Sunday 14th Apr 2013 - The Kingdom Of God - Brian Nish

THE KINGDOM OF GOD INTRODUCTION Jesus said "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you" (Matthew 6v33) Do you want your needs met? Seek first the Kingdom! "...for the Kingdom of God is not eating or drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit" (Rom 14v17) Do you want righteousness, peace, and joy in your life? Seek first the Kingdom! "The Kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, and when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all he had and bought it" (Math13v45-46) How much do we value the Kingdom of God? What is this Kingdom we are to seek? 'Kingdom' - the Kings domain - where King Jesus rules and reigns - the Kingdom is bigger than the church 'Church' - the church is the main agent and vehicle of the Kingdom (Math 16v18-19; Eph 3v10) Kingdom and Church work together in the purposes of God THE KINGDOM OF GOD The Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom (Psalm 145v13) The pearl of great price (Math 13v45-46) It is like a mustard seed (Math14v31) It is in heaven (Math 6v9-10) It is at hand (Math10v7) It is within us (Luke 17v21) It is Love - Light - Power - Righteousness - Blessing (1 John 4v8; 1 John 1v7; 1 Cor 4v20; Heb 1v8; Eph 1v3) It is a present day reality It exists NOW in the invisible realm It is superior to the visible realm JESUS IS THE KING OF THE KINGDOM Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end (Isa 9v6-7) Jesus brought the Kingdom to earth in a new measure (Math12v28) Jesus taught about and demonstrated the Kingdom (Acts 1v1) Throughout the Gospels Jesus taught about the Kingdom After His resurrection Jesus spent 40 days speaking on the Kingdom (Acts 1v3) On that Final Day Jesus will finally abolish all rule and authority and present the Kingdom to the Father (1 Cor 15v24) YOUR KINGDOM COME Your Kingdom come - Your will be done - on earth - as it is in heaven (Math 6v10) Our purpose in life is to come into the King's presence (Mark 3v14) Then bring the reign of His Kingdom upon the earth (Mark 3v15) In heaven is every spiritual blessing (Eph 1v3) and every good and perfect gift (James 1v17) We are to bring the blessing and goodness of the Kingdom of heaven to earth WE HAVE AN OPEN HEAVEN OVER US As God's sons and daughters we have an open heaven over us (Math 3v16-17) As we walk with God in love and obedience we keep this open heaven and receive the blessings of God (Deut 28v12; Mal 3v10; Acts 2v2) But if we get into disobedience we can close the heavens over our heads (Deut 28v23) A renewed mind (Rom 12v2) and obedience to God are 'gateways' into the supernatural When we agree with God and His word and obey Him the Kingdom of heaven advances But if we agree with the devil in our thinking, talking, and actions, then the gates of hell advance THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (Math16v19) Bind - the negative on earth Loose - the positive from heaven We need to both 'Bind' and 'Loose' (eg Bill Johnson) ADVANCING THE KINGDOM We advance the Kingdom by both Teaching AND Doing (Acts 1v1) Jesus taught about and demonstrated the Kingdom (Gospels) The church is to teach and demonstrate the Kingdom Salvation/healing/deliverance/supernatural are signs of the advancing Kingdom Walking in love and the fruit of the Spirit are signs of the advancing Kingdom Our teaching and revelation should always be put into action We should always make room for God to move CONCLUSION God is calling us to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and give priority to spending time in the King's presence and to speak about and demonstrate His Kingdom We need to realise that the church isn't an end in itself - but is the main agent and vehicle for the Kingdom We have been given the keys of the Kingdom to Bind and Loose We are to walk in love and obedience under an open heaven and bring the blessing and goodness of heaven to earth by using the tools God has given us Our town, region, and nation, needs to see demonstrations of the Kingdom of God It is time for us as a church to demonstrate the life of the Kingdom - that's why we are called Kingdom Life Church!!!