Bible Teaching

Calvary Temple Teaching Library

Thy Kingdom Come Pt.1

Let's turn to Matthew, chapter 6. We've been spending these last sessions talking about the power of biblical prayer and just exactly what it is to pray in accordance with the Word of God. We were talking about the understanding that communion with the presence of God (practicing His presence) is really the essence of prayer. We said that prayer is really the privilege of accessing His presence and allowing ourselves to become vessels that would express His will here on earth. We've talked about a couple of different aspects of the model prayer that the Lord gave us here in Matthew the 6th chapter.

Tonight, I want to talk about one of the things that's so important for us in our prayer lives. We've talked about the need to get away from praying for so many of the temporal things in life and to seek first the kingdom, His righteousness, and all of these other things are added to us. Our Heavenly Father knows what things we have need of. And so, we're not to be taken up with all of those; we're to be seekers first of the kingdom of God. I want to emphasize that a little bit tonight and cause you to really understand the importance of praying for the kingdom's manifestation in our midst. That needs to be the number one priority in our petitioning.

There is, of course, the worship aspect of prayer. As we see the Lord speaking to us here in the model prayer in chapter 6 of Matthew, He says first of all in verse 9, "After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."

We were talking a little bit about some of our own personal experience in trials. We get into areas of warfare as we're praying; and so often we're praying, and seeking that victory, and (as I was sharing the other night) seeking that peace. And the Lord spoke to us out of Philippians and said, "You're seeking in the wrong way. You're seeking for peace; you're seeking for the cessation of this warfare and the victory over it. But you're leaving out one very important aspect, and that's thanksgiving. How thankful are you?" We talked about the Philippians statement to us to "Be careful [anxious] for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Philippians 4:6). We're supposed to focus on thankfulness and the awareness that God is seeking to bless us. He's given us everything that pertains to life and godliness, and it's our Father's good pleasure to give us the kingdom. As we focus on those things--the worship, thanksgiving, and praise--we set an environment for the visitation of the power and presence of God in our lives. Worship, the Scripture shows us, sets up ambushments against the enemy. The Lord tabernacles (or inhabits, the Scripture says) the praises of His people.

And so, we see the Lord starting the model prayer off that way. "Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name." It's a worshipful spirit; it's a heart of thanksgiving. God is for us, praise God! So then, who can be against us? We begin to worship Him for His goodness, His holiness, and His majesty, and in the midst of that environment--and I don't want to speak about that tonight; I want to speak about the next aspect--but in the midst of all that, as we're worshiping the Lord and we're taken up with His majesty, His bigness, and His holiness, it causes our perspective to shift from the temporal into the eternal. When we understand how majestic our God is, we understand, then, how big the purpose is that we're just a part of. We're just a small part of this plan that God has, in not only redeeming man back to Himself, but establishing His glory in the midst of all of His creation. As Lucifer rebelled and brought a reproach on the kingdom of God, and blasphemed, and opposed all that is righteous and holy, God is re-establishing His majesty through His mercy and through the great redemption. So, we worship in the beauty of that holiness. In the model prayer, He tells us to start that way, to hallow His name. Then we realize that He is sovereign; and in His sovereignty, this God that we serve, the Scripture tells us, is an awesome God. His power is beyond comprehension; it's totally irresistible.

We talked about not falling into the trap of thinking that the kingdom of darkness and Satan is the antithesis of the kingdom of God. You can't compare the kingdom of darkness or the lordship of Satan and his kingship on planet earth--you can't even begin to compare it with the kingdom of God that's being established in each one of us. And so, it's important that we understand how big God's purpose is of establishing His kingdom in the earth. So, one of the things that you and I are to put as priorities in our prayer lives is this: to pray, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

We want to talk a little bit about what the kingdom is and what it is that we're praying into effect. What are we praying for when we pray, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done"? We have to understand that the kingdom is seen in two general categories: the soteriological kingdom and the eschatological kingdom.

