Living in the Presence of the Future
Living in the Presence of the Future
(The Kingdom of God)
June 12th and 13th, 2004
Read Prophecy from 20 years ago
Matthew 6
9 “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. [1]
Daniel 2
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. 45 This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands—a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces.
“The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy.” [2]
-In the Hebrew Bible there is the promise of a coming Messiah. He wasn’t seen as a suffering Messiah even though Isaiah presented Him that way.
-He was seen as a deliverer and military/political captain.
-A Jewish prayer is; “May he establish his Kingdom during your life and during your days.”
-Well we believe He did it in Jesus.
-We are looking at the Kingdom of God.
-It came in Jesus, it is here now in His people and it is coming again when He returns physically.
1. The Kingdom came in a Man: Jesus
-The best definition of the Kingdom of God is the “rule or reign of God.”
-The Kingdom of God is where the King is ruling.
-It is the reign of God through Jesus destroying the enemies of that reign (Ladd).
Matthew 3
/1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” [3] /
Matthew 4
17 From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” [4]
Message
/He picked up where John left off: “Change your life. God’s kingdom is here.”[5] /
Acts 1
3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God/. [6] /
-We have to argue that Jesus told about the Kingdom of God. What did He say?
-Jesus said He came to destroy the works of the evil one.
-Jesus went around exercising dominion and power over the enemy.
-The Kingdom was manifested in a man. He personified and demonstrated what God’s will was and is.
-He is the express image and exact representation in physical form of the Father.
-He was the will of God in action so that we could forever interpret and understand God’s intentions and God Himself by beholding the ministry and life of Jesus.
-He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil.
Matthew 12
22 Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23 All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”
24 But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebub, a the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”
25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. 26 If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27 And if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
29 /“Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. [7]/
-Whenever and wherever God is King; THE KINGDOM HAS COME.
-That Kingdom came and was perfectly expressed in Jesus.
-The Kingdom came in a man but then;
2. The Kingdom Came as a Seed in Men
Luke 17 Message
Jesus, grilled by the Pharisees on when the kingdom of God would come, answered, “The kingdom of God/ doesn’t come by counting the days on the calendar. Nor when someone says, ‘Look here!’ or, ‘There it is!’ And why? Because God’s kingdom is already among you.”[8] /
Luke 13
18 Then Jesus asked, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air perched in its branches.”
20 Again he asked, “What shall I compare the kingdom of God/ to? 21 It is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount a of flour until it worked all through the dough.” [9]/
-Jesus told parable after parable to explain what the kingdom of God was like.
-He said it is like a small seed that grows into a large tree.
-He said it is like yeast that spreads until it affects the entire batch of dough.
-It was a seed planted that satan nor man can stop or dig up until it affects the entire world.
-The mystery of the Kingdom is that God planted it among men invisibly before it becomes visable.
Romans 8
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that a the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
/22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. [10]/
-The kingdom came in a seed. It is planted and grows in all who receive Jesus as the King.
-It is an invisible Kingdom for now. You can’t see it unless you embrace it first by faith.
John 3
3 In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. a”
4 “How can a man be born when he is old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”
5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God/ unless he is born of water and the Spirit.[11]/
-The mystery of the kingdom is that the throne of the universe is founded upon a father’s love (Ladd).
-The mystery is that the Kingdom has come and men and society is not uprooted.
-God demonstrates patience and mercy before judgment.
Matthew 13
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 /“‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” [12]/
-It is a secret Kingdom, it is a mystery, and it is invisible FOR NOW!
-The Kingdom came in a MAN. The Kingdom came in a SEED.
3. The Kingdom Came in a Message
-The Kingdom of God is coming visibly but it is also here.
-The Kingdom is present when the king is present. We live in the presence of the future. We are tasting the powers of the coming age.
-Jesus gave us laws in His teaching that enables us to live victorious now in the present age….if we do them.
-They are as valid as the laws of gravity physically. (By the way, Newton was a Bible student according to some material just discovered about him.)
Romans 8
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, a 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. [13]
-Someone said it is as if someone sneaked into the display window and changed all of the price tags.
-It began a revolution. Literally Jesus turned the world upside down with His message.
-The soul than sins shall die. The wages of sin is death. In other words, that is a law that works for everyone.
Job 38:33
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s f dominion
over the earth?[14]
-In order to set up God’s dominion in your life, you have to know and work the laws.
-The laws work for you or against you.
-Jesus said repent/change the way you are thinking a new world is emerging.
-Literally we are to change sides and join the Kingdom.
-The Kingdom of God is expressed in principle every time we follow it.
-Jesus’ message was upside down from the world’s.
Jesus’ message was and is:
· The way up is down-Phil 2
· Sowing and Reaping –Whatsoever a man sows…
· Use-he that is faithful with little…
· Greatness-if you want to be great be a servant
· Dominion-God wants His people to establish His rule
· The Kingdom advances continually
-Jesus intended us to preach the Kingdom but also to demonstrate it in the midst of a contrary world as a prototype of the future.
-We can experience the powers of the coming age.
-We can express God’s Kingdom to the point that it becomes attractive to those who are around us.
John Ashcroft
He lived the Kingdom in front of an entire nation
-Becoming a part of the Kingdom is an event.
-The message of the kingdom is a lifestyle.
Matthew 6
31 /So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [15] /
-It is a moment by moment thing. Every time I choose God’s way instead of the world, the flesh or the devil; the Kingdom came.
-If I follow a principle or law of God on the earth, I am establishing His Kingdom…at least in me.
-The Kingdom is present to the extent that you let God, the King rule;
· In your heart
· In your marriage
· In your money
· In your relationships
-The invisible Kingdom only becomes visable as you follow the King and the laws of the kingdom.
· HE CAME
· HE IS HERE/IT IS HERE
· HE IS COMING
WE ARE LIVING IN THE PRESENCE OF THE FUTURE
YOU HAVE THE POWER IN CHRIST TO MANIFEST THE FUTURE VISABLE KINGDOM HERE AND NOW.
-Jesus said that if He cast out demons by the finger of God; the Kingdom is present.
-Every time you conquer one of the works of satan; that is the Kingdom.
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[1]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 6:9). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[2]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Da 2:44). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[3]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 3:1). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[4]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 4:17). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[5]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Mt 4:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
[6]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ac 1:3). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Greek Beezeboul or Beelzeboul; also in verse 27
[7]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 12:22). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[8]Peterson, E. H. (1995). The message : New Testament with Psalms and Proverbs (Lk 17:1). Colorado Springs, Colo.: NavPress.
a Greek three satas (probably about 1|2 bushel or 22 liters)
[9]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Lk 13:18). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a 20,21 Or subjected it in hope. For
[10]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Ro 8:18). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Or born from above; also in verse 7
[11]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Jn 3:3). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
[12]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 13:24). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
a Some later manuscripts Jesus, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit,
[13]The Holy Bible : New International Version, Ro 8:1-3. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.
f Or his; or their
[14]The Holy Bible : New International Version, Job 38:33. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984.
[15]The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (Mt 6:31). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.