About the stone that smote the image, it was carved out without hands. And we see there the beginning of Christ's divine kingdom, the kingdom of God. It came about by supernatural means. And we said that this was Jesus Christ when he came, And we see that John the Baptist was a herald to that kingdom. John the Baptist came proclaiming that the kingdom of God was at hand, and that repent for the kingdom of God was at hand. Now, the growth of Christ's kingdom, because we see that kingdom, when it started, it was going to encompass the whole earth. It was going to be as a mustard seed, start very small. And we see the growth of it in the womb of Mary, that the Holy Ghost, that which was conceived of her, was of the Holy Spirit. In other words, it was God's only begotten Son. And the same Greek word for kingdom, we read about kingdom in the New Testament, that word Basilia is used in all of the references. And it's the basic theme, you know, it's the theme of the New Testament. And it's basic meaning is the dominion. Is the dominion. And I tell you, we have to look back at the beginning when God started at the beginning and he had gave man dominion over the earth. Man lost that dominion, so henceforth we see the kingdom of Satan. We see where Satan became the god of this world. But here we see the beginnings of the kingdom of God, that stone that was cut out without hands. We see the beginning of the kingdom of God, and John the Baptist came proclaiming that kingdom was coming. He was preparing a way for the kingdom. And that word, Basilia, kingdom, it means dominion. So Christ was to receive dominion and we see the growth of that kingdom and we see the, I don't want to say crowning because maybe the second coming, but we see when he had arisen from the grave, he said all power and hell and heaven and earth has been given unto him. We've seen that all of the kingdoms of the world had become those of the Lord. We see Satan had suffered right here, the loss of the rule of this world. They had came for Jesus, but they had nothing in him. He rose up a conqueror, the conquering conqueror, king of kings. Thus, all kingdoms would have a few attributes in common. Obviously, a kingdom must have a king who rules by law over a number of subjects who live within a certain territory. We see where Christ said his kingdom was not of this world, and he was meaning not of this present world. In other words, it wasn't going to be of Satan, the world that Satan had reigned over. He was going to conquer the kingdoms of Satan. tear that kingdom down. That kingdom, it would be shaken and it would be torn down. And we see that Jesus Christ is our King, our ruling authority that we have. Some of the scriptures I wanted to explore with you and give you a few notes on was Psalm 72 and 16 where it says, there will be an abundance of grain in the soil on the top of the mountains. Its fruit will wave like the cedars of Lebanon, and those of the city will flourish like the grass of the earth." Oh, if you remember about the grain of wheat that falls in the ground, unless it died, it abided alone. But he's the first fruits, and after his death, burial, and resurrection, he arose and he brought forth a crop, a bountiful harvest. The living reeds bless us with abundant crops throughout the land, even on the highland plains. May there be fruit like that of Lebanon, and may the cities be as full of people as the fields are of grass. We know that of this kingdom there shall be no end, and it will continually increase and expand. from the barrenness of him buried in the grave to the resurrection of life, rising up with all power. We become new creations in Christ Jesus, and we rise up to walk in the newness of life. But it's being born again, though, right? It's being born again, and I'll get to it in a minute, but the kingdom of God resides within us. It's within us. portion of him, that portion of the spirit that's within us, that earnest of our inheritance that's given as a down payment. Isaiah 9 and 7 is one of the more popular ones about the establishment of the kingdom. It says, of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end. Upon the throne of David and upon his kingdoms to order it and to establish it with justice, with judgment, with justice from henceforth, even forevermore. The Living Bible says, his ever-expanding peaceful government will never end. He will rule with perfect fairness and justice from the throne of his father David. He will bring true justice and peace to all the nations of the world. This is going to happen because of the Lord of Heaven's armies has dedicated himself to doing it. the zeal of the Lord of hosts is performing this. Just as a little leaven the whole lump, those of us that are born again, who can see the kingdom of heaven, stay with me on this now, those of us who can see the kingdom of heaven, and I'll need to go back and fresh that out a little bit when I say those of us who can see the kingdom of heaven, because I just now told you the kingdom of God was within us. that it's among us. But we see now that kingdom coming about. We could see the vestiges of God working in the earth, this growth that's coming. And it gives us hope. It's hope in Christ Jesus. And it calls a zeal in us, the zeal of the Lord of hosts that's performing this. But it causes us to hunger and thirst for His righteousness For we see it's being poured out. Those of us that are born again, we