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Chapter Eleven
Kingdom Within
Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was within us and it’s there because -- when we are born again -- Christ takes up residence in us. Jesus said that we don’t have to run to and fro looking for the Kingdom of God -- but that it is within us. Did you ever wonder why the Lord hid the Kingdom within man? Because man is a humus body – or dirt and that makes him a field where the treasure of the Kingdom is hid. We are the hid treasure of that parable. That is why the Lord said to the rich young ruler – sell all you have and you will have bought the field where I have hid Myself in you.
(Luke 17:20 KJV) 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:
(Luke 17:21 KJV) Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.
So what is the Truth about King Jesus and the Kingdom of God? I don’t profess to know very much about the Kingdom of God -- but the Lord has been speaking to me about the Kingdom of God since 1990. At first -- it was just little nudges because it was all new to me. For thirty one years of being a believer and born again -- in all those years in the Church I never heard hardly anything about the reality of the Kingdom of God. Starting in 1990 until now -- after 12 years I’m hearing much better. Whosoever has -- more will be given.
(Mat 13:12 KJV) For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
If we don’t respond to the drawings of the Holy Spirit to reveal His glorious Kingdom to us on a daily basis -- even what we know will be taken away. If we continue that rejection -- we will come to the place where we call The Lie-- the Truth and defend our own religious self-righteousness. The message we really believe has made us into the person we are today.
Jesus said that -- if what we call light is really darkness then the darkness is infinite. It is infinite because whatever light God sends to us and we call it darkness and so-- the darkness keeps getting deeper and deeper.
So the beginning of the Lord’s leading for me was that He -- being like Himself -- starts at the beginning. That is the beginning of my understanding -- or the beginning of my ability to hear His voice and do what He says.
A New Journey
So for me the journey started with this Truth taken from God’s dealings with Abraham in Gen.17. The Lord revealed to me -- (Gen 22:17 KJV) That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
(Heb 6:13 KJV) For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
(Heb 6:14 KJV) Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee.
(Heb 6:15 KJV) And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
(Heb 6:16 KJV) For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
(Heb 6:17 KJV) Wherein God, willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath:
(Heb 6:18 KJV) That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:
What two immutable things?...Immutable means that it can never change. One -- We are righteous by a gift. Two -- We are multiplied by inheritance.
What hope set before us?.... The hope of not only being a son of God by a gift -- but being able to be multiplied by inheritance in His Kingdom.
(Heb 6:19 KJV) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
The hope we are talking about is the hope of the blessings that will come to us when we believe The Truth that we are blessed by inheritance. That should give our soul hope that it will enter into the satisfaction that God gives to all who believe Him when He says that He will bless us now in this life with all the things that bring satisfaction to the soul. When we have confidently settled that God can’t lie about that and that He will do it -- we can patiently wait for Him to bring those blessings.
They will be special blessings because we will know that they are from God and so --no-one and no-thing can take them from us. They will come to us as gifts and we will be able to enjoy them in a special way because we will know God sent them and they are acceptable to Him. Out of those gifts we will be able to make offerings of thanksgiving to Him and He will accept our offerings.
Resting in those confident promises actually takes us within the veil to dwell in the presence of the Lord while we wait with patience.
(Heb 6:20 KJV) Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
From these Scriptures we can say the Truth is -- You are righteous by a gift and you are multiplied by inheritance. That doesn’t sound like all that profound a statement. But I found out -- that Truth is the key stone over the doorway into the reality of the Kingdom of God. That revelation will bring about the death of my self-life. I will be brought to the place where I can do nothing but wait for God to give me the reality of what He has promised. But before He will even begin to do that-- I have to receive the Truth of that promise into my heart and determine I will settle for nothing less. In other words – I die to my self-life bringing me to the blessings of the Kingdom of God.
If you start down this road be prepared for the battle of your life because Satan will not let you go easily.
Believing that Truth makes you a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. That is the same order of priest that Jesus is and it is for that same reason that Jesus can make you a priest like Himself. That Truth will also make you a king in your Father’s Kingdom.
Believe and act on that Truth and you will live under the Lordship of Jesus and in the reality of the Kingdom of God on a daily basis.
(Heb 5:1 KJV) For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
Every high priest that God takes from among men is ordained for men to show them the Truth that pertains to an acceptable approach to God. This high priest is ordained by God to offer gifts. What gifts? The gift of himself first. We are to offer ourselves as sons of God. Dead to ourselves and alive in God through Jesus Christ’ blood which is righteousness by a gift.
Then-- after offering ourselves as a gift -- we are qualified to offer sacrifices for sins. What sins? The sins of trying to be blessed by our works. We can offer the Truth about repentance from dead works to establish blessings by inheritance.
We -- as priests -- can show people how to come to the Lord and receive blessings by inheritance which are acceptable sacrifices.
(Heb 5:2 KJV) Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
We can have real compassion on the ignorant that think that they can be righteous by their works or those that think that they can be blessed by works. We can understand their feelings because we fight the same battle every day ourselves.
