's kingdom really is
the right for
this king to rule then isn't it not so much about going someplace but
about the reality
that God's here with us and he's expecting us to cooperate with the
rule of his kingdom
and his government that changes our focus as a Christian that's what I
was saying last
week as a citizen of heaven you're also an ambassador of heaven
you've been given full
rights as a citizen as an ambassador the moment you genuinely gave
your heart to Christ and
you generally got born again and you were truly repentant and turned
to Christ the Spirit
of God filled your heart and you were given the full bill of rights you
were an ambassador
of heaven a citizen of heaven and all of the reign and the authority of
God is ours presently
through the delegated nature of what Christ has done it's huge yeah
when we begin to understand
this we'll begin to operate in a new realm of confidence as we pray for
the sick I'm
not saying all will be healed but I'm saying that we will begin to
operate with a greater
level of confidence we can operate with a greater level of confidence
in exercising
any of the gifts of the Spirit will operate a greater level of confidence
in just loving
people I hope you all are good citizens and you treat one another well
who that was weak
in here with honor with love think how much society could be changed
if we really valued
one another instead of looked at each other with disdain because
we're different and we're
all a little different aren't we doesn't matter a skin color or what we
both I mean we're
all a little bit quirky in some ways so we got to just love each other and
embrace each
other and understand that's that's what Kingdom citizens do we honor
each other now we may
think of the kingdom is primarily God's realm but again it's first his
authority he has
authority as the creator so in the New Testament then the kingdom of
God is the divine authority
and rule given by the Father Father God to the Son Jesus Christ when
Jesus testified
then to pilot that his kingdom was not of this world he wasn't saying
he had no authority
on earth he was saying that his authority was not given to him by
anyone in this world
that's the difference his authority is given by the Father God created
all and that authority
did not come from man and so our authority as kingdom citizens we
should never walk in
pride or haughtiness towards those outside of the kingdom but we
need to recognize that
our authority comes from him does this make sense and that doesn't
mean you don't pay
your tax taxes Paul talks about this in Roman 13 right doesn't mean
that you don't obey
those that are authority Paul talks clearly about this right but the
reality is in terms
of exercising authority in a spiritual realm we're not wrestling against
flesh and blood
but against these defeated powers that try to usurp what Christ has
already defeated
they try to usurp themselves and come against the humanity and even
God's people we need
to understand we need to exercise that authority of the kingdom so
that God's kingdom can rule
overall that make sense the world's waiting for us to walk as citizens
of his kingdom
Matthew 28 18 and 19 Jesus said this all authority has been given to
me in heaven and on earth
why he's defeated the powers of darkness but the Father gave him that
authority now he
tells us verse 19 go therefore and make disciples of all the nations by
the way we're not just
to make converts we're to help people get not only come to Christ but
to get planted
and grow in the body of Christ one-on-one mentoring one on small
group mentoring right
we want to help people from our youngest to the oldest get and grow in
Christ and be strong
in Christ disciples making disciples but go and make disciples all the
nations so the
Father gave Jesus all authority and now as his ambassadors and
representatives Jesus
has given us a limited measure or realm of that authority so here's
another question
about the kingdom of God when is the kingdom of God coming good
answer it's here there's
a hundred question test at the end of this sermon today so take good
notes when is the
kingdom of God coming it is here it is at hand it is pressing in it is
already upon
us and by the way it was here when Jesus came he just began to
demonstrate the reality of
the kingdom that was already here now Luke 17 verse 20 and 21 Luke
records this and by
the way the kingdom is both present and its future the full
consummation of the kingdom
won't be realized until Jesus returns that is true but we need to
understand that the
kingdom is not some off place come on everybody it's not just out
there beyond the clouds
a little bit where there's some folks sitting there with harps playing
you know no no the
realm of the kingdom is here now because the kingdom is the rule of
God I want you to see
this the kingdom primarily is the rule of God all authority has been
given to Jesus
through our faith in him and the authority of his name that realm of his
rule has been
delegated unto us Luke 17 20 and 21 one day the Pharisees asked
Jesus when will the kingdom
of God come Jesus replied the kingdom of God can't be detected by
visible signs you won't
be able to say here it is or it's over there for the kingdom of God is
already among you
that was then before he went to the cross died resurrected and
ascended on high the
kingdom of God has always been amongst us he brought an initiation
and an understanding
of the reality of the kingdom so again when is God's kingdom coming
present now but it's
also future the kingdom of God has always been present Jesus simply
began to demonstrate
what was a present reality remember all authority was given unto him
and until he returns we