seek God as we preach and as God's kingdom continue to grow. The people of God's church, the people of God's kingdom will seek and search after God. They'll go to great distances, they'll go to great lengths to find God. Searching after him because there are many rewards with finding God. being of the blessed of the Lord. That whole 54th chapter of Isaiah, we need to read it because it's of the blessings of Zion, Old Testament wise. But if we are born again, we start reading into it the interpretations of exactly what God was saying, of exactly what God was talking about here. We start to foresee this, we start to see these things, and we can Get Get solace in some of the scriptures in there because it's talking about The littleness the smallness of the kingdom high starts out. Let's read verse 1 through 5 It says shout for joy. Oh barren one she who has not given birth Break forth into joy for shouting and rejoice She who has not gone into labor with child for the spiritual sons of the desolate will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman," says the Lord. Enlarge the side of your tent to make room for more children. Stretch out the curtains of your dwellings, and do not spare them. Lengthen your tent ropes and make your pegs, that is, the stakes that hold your tent together, make it firm in the ground, for you will spread out to the right and to the left and your descendants will take possession of nations and will inhabit deserted cities. Do not fear, for you will not be put to shame, and do not feel humiliated or ashamed, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. For your husband is your maker, the Lord of hosts is his name, and your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, who is called the God of the whole earth. That's what I say, it could be worldwide, it could be the whole earth, it could be coming in the mountain of the Lord. Now through these trials and tribulations, we will see a lot of the churches, a lot of the cities, a lot of the places become desolate as we see a lot. He says small flock, a little flock, a barren one. It's a lot of the churches that only have a few members. only have a few participants, only the people that we see have held out, he says, because when he returns, will he find faith upon the earth. And he's already described that faith through his brother Jude. His brother Jude says, contend for the faith that was once delivered unto the saints. So this is a particular type of faith. This faith that was once delivered unto the saints gives you hopes, but it also gives you works. to persevere against manifold temptations, in other words, diverse trials, all types of things that we will go through, that we'll go through this, we'll sustain and go through this because we know here, the 17th verse says, no weapon that is formed against you will succeed, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment, you will condemn. This peace, the righteousness and security and triumph over the opposition is the heritage of the servants of the Lord. This is their vindications from me, says the Lord. So all of those antichrists, those spirits that speak out in opposition against you, because if we're on God's side, if we're on the true side of Christ, we dwell in the truth and live in the truth, the antichrist will be your opposition. It'll speak against you. It's the counterfeit. It opposes Christ at every turn. These are the ones that speak despitefully against you, speak evilly against you. These are the ones that you pray for. These are the ones that you have been doing good, but God wipes them out. God vindicates you. He says, fret not thyself because of evil doers, for they shall soon be cut off. He takes these people out of the way. we'll see that the spirit of the lord is that the battle is the lord's in there's a uh... removal of that which is not right and that's why i said in the church's will notice apostate church moved out of the way christ said he was the fight against the church so we don't have to worry about all of these things but we make might have to make sure that we on the lord's side we have to keep examining ourselves as to whether we're in the faith. Because as he established the kingdom, he's going to be shaking everything that can be shaken. If the foundations shall be destroyed, where shall the righteous be? Where shall we remain? The righteous shall scarcely make it, it says. So we will go come through a time as being tried as by fire because the testimony of our faith is worth much more than precious gold tried in the fire. So we will be like Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego. We'll be like Daniel in the lion's den. God's gonna put our faith to the test. And he says, whether we've been building with wood, stubble, or hay, It's going to tell, these trials could tell that there's going to be some of us, if I will, we shall be saved alive. But if we've been building with the wrong hopes, the wrong aspirations, the wrong ways and the things, and been using the wrong intents and motivations, we'll suffer loss. But we'll be saved. We'll be saved. It's just like the wasteful of the prodigal son. He was saved, but all that he had was gone. He had wasted his inheritance. All that was left was he was living on the older brother. The older brother had become his keeper, because he had lost all of his inheritance. So we have to watch how we lay up, watch how we build. We have