Seeing The Kingdom

Transcript

Where Seeing The Kingdom Starts

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I want to talk to you about seeing the kingdom, what all is involved in it. And we're going to look in John chapter 3, verse 1. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Jesus by night and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.

Nicodemus And The Pharisees

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The first thing that comes to our attention is a man by the name of Nicodemus. And it's interesting the group of people that he came from, the Pharisees. I'm not going to dwell on the Pharisees, but just to tell you this that during the time of Jesus, in the city of Jerusalem, they believed there were at least 6,000 Pharisees. They had been organized 300 and some years earlier. The sole purpose of their duty as a Pharisee was to protect Judaism, all the laws, seeing that they are adhered to, followed, and so they form something called the Pharisee sect. And of course they are waiting for the Messiah. Nicodemus, he was a ruler of the Jews. We know that he had spiritual perception, because we read this in verse 2. We know that he was immature regarding things spiritually, because Jesus said, Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things. He came by night. He didn't want anybody to know that he was coming to Jesus, because Jesus was somebody that the Pharisees were trying to stop. He says, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. We. Did that include all the Pharisees? Did that include just some of the Pharisees? We know that you are a teacher that came from God.

Hunger For More And The Cost

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One of the things that really stands out to me here is this. He knew there was more and he didn't go for it. He got a hunger, thought, yes, there's more out there for me, but he didn't really go for it. And I have found that anytime that God begins to show you something, God wants you to enter into it. God wants you to step up into it. But of course, it involves a lot of things. You may have to readjust your theology. You may put yourself out there so that others can criticize you. When you're first entering into something, all of your friends don't think like you do. They don't talk like you do. Because as you keep moving forward and there's a price to pay for that, there's also the probability that when God begins to show us new things, we're thinking, how are we going to do this? I don't know much about this. I really don't know what to do next. If you step out in the Lord, you will find that as you release your faith, you will find that the Spirit of God will come upon you, and you will rise, and your mind will open up, your eyes will open, your ears will open, and you will know exactly what to do. When God speaks to us, we look all around and thinking, Wow, what a vast world. My world was so small, and we're looking and we don't know what to do, but there comes a day. And Nicodemus, I believe he knew, but he came by night. But he says here, we know that thou art a teacher come from God. You know a lot of