THY KINGDOM COME (13)

“Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9:7 NKJV).

Increase is the character of the kingdom of God. Wherever the kingdom influence prevails, growth is inevitable. Our Lord gave several parables that associate the kingdom of God with increase. There is “the parable of the leaven,” where the kingdom of God is likened to a pinch of leaven hidden in three measures of meal, that leavens the whole meal (Matthew 13:33). There is also “the parable of the mustard seed,” which though is the least of seeds but when sown in the soil would germinate and grow to become one of the biggest of trees (Matthew 13:31-32).  The objective lesson in these parables is that though the kingdom of God starts small, it does not stay small. Increase is intrinsic nature of the kingdom of God. At the beginning of His earthly ministry, our Lord was the only reality of the kingdom of God on earth. Soon He gathered a sizeable crowd around Him and the growth has consistently been on the increase until this moment. Today, over two billion people in the world regard themselves as followers of Jesus and our world has become transformed by the values of the kingdom. If we fast-forward to the end of the world, the record is nothing but astounding. “After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelations 7:9-10 NKJV). Stagnation, retrogression and recession are clear indicators that God’s kingdom principles are not at play in any given circumstance.

Growth and increase are trademarks of God’s kingdom. The increase in the kingdom of God comes through the value adds by those to whom God has bestowed the kingdom.  In other words, God grows His kingdom through the intentional activities of believers. Those who apply the tools God has endowed them with to benefit the kingdom experience personal increase while those who fail to grow the kingdom experience loss. In “the parable of the talent,” it was clear that the people who gained more talents were blessed while those who did not make gains for the king suffered severe losses.  The Lord revealed an important kingdom principle in this story saying, “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away” (Matthew 25: 29 NLT). It is obvious that God is interested in increase.  He wants us to prioritize growth. Those who labour to see growth and increase in their assignments are blessed and those who fail to work for increase suffer loss.

The increase in the kingdom of God is perpetual. Our text declared, “Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end...”  The Hebrew word translated “government” in this passage can be translated empire or kingdom. We can then render it thus, “of the increase of your kingdom and peace there will be no end...” God has decreed a perpetual increase for His kingdom and that has been the case and will continue to be the case. The increase of God’s kingdom will go on with or without you doing your bit. God cannot be limited by human failure or otherwise. When you do what God has assigned to you to ensure the increase of the Kingdom, you reap a harvest of blessings.  When you fail to do your bit, you suffer loss, but the kingdom will continue to increase.

As a citizen of the kingdom of God, you must not be comfortable with unfruitfulness, stagnation, or retrogression. You ensure the increase of the kingdom by using all your gifts and talents to bring as much glory to God as you can in every circumstance of your life.  It is about making the most of the resources, time and opportunities God has given you. “...As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love” (Ephesians 4:16 NLT).  The Kingdom grows as each of us does what we have the grace to do.  Do yours and be blessed!

THY KINGDOM COME (12)

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” (John 3:3 NLT)

Unless one is born by a woman into this world, one will never enjoy the enormous privileges this life has to offer. We must accept the truth that there are so many things to enjoy here on earth. We enjoy the different relationships that give meaning to our earthly existence, the fabulous cuisines from different cultures, the breath-taking sceneries that litter our world, the amazing works of arts from our creative minds, not to mention the architectural masterpieces that dot our world. A person who is not yet born has no idea how beautiful our world is. God has indeed richly given us all things to enjoy (1 Timothy 6:17).  I recall when KC was still a small boy, after eating one of those too-difficult-to-resist dishes that usually comes out of mummy’s kitchen, he exclaimed with obvious pleasure. “So this is what you people have been enjoying before I was born, thank God I am born!” Similarly, unless one is born again by the Holy Spirit, one will not have the privilege of enjoying the unspeakable blessings that flow from the kingdom of God. Just as a child must be born into the world to see its light, contemplate its glories, and enjoy its good, so must one to be born again in order to see the glories and excellencies of the kingdom of Christ here, and be prepared to live in the kingdom for all eternity.