It’s a battle not to fall into the pit of trying to approach God by our own righteousness or by trying to bless ourselves by our own works. It’s never a thing that we can let our guard down about because the offer to be blessed by our works is in front of us every day.
(Heb 5:3 KJV) And by reason hereof he ought, as for the people, so also for himself, to offer for sins.
So we ourselves have to remember every day the Truth about who we are and what is ours and how it is ours. That is why we are to take communion every day so as to remind us that we are not of the kingdoms of this world but we are of the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
Every meal we eat should be taken as a reminder of this Truth and taken in all seriousness because we need to be reminded that often. We have to rehearse the Truth every moment because the kingdoms of this world are constantly telling us that the Truth is a Lie. The kingdoms of this world are saying -- you can be righteous by your works. You can be blessed by your works. That is the voice of the Lie and it never stops and it will never stop as long as we are in these bodies in the world.
The deception is subtle. We set down to eat breakfast and if I’m not careful I will automatically be thinking – without even realizing it that I’m eating this meal because I worked this week and my wife bought the food with the money I earned for working.
I must renew my mind to rehearse the Truth – God gave me this food as a gift and even gives me the ability to eat it in health. If I don’t remind myself of those Truths – The Lie will creep in to my thinking.
We live in a visible world that is constantly telling us that The Lie is The Truth. I must renew my mind to The Truth almost moment by moment or I will forget it.
Faith comes by hearing and we hear through our eyes just as much -- if not more -- than we hear through our ears. We have to hear and see with our spiritual ears and eyes that see the realities of the Kingdom of God if we are to remember what The Truth is.
I think it would be appropriate right here to discuss the matter of being born again. The Gospel is a two part Gospel -- righteousness by a gift and blessings by inheritance -- so is being born again a two step process.
(John 3:3 KJV) Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
(John 3:4 KJV) Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
(John 3:5 KJV) Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
Verse three is the first step. When we receive Jesus as our Lord -- we are given eyes to be able to see the Kingdom of God. Christ the Lord takes up residence within us and makes alive our spirit man so that we can see and understand the Kingdom of God.
Using Jesus as a likeness -- Jesus was born again at His physical birth because Christ was in Jesus from His birth. Jesus had eyes to see the Kingdom of God. Then -- for thirty years He heard the Scriptures and studied them. He sought to understand all the things that the Scriptures had to say about His Father’s purpose for Him.
I believe as the Truths of the Scriptures unfolded to His understanding -- He found Himself in those Scriptures. He saw how He was the one that fulfilled all the requirements of the passages about the Messiah.
Then -- after about thirty years -- He realized that the Kingdom of God was being offered to Him as a place to live forever. When the day came when He wanted to commit Himself to those Truths He believed -- He was baptized by John the Baptist.
He went down in the water as a symbol of His death to His own plans. Then -- He arose from that place of death to His self-life -- into a life of obedience to the Christ that was in Him. It was no longer Jesus that lived -- but Christ that was alive in Him.
That is the second half of the new birth experience. That is blessings by inheritance. There is a time needed between making Jesus Lord --enabling us to see the Kingdom of God and then choosing to forsake the world and its kingdoms for the reality of the Kingdom of God that is within us.
I believe -- like in the case of Jesus -- when my decision to let go of my life is final -- there will be an encounter with the Lord that will release the power of the Kingdom of God to flow through me. The power of the Truth of blessings by inheritance brings me into the reality of the Kingdom of God and that same power flows thru me to bless the world.
That is what happened to Jesus as well as the disciples and the apostle Paul. That is what happened to Abraham and I believe that -- if I’m careful to examine all the great men and women of the Scriptures -- that I will find that is what happened to them.
When we do come to that place where we finally understand what the Truth is and are walking in obedience to it -- we are ready to speak to others the Truth that will set them free from the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches gotten by working for them.
(Heb 5:4 KJV) And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
We don’t take on ourselves the honor of giving the Truth a voice. Only the Lord can give this honor to us and He will only do it when we have learned to walk in it ourselves. We cannot impart to others the Truth we aren’t doing ourselves.
Jesus had the Spirit of Christ from His birth and so --had eyes to see the Kingdom of God but we don’t read anything about Him having and evangelistic meetings or teaching anyone the Truths of the Kingdom of God until He surrendered Himself to Christ the Lord that was in Him. That happened when He told John the Baptist to baptize Him to fulfill all righteousness. At that moment -- any will of His own was surrendered to the Christ that was in Him.
When we try to carry the message of the Kingdom of God to others before we are totally surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus -- we only share legalistic words that have no power in them to change others. The Truth must be ours in real life before we can give it to others -- and then -- they will only receive it if it shows in our life so strongly anointed that they can’t deny it. When they can’t deny it -- they might begin to want it for themselves.
I believe that not understanding what Paul meant when he said -- it is no longer I that live -- but it is Christ that lives in me -- is why so many of us Christians lack the power we see in the life of Jesus and His early followers.
Paul isn’t saying you have to be willing to die to yourself. He is saying you must be dead to your self-life in order to inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus said that the only way that you could save your life was to lose it to His Lordship.