operate in part of the fullness of that kingdom authority so the
kingdom manifests through
us partially until he returns then fully now it's been argued that the
kingdom of God could
operate through the believers in a much greater way the more yielded
we are to him and that
is absolutely true the closer we are to Jesus the more we understand
our position in him
seated together with him in that heavenly realm and the fullness of the
authority that
he's given to us we will begin to operate in a greater realm of
confidence in the kingdom
demonstrating the reality of the kingdom it is true all right another
question for you
all right I'm just it's memorial weekend but you guys need a good test
what gospel is being
preached think about what gospel is being preached in the majority of
our churches most
of us are familiar with the gospel of reconciliation Jesus came died on
the cross died for our
sins resurrected ascended on high if we put our faith in Christ then we
are reconciled
to Christ we're justified Paul talks about being justified by faith we're
made right
with God and that is very very important absolutely but most of the
gospel that's preached stops
right there what did Jesus preach he talked about the gospel the
kingdom didn't he Matthew
4 23 and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogue see
I have precedent there
just to teach okay preaching the gospel the kingdom and healing all
kinds of sickness
and all kinds of disease among the people huh taught preach the
gospel the kingdom then
he demonstrated the kingdom by healing sickness and all kinds of
disease amongst people that's
an interesting proclamation of the gospel isn't it Matthew 9 35 then
Jesus went about
all the cities and villages teaching in their synagogues preaching the
gospel the kingdom
and healing every sickness and every disease among the people
teaching preaching and demonstrating
the gospel the kingdom through healing so the gospel the kingdom
that isn't something
this just taught or proclaimed but it's also something that is
demonstrated so if we're
only preaching in our church is a gospel of reconciliation of just
forgiveness of sins
but we're not demonstrating the reality of the kingdom through healing
signs wonders
miracles prophecy word of knowledge right discern deliverance all of
these things that
we are limiting the fullness of the gospel message Matthew 12 28 but
if I'm casting out
demons by the Spirit of God then the kingdom of God has arrived
among you good deliverance
is always exciting remember one time a lady walked in and we used to
do Sunday night meetings
years ago in the early days of the church grew a lot smaller than lady
came in never
saw her before I happened to go right into the back of the of the
meeting I had a video
playing that night for the teaching and so I walked in the back by the
sound booth to
kind of check on it because I knew the video was almost done I
wanted to get ready and
right when I was back there all of a sudden the doors open and the
dear lady walked in
walked right up the front aisle like she was in the military got to the
front row turned
the corner and went sat right down in the end seat in the front row and
I go well that
was interesting you know never seen the lady before and and so I
invited the whole video
got done a couple minutes later by the Holy Spirit to come and later by
the way she told
Caroline likes we ended up ministering to her later some as well and
she said that that
something told her she was out at the bus stop to come into the
meeting that night and
that was the Holy Spirit brought her in and so and by the Holy Spirit to
come we're going
to do a time of ministry just pray for one another and actually think
that night I had
people's cell phones were kind of new then so I thought this was pretty
cool so I had
if you know somebody that's sick call them and we'll pray for them so
people are calling
people into the sick you know this thing so this is going on and I
noticed the lady starting
to slink out of that front row seat there kind of slipped right down onto
the onto the
floor there I go well that's getting really interesting and so I walked
over and and I
had another couple folks with me and I said you know hi I'm pastor
Bob what's your name
and I forget her name right now and she gave gave me her name and
no sooner I did that
and there was a voice as loud as any man that I've ever heard come
out of her now I've had
the opportunity lots of deliverance over the years but that was very
very interesting and
by the way when the demons tell you that that that person's a liar well
you know that they're
already a liar and you already know where they're headed so anyways
we got the woman
free and then you know a partial deliverance and freedom and later
we're able to do more
ministry tour in a counseling center session listen Jesus said if I cast
out demons by
the Spirit of God then the kingdom of God has arrived among you he
manifested God's
authority by freeing the oppressed every act demonstrated the reality
of the kingdom that
dear lady that night and those that observed it saw the reality the
superiority came of
God it was a demonstration of the rule of the king now what Paul say
about this Romans
15 19 and defending him go in his missions to the Gentiles and things
Paul said in mighty
signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit of God so that from
Jerusalem roundabout I
have fully preached the gospel of Christ Paul's understanding of the
preaching the gospel
was with signs and wonders and miracles if we are limiting ourselves
and say well I'm
not anointed to pray for the sick or that's somebody else that's
anointed you know I don't
know about miracles we are limiting the rule of God's kingdom the rule