to take heed to ourselves. In this preparatory stage, we've been making preparations because those that rule and reign with Christ are those that are the obedient ones that have been walking in Christ, that has been following the Word of God, has been digging deep, building up on that solid foundation. Isaiah 60 and 5 says, then you will see and be radiant, and your heart will tremble with joy and rejoice. because the abundance of wealth of the seas will be brought to you. The wealth of the nations will come to you. In other words, the wicked it is laying up for the righteous, because if we shall inherit the earth, All of that, and we see where in the book of Daniel where it says that it should be given power unto those antichrists, to those wicked and evil forces. The way out, the saints are the most high. So those that may not make it through, but to those that make it through, they'll become the inheritors of all that that's left. All that's behind, we're gonna be rewarded according to our works. So the wealth of the nation shall flow unto the Gentiles, to the church, unto all people, because there's no Jew or Gentile at this time, nothing but Christ's children, the children of God. He says the children of the kingdom shall be cast out. the kingdom, the publicans and harlots will enter in, those that had repented, those who had turned to God. And I'm just talking from a topical session here because I'm going to focus in a little bit more precise about the kingdom, the establishment of this kingdom. And we're going to be on this subject in the seventh, eighth, and ninth chapter of Daniel about this kingdom. because it's what the rest of the book of Daniel is kind of about in the victory of the saints because remember it was a sealed book. He had told Daniel to seal it up but in Revelation he had opened it up and we realize that the kingdoms of this world has become the kingdoms of our Lord. Isaiah 60 and 22, the smallest one would become a thousand, a clan of a thousand. and the least one a mighty nation, I, the Lord, will quicken it in its appointed time. The living reads, the smallest family shall multiply into a clan. The tiny group shall be a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will bring it to pass when it is this time. It's like when Jacob went down and his family went down, Jacob and married and Jacob had the 12 sons of Jacob, but then they multiplied and they become a whole nation. They went into Egypt as a whole nation. And when they left Egypt, they was a nation of over two million people. God can multiply. That's what he had told us to be fruitful and multiply. And we leave the resourcing to God. God will provide. That's why he says the wealth of the nation shall flow to us and that we should expand our borders. It's like the A lot of years back, they had a saying going around about praying the prayer of Jabez, asking the Lord to increase your borders. Well, this the Lord will do. He's been listening and he's been working, but it's gonna happen in his appointed time. that the families will grow, those families will grow, and the world will be full of the knowledge of God. People will be flowing to the house of God. It won't be like it is today, because it seems as though a lot of people are not pursuing after God. They're not seeking God. They're apathetic. They've become complacent. Everybody thinks they know God, but they're not doing the things that God says that we should be zealous for. And we'll read in the New Testament, we'll see that the people that were zealous for God are the ones that God had named and who had accomplished a great deal. God says, greater work shall you do. So God sees those that are like David, that are yearning to fulfill for God, to be busy for God. That's the one that you want to witness and testify and win souls for the Lord. That's the one that want to see justice flow down the mountains and righteousness in the earth, that hunger and thirst for these things. Matthew, the fourth chapter, and I said I was going to elaborate on this a little bit about the smallness of it. Matthew, the fourth chapter, 31st through the 32nd verse says that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. which when it's sown on the ground, even though it is smaller than all the other seeds that are sown on the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all of the gardeners, and it puts out large branches so that the birds of the sky are able to make nests and live under its shade. Now, I've read about two different types of mustard, and there's one mustard seed that becomes a tree. We're not talking about mustard greens now. This is a mustard tree that grows to a height, but it's of that mustard seed. I think this is where they get the seasoning mustard from. I'm not sure. I didn't read the whole thing. I wasn't going to go down that rabbit trail that far. But the zeal of the Lord of Hosts is producing this. In this kingdom, sometimes, and it's the only time we see where leaven is used in a good way. Leaven is used as a type of sin, and that's why you have to get all the leaven out. There's a little leaven left in the host. whole lump, but here we're talking about the kingdom of God is like leaven that's sown in. It grows, it's gonna rise, it's gonna come to a plateau, it's gonna be infinite, not a plateau, it's gonna be infinite, it's gonna continue to expand as that ninth chapter in the seven verses, the increase of its