When our Lord speaks of seeing the kingdom of God, does He mean we can see it now or after we die?  I think He means both. He means we can experience the kingdom of God here and before we get there after we die.  When He told the disciples that some of them standing with Him would not die until they had seen the kingdom of God, they thought He was talking about the future. However, only six days after He made that statement, He took Peter, James and John to a high mountain and heaven visited them on that mountain.  “²As the men watched, Jesus’ appearance was transformed so that his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light. ³Suddenly, Moses and Elijah appeared and began talking with Jesus. ⁴Peter blurted out, “Lord, it’s wonderful for us to be here! If you want, I’ll make three shelters as memorials—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”  ⁵But even as he spoke, a bright cloud came over them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy. Listen to him” (Matthew 17:2-5 NLT). This beatific experience became the key point of reference for Peter for the rest of his ministry (2 Peter 1:16-18). The disciple did not need further proof about the reality of God and of His heavenly kingdom.  They have experienced it, felt its power and heard the voice of God.

Yes, we can see the kingdom here.  The prophets of old lived in the glaring reality of the kingdom of God. The king of Syria once sent an army battalion to arrest Elisha. Elisha’s servant saw then and was greatly troubled so he ran and complained to his master. The prophet told him not to worry because a greater army is protecting them. The young man seemed unsatisfied with the optimism of Elisha and urged him to do something about their situation.  “Then Elisha prayed, “O LORD, open his eyes and let him see!” The LORD opened the young man’s eyes, and when he looked up, he saw that the hillside around Elisha was filled with horses and chariots of fire.” (2 Kings 6:17 NLT).  So much is going on around us in the kingdom of God that we are not aware of because our spiritual senses are numb due to ignorance and neglect. We need to pray that God will open our eyes to see and open our ears to hear.  We are all equipped with spiritual senses of sight, hearing, taste, touch and smile which are lying uncultivated in our spirit-man.  These are the senses with which we can access the kingdom of God. Things of the kingdom are the “ solid food”  which “belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil” (Hebrews 5:14 NKJV). As we learnt to use our physical senses through exercise so must we train our spiritual senses.

O God, open our eyes that we may see your kingdom and our ears that we may hear your voice and learn from you in Jesus name. 

THY KINGDOM COME (11)

“Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.”(John 18:36 NKJV)

Understanding the nature of Christ’s present kingdom is important in understanding how it operates and how we can really participate in it now. Every kingdom has it’s unique rules and protocols. It may amount to a serious offence to bring the cultures of one kingdom and apply it in a different kingdom.  God’s kingdom is a two-natured kingdom. One is spiritual the other is physical.  The kingdom of God at present is basically spiritual. The rules that prevail in it are not physical but spiritual. This explains why our Lord decreed that none would participate in that kingdom unless the person is born again. Nicodemus had come to our Lord at night toasting Him as one would an earthly king. “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God” (John 3:3 NLT). To be born again is to be born of the Spirit. We were all born by our different mothers and that makes us human beings. To become spiritual beings, we have to be born by the Holy Spirit. Our Lord explained, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:6 NKJV). Through the new birth, people who were merely flesh and blood receive spiritual lives and become partakers of the divine nature of God (2 Peter 1:4). Being thus born, we become empowered to see and participate in the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God, being a spiritual reality, requires spiritual people to engage it. “⁹That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  ¹⁰But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. ¹¹No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. ¹²And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us” (1 Corinthians 2:9-12 NLT). God’s children have the capacity to understand and appreciate spiritual realities by virtue of our new birth experience. The Holy Spirit reveals to us those things that Christ has purchased for us through His sacrifice on the cross. We are now equipped with spiritual eyes to see what our physical eyes cannot see and with spiritual ear to hear what our physical ears cannot hear. We have the mind of Christ to understand what our ordinary human mind cannot understand. “These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:14 NKJV). Notice that we compare spiritual things with spiritual and not spiritual things with physical. We now value the spiritual more than the physical and desire the eternal more than the mundane.