The eschatological kingdom is the literal, actual kingdom that is going to be manifest in the millennial reign of Jesus that's coming soon, and each one of us is going to be a participant of that. The soteriological kingdom has already been established. Now, both of these kingdoms are decreed facts, manifesting themselves in parallel, and will continue as the literal eschatological kingdom manifests itself. But in the spirit realm, they are both already functioning. So when we're praying, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth," we're talking about two different things. We're talking about a literal kingdom that's going to come, where Jesus is going to descend to the earth. He's going to set His feet upon the Mount of Olives, and it's going to cleave asunder. He's going to make a show, not only in the spiritual realm of Satan, but He's going to make all of the kingdoms of the earth bow. He's going to rule them with a rod of iron, and there's going to be the visible kingdom of God functioning on the planet. So we're praying for that, "Lord, come quickly." When we're asking the Lord to come, we're realizing that part of the sequence is: He's going to come; we're going to be changed; we're going to be transformed; we're going to ascend into His presence; we're going to descend [to earth] with Him; and we're going to rule and reign with Him in that future kingdom, the eschatological kingdom.

But there's a kingdom that's already in effect right now. You say, "Well then, why do we have to pray for that?" Well, what we're praying for is: "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth--in each one of us, in our present lives." We want the kingdom to manifest itself, and so we have to understand what the soteriological kingdom is all about. The "soteriological kingdom" just means the "kingdom of salvation." "Soteriology" is "the study of salvation." As you're studying systematic theology, the Greek work soteria just means "salvation," and sozo means "saved," and the basic definition of that is "wholeness."

So, the question you have to ask yourself now, as we're looking at what we're praying about, is: "Is my life whole?" Are you experiencing all that God's kingdom affords you? Are you experiencing everything that Jesus purchased for you with His death and His victory over Satan? Are you filled with the Holy Spirit? Are you experiencing divine healing? Are you experiencing all power and all authority over all the power of the devil? Are you ruling and reigning over your own flesh? Is the world crucified to you and you to the world? You see, those are all the benefits of people that are living in the kingdom and experiencing the full benefits of the kingdom. If we aren't experiencing all of that to its fullness, guess what we ought to be praying for? "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth." Do you want to see another way of saying that? "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in me as it is in heaven." Because we're not talking about a kingdom that's going to influence the earth or the world's system. It's not a kingdom to affect the cosmos; it's a kingdom that's coming and expressing itself in opposition to the established kingdom of darkness.

Now, the false teaching on the kingdom that's coming is expressed in a couple of different ways. The contemporary charismatic expression of this didn't originate there (there's no new thing under the sun); it's been in existence for 1700 years. One of the things that made it popular, especially in the charismatic circles, was a movement out of Atlanta, Georgia, started by Earl Paulk. Many others have stemmed from there; and you'll find that its central theme is this: "God is empowering us as a people to take over the earth; and as we pray and believe God, we're going to see influential people saved and put into different offices. They're going to have great businesses, and they're going to become the social, political, and economic leaders of the world. And ultimately, we're going to infiltrate the earth; we're going to drive darkness out; His kingdom will be established; and then He can come, and we will hand Him His scepter." Now, they don't go real big on that last part, but this is the thought process. What you have in this type of a theology is just a charismatic version (and a poor counterfeit) of Roman Catholicism, because the whole doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is Kingdom Now. You can see it in everything that they do--from the political influence, to the financial influence, and all of these different aspects. It becomes the visible kingdom, and you can see the kingdom growing, and Christianity, then, is spreading and becoming the dominant force on the planet. Now, we know it hasn't affected the planet in that way, or driven back the kingdom of darkness in that way, but they believe that's taking place. "By faith, this is happening!" And you can see this Kingdom Now theology creeping in (in part) to many other denominations that really wouldn't consider themselves a part of that movement. But is it or is it not popular today to see Christians wanting to get on the political bandwagon, and elect Christian politicians so we can affect our society? Is that pretty much one of the popular things that's happening today across the fundamentalist, historical Christian denominations? We've talked about it before--how they join in unity for political causes and social causes. "It's so we can have a better life on the earth!" The kingdom of God has nothing to do with that. The one thing that we do need to realize as we're praying, "Thy kingdom come," is that we in the 21st Century are not looking for a kingdom that would come and affect the spiritual realm, because it's already come. We're not praying for something to happen; it's already happened. We're asking for it to happen in us. We're expecting it to happen in our midst. It's here on the earth.

