SERVING IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD

                                        THE KINGDOM OF GOD

“But seek ye first the KINGDOM OF GOD, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

“And from that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17

“…He (Jesus) answered them and said, ‘…The Kingdom of God comes not with observation: neither shall they say, ‘Lo here, or Lo there’ for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21

“Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and had delivered us into the Kingdom of His dear Son.” Colossians 1:13

INDEX:
- WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS
- THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ADVANCED BY PURSUING HIS AGENDA IN THIS WORLD AND NOT OURS  AND IS LIVING A LIFE UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
- LOOKING AT THE LIFE OF JESUS: 1 - THE PERSONAL REVELATION OF GOD                          2 - THE DISCIPLINE OF OBEDIENCE
                                  3 - BAPTISM AND THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
- THE KINGDOM OF GOD DEMONSTRATED IN US:
                                  1 - THE NEW BIRTH
                                  2 - WATER BAPTISM
                                  3 - THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
                                  4 - THE DISCIPLINE OF OBEDIENCE
- HOW DO WE ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD?
                                  1 - BY FAITH AS A  LITTLE CHILD
                                  2 -THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH
                                  3 - BEING FILLED WHT THE HOLY SPIRIT
- THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES
- THE REPROACHES OF SERVICE
- CONCLUSION

 

WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST JESUS

 Now that you are in Christ Jesus, you are not only Citizens of Heaven and of His Kingdom, not only are you His children, adopted into His family, but while on Earth, you are His ambassadors. No matter how lowly you may be by the standards of this world, how poor, how simple, how ‘seemingly’ unattractive, you are not only beautiful to Him, but you are princes and princesses of the Almighty!!! His people, His servants, His Children with His Holy Spirit living inside you.

This also means that we represent Him and His Kingdom wherever we go and whatever we do.

THEREFORE WE ARE TO – Seek first the Kingdom of God and His

                                               righteousness Matthew 6:33

                                            - Press into the Kingdom of God Luke 16:16

If we are citizens of the Kingdom of God, why do  we need to seek it, and why do we need to press into it? Furthermore in Acts 14:22, it says that we must “…through much tribulation (hardship) enter the Kingdom of God.”

  Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is within us Luke 17:20-21, and in

Romans 14:17 “For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.”

 What the Lord is telling us here is that wherever the Lord lives and rules and reigns “…Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” That is where the Kingdom of God is. As ‘Born Again’ believers in Jesus, where Jesus Christ Himself has come into your heart, truly the Kingdom of God is within you. So the Kingdom of God is the Holy Spirit in you, where Christ rules and reigns. Why then do we need to seek it and press into it, and what is the tribulation about? What God is looking for is that His Kingdom is expressed through our lives, and not just being kept within us. The challenge is that the world, the flesh, and the devil, are in continued, and even fierce resistance to have anything of God expressed in this world, let alone His will being done. It is up to us, by faith and obedience in Christ, to allow the Kingdom to come forth in and through us. That is such a huge honor and privilege! Angels do not have that commission, sinners cannot, and neither could we unless the Lord Himself works it through us. We, on our part, are to but step out in faith by mobilizing our flesh under the guidance and power of the Holy Spirit, to carry out His will in the world around us daily  and touch this hurting and troubled world. How wonderful is that!!

 So the Kingdom of God within us is; "righteousness, peace, and joy, in the Holy Spirit", and because of Him in us, our relation with Him is active, alive, and our “HOPE OF GLORY”. But how can we stop there and kept it to ourselves? Should it not to be shared with the world around us?  Can you imagine what the world would be like if everyone was living in the Spirit of Christ? Our world would be flooded with godliness, holiness, peace and joy, basically His presence. It would almost be like Heaven on earth.

 This, however, is where the difficulty comes in. The world does not want Him any more than when Jesus Himself was here, and the devil will make it as difficult as possible to prevent you and I from reaching out. Also the pressure of life itself and all its demands, and   reasonably so, make it sometimes extremely difficult to step out of our "safe" zone. God has, with His extended grace (which is sufficient for us), provided help  for us in our weaknesses. His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses 2 Corinthians 12:9, and, “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:7. Therefore, on one hand we have no excuse, and on the other hand we do not get to boast, because it is He Who does it all. He gives us the grace to flow with Him, He gets all the glory, we get to share in His works, and people are blessed.

  So there is a constant struggle to enter into the Kingdom of God, due to much opposition, from within and from without. The Kingdom of God is the Life of Christ being lived out in this world. This is one reason why Jesus said to those of us who wish to follow Him, that unless we deny ourselves, take up the cross, and follow Him, we cannot be His disciples. Matthew 16:24-28, Luke 9:22-27, and notice that He said, “daily.” Now look, when we enter the Kingdom of God in our daily lives, we get to experience His righteousness, peace, and joy, and the world around us gets to experience Jesus and His power. How cool is that!?!

