“The Importance of
the Kingdom of God”
The Kingdom of God was the focus of three
of the most important Preacher’s in the Word of God. When they preached about
the Kingdom of God they showed how important this subject was and still is to
the success of the Church and each and every Believer’s spiritual growth and
victory over sin, the world, the flesh and the devil.
The Lord Jesus during His forty day
ministry, after His suffering when He moved among His disciples in His
glorified body He focused upon the Kingdom of God: “Until the day in which He was taken up, after that He through the Holy
Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen: To whom also
He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen
of them forty days, and speaking of
the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:2, 3)
The only man called an
Evangelist in Scripture, Philip, also focused upon the Kingdom of God in his
preaching: “But when they believed Philip
preaching the things concerning the
Kingdom of God and the Name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both
men and women.” (Acts 8:12)
The Apostle Paul, too, when his ministry
was spoken of near the end of his ministry, the Kingdom of God was a key topic:
“And Paul dwelt two whole years in his
own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, Preaching the Kingdom of God, and teaching those things
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding
him. (Acts 28:31)
These three were itinerant Evangelists,
reaching Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria and the uttermost parts of the world initially
fulfilling the Great Commission given by the Lord in Acts 1:8. The Kingdom of
God was a major theme of their preaching and should be one of the major themes
of our instruction so that we might serve with power and the leading of the
Holy Spirit as we walk with the King in the midst of His fully operating
Kingdom.
First and foremost is the command that
Jesus gave to His disciples early in His ministry: “Seek ye FIRST the
Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
Jesus also in His first message which He heralded like a town crier said: “Now after
John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God; And saying; The time
is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe the
Gospel.” (Mark 1:15)
Entering and experiencing the presence and
power of the Kingdom of God was immediately available through the preaching of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It was and is the most important topic in the New
Testament, and the Kingdom of God was experienced by Believers in the O.T. as
recorded in the Psalms and Proverbs although it was not labeled as such.
But, the writings of David and his son
Solomon reveal that they too understood and experienced the presence and power
of the LORD through meditation upon His Holy Word, but when the God-Man Jesus
came Who is the Living Word Incarnate, He immediately offered entrance into His
Kingdom to those who would repent and believe.
How often do we look back to the time when
we initially entered the Kingdom of God when we were saved and now long for
experiencing anew the great glory of the Lord’s presence as we walked with Him
for an extended period of time rejoicing in His Truth with His people consuming
the precious Word of God as a newborn babe hungers and thirsts for nourishment,
devouring and consuming everything holy that came their way.
Those days are the time when we
experienced what the Lord desires for every one of His children, but somehow
the world, the flesh and the devil have another plan and we succumbed to the
temptations and our minds become cluttered with the filth, the garbage, the
electronic mass media of the 20th/21st century and the
vision and power of our Lord becomes dim and or non-existent for the Holy One
will not abide with His children who choose to abide with the unholy.
If we are to become like the Lord Jesus in
the most expedient way, we must be renewed in the spirit of our minds by consuming
the precious Word of God which in essence is the same as consuming Him Who is
holy the Living Word of God! Unless this is the desire and practice of His
children they are choosing instead to continue to digest the unholy!
Notice what the Lord said later to His
disciples: “Unto you [His disciples] it
is given to know the mystery of the Kingdom of God: but unto them that are
without, all these things are done in parables”(Mark 4:11). He continued to
teach and instruct His disciple on the nature of the Kingdom of God mentioning
it fifteen times in Mark’s Gospel.
He also revealed the presence and power of
the Kingdom of God to His inner circle of disciples Peter, James and John when
He took them “Up into a high mountain
apart by themselves: and He was transfigured before them.” (Mark 9:2)
Although
it was a brief and fleeting experience for these men, Peter would remember the
impact of this time upon his life until the day he died: “But we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the
Father honor and glory when there came such a voice to Him from the excellent
glory: This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased. And this voice which
came from heaven we heard when we with Him in the holy mount.” (II
Peter1:16-18)
When we enter into the Kingdom of God we
are privileged to see with new eyes, with a new mind and heart the Lord moving
in our midst as His Spirit overwhelms us when we are regenerated by His power.
And although that time is touched with the holiness of God and seems short in
duration that is not the end of the story. The Lord wants us to experience His
presence and great glory ongoing as we serve Him “For without Him we can do nothing” (John 15:5).
Else He would never command us to: “Seek ye FIRST the Kingdom of God”. The
real issue of our experiencing His presence and power is what we are feeding
our heart and soul. In His days on earth there was no Hollywood, no TV, no
radio, and of course no electronic gadgetry or music-media designed to take away
the mind of the child of God!
A brief review of history shows that the
decline of the Church as the conscience of the USA accelerated when the rise of
the above mentioned media outlets took place. When the 20th century
was born women were thought to be immodest if their ankles were exposed. Today
the vast majority of women dress as though they are competing for the most
heads turned by men by exposing or outlining every possible body part they
possess. This is just one of the decadent events that has not only crept into
the Church but no longer needs to creep for immodesty/nakedness is openly
flaunted by both sexes.
The so-called music industry has been
thoroughly corrupted and perverted dumping filth into the minds of young and
old through every available electronic gadget. The family now watches movies as
a matter of course filling their minds with the unholy videos and words that comprise
most of what is consumed. These sins of commission parallel the sins of
omission by those who also refuse to actively utilize the precious Word of God
in the lives of the children and parents alike. If REVIVAL is to come to the
USA there must be a real soul-searching of hearts by the children of God…the
only alternative is the continual taking in of this sinful and wicked digesting
of the devil’s diet, rejecting the Word of God!
We, who are the Temple of the Holy Ghost
have decided to bring into God’s Temple the unholy and profane. It has been “Given unto us to know the mysteries of the
Kingdom”, but we will never know experientially the mysteries of the
Kingdom until the King is upon His Throne which is in the Temple of God located
in the hearts of His children. So, Drivers, what’s it going to be, the pure and
powerful Word of God or the profane and perverted diet of the devil?
Chaplain
LEWolfe www.btmi.org I-85 Exit 35 McPilot
Stop in, and please pray for our ministry/revival in the USA!