Now, how do we know that? Look over at Matthew 16 for just a second. In verse 28, Jesus is talking about the fact that He's going to be killed and rise again on the third day. (We talked about this passage just the other day, and how Peter was rebuked, and the necessity to take up our cross and to follow Him.) Then we find a very interesting phrase after talking about our own personal sanctification and the need to die to self. He says in verse 28, "Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here [hearing My voice], which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom." First century (2,000 years ago) contemporaries of Jesus would see Him come in His kingdom, in power. And so, what we know from this is that the kingdom of God came to the earth and was established in the First Century, in the ministry of Jesus. So when we're praying, "Thy kingdom come," remember, the kingdom is here. We're asking that the kingdom's power be the power that we're moving in and the benefits to be those that we're partaking of as believers, both individually and as a community. "There are some of you here right now," He said, "that will not taste death until you've seen the Son of man coming in the power of His kingdom." So we see, then, that it's an established fact; the kingdom is in place.

The question we have to ask is: are we in the kingdom? Are we living in the confines of that kingdom? Are we living in the city limits? Or are we a people that just visit every once in a while? "We live out in the country on our own acres, and every once in a while we'll visit the kingdom of God when we have a need. Other than that, I'm running my own kingdom." Jesus is talking about our ability to abide and to live within the confines of the Word of God and the provision that God makes for us.

You see, the thing that has to become clear in our understanding is what this kingdom is; and it is a spiritual kingdom. What is manifesting right now, in the kingdom of the soteriological manifestation of the power of God, is an invisible kingdom. It has observable expression; but the kingdom is invisible. The kingdom that's going to come (the eschatological kingdom) is a visible kingdom; you'll see it. You'll see Jesus; you'll see the function of that kingdom that He has established. He will rule the nations with a rod of iron, and it will be very obvious. It's not obvious to the natural man, however, that there's a kingdom that is in operation right now in our midst. It's an invisible God that we serve, those of us who are men and women of faith, that call things that are not as though they were. It's foreign to them; the spiritual things are foolishness to the natural mind; they can't receive them. "Lord, how shall You manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?" And He said, "Through the Word that's going to tabernacle in you, through the revelation of My word to a people that accept these principles as truth." The world can't receive them; they'll not know that there's another power, another kingdom, that's in operation right now, running parallel to the kingdom of darkness. It is, in fact, overpowering the kingdom of darkness and, in fact, restraining the powers of darkness and the man of sin. And he cannot be revealed in all of his power until that restraining force of the kingdom of God is removed.

What am I saying? We're in charge here, amen? We're the people that are in charge here; this is our planet. Our kingdom is greater than the kingdom of darkness. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world, praise God! Now, are you living that way? Is that your understanding of who you are? Is that your expectation as you go out into the world and preach this gospel? Is that how you pray? Do you pray expecting God to manifest and to declare His glory through your life as you pray? "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in me; Lord, let it be seen in me. Lord, let me be the representative of Your kingdom." Is that what you're praying for? Or are you more taken up with the bigger house or whatever it might be that distracts us from our real purpose here in heralding the gospel? As we pray the way Paul did, it becomes the number one passion of our hearts to represent the kingdom. We begin to pray, "Lord, just grant that there would be doors of utterance open to me." Is that what's consuming your prayer time--the opportunity, the privilege of sharing the gospel, the expectation that while we're out there sharing the gospel, that anointing is going to rise up within us, praise God, and that name will be spoken off of our lips in faith and power, and men will see and glorify our Father which is in heaven? That's what will motivate your prayer life. You'll pray when you begin to see that kind of stuff happening, and you'll begin to know the presence of God! You'll begin to pray for the right things; we'll begin to pray in the right way when that's what we're seeking and understanding.

Jesus said, "The kingdom is among you." Look over at the 12th chapter of Matthew for just a moment. Again, He gives them some insight into this and lets us see His perception of what the kingdom of God is. And it's not Christians in the White House.

You know, there are people running around today saying, "Oh, I'm so thankful we have a Christian in the White House!" I doubt it. I shared with you what I heard the man say with my own ears, that he doesn't believe that this is the infallible, inerrant, God-breathed, Word of the Lord. He is not a Christian if he doesn't believe that, period! I don't care what his values are. He may like Jesus, think He's a neat guy, adhere to some of His doctrine, but he's not born again. If he were born again, he wouldn't be calling Islam "a peaceful religion." You can't be a Christian and be that stupid! I think he's a good President; I'm just saying I don't think he's a Christian. If I voted, I'd vote for him. So we understand, then, that people are blinded by what they're seeing in the political realm, and it's because of that natural kingdom and their adherence to it.