 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS ADVANCED BY PURSUING HIS AGENDA AND NOT OURS  IN THIS WORLD, AND THIS IS ONLY POSSIBLE AS WE ARE BEING LED BY HIS HOLY SPIRIT  - The Kingdom of God advances person by person as an individual surrenders his or her life to Christ Jesus and are filled by His Holy Spirit. This only comes about as individuals are exposed in some way or other to the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and that is where we come in.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS LIVING A LIFE UNDER THE GUIDANCE AND POWER OF HIS HOLY SPIRIT 

“For the Kingdom of God is not in word, but in POWER.” 1 Corinthians 4:20 

 Again, it is not a location, a format, nor the agenda of any man, but it is the demonstration of the power, grace, and the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. What does this mean? Power is the ability to accomplish a desired task. The first and foremost task God wants to accomplish is the salvation of sinners. He is not willing that any perish, but that all come to repentance, and the knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9. This is the only miracle that Jesus did not carry out during His earthly ministry before His Passion. His atoning sacrifice had to come first. Since then, when we share the Gospel with someone and they actually surrender their hearts to Him, we often get to see His miraculous transforming grace before our very eyes, where they are born again. They are delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of His dear Son. Colossians 1:13. Although that transpires strictly between the individual and the Lord, we get to not only lead them to the Jesus, but often get to witness that amazing transformation, similar to a doctor, nurse, or midwife, helping deliver a baby.

 The power of God is also witnessed in miracles, perhaps by praying for people and they get healed, or delivered from demonic oppression, or praying in a miraculous provision. These should be common occurrences in the service of the Kingdom of God. “For Thy name is near, Thy wondrous works declare.” Psalm 75:1 “…and these signs shall follow them that believe…” Mark 16:17-18
LOOKING AT THE LIFE OF JESUS - THE KING OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD - Jesus was born in the flesh and lived the life as any human being from childhood to adult-hood, but the course He ran had needed land marks: 
 1 - THE PERSONAL REVELATION OF GOD - Very little was mentioned about his youth other than the instance when he stayed back in Jerusalem at the temple conversing with the teachers. Notice the demonstration of the revelation and hand of His Father on Him, "...did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house." Luke 2:40  -  all works and service begin with this.
2 - THE DISCIPLINE OF OBEDIENCE HEBREWS 5:8  This portion of Scriptures goes on to speak of His submission and obedience not only to God His Heavenly Father, but even to his earthly parents Luke 2:51, and His growth in wisdom and stature before God and man reflects His submission. "...but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet with out sin." Hebrews 4:15
3 - BAPTISM  AND THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT -
Water Baptism for Jesus was setting the example for us in the establishing of the covenant between us and the Father, and the Baptism of the Holy Spirit initiated His bursting forth through His Spirit in demonstration of His Kingdom and Power with Healings, deliverances, wisdom, and miracles of any kind.
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD DEMONSTRATED IN US -
1. THE NEW BIRTH - For us as His disciples we follow basically the same pattern. First we start with the revelation of God the Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by which we are born again. John 3:3,5  Until then we cannot even see, let alone enter the Kingdom of God (although Jesus Himself, was never born separated from His Heavenly Father - He did not need to be born again).
2 - WATER BAPTISM -  Then we must be baptized in water as a seal of our covenant of faith in Jesus Christ.
3. THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY SPIRIT - "... I will pour My Spirit out on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions...." Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17 "He that believes on Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." John 7:38 From this point in our lives the demonstration and power of the Kingdom of God should and can be showing in our lives in signs, wonders, miracles, and the demonstration of His life in us.
4. THE DISCIPLINE OF OBEDIENCE - As children of the Kingdom, we too are trained and disciplined by the Lord (Revelations chapters 2-3) in training for life here, service, and eternity, and woe be to us if we neglect  or reject it. 

How do we enter into the Kingdom of God?
Obviously, as already stated, we must be BORN AGAIN of the Spirit of Christ. But now how to we walk it out in our daily life?

BY FAITH AS A LITTLE CHILD, “...Suffer (allow) the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not: for of such is the Kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.” Mark 10:14-15. A little child is humble and has nothing to offer, but believes, is willing, and accepts what he is given by his parents with wide open arms. A child believes and does.
NOT TRUSTING IN OUR OWN RIGHTEOUSNESS - In other words, for God to work through us does not depend on how righteous or deserving we may think we are, because all our righteousness “are as filthy rags,” Isaiah 64:6, but leaning and receiving solely what Jesus has done for us at the cross. There is a caution here. God can use us miraculously, and we may not be living a godly life. Just because God may use us for a miracle does not mean that we are living the way we should before Him. This is scary Matthew 7:21-23 So we enter the Kingdom of God with wide open arms by believing and LIVING OUT THE FAITH, because once we have believed, Jesus is already living in us.

