The Kingdom Within Us
Luke 17:21b “…behold the Kingdom of God is within you.”
In Luke 17 Jesus we find Jesus teaching about offences, he tells his followers that offences will come, people will do thing that will hurt us but we are to forgive them, if they do us wrong 7 times a day and repent, we are to forgive them.
He goes on to teach them about having faith, Jesus says if we have the tiniest bit of faith we can uproot obstacles, move them and they will obey us. He admonished them disciples not to just do their duty (what is expected of them) but go beyond the expectation.
Next, they enter a certain village and there meet 10 lepers who cried out for His mercy. Jesus heals all 10, but only one comes back to give God the glory and to say thank you and he was not one of the household of faith…
Then in verses 20-21 we find the Pharisees demanding answers of Jesus regarding the Kingdom of God and when it should appear. Jesus tells them the kingdom of God will not come like you think; it won’t be make a visual appears like a building. No one will be able to point to it and say it is here or there b/c the Kingdom of God comes from within...
Discussion
1. What is the Kingdom of God?
2. What the Kingdom of God is not
3. How do we receive the Kingdom of God?
4. How do we activate it?
5. How will we know when the Kingdom is within us…what will we act/look like?
Let’s begin by getting an understanding of the word Kingdom; it means basilah, but when we define the word Kingdom we discover it has several meanings, below we will look at a few.
Kingdom:
Royalty, rule, realm, reign
Let’s go deeper.
Royalty: royal status/power: sovereignty: the right of a sovereign.
Rule: to exercise authority or control: dominion.
Realm: (Kingdom) sphere, domain- complete or absolute ownership
Reign: royal authority; sovereignty; dominion (dominion-supreme authority)
We could say a kingdom is a king’s foundation of power that is sovereign!
To be sovereign is to be the supreme authority within a sphere/domain/territory.
What the Kingdom of God is not:
Romans 14:17
“For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink (eating & drinking); but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”
Look at point #1-
How do we receive the Kingdom of God?
John 14:15-17, 23
· We must love and obey Jesus
· Our love and obedience to him causes the Father to love us and take up his residence in us.
So, when we trust (fully rely on for everything) and believe (have faith/confidence) in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Lord (supreme authority/controller), the process of sanctification begins and His Kingdom comes in us all this by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Eph 1:13 bears witness to this, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,”
And Romans 15:16 “That I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost."
But what is sanctification?
It is the process in which the Holy Ghost makes us holy, purifies and consecrates us unto the Lord by the word (John 17:16-17) and it is a progressive work of grace. This means it does not end but continues until we leave this world and enter into eternity (Prov 4:1; Phil 1:6; 2 Peter 3:18).
As the Holy Ghost does His work in us we experience the words of Paul in Eph 3:16-19. Strengthening with might in the inner man by the Holy Ghost so by faith Christ can reside in our hearts; we will be rooted and grounded in love and have an intimate understanding with other saint of the greatness of the love of Christ (which no one can really understand) and we will be filled with the fullness of God (His Kingdom).
2 Corth 3:18 “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”
Now, that we know how to receive the Kingdom of God, how do we activate it once we have receive it. For there are many claiming Christ as Lord and desire the Lord to be more active in their daily lives, but have no idea how to activate His power in their lives.
Luke 9:23 gives us some ingredients to activate the Kingdom of God in us, but it comes with a great cost that many are not willing to pay.
“And he said to them all, If any man (person) will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.”
Deny self – deny utterly; disown, abstain – call for separation
How do we accomplish this? Col 3:1-10 and Rom 12:1-2
Take up his cross daily
Follow me
So as we can see, truly the Kingdom of God within us, it is time to let it out!