government, it shall be no end. The kingdom of God is also present in a spiritual reality. And I tell you, we want to see can we comprehend, and that's why we must be born again. We have to, this spiritual reality when we're talking about the kingdom of God, I told you I was gonna visit that, about whether the kingdom of God was within us, or whether it was among us. Remember it says the kingdom of God is among you. Such that those called That such that those God calls in this age are figuratively translated into the kingdom of God. You remember I said when we were born again, he delivered us from darkness into the kingdom of his son. We were delivered into the kingdom of light. So we see that we wasn't physically transformed when we were born again, but this is a transferal into a spiritual kingdom, that new birth. We walk in the light as he's in the light. In other words, he has quickened us, he's made us alive. And that's what I told you, the analogy when the people are talking about being woke now. in antichrist that that with the world i want you to wake up it don't want you to be woke when you realize what was the past and what's going on in to walk in the reality and come back to world in other words face up to that articles in the things that because they want to keep you back he wants to keep your doctors because it says the god of this world has blinded the minds of those that don't believe but god wants to quicken you he wants to make you alive he wants to give you a new consciousness where satan wants to sear your conscience satan wants to sear your conscience uh... such figuratively as of this age translated into his kingdom ephesians two and six says and he raised us up together with him when we believed and seated us with him in heavenly places because we are in christ if we are in christ We're in the kingdom because he's the kingdom of God. The kingdom was given unto him. He's the possessor of the king. So it says he raises us up together with him when we were born again. That's why we must be born again. And he seated us with him in heavenly places. We have to see that we're ruling and reigning, that we are in a position that he says, sit down at my right hand while I make thine enemies thine footstool. He's doing the fighting. We're doing just as Christ was told by, he says, my Lord said unto thy Lord, sit down at thine right hand. So the battle is the Lord's. The weapons that we're using are spiritual weapons. He has to place the whole armor of God upon us because we are soldiers in his army. He sends us out as ambassadors for Christ to conquer this known world, to infiltrate the world. And just as he sent the 70 out two by two, he sends us out, making disciples of all nations, going into all of the world. We have to be more than conquerors in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1 and 13 says for he rescued us and has drawn us to himself From the dominion of darkness that go that kingdom word again Because he had given us dominion and we lost dominion and we were in Satan's kingdom It was a dominion of darkness and he has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved son He had placed us in Christ's kingdom So God has dominion over the church, making it a component, though not the fullness of the kingdom now. That's why we still pray thy kingdom come. Thy kingdom come. That the aspect is progressively working its way here. That the fullness, there's gonna be a time of realization of the fullness of the kingdom. And that's when we'll see a geographical change. A third usage of Basilia refers to Christ himself as the king of his kingdom. Pilate asks, are you a king? He says, thou sayest. He says, but my kingdom is not of this world. Such as when he told the Pharisees that the kingdom of God was in their midst, Luke 17 and 21. I think I've already discussed that one with you in 17 and 21, but I'm going to have to flush that out a little bit more. It says, and when he was demanded of the Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. Neither shall say lo here or lo there. Behold, the kingdom of God is within you. The Amplified Version reads, Now having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he replied, The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed or with a visible display. Nor will people say, Look, here it is or there it is, for the kingdom of God is among you. He was saying it was among you because of his presence. He was the king and he was the possessor of the kingdom. So wherever he's at, that's why he says, wherever I'm at, there you will be. Also, I go away to prepare a place. So he brought the kingdom back. It's a prepared place for prepared people that he brought with him once in the presence of God, once with God. And so he was right there among them. And so we have, different commentaries and different scholars arguing over whether it should be the Kingdom of God is among you or the Kingdom of God is with you. The Living Bible says, one day the Pharisees asked Jesus, when will the Kingdom of God begin? Jesus replied, the Kingdom of God isn't ushered in with visible signs. You won't be able to say that it has begun here in this place or there in that part of the country, for the kingdom of God is within you. And that's what I keep telling you. The origins of that kingdom, we can't date or put a starting time on that point. But we know that it was when Christ came back and was born, incarnated. as