of God's reign to
operate through us stop that you are anointed if you were a believer
your citizens of heaven
operate as a citizen of heaven lay hands on the sick expect God to
move expect the Spirit
of God to come and to deliver the oppressed one Thessalonians 1 5 a
lot of sick people
out there a lot of folks need healing right in our churches the church
has got to get
a better understanding of this message we love our doctors don't know
about the health
care system but we love our doctors pray for a miracle for the
insurance companies but
listen there are certain situations no matter how good your insurance
is no matter how good
your doctors are they can't fix it they can't only God can break in it's
up to the church
to rise up to who she is called to be one Thessalonians 1 5 for our
gospel notice the
emphasis on gospel again by Paul did not come to you in word only but
also in power and
in the Holy Spirit and much assurance he would say elsewhere the
kingdom of God is not a
word only but in power so Paul fully preached the gospel of Christ do
you see the gospel
of kingdom in these verses yes the signs of the kingdom are there
again most of the church
is familiar with the gospel of reconciliation but less of the church is
familiar with the
gospel of the kingdom it's one thing to pray preach a gospel of
reconciliation to be forgiven
of your sins to me to be right with God that's very very important and
by the way there's
no greater miracle in someone giving their life to Christ absolutely
essential and important
and we need to be after just winning souls when you're out there doing
evangelism or
running into people that you know or work with or whatever yes love
them into an encounter
with God pray for them but always be in mind to take it to the next step
okay Jesus just
touched you and healed you would you like to get to know this
wonderful Jesus and invite
them to accept Christ right Matthew 10 7 and 8 Jesus told the
disciples and again I impact
this some last Wednesday night and talking about the culture of
evangelism the commissioning
accounts in Luke 9 Luke 10 Matthew 10 Mark 6 Mark 16 those
commissioning accounts really
are codified in Matthew 28 verses 18 through 20 the Great Commission
but those earlier
commissioning accounts to heal the sick are all legitimate still for us
today they have
never ceased despite what some theologians or what some pastors
preach that the signs
sign gifts the power gifts have ceased they you know they try to tell
you well when the
Bible was completed we no longer needed to have those sign gifts that
is not true those
gifts are still valid and necessary and needed to fully proclaim the
gospel the kingdom and
by the way you need those operating in your life in a couple of minutes
I'm going to get
into why understand the kingdom of God in the fullness is important for
our lives but
one of the reasons is we need to know that we serve a God of power I
don't know about
you but when I have a need I don't want to sit there well maybe God
kind of kind of sort
of maybe I don't know maybe if I grovel long enough before God maybe
I'll keep right don't
you want to know that you can come as a son as a daughter as a as a
beloved citizen right
you come before the father become before the throne not in a
haughtiness but in a conference
say God I am struggling in this area Lord I need the rule of your
kingdom to break in
in this Lord there is injustice here Lord we need your justice to come
in your order
to come in Lord this sickness is not you or this economic situation
Lord we needed to
change right needed to break in so Jesus said Matthew 10 7 8 and as
you go preach saying
the kingdom of heaven is in hand so we preach we proclaim we teach
the gospel right but
then he said heal the sick verse 8 cleanse the lepers raise the dead
cast out demons
freely have received freely give one of it freely you have received
freely give Jesus
hasn't died yet he's telling them and by the way one of those 12 whose
Judas Iscariot who
would betray Jesus seems like Jesus isn't like he does care about her
character issues
but he's not freaked out when we're not perfect either isn't that
amazing live for good character
integrity let the Holy Spirit transform your heart so you become more
and more like Jesus
but understand you are never going to be perfect and somewhere he is
freely given and so we
are expected then to receive the fullness of what he's given and go out
and freely give
it back to others that's good news yeah I want to know the deliverance
story so I was
in India this was actually almost 10 years ago doing a leadership we
were doing leadership
training during the day teaching like about 2,000 pastors and leaders
great harvest that's
taking place in India it's one of the major harvest fields of the world
and awesome what
God was doing with these leaders and so I've been teaching that
morning on deliverance
and other pastor friend of mine and Randy Clark was there and we
were all teaching different
sessions I was teaching the deliverance that morning that night just
through different
events I ended up doing the speaking and the preaching that night and
Randy and the team
couldn't couldn't be there Randy was scheduled to preach and so I
ended up preaching they
just sent a cameraman with me and I had no team to help me minister
and we had I don't
know three four thousand people there that night and so and because
of the delay and
everything getting there they had the worship going on some of you
would love it some of
you go oh my god the worship was going on for like an hour and a half
because we got
delayed getting there and up but the deal was the meeting had to be
done by 10 p.m.