But look at what Jesus says in Matthew the 12th chapter. "...Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand." They were accusing Him of casting out devils by the power of Beelzebub. And He said, "How can that be? If I'm working for the devil, I sure wouldn't be destroying the works of the devil! A house divided can't stand." "And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you" (verses 26-28). So we begin to see right here one of the great manifestations of the kingdom: "...For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8b, emphasis added). The kingdom, He's saying, came for the purpose of destroying the works of the devil. One of the things we, as citizens of the kingdom ought to be seeing is the destruction of the powers of the devil, the casting down of demonic power. How many of you are opposing things in the natural, and there doesn't seem to be a solution? Maybe you need to begin to understand that when we pray, we're not warring against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against powers. There needs to be the awareness that the supernatural weapons that we've been given are to set out against the powers of darkness. You resist the devil, the Scripture says, and he flees from you! "Thy kingdom come. Cause us to understand that we're warring against another kingdom that has fallen angels (demonic spirits) that are opposing us and the gospel on every hand. They're trying to close doors; and so, Lord, we're asking You to give us doors of utterance. Lord, we're asking You for mercy and grace in the eyes of men. Turn hearts, open blind eyes, and give us the opportunity to go into all the world and preach the gospel!" Do you understand what's going on around us? As we're praying, we need to understand how real this warfare is.

I understand there's another war movie out, and I haven't been able to see it. I like war movies. "Private Ryan" was like way cool! You get a feeling for the great things that those men did who went and fought for our freedom. Can you say, "Thank God for them!"? Those of you here that are veterans and fought in those wars, we're thankful for the men that have gone and fought. We watch it as information; but when I sat there and watched that movie, as it ended, I saw a lot of those people of that great generation who were in the theatre just weeping, some of them remembering the different areas that they had been in. We have men here right now in this building tonight carrying shrapnel in their bodies from that war. I've talked with different ones--friends of mine, my brother, my father--who were in different wars. My father was in World War II and was involved in the African campaign, the Asian campaign, and in the Pacific. He took men ashore at Leyte and these different areas. I've heard the different stories about what these men had been through. My brother was wounded in Vietnam. He says one of the things that was a real interesting occurrence happened as he was driving through this one area in a jeep. They started firing a .50 caliber at him, and he felt it actually burn his chin as it went under there! Do you know what a .50 caliber looks like? The thing is as big around as your thumb; the cartridge is huge. You wouldn't even have a head! He said the fun part was that he had to go back by there three more times that night!

Now, I said all that to say this. You see the different movies ("Patton," for example), and you see those men having to pack up and turn; and in a moments notice, as they marched through that snow, they went back and engaged themselves in another campaign. Everybody was mocking Patton and saying, "How is it that you think you can do this when none of the other generals think they can do it?" And he said, "Because I've trained these men; I've trained them to do this kind of stuff!" They said, "Yeah, but you're going to need at least a couple of days to plan it." He said, "I've already been planning it. Where have you guys been?" He had the thing already planned before they thought about it. They turned, went back, and did one of the most amazing feats that they'd seen in that war. What am I saying? Men with their feet wrapped, frozen, hungry, sleeping only through exhaustion, afraid, hungry--kids, man! Seventeen, eighteen year-old kids, being shot at, frozen, starving, exhausted. I'm saying all that just to say this: we're at war. We want a "picnic war". "Excuse me; its 5 o'clock; I need to get my nap. I don't have time to pray. You mean, it's going to cost something? Oh, it's going to be so hard! I don't feel good." I wonder what you'd do if you didn't feel good, and somebody was shooting at you. I'll tell you what you'd do; you'd grab that old lazy carcass and move it, man!