to a specific time and date. All of that's in the Father's hand, but we can start perceiving and seeing from God's aspect that the Kingdom came. And John the Baptist was saying, repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. It was meaning the Kingdom of God was nigh. It was near because once we start seeing this thing spiritually, we know that the physical world, this world that Satan possesses, is not the real world. That God used it in creation but god is always been on the throne god never did abdicate the throne but it's i was sitting on the quickly that separates us from god stops us from seeing god stops us from seeing the works of god he says the are don't use them all generation looking for a sign but there'll be no sign yet because they're looking to physicalize ways dot comes to spiritualized uh... Basilia is used in yet another often overlooked way that is necessary to understand a large part of Christ's ministry. This disregarded usage appears most clearly in the parable of the vine dresses, that's Matthew 21, 33-44. And at the end of the parable, Jesus says, therefore, I say unto you, the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a nation bearing the fruits thereof. You remember, that's when they wanted to stone him because they knew he had spoke that parable against them. Remember, I told you also that Abraham and Isaac and Jacob shall sit down in the kingdom, whereas the children of the kingdom shall be cast out and shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. we have to be aware of the context in which that kingdom is used. This refers not to the future establishment of Christ's kingdom on earth, but to a dominion that was then in existence. And we see that the kingdom was taken away from them during that time, and that there were no more Jew nor Gentile, that there had been a transferal. on the day of Pentecost. We see that the kingdom changed. We see that the church came about. All of these things, like I said, we don't want to put a specific time on these things. Jesus considered the chief priests and the elders and the Pharisees as part of God's kingdom and also certified that they would have the kingdom taken from them. Uh, they wielded religious power that Jesus acknowledged. He says, do what the Pharisees say, because they sat in Moses's seat, which had been the source of why you remember, I told you the thing with Jeff Sessions and they were saying in the book of Romans 13 and one, it says, obey the authorities that be in power. See, there are powers and rulers that are in power now. and as we have to be obedient to the scriptures as they have become applicable to us. But you remember I told you Peter came to the point where it says man ought to obey God rather than man? Because just as Pharaoh had exceeded his jurisdiction when he was telling the midwives to destroy the Hebrew children, we see in this nation the government has become corrupt In it, just as the Pharisees This is a false Christianity that we're living in, and they're twisting the Scriptures. They don't understand the Scriptures. That's why we must obey the Scriptures, because God brings in divine retribution. He vindicates us for following Him, and He gives us an understanding of His Word and how to use the Word. That's why I be telling you some of the people like Alexander Vindman, some of the people that are standing up at this time, because we see the government are doing some very bad things, some things that's against God, even though they're saying they're doing it in the name of God, as the Pharisees was. You remember, he says, your house is left unto you desolate. He had chased the money changers out of the synagogue, but he still didn't build it up on the synagogues, he built it up on house church. He says, upon this rock, in other words, upon this truth. He was the stone that the builders rejected. The builders of this world has rejected the chief cornerstone. That's why this world is falling down. That's why I said, we're in Babylon and we must flee Babylon here spiritually, not geographically. But geographically, it has to be pulled down. Now in the parable of the vinedressers, the vineyard is the kingdom of God and the vinedressers are those that were tasked with attending to it. Jesus prophesied that the stewardship would be transferred because the original caretakers had proven themselves unfaithful. Psalm 80 and eight through 19 represent the kingdom of Israel as a vineyard, as does Isaiah five and one through seven. You remember he says, he must tear down his vineyard, because he had did everything for his vineyard, but it brought forth sour grapes, and what should he do with his vineyard? And the shared symbol confirms that the kingdom of Israel was the kingdom of God at that time, but though not in its fullness. This fourth uses of Basilia is found in a number of Christ's least understood parables, particularly those in Matthew 13. But we see that Jesus used these parables, He used these kingdoms and things in such a way that Christ's people can speak and they get a revelation because God gives them understanding. That's one of the usages of that word. I'll keep going and I'll get to it. Hopefully we can get to it pretty quickly here. It is evident that the Pharisee's conception of the kingdom of God differs from that of Jesus. It's just as he says, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. He says you think you have. You