As God’s spiritual children, we have the capacity to see the invisible and hear the inaudible.  Paul therefore affirms, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18 NKJV).  This is explains why we arrive at different conclusion on important issues than those of the people of the world.  This is why we turn the other cheek when we are slapped and go the extra mile with one who demands we go one with him. This is why we love our enemies and pray for those who hate us.  This is why our Lord did not call His holy Angels to fight for Him when His enemies arrested Him and condemned Him to death.  This is why the weapons of our warfare are not carnal yet mighty in pulling down the strongholds.  Great indeed is the mystery of godliness!

My dear people of God, let us hold fast on Jesus and never allow the allurements of this world to mislead us. We have another world in view and our Saviour has gone to prepare us a place there.  Let us give Him the best of everything we can muster here. It is only in that way that we can secure them. Shall we then pray with one voice –Thy Kingdom Come and thy will be done on earth as it is in heave oh God!

THY KINGDOM COME (10)

“Then the sovereignty, power, and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be given to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will last forever, and all rulers will serve and obey him” (Daniel 7: 27 NLT).

At Easter, the church celebrates the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from death. The resurrection of Christ was the herald of hope for humanity for by it, our Lord demonstrated that life is more powerful than death.  Our Lord’s resurrection establishes the possibility of the ultimate resurrection of believers in Christ. If there were no resurrection, life would have been meaningless and christianity would have been nothing more than a well crafted comedy without eternal essence. Apostle Paul therefore argued, “And what value was there in fighting wild beasts—those people of Ephesus—if there will be no resurrection from the dead? And if there is no resurrection, “Let’s feast and drink, for tomorrow we die!”(1 Corinthians 15:32 NLT). Here is the goodnews –the dead in Christ shall rise again!   We need not live in fear of death any longer because everyone who believes in Christ has “passed from death to life” (John 5:24). We can now sing our song of victory – “Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:54-55 NLT). In Christ’s resurrection, life triumphed over death, as our vanquished foe called Satan, became a lawful captive of our Lord for all eternity. By His resurrection, Jesus defeated death (the last enemy) and inaugurated the kingdom of God.

At the beginning of His earthly ministry, our Lord released a prophetic proclamation saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:15 NKJV). His victory over death signalled the official inauguration of the kingdom of God on earth, as He led captivity captive and distributed gifts to people (Ephesians 4:8).  As a clear demonstration of Chris’ victory over death, many dead believers resurrected with Him as the Bible affirms, “The bodies of many godly men and women who had died were raised from the dead. They left the cemetery after Jesus’ resurrection, went into the holy city of Jerusalem, and appeared to many people” (Matthew 27:52-53 NLT). The resurrection of Christ is therefore the logical conclusion of the inauguration of God’s kingdom on earth. It confers real authority on the believers over the enemy and empowers them to act on behalf of Christ. Our Lord’s resurrection was a clear validation that He is the Son of God. Paul therefore affirms, “His unique identity as Son of God was shown by the Spirit when Jesus was raised from the dead, setting him apart as the Messiah, our Master” (Romans 1:4 The Message). The resurrection not only confirms that Jesus is the Son of God, but also legitimatises our faith in Him as eternal Saviour.

The resurrection signals the enthronement of Jesus as King of kings, thus heralding the official beginning of His reign on earth. “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth’” (Matthew 28:18 NKJV). Prior to His death and resurrection, our Lord repeatedly said that He had no authority except what the Father had allowed Him to use (John 7:17; John 12:49). Post resurrection, He declared, “all authority is given to me in heaven and on earth.” He is today the sovereign King of the whole universe. He reigns as King of kings over God’s created realms. He shall reign until all rebellion are quenched and his enemies made His footstool. On His return to heaven, the Father promised Him, “Sit in the place of honour at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet. The LORD will extend your powerful kingdom from Jerusalem; you will rule over your enemies” (Psalm 110:1-2 NLT).  This is where we are now.  The church must take advantage of the power of His resurrection to compel all principalities and powers of hell to acknowledge the authority of Christ to rule over all creation (Ephesians 3:10-11, Dan 7:27).