So, the point I'm making is this: how real to you is the war we're in? How real is this spiritual war that's going on for your soul--not the death of your body, but your eternal soul and the souls of your children? What would you do to prepare your kids to save their bodies--to protect them from pedophiles, to protect them from the big bully down the street, to protect them from dangers that are involved in whatever activity they're in? And then we let them be lazy as it pertains to their souls. We're interested in their report cards and how they're doing academically. How are they doing spiritually? You move heaven and earth to get them to basketball practice! What about prayer? There's a kingdom that's being established here on the earth; and the citizens of that kingdom, He says, are those who take up their cross daily and are following Him, those who are conscious of this battle that's going on. If I'm destroying the powers of darkness in my life, then you know this: the kingdom of God is here. I'll say it again another way so you can grab hold of what I'm saying. If the powers of darkness are not being overcome, maybe you're not part of the kingdom. Maybe you're not in the kingdom; maybe you're not experiencing the benefits of the kingdom personally. Because the one thing we do know is this: the kingdom opposes darkness. The kingdom is in direct opposition to darkness. And so, it is very important for us to understand the difference between these kingdoms and how they operate. Jesus said, "If I'm casting out demons by the Spirit of God, then you know this: the kingdom of God is manifesting itself in your presence."

But the kingdom is not observable. Many Christians today are wanting it to be observable. We're wanting to change the political structure, the moral environment. You're not going to do it; we all know that. It's so obvious! As you hear this doctrine become more and more prominent in our day, be aware of this, and just listen. "We need to bind together; and we need to elect this guy to office; and we need to protest against this." All of these different things people are doing in the arm of the flesh. And to get this group together to have any type of political influence, the one thing that they all have to do is compromise their doctrine. And so, there's a pseudo-unity formed through a common purpose of reforming a social order. The greatest example of this in our day is the abortion issue. And so, you have Catholics, and Protestants, and who knows what else. You've got the drug problem; so now you have Catholics, and Protestants, and Muslims, and they're all going to work together to clean up this neighborhood and drive out drugs. Well, let's say they got rid of crack, and they finally brought them up, and everybody became affluent. Then they're doing to go to cocaine, because flesh is flesh. Now we've got them snorting cocaine in the executive conference room.

Turn to Luke 17, and look at verses 20 and 21. The Pharisees demanded of Him and said, "If you're the Messiah, and all this stuff that You've been preaching is real, and You've been healing people, then tell us when the kingdom of God should come." "...he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation" (verse 20b). You see, the one thing you'll understand is this: the Pharisees will always be looking for an observable kingdom. Pharisees are just religious people (that we read about the other day) who are looking more for the praises of men than the glory of God, whose traditions have made the Word of God of no effect. "Now tell us; when will the kingdom come?" Jesus responded, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you" (verses 20b-21).

The kingdom of God is within you. The kingdom of God is made up of this spiritual house of living stones; and He's building this dwelling for the presence of God, and the Spirit of God, and a people that are hearers of the Word. Who are the greatest in the kingdom? He said they're those who do and teach others to be obedient to the Word of God. The kingdom of God is all about obedience to the Word of God. Do you want to know about the kingdom of God? The kingdom of God's manifesting is in direct correlation to how much we're obeying, as individuals, the Word of God. Each one of you--every time you choose to do the Word contrary to your flesh, contrary to the kingdom of darkness, the kingdom is manifesting itself. The greatest in the kingdom is servant of all. The greatest are those that hear, do, and teach others to do. The kingdom of God is all about obedience to the Word of God. So let's pray, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven."

What are we praying about? We're praying about how aware we are of the will of God and what God is wanting to do according to His Word. "I'm taking a survey of my own life; and I'm asking You to sanctify me, Lord, that I might be able to sanctify others." That was the prayer of Jesus in John 17. You see, sanctification isn't just to get us free from sin and looking spiritual. Sanctification is to get us into a place where we can help others to be free--not criticize them, but help them, lift up their hands, encourage them, comfort them with the same comfort wherewith you were comforted.

The kingdom of God, then, is not with observation. It's not something that you can vote into existence. It's not going to be through political influence. The kingdom of God is a spiritual thing. "Lord," the disciples said, "how are You going to manifest Yourself to us and not to the world?" "By the Word that I've spoken to you," Jesus said. They're going to count it foolishness; but isn't it amazing how when you get around brothers and sisters that are doers of the Word--it doesn't matter what fellowship they go to, or what denomination it might be--when you get around brothers and sisters, the one thing you have in common--how do you know when somebody you're talking to who says they're a Christian is a Christian? How do you really know? People say it all the time, but how do you know? By the way they respond to the Word of God. Christians are a people that love the Word of God. "Thy Word is truth," the Scripture says. And so, we understand that the kingdom of God is the establishing of truth--not just through doctrine, but through the fruit that we're bearing in our lives, through our obedience to the Word of God. The kingdom of God, then, is not with observation. The kingdom of God is within you or among you. It's what we are as a community of believers.