see, the law chilling That's why I say Moses accuses you, but it is the spirit that give it life. That's why I say grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. That's why he was born. He brought this light unto us. That's why he says he was a light unto the world, whereas the world loved darkness rather than light. So at the revelation of Jesus Christ, these people suppress the truth and unrighteousness. They love the darkness. That's what the religions are doing today. That's what the megachurch is. That's why it says, all of those with the churches and the mega jets and all of the trappings and all of the government with the gold and all of the material things, they just laying this up for the inheritance of the righteous. He says, you shall consider them and shall not find them. They will not be, they will be as chaff. When the storm struck the mountain, we seen the wind blew it away as chaff. When are the circumstances, the onslaught of the tribulation and trials, the storms of life that God brings in to shake the foundations? But we have to have spiritual ears during that time so we don't get caught up in these things. When it tells us to come out of Babylon, we need to come out of Babylon. uh... jesus they believe in a spectacular visible establishment and that's what people look for signs and wonders and miracles and he's going to give them that he's going to send such a strong delusion in this latter day that they would believe a lie that's what they are formulated on they are materialist they believe in what you possess what's tangible Whereas faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. So we walk by faith, we live by faith. Now in Luke 10 chapter 9 through 11 verse, and again in Luke 11 chapter and the 20 verse, Jesus plainly says that that kingdom was already present. You remember I said in Luke 17, 20 through 21, he says, where it was in the midst of you and among you. listening to Luke 10, 9-11, he says, as he sent his disciples out to heal, he says, go out among them and heal those in it who are sick. That is, he confirmed their ministry, authenticated their message with signs and wonders. The work, the miracles and the things that the Apostle did, approved, authenticated their ministry. That showed that they were God. But in the latter days, there's going to be lion signs and wonders and miracles. Now, don't confuse the two. The apostles healed the sick. They raised the dead. they gave blind sight. They did all of these things. You remember the blind man, he said, what I have in Jesus, rise up and walk. So he gave them the ability that confirmed their ministry by working these signs and wonders because only God could do these things. And they accused Jesus of doing these things by Beelzebub. They said, He drive it out demons by Driving these out by the chief of demons Beelzebub Jesus told him in Luke 11 20, but if I drive out the demons by the finger of God Then the kingdom of God has already come upon you He was driving them out by the finger of God, but they accused him of casting them out by Beelzebub. I in which there are lines, silence, and oneness, and miracles. And it talks about that, about the false prophets and teachers of Deuteronomy. Even if a miracle come true, if it's not according to the word of God, you don't believe it, you still stone that person to death as a false prophet, a false teacher. That's why we have to know the word of God. That's why I say the nation today, it's not going forward according to the word of God. even though they're using the word of God, it's contradictory. It's like he said about the kingdom, Isaiah, when I said one in five the kingdom, it was hypocritical. It was a hypocritical nation. This has become a hypocritical nation. It no longer abides by the rule of law. You can forget about the Supreme Court. It's totally gone. It doesn't stand for the rule of law. It doesn't stand for the people. It twists. It's been corrupted. He says, Luke 10 9, heal those who are sick and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you, or nigh to you. But whatever city you enter and they do not welcome you, go out into the streets and say, even the dust of your city which clings to our feet, we wipe off and protest against you. That is, breaking all ties with you. Yet understand this, that the kingdom of God has come near, and you rejected Him. See, they rejected the message of God, they rejected the workers of God. This nation has rejected God. When they knew God, they glorified Him not as God. See, so that's why it's gonna be worse for this nation than it was for Sodom and Gomorrah, because they rejected the truth. They loved lies, they loved darkness rather than the truth. They loved darkness rather than truth. That's why Jesus began to talk to them in parables and kind of confiscated the message to what he couldn't understand. Did Jesus really mean within you, or did he mean among you? And that's what I told you. See, we get kind of caught up on the wording and the words of him, but the kingdom of God certainly did reside in the person of the human Jesus Christ himself. he was from god he came from god the kingdom was was among them because his presence as he walked among the people as he if you go out and walk among people or whatever well that means the kingdom is among that city or wherever your presence is god is out in the presence and jesus was god man he was god the son of god he was sent