We see that in the Scriptures about Lucifer before the fall. He saw in God the power of what the Truth could do. He saw the glory and power that was released by the establishment of the Truth and wanted it for himself -- but his reason for wanting it was wrong.
It’s right to want the Truth -- but because it blesses and not because it controls.
Satan wanted it so he could exalt himself -- even above the Lord. It was right to want the power that goes with the Truth -- but not so you can lord it over and control other people. You are to first -- fall in love with the Truth because it blesses everything it touches. Then -- out of that Truth -- comes the power to bless all things around you.
This great gift of the Truth and the release of such power -- when we fully understand it -- makes us fall before the Lord that freely gives it and worship Him for being such a God as He is.
You can tell where you are with this by looking into yourself and asking – do I want this kind of power to bless others or to control them? Do I want to exalt Jesus or myself? Depending on your answer -- you will know where you are in this struggle to come into the fulness of The Truth.
(Heb 5:5 KJV) So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest;...
This is interesting. The word -- Christ here -- is the word for the anointed one. That is a different name than the word for the One that created the Universe in Genesis 1:1. So Christ didn’t glorify Himself and make Himself a high priest. The Father would call Christ to be a high priest after He became a man called Jesus and experienced the sufferings of death as a man and as Christ. Then -- and only then -- would He be qualified to become a high priest that could feel the infirmities of men and intercede for them.
Do you see how careful God is being so as not to allow anything or anyone -- even Himself -- to be placed as a representation of leadership or authority in the Kingdom of God unless it has passed through death first. Life that has passed through death is the only life that is eternal. That is why the Alpha God was changed into the Omega God. The Omega God has passed through the death of the Cross.
So one of the qualifications for becoming a high priest after the order of Melchisedec is you have to have walked in the infirmities of the men and women that you are to intercede for. Otherwise -- you won’t know how they feel and you won’t be able to intercede for them.
When we finally come through the experiences that bring us to believing and receiving the Truth -- we are to remember that struggle and help others -- not look back at them with contempt that they are so foolish for not seeing the Truth yet.
...but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
Christ has always been. He created the Universe -- so when did the Father beget Him? I believe that the Father begot Him when He arose from the dead as the Son of God with an endless life. That is what Paul says in --
(Acts 13:32 KJV) And we declare unto you glad tidings, how that the promise which was made unto the fathers,
(Acts 13:33 KJV) God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Paul is saying here that when God the Father said in the second Psalm. -- This day have I begotten thee -- the Father was referring to the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.
When Christ descended into the body of Jesus and became a man -- the Father conceived Christ in Jesus through the Holy Spirit. The Father and the Holy Spirit were conceiving Christ in the body of Jesus while Jesus was still in the womb of Mary. So not only was Jesus born again at His birth but so also was Christ the Lord born again.
You see -- Christ the Lord was dead and buried in the womb of Mary while Jesus was being formed. As Jesus was being formed --so was the body of Christ being formed. They were both being formed out of the dust of the ground because that was what Mary was formed from. So both Christ and Jesus were being given their humanity through the humanity of Mary.
The Father begot Jesus and the Lord Christ for the purpose of becoming the Son of man that would intercede on the behalf of men and women to bring them into the Kingdom of God as priests and kings.
(Heb 5:6 KJV) As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
(Heb 5:7 KJV) Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
(Heb 5:8 KJV) Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
So we ask -- What did He suffer? He suffered the pain of struggling against The Lie that says you can be righteous by your own righteousness and you can be blessed by doing works to be blessed.
Remember that Christ -- with His great power -- could surely have blessed Himself perfectly -- but He wouldn’t have received it as a gift. It would have been done by His works and therefore -- not acceptable to God the Father or even Himself. He -- as well as the Father and the Holy Spirit decreed that righteousness was to be received as a gift and therefore -- He submitted Himself to that same decree.
Christ -- like us -- had to set aside the blessings that He could receive by the power of His own works and place Himself in the hands of His Father. Christ the elder Son of God – by his own choice submitted Himself to the younger Son -- Jesus – and receive all His blessings by inheritance -- or by a gift.
(Heb 5:9 KJV) And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
(Heb 5:10 KJV) Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
(Heb 5:11 KJV) Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing..
I might ask – how was Christ the Lord made perfect? Wasn’t He perfect already. Yes-- He was perfect and has always been perfect – but that perfectness demanded that when the Father and the Holy Spirit decreed that a higher perfectness was to come into existence --after Lucifer introduced The Lie into the world – Christ Jesus quickly submitted to that new standard.
What was the new standard? That to remain perfect He had to give his inheritance away to another being and submit all their blessings to that other person. So in Psalm two we see Christ the Lord being instructed by His Father to ask Him and the Father would give Christ’s inheritance to the heathen. As soon as the Father asked that of the Son – He did it immediately.
We see that same trait in Abraham. When the Lord Christ asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac up for an offering to God – Abraham did it the next morning. That reveals a heart that delights to do the will of God more that to please itself. In fact the only way that kind of a heart can be blessed is to do the will of God as soon as it’s asked.
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