Now, we saw that one of the purposes of the kingdom was to destroy the works of the devil. ("If I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom is among you. It's here in your midst.") As we go on, we're going to see again what we're praying for. What is it we're looking for? How much time are you spending praying for God to cause you to be an agent that represents the kingdom of God, to go out and destroy the powers of darkness? Through intercessory prayer, through binding powers of darkness, casting out devils, healing the sick--that's how people begin to realize there's another kingdom that's in operation in our midst.

Look over to John 18 for just a second. Jesus was being tried, and they were asking Him about His kingship. Pilate enters (verse 33), calls Jesus, and says, "Let me ask You something. Are You the king of the Jews?" And Jesus said, "Are you saying this of yourself, out of your own heart, by the things that you've observed, and that you've seen, and you know the testimony, or did others tell you about Me?" Then Pilate says, "Am I a Jew? How do I know? I don't know anything about all this Messiah stuff and who's supposed to be king of the Jews! Your own nation and the chief priests have delivered You to me. What have You done?"

Well, they piped and He didn't dance is what happened. There was another kingdom. It wasn't the kingdom they were expecting; it wasn't the kingdom that was going to leave them in power. And the very fact is, many of us want to be Christians and still rule over our own kingdom of our lives. We want Jesus to come and us to still be in power. These guys were going to lose power if this was the Messiah.

So, Jesus is responding at this time; and Pilate says, "What did You do, man?" "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. Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice" (verses 36-37). "Yes, I'm a king; but I'm not the king of the Jews; I'm the king of the universe. I am your king; and the devil that's driving you and is your lord--I'm his king. And for this reason, they hate Me, because they prefer darkness; their deeds are evil. Yes, I'm a king; but the one thing you need to understand is this: My kingdom is not of this world. We don't use worldly methods. If My kingdom were of this world, they would fight to preserve Me, because everything here is in the temporal realm. But My kingdom isn't limited by the temporal realm. For Me to live is weakness; to die is strength. I'm going to die, and I'm going to come forth and produce after My own kind. A seed has to fall into the ground--a principle that this world doesn't know anything about. Yes, I'm a king; but My kingdom will never be observed, accepted, understood, or participated in by the world. There is no fellowship between light and darkness."

Now, with that in mind, how many things do we try to amalgamate into our lives that are of the world's system, and yet we still want all the benefits of the kingdom? I think we need to pray, "Thy kingdom come; purify me; I want to be pure kingdom. I want to do everything according to Your will, according to Your purpose, and absolutely for Your glory. Thy kingdom come." How many of those areas are still out there that have us entwined, that are choking the Word of God out of our lives? How many of the weights and sins that we drag along on a daily basis are still causing us to be weighted down, and slowed down, as we're about to do the will of the Father? Every person in this room needs to pray, "Thy kingdom come. Lord, set me free from the cares of this world. Father; strip from me the weights and the sins that beset me from doing the perfect will of God: the representing of Thy kingdom. I'm jealous for Your kingdom! I want to know what happens in the life of a man who does everything according to the Word of God."

Well, only one man ever did it. There have been some great Christians--Paul, for instance; but he didn't do it. There have been a lot of good Christians. John the Beloved was a fabulous brother, as we read his Revelation. They're men of like passion, just like you and I. What's our goal here as a fellowship? Is it for everyone to live in peace, and be happy and relatively comfortable in life? "We want our kids to get ahead and prosper." Wouldn't it be great if some of our children went on to be corporate heads? Some people would get all excited if somebody became a professional athlete--somebody from the Calvary Temple basketball team becomes MVP in the NBA! "I remember him when he was just a kid! I taught him the fundamentals; I taught him how to dunk when he was 5'2"." I wonder what it would be like if we as a fellowship took it on as a goal to say, "Do you know what? We're going to produce absolutely the most powerful kingdom being that's ever been known on the planet! We're going to believe God to move in our midst in such a pure way, with such a zeal. Father, use us as a people to provide an environment that You could touch a life and raise up a man that would be greatest in the kingdom of God, someone who is absolutely obedient to the Word of God." See, a lot of us around here wouldn't be comfortable around somebody like that. He'd always be rebuking us (or she, whichever). We'd always be a little uncomfortable because, "You know, man, I'm going out here to fool around, and they're going to pray, and they're going out ministering." And the Pharisees felt that same way about Jesus. They were ticked off! He said they wouldn't have had sin if He hadn't come and spoken the words that He spoke, and lived the life that He lived. They wouldn't have even been aware, and they wouldn't have been under condemnation. "But My life has proved to you that somebody can do it. So why aren't you?"