at night so because of city ordinances and things and so this is in
Hyderabad India so
they get me there and James the overseer the apostolic overseer
oversees thousands of churches
there and the Andhra Pradesh area and worked with him for a number
of years and so anyways
he goes brother Bob you only have 20 minutes to speak 20 minutes to
speak he goes the worship
we got delayed you got 20 minutes and so I'm like oh god so I I I
preached on the glory
of Christ I am not exaggerating so you know I've got this really
anointed young Indian
evangelist he's translating for me and I'm preaching and he's going
with it we're just
going it's going it's flowing it's good right and I get about 17 minutes
into my 20 minutes
and I'm just about ready to just wrap this thing up and do an altar call
I'm not exaggerating
about 17 minutes into this thing so I'm looking at my watch I'm like
okay I'm a man under
authority I'm gonna do this thing in 20 minutes right some of you are
going oh I hope he does
that today you know and uh and all of a sudden about 17 minutes into
it it was like a holy
hush it was like you could see it was almost like a foggy mist it was it
was it was the
glory of God I'm talking about the glory of Christ and all of a sudden
there were a half
a dozen maybe a couple more people that simultaneously stood up
that were demonized out of the crowd
of about three to four thousand people and they began to move like
zombie demonized people
I don't know how to describe it any other way towards the stage and
uh I had no team
I couldn't send a team down there miss security guards because there
have been concerns earlier
today about security issues that's why we're so late they ran to the
front thinking that
these might have been people with machetes or something and they
were gonna create problems
no they were demonized people that when the message about the
glory of Christ and the
glory of God began to come in the room and on the out it was an
outdoor meeting all of
a sudden they began the demons began to manifest and in
simultaneously they all stood and began
to come so the only thing I knew to do was at that moment say in the
name of Jesus Christ
come out of them and boom as through the translator and there was
like all of them simultaneously
on on the ground and the Holy Spirit was beginning to minister to him
and so now about 18 minutes
into my 20 minute sermon and I go and so this was the old I said you've
just seen the kingdom
of God demonstrated amongst you as he's come and begin to deliver
these people if you want
Jesus come and I'm telling you it was like a stampede there was about
500 people or so
that got up and ran I mean not walk they ran to the front and God gave
their lives to Christ
it was just awesome then we invited those that wanted healing to
come up we had probably
another 500 or so come up for healing and we just had to do a lot right
from the stage
but the gospel of the kingdom is one and I've seen this by the way
happen in Haiti I talk
about another story in my book receive your miracle now about similar
thing I saw in Haiti
happened one time with mass deliverance like that and so the gospel
of the kingdom is one
that is proclaimed and power and demonstrated by the spirit it's not
something we should
be afraid of much many in the church today they would even cringe to
hear me tell a story
like that but the reality is that is the gospel was the gospel then 2000
years ago it was
the gospel throughout the church history and it's the gospel today as
much as ever in fact
if we had a few more deliverance is going on out there people wouldn't
be as interested
in some of the other stuff and movies and things and some of them
might really find
freedom you know and so go you've been commissioned go and the
authorities given you all right
let's talk about how does the kingdom of God affect my life personally
because most of
you will never be preaching to a large crowd like that right you may be
ministering one
on one but how does the kingdom of God affect my life personally first
of all Matthew 633
Jesus said this but seek first everybody say seek first the kingdom of
God and his righteousness
and all these things shall be added to you how does it affect you
personally the kingdom
of God when you make the pursuit of the kingdom of God your life's
aim your life's priority
everybody say priority then all of a sudden things begin to come into
divine alignment
at the offering today you know Samuel talked about positioning
ourselves good word he was
ready to preach right positioning yourself I'm going to make first
priority the kingdom
of God I'm going to give God the best part of every day I'm going to
give God of my time
my treasure my talents I'm not going to give God the leftovers I'm not
going to seek the
things of this world hear this more than the kingdom of God I want God
I want Jesus I want
Jesus first I want Jesus foremost I want Jesus more than anything
else when that becomes
a grip of your heart then life begins to come into priority and things