 THE OBEDIENCE OF FAITH

 Then we enter into the Realm of the Kingdom of God by listening to  what the Holy Spirit is saying to us. Through the Bible we get to know the general will of God for our daily lives and by the Holy Spirit we are guided into the specific will of God for our particular situation, “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by the hearing of faith?...Does He then, Who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?” Galatians 3:2,5.

 BEING FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT - Without being filled with the Holy Spirit we can only have a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. In fact Jesus told His disciples in Acts 1 to tarry in Jerusalem until they were Baptized in the Holy Spirit. Once we are filled with the Holy Spirit then the service in in the Kingdom of God begins for us. Now there is the initial infilling of the Holy Spirit, but we must be continually filled daily, and that takes effort of stepping out in faith, prayer, worship, and praying in the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 5:18-20, Jude 20 In this way we step out from the natural and into the super natural, the realm of the Kingdom of God.


THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN OUR PERSONAL LIVES =LIVING OUT A SPIRIT LED LIFE - Serving in the Kingdom of God is not about attempting to do specific works, but living a life of abiding in His Holy Spirit. His fruit will follow, and so will your liberty flow with acts of faith, holiness, and love, wherein is His righteousness.
Some of the fruits of daily aspects of the Kingdom of God in our daily lives that we may even take for granted and not notice are:
- a love for and desire to fellowship with other Christians, 1 John 1:7, 3:14
- a love to praise and worship the Lord Colossians 3:16
- a love for the Bible, in reading, studying, and hearing it preached Luke 24:32
- a desire to share Jesus with others Mark 16:15
- a desire to please the Lord in what ever we do 2 Corinthians 2:9
- a devoted life of prayer and communion with Jesus Psalm 73:25
- a hate for sin and its affects, both ours and others Jude 23
- a brokenness for the lost state and suffering of others 2 Corinthians 11:29
- a burden to pray for others, and inspirations to minister to others

1 Thessalonians 4:12
- hearing God's voice, seeing visions and dreams from God John 10:27, Acts 2:17
- Scriptures of the Bible that come to us in guidance Acts 11:16
- recognizing demonic activity 1 Thessalonians 2:18
- being acquainted with the love, peace and joy of the Lord 1 Peter 1:8, Romans 4:17
- being familiar with His Presence Psalm 16:11
- a desire to be holy 1 Peter 1:15-16
- earnestly wanting to see everyone saved and walking with Jesus!  Matthew 6:33
- Loving and desiring Jesus and the Father more than anything  Philippians 1:23, Mark 12:29-31

- Being free in JESUS!
 (Note - Most of these can be merely a religious activity, and religion often mirrors or tries to imitate the reality in Christ, but will lack the power and impact of that which is birthed by the Holy Spirit).

THE REPROACHES OF SERVICE - "For the zeal of Your house has eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproach You have fallen on me." Psalm 69:9, Romans 15:3 Serving the Lord will automatically bring question and even opposition in our world, and even sometimes amongst other believers. There may be times when we may be out of step with the Lord which can run unnecessary interference with others, but for the most part, if we are doing what the Lord is directing us, it will seem to be foolishness and even wrong to outsiders. We, however, must graciously and in humility bear the reproach.  Even Jesus' friends said He was beside Himself "And when His friends  heard of it they went out to lay hold on Him: for they said, 'He is beside Himself." Mark 3:21 Speaking and ministering to people the things that pertain to eternal life, to the natural mind will seem  inappropriate and even ridiculous to those people whom the Lord has not revealed Himself. Expect reproaches, ridicule, accusations, persecutions. Our enemy is not people but the devil, who knows that what you are doing is right. He wants you to stop and will use whatever he can to intimidate you. Jesus said, "Be wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves."  

IN THE SERVICE OF THE Kingdom of God EXPECT...
- Expect to be inconvenienced, have burdens to pray at any time, importune demands (and often from people you may not know).
- Expect to be touching the lives of people with whom you would never normally consort with, and do things that will stretch your character.
- Expect answers to prayer and miracles.
- Expect inexpressible joy, thankfulness, genuine humility, and the burning heart to speak for Him and glorify Him. 

 All in all, we are to attempt to strive to remain in that place of faith  so as to enter into the Kingdom of God, daily, and that is a struggle.

 There is a cost as well as reward for entering into the Kingdom of God. There is the likely chance of persecution, “…all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” 2 Timothy 3:12

There are sacrifices to be made, which boils down to forsaking all Matthew 19:29, Luke 14:25-33. But the reward is not only the prize of Eternal Life because of our faith in Him already, but that He will reward us one hundred times as much as we give up in this life, and above that, He will be with us always and never leave us nor forsake us.

CONCLUSION – Let us all activate our flesh and step out in faith, take up the cross, follow Jesus, and watch Him work through us to touch this hurting world.