In years past, we've taught about liberty and about disputable matters so that you wouldn't become legalistic. But I'll tell you what--we as a fellowship are less spiritual because of our liberty, because it's been abused and it's been used as an occasion to the flesh. That doesn't mean that we're to come back under the bondage of works. The point I'm trying to make is this: the Scriptures make it very clear that we're to keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. This is the goal; this is what we're looking for. What pleases God? That's our goal. "The people among us that are trying to be legalistic, we're able to pray for those folks and endure them, because the strong bear the infirmities of the weak." The weak are obviously those that are under the bondage of legalism. The Scripture makes it very clear that Pharisaical legalism is weakness. To be able to be free in the Spirit is strength, but to think that your freedom gives you an occasion to the flesh is death. Our liberty is a liberty from the bondage of the flesh. Our liberty is a liberty to do the will of God and the purposes of God, to become more like Jesus.

"Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in earth." We need to pray for that as a fellowship. We need to believe God to establish His kingdom again in our midst in a way that we've never known. Are you hungry for a visitation of God? Do you want your life changed? Do you want to move into a new realm of understanding the communion that you have with your Father? Do you want a new liberty to walk free from the flesh and from fear? We understand, then, that the kingdom of God is among us. It's available to us; its already been established. Are we as a people moving into it? Are we praying, "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done"? His kingdom isn't of this world.

Let's end with this for tonight, over in Colossians, chapter 1. There's a war going on. How serious are we about it? How aware are we of it? There's a race to be won. How prepared are we? There's armor to be put on that we might stand.

I thought it was interesting, as Pastor Miller and Pastor Gardner gave me these lists of some young people who surveyed the rest of the young people, and made observations about their lives. They were praying for these because they felt that they were in jeopardy and not pursuing the kingdom. It was interesting, and a lot of you parents will be getting the information. These observations were made; and then the question was asked, "Well, you've observed this; you say you're praying for them, and that's good. But what are you doing to lead them? What are you doing to be an example? What are you doing to bring salt, and light, and reproof? Because the one thing is: there is no fellowship between light and darkness. Light always reproves darkness. If we're going to see the kingdom of God manifesting in power, there has to be an opposition to darkness. There has to be a hatred for darkness, a hatred for sin. That's one of the traits of true kingdom citizens.

And so, in Colossians chapter 1--I won't read all of this; but for your notes, put down verses 13 through 23. As Paul is rejoicing in what redemption really is, and what the Spirit of God has done in his life, he said, "[He] hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son" (verse 13). Redemption (true regeneration) translates you into the kingdom of God; it delivers you from the power of darkness. The kingdom of darkness keeps us in bondage. People who are still in darkness (and really in jeopardy) are those who are deceived, who really don't understand the condition they're in. Pastor Jeff went and talked to a number of these young people and many of them couldn't see it. They responded, "No, I don't know why they said that." And Pastor Jeff said, "Because it's true! That's who you are; that's how you are." "No, no, that's not me!" If your light be darkness, how great is that darkness! Regeneration delivers you from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son.

"Thy kingdom come." Do you know what you're praying? "Lord, let me know myself; let me see myself. Let me be someone who runs to the light. I want to know who I am. I want to see myself as You see me. I want to be able to look into the mirror of Your Word and know what manner of man I am! Thy kingdom come. Show me how I fit into the kingdom of God." That's what we're praying for. Is that your heart's desire? "Lord, how do You see me? How do I fit in? Am I doing those things that are pleasing in Your sight?" So, it's vitally important that we understand the need to pray for the kingdom to manifest in us.