come into proper
focus and perspective we benefit then when we make the pursuit of
God and his kingdom
a priority let him be the Lord of your life not just a token Lord you know
have your way
Jesus and then we go do our thing let him be Lord and watch what
happens and by the
way you remember the what we call the Lord's prayer prayer you know
our father who art
in heaven holy is your name your kingdom come your will be done on
earth as it is in heaven
and he goes on right it that is not a prayer that's to be done in wrote
so we just vainly
keep repeating it okay no no that is a model for prayer God you are
holy you're enthroned
your kingdom has no end God let the rule of your kingdom let your will
have full reign
in my heart in my family in my church in my city hey listen some of you
need to declare
that over this city God let your kingdom come your rule over this city
your rule over our
nation God we submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ have your way we
make it a priority
he'll drive the demons out remember he says if I cast out demons by
the finger of God
it's like just a little bit of the understanding of the authority of the
king's power and rule
it causes those things to go don't worry about sending them
someplace don't worry about where
they came from they're squatters just tell them to go so in Jesus name
all right look
at Paul said in Colossians 1 13 remember I'm talking about the
kingdom of God for he has
rescued us from the kingdom of darkness aren't you glad and
transferred us into the kingdom
of his dear son freedom this is a benefit to understand the kingdom
freedom is realized
as we enter God's kingdom and we know our rights as kingdom
citizens and we live in
that realm Jesus said in John 8 36 whom the son sets free is free
indeed but you have
to let him have full reign and stay free you see through new birth you
and I have been
removed from the kingdom of darkness and its domain it is no
dominion over you anymore
you are brought into God's kingdom exercise your right to be free
against the enemy he's
illegally squatting in your life tell him to go you have full rights listen
every one
of us at times have been tempted that's why Jesus said listen pray
therefore that you
won't enter into temptation right so temptation comes your way Paul
says there's no temptation
that's taken us that's not such common to man 1 Corinthians 10 13 but
God is faithful
who will make a way of escape so when temptation comes say listen
I'm a Canaan citizen that
does look no yes to you Jesus no to that Lord I yield to you it's all
about surrender and
it always is surrender I must choose each day to follow Christ by the
way it's not one
and done not one prayer Lord let be my Lord and Savior one and done
and now you're just
fixed and you're just perfect and you're just mature that's greasy grace
that's cheap grace
real grace is grace is an empowerment to become who he's called me
to be as a citizen so I
choose to yield to him every day every day I pick up the cross daily
and I follow Christ
daily it's not a one and done prayer and now I'm gonna be with Jesus
one day no no no you
should be with him right now every moment of every day because
you've been united together
with him become aware of his presence and surrender to his Lordship
freedom is realized
that's another benefit of the kingdom when you understand I don't
want to be in bondage
I've been in bondage before that's not a good place I want to live free
and stay free one
Corinthians three three for where there are envy strife and divisions
among you never
happens with kingdom citizens right well Paul was writing to some
kingdom citizens okay
he says are you not carnal and behaving like mere men yikes here's
the thing you're not
a mere man or a mere woman any longer you have a new normal some
of you were still praying
for but you have a new normal your normal life now is your union with
Christ you are
a supernatural being you're a participant of the divine nature second
Peter one four
because of what Christ has done we live out of that realm our new
normal is to live from
his ascended glory that's our new normal stop acting like a mere
human gossip slander division
not it's not natural you got a new normal you see as a citizen of heaven
Christ in you
you have to work at not being supernatural some of you aren't sure
about this you have
to actually enter into agreement with the enemy to step out of your full
right as a
kingdom citizen and how we treat one another I shared last week in
the message last week
listen Paul said I know no man any longer after the flesh we should
know one another
after the spirit the new normal is our life in Christ that's one of the
benefits of the
kingdom elevated living in the kingdom of God that's the new living
John 10 10 abundant
life now elevated living we have life together with Jesus now you can
go look at one John
512 Ephesians 2 5 you have eternal life now yes later you'll get your
glorified resurrected