from god But secondly, God's kingdom certainly does reside today in us, Jesus Christ's brothers and sisters. He said, because I will dwell within you, me and the Father will come and we'll make a abode and we'll dwell in you. He sends the Holy Spirit to reside in us, the members of his church, right? So by the indwelling of his spirit, the kingdom is within us. So both among and within. The fullness of God's kingdom must come as we prayed thy kingdom come Completely at the fullness of time you remember I tell you at the times of refreshing the times of restoration the fullness of time just like It's gonna be a fullness of the times of the Gentiles when the Gentile time will come to the end that's the end of the kingdom of the Gentiles and Thus, the kingdom of God begins. That in the dispensation of the fullness of the times, he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth in him. Ephesians 1 and 10. Now, I told you this, that John came preaching repentance for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Now notice that John's preaching, John was born full of the Holy Spirit. He was full of the Holy Ghost. And the people believed John. But did you know John didn't work any miracles? John didn't work any miracles at all. On one hand, it was present and near in the people to whom God had given His Spirit and had chosen to represent Him, His ambassador, the ambassadors of Christ. But on the other hand, it is distanced in terms of time as a geographical and governing reality. In other words, We still see vestiges of the remnant of Satan governing world power now, that Satan's still, that little horn is growing. You remember that little horn that we were talking about, the Antichrist? He says, until the restrainer be removed. To heed that restraining is taken out of the way. You see, because God's going to lift his common grace. He's going to lift unity. We are seeing unity and common grace being removed. If you read Zechariah about the bands of beauty and grace, beauty, his two bands that he removed, the lucid, that God's going to remove common grace. He's going to remove common unity. as a present reality it is must see this small but it's growing but it's growing within the people of god but we see that man of sin in which satan that people we're in perilous times and that's why we see malevolence uh... evil wickedness increasing because it's will be unrestrained people are doing things irrational, unreasonable, they're being turned over to reprobate's mind, but that's why we're looking for God's protection during this time. God says it shall not come nigh us. The scriptures also prove that it is present, it is a present earthly reality. having earthbound, flesh-and-blood citizens who are, in the Bible's terms, spiritually minded, are in the Spirit, those that are being led by the Spirit of God. So we see a dichotomy here. We see the Kingdom present and not here yet in its fullness. That's why I said the stone infiltrated the earth. it's moving about there's a metamorphosis coming but the metamorphosis is working In God's people, it's regenerating. It's making them alive. It's quickening them. It's awakening them, giving them a full perception of discerning of spirit, of how to move around. But there are some that's falling behind. That's why some will sleep. That's why I say some in the body of Christ won't overcome at this time because Well, let me just say, that's the way it's designed. Not all of us will overcome. He tells us to be overcome, but there are some who will be overcome. They won't die out of the Lord, they'll be in the Lord, but they will be like Abel. In other words, Cain killed Abel. But Abel was a righteous man. So we see the death of the righteous. I talked about that months ago in Isaiah where it says, we see the death of the righteous and none consider it wise. what's going on here. See, because we're so invested in the world and the things of the world, we can only give God 30 minutes or 15 minutes or just a few minutes of study time and then we're on to our spouses, our children, everything in the world. We're not digging deep, we're not meditating on God's word, praying to God and in conversation with God. God, show me what are you talking, I don't get the fullness of this. Help my unbelief. So comprehending the kingdom of God is a spiritual thing. Comprehending the kingdom of God. John 3 and 3, Jesus answered him, I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless a person is born again, that he is reborn from above, that he is spiritually transformed, renewed and sanctified, he cannot ever see and experience the kingdom of God. Now that's key there. when I said see and experience the kingdom of God. See because that word see that doesn't mean physical sight because you remember I said some will be have eyes but not see. They will have ears but not hear. see faith cometh by hearing the word of god but some of us can't we've become dull of hearing because the world has calls us to be dull we're walking in this dichotomy and we're walking too much in the world we're not enough spiritually minded we're too earnestly invested to be spiritually minded we have to be spiritually minded and experience the kingdom of god C is a significant word here. The word in Greek is eidon, I'm trying to pronounce this, eidon, which means to know. When you say I see something, you're saying I know this. A see means to be aware, a consider, a perceive. or