The church, working in concert with the Holy Spirit now exercise the full authority of the kingdom to defeat all the enemies of Christ and bring them to the place of obedience to Christ. The grand design of God is that Christ will come to receive the completed kingdom and present it to His Father (1 Corinthians 15:24-25). Then the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ.  This is what Easter is meant to remind us. We must therefore be up and doing as we live the resurrection life of purity and power as we await the second coming of Christ. Happy Easter. 

THY KINGDOM COME (9)

“And when He had come out of the boat, immediately there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who had his dwelling among the tombs; and no one could bind him, not even with chains.  When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, “What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me” (Mark 5:2-3, 6-7 NKJV)

The sole duty of the church on earth, and hence that of every believer is to bring the kingdom of heaven to the earth. Jesus had commanded us to pray for the coming of God’s kingdom to earth so that His will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The overwhelming preoccupation of making sure we go to heaven seems to stand on the way of our primary assignment, which is to bring heaven to earth. Going to heaven is our destiny, which is guaranteed in Christ. Our Lord gave this assurance to believers; “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also” (John 14:1-3 NKJV). While we wait for Him to come and take us with Him, we are to be busy releasing the atmosphere of the kingdom throughout the world.  This was the model of life our Lord left for us to follow.  The whole authority of the kingdom of God is within you to change the world around you.

A mad man who was possessed with at least 2000 demons had been terrorising his neighbourhood for a long time. Nobody could hold him under control as every effort to get him chained came to nothing. He was screaming day and night in the cemetery and cutting himself with sharp stones. All these changed when Jesus appeared on the scene. “When he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him. And he cried out with a loud voice and said, ‘what have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore You by God that You do not torment me.”  Our Lord brought the reality of the kingdom of heaven anywhere He went. His presence was enough to change the atmosphere and unleash the glory of His Fathers kingdom. The violent lunatic behaved differently on sighting Jesus –he ran to Jesus and worshipped Him. Is it not interesting that the two thousand or more demons inhabiting him could not stop him from worshipping the Lord? If they could not stop him then, they could not stop us today in serving God. The powers of satan and those of his agents are subject to us in the name of Christ. We just have to live in the consciousness of this reality. The Greater One with all His power is still resident in us!

The thousands of demons in the man, acknowledging our Lord’s authority over them and begged Him with a loud voice that He should not torment them; but rather to be allowed to enter into the herd of swine roaming around in the vicinity. If the demons were disarmed and weakened in the presence of our Lord, we should expect them to react in similar ways to our presence as bearers of the kingdom of heaven. Casting out demons is one of the signs of the presence of the kingdom (Matthew 12:28). When we heal the sick, lead a soul to Christ or have our prayers answered, we accomplish the will of God and release the atmosphere of the kingdom on earth. The transformation that came upon the former demon-possessed was immediate and remarkable.  He dressed in normal clothes and begged to join our Lord’s travelling team. “However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you” (Mark 5:19 NKJV).  He took off from there and declared the goodness of Christ to people in ten cities, sharing the testimony of the transformation he experienced through Jesus. He will be among our crowd of witnesses in the last day! There is a river inside each of us and not a well (John 7:37). We should let the river flow out from us to bring live to people around us. We have the answer the world needs.

God wants to release impartation in our lives today to enable us bring the influence of the kingdom with us wherever we go. The kingdom of God is within you. Line up with the Holy Spirit as He directs you on how to release its influence in your context so that others can experience the love of God in Jesus name.