body hallelujah okay I'm looking for that one too all right but right now
I'm an eternal
being now presently and you know what I've discovered in this life the
more I am aware
that I am an eternal being living out of a divine unction and function of
God all of
a sudden life or there's just times it I'm like I'm out sometimes for
walking I'm like
God is it me is it just the haze of the hot day in Tucson or is it like a
haze you know
I don't know sometimes are you with it's like God's presence is all
we're with him and so
I think what begins to happen is we begin to live out of this new norm
it's a very fine
line between what really is that realm of the supernatural and his glory
and what is
just normal around us does it make sense and by the way you will be
looked at by others
as a kind of a peculiar strange person as you begin to live out of that
realm so you
guys you want to write a little bit more here just a little bit more
Romans 5 10 Paul said
this if we were reconciled to God through the death of his son why we
were still enemies
now that we've been reconciled how much more certain is it that we
will be saved by his
life have been reconciled more certain will be saved now what does
this mean you see salvation
is realized through experiencing his life salvation isn't something that
you just enter
into the day that you your spirit leaves this earthly tent or this earthly
body no no your
salvation is present and it is unfolding through your daily living out of
that realm of Christ
it's amazing this is why we have to consistently choose to obey his
leading the spirits leading
in the lordship so what gave the first century church in this great
boldness
Jesus demonstrated his life in the spirit that first century church saw
it the realm
of the kingdom remember he said if I cast out demons by the finger of
God then the kingdom
of God has come amongst you he demonstrated a life in the spirit a life
in the kingdom
that just literally it was like shock and awe for them they'd never seen
anything like
this and by the way our generation has really not yet seen it we're
getting glimpses and
poxies some of you are doing well churches around the country are
really starting to
get this but as the church begins to walk in this realm of the authority
that God's
given us and people are beginning to get healed and freed and set set
free all of a sudden
it will cause the world around us to go whoa what what is it about all
y'all okay they're
gonna want to know he they were drawn to him and observe what he
did he basically said
look look guys you're gonna do the same things that I'm doing they
spent time with him then
he taught them he demonstrated he modeled it and he says now you
go do these things
I've given you authority you go heal the sick cast out demons preach
the gospel demonstrate
it and so the confidence and developed as they operate in spirit listen
how this affects
your life as you begin to operate in this realm of the spirit and a
greater confidence
you are going to be more joyous more victorious you're gonna you're
gonna be happier about
life look there's a lot of depressed Christians in America and part of
the depression is not
because there's not some clinical issues there it's because we're not
happy we're not fulfilled
the only way is to step into this realm and get out there get in the
game get out there
this is what we're create you have a new DNA you have a new nature
you're not going to
be satisfied for anything else but to begin to live and move as Paul said
we live and
move and have our being in him now so they saw Jesus but then they
also saw him after
the resurrection and that gave them boldness they were looking at him
realizing that they
get what he has a new body on the other side and they had no fear of
death many fear death
shouldn't be so for the Christian many fear death though when we
begin to get a glimpse
to the eye of the spirit of the fullness of the resurrection glory that
awaits us in Christ
we will go right where the spirit leads us the Holy Spirit I mean some
of you have done
and I've done something you just get led into places you know the
barrios of Brazil or that
I've preached in the slums of India and some rough places in Africa
and different places
in Haiti we've been in places in Haiti I'm like man they've got guns all
around us and
this place is oh my gosh and everything you know it's like will you go in
the spirit and
it's like right you get beyond that fear here's one that really grips
America fear of security
what about my 401k what about my investments what about this listen
be good stewards absolutely
and in fact if you come to me and you say God's calling you in some
great and glorious
mission or calling or whatever I'm gonna be the most pragmatic
unspirit filled pastor
you've probably ever met I'm gonna give you the third degree are you
sure God spoke to
you are you sure this is what you're called it are you sure you don't just
have a heart
for this right because I want to make sure you really know as you know