to be sure and understand. All of those are synonyms for the word see in the context where Jesus used, he cannot ever see the kingdom of God. That's a spiritual, that talks about comprehension. In other words, to know, to understand, to be aware, to perceive. He uses also, the usage also includes behold, or look upon. So sometimes he says behold. When he says behold, he means to seek to understand this, get a comprehension of this. wrap your mind around this, but only God can open up your mind and your understanding. That's why it says, let this mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus. We have to have a transformation of mind. We have to have a transforming of the mind. The understanding, the nous. The Bible frequently uses it in the sense of mental apprehension rather than visual sight. The Bible is not written to the fleshly or carnal man, so that's why a lot of them say, see. But they don't actually see. A lot of people say, well, you don't see what I'm talking about. You don't see what I'm saying. You can't see this. That is, you don't get it. You don't see what I'm talking about. You hear me, but you don't see me. You don't see what I'm saying here. Jesus' emphasis is on the kingdom of God being something to be understood or comprehended rather than visually observed. That's why it says the kingdom of God coming not with observation, a sight, even though after you spiritually minded the spiritual man judging all things, so they can sense and see these things. His remark has this sense, except a man be born again, he cannot come to know the things of God, he cannot be fitted for it or enjoy its benefits. Unless you're born again, you cannot enjoy the benefits of the kingdom. You cannot be fitted for the kingdom. In the context in which I'm talking, he teaches the Kingdom God as an entity of valuable spiritual and moral force. The Kingdom of God. That's why it says, if I by my finger cast out demons, the kingdom of God has come nigh you. In other words, I'm not going to use a star war epigy or whatever, but the force is with us. The spiritual force. This is the power. That's why I say he confirmed their ministry when they cast demons out. When he spoke to the demon, he says, have you come to torment us before the time? And he says, shut up, hold your peace. You can cast, you have authority, a dominion over the works of darkness. That's why when sickness comes, that's why when things come. And he tells us to come out of Babylon unless we be partaker of her plagues and her sicknesses. So there's gonna be a time coming when there'll be a reversal of physical sicknesses, of physical things. That's going to be the reversing of the curse. Days and times will be lengthened. Your living time will be lengthened. You used to see where people lived hundreds of years. That kingdom living will come back, and I think we'll just go on to that when we come back Wednesday night and talk about that, because I have to open up a few other scriptures there. Then some word studies of the New Testament. Volume 2, page 91. The things of God's kingdom are not apparent to the natural vision. A new power of sight is required, which attaches only to the new made. When we're born again, we start to discern. It's spoken one time about Jesus saw their thoughts, You'll be able to read the thoughts because God gives you the discerning of spirits. You'll know a person's intentions. When Joseph told his brothers that God meant it for good, but y'all intended it for evil, he was speaking from the perception that God had given him to make that statement. A lot of us make statements that's not authorized by God. That's why when we're born again, the church is God's authorized representative here on earth. So those of us in the church that speak with the authority of God, that's why the apostles, the foundations, they had the authority to write scripture because the New Testament was based with the apostles as those The foundation, it was built upon the apostles. That's why things was written. That's why the book of Hebrews, a lot of people say, maybe Paul didn't write the Hebrews or whatever, but to get it in, they went under the authority ship of Paul writing the book of Hebrews. Because the apostles had the authority to write the scriptures. Only the apostles did that. Because if it wasn't just the apostles, the Bible would be like a notebook. People would still be writing stuff and sticking it in there. But God seals it up and he says, don't add to the Bible and don't take away from it. He will pronounce a curse on adding onto it and taking away from it. So Daniel, the 7th chapter and the 27th verse promises rulership to the saints of God's government, the saints in God's government, which is why an essential decision in our lives revolves around government. Government is the overriding issue in the Bible. Who will rule in our lives? God a saint. He says, submit yourself unto God, resist the devil and he shall flee. So coming out of this world is coming from under the authority of Satan, coming from under the power and the jurisdiction of Satan, coming from under that which Satan does, and submitting unto God, which Adam and Eve, they resisted. They came from under the authority of God, and they obeyed. They listened to what Satan says. We must live by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God. It's obedience through faith that brings us into the kingdom. Heavenly Father.