We'll be talking a little more about the kingdom and power--praying for the kingdom. When you're praying for the kingdom to come, you're praying for the power of God to manifest through you. Now you need to be careful; because when you're praying for this thing (we talked about the fact that we're at war), it's going to put you on the front lines. You know how life is kind of easy right now? You start praying this way, and do you know what's going to happen? You're going to have trials like you've never had before! Get ready to be tempted in ways you've never been tempted. Get ready to oppose sicknesses that you've never opposed. You'll encounter every opposition imaginable--every lie of the devil, messengers of Satan sent to buffet you, in the deep, in perils of life, beaten. Are you sure you want to pray, "Thy kingdom come"? "Lord, I want to represent the kingdom; I want to be more like You. I want to know the power of God that will bring You glory." The greatest in the kingdom has the spirit of servant. The greatest in the kingdom is the servant of all. The greatest in the kingdom is the one who will humble himself and say, "Lord, I'm here to be used in whatever way that will best serve Your people." And do you know what? It may be cleaning the toilets, and it may be standing in the pulpit. "I'll serve You wherever You want me to serve." And with every call and every placement there's a cross. "Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done in me, as it is in heaven."

Let's stand before the Lord tonight. As we continue, and we look a little bit at the kingdom, and the prayer for the kingdom of God to be established, and the power manifesting in our lives, leave tonight with this in your consciousness. Let this be the thing that goes over and over in your heart tonight: the greatest are those that keep and teach others to keep these commandments. "Brother, I just want you to pray with me if you would, man; I just don't know. I'm under so much pressure at work, and they're doing this, and this is going on, and I just want you to..." You don't need to be praying about all that stuff! What you need to be praying about is why you don't have the peace of God. "Why have I lost confidence in Father's ordering of my steps? Why have I thought that the world could be victorious over me? Why have I thought that Satan could destroy what God has purposed for my life? Why am I so afraid?" Because the kingdom of God is not meat or drink; it's righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. We are so meat and drink conscious. We are so taken up with daily trivial, aches, pains, fears, and expectations. We need to be on our faces about our righteousness, our peace, and our joy in the Holy Ghost; because if you don't have that, you've lost His presence and you should be afraid because you're going down. God resists the proud, but He gives grace to the humble--those who will just say, "Lord, if You're for me, nobody can be against me, praise God!"

Let's rejoice in His goodness tonight. As Gary plays for us, we understand the victory that's been won, and what God has provided for us in His kingdom. What a privilege to abide in Him and have His words abide in us! Then we can ask what we would, and it'll be done, praise God! Why? Because I abide in Him, and I'm producing fruit, and He's purging me to bring forth more fruit. He's ordained me that this fruit might remain. "Thy kingdom come." Your Father knows what you have need of. "Thy kingdom come." Seek first the kingdom and right relationship with God, and all these other things will be added unto you. Seek first to rebuke darkness; seek first to cast out devils; seek first to do the Word of God, to preach the gospel, and all of these other things will be added unto you. Seek first to be servant of all; seek first to be humble, that God would be exalted. And all of these other things will be added to you.

The kingdom is here. Now come among us, Lord, in Jesus' name. Let us enter the kingdom through our obedience. Let us enter the kingdom through our worship. Let us enter the kingdom through our faith.

Let's sing together and just worship Him. Hallelujah!

As the kingdom of God begins to work in you, let me ask you a question. Are you the one on the job that everyone comes to when they're stumped and need some help because you're the sharpest guy at work? Let me ask you another question. Are you the person that everybody in the church comes to when they have a spiritual need? Some of you young people have just been encouraged to practice dribbling and ball handling. Can I ask you, how do you handle the Word of God? Can you skillfully give a reason of the hope that is in you? Some of you have been trying to defend yourselves as you've been approached about different things that you're involved in. You talk about your liberty. Let me just encourage you; let me challenge you to do something. Why don't you purposefully give up 25 percent of your liberties, and spend that time seeking God, and see if your treasures don't change. I didn't say "sins"; you've got to give up 100 percent of your sin.

Make it real, Father, we ask in Jesus' name. Come among us; visit us; change our lives. Take the coal from the altar and put it upon our lips that we might speak Your truth, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Before you go, turn to somebody and say, "Seek the kingdom first." Amen. Go in peace; God's love go with you.

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