but when you know
as you know you can go in fairness because you know that in the other
side of death is
resurrection glory that's what motivated the early church and should
motivate motivate
us last thought there's there's so much here to this message last last
last thought give
you two more scriptures and I'll be done Ephesians 2 8 9 remember it's
by grace that you've been
saved through faith and then not of yourselves he made us alive
together with him we're elevated
now to a new life in Christ that's our inheritance we're citizens of
heaven we're ambassadors
of heaven we have a new DNA because of what he's done it's in us it's
sort of like in
seed form again we look for metaphors to try to describe what God has
done but think of
it as a metaphor this transformation has taken place inside of us is like
a seed form and
most people don't know that they have to nurture the seed within them
Paul says we've each
been given a measure of faith so we have to nurture that faith that's in
seed form that
came by grace right we've got to nurture it so it becomes something
you know I'm not here
today apart from having nurtured what I received 37 years ago it had
to be nurtured had to
be watered had to be developed right and so that's what just like a
farmer nurtures the
seeds right they it begins to grow we cooperate with the life that's in
the seed you've got
to cooperate with the seed of faith that's in you that's been there by
grace so that
it can become everything you're not just going to go out tomorrow
probably it could happen
a new believer and go raise the dead but as you begin to understand
who you really are
you'll be looking for those which might scare me again as a pastor
okay we're down at the
morgue pastor do we do you think no just talk to the funeral director
first please
we have some laws in America okay just you know you see grace is not
unmerited favor
that's mercy grace is empowerment Paul said in second Corinthians 98
I'll close here God
is able he said to make all grace abound you in order to have an
abundance for every good
deed you see anxiety comes or worry comes because we're looking at
tomorrow's challenges
or concerns with today's level of grace grace is God's supply for today
live as a citizen
of heaven understanding that the father cares for you very much and
you come to him and
say okay Lord you see this need that's why Paul said don't worry about
anything instead
pray about everything leave it in his care and God will give you the
grace for today's
situation sometimes I've had things happen in life where it's not just a
negative thing
sometimes it's a positive thing I've been asked to do things and I don't
feel I'm I'm
ready for yet have you ever had that happen maybe it's a job promotion
or it's an opportunity
or something maybe in the church and you don't feel like you're ready
yet for it but you
know what when it's the Lord and he comes knocking whether
speaking to you directly
or through one of his delegated officials and by the way God doesn't
always just speak
through prophecy speaks through pastors and leaders of churches too
I need to stress that
we're very prophetic church but you have to understand the prophecy
does not override
the leadership of a local church period okay now here's the thing God
whether however he
may pull you into something but he'll give you the grace to do what you
couldn't do apart
from him and that's why we learn to lean on him completely Lord I pray
that this understanding
of the gospel the kingdom would go deeper in our hearts Holy Spirit
just if you can
maybe just stand for a moment Holy Spirit I'm asking that you would
water the seed that's
in each of us Lord there's some growth in each of our hearts it's at
different levels
of maturity different places I'm asking God that every one of us would
come to full maturity
in Christ I pray Lord that you would strengthen us by your might in the
inner man that we
would know the height the depth the width the length of the love of
God in Christ Jesus
that surpasses knowledge that we would understand the fullness of
this realm of the kingdom
that's both ours presently and yet to come and so Lord release that I
pray God a great
love and compassion for souls would begin to really take us this
summer a heart not
just to reach people but to see them come into the kingdom and
disciple and so God show
us how to do that empower us equip us God I pray God for more
healing signs and wonders
not just so we can have more stories or testimonies that's what we
want the testimonies build
faith the Lord so that the gospel the kingdom could be fully preached
in Tucson and beyond
in Jesus name Amen you guys are awesome you're amazing Kingdom
citizens say a prayer for
the families tomorrow Memorial Day that have lost their loved ones
okay we have our freedom
because of those that have gave their lives listen if you need more
prayer we'll have
the altar team up here prayer for healing or any other situation come
on up and want
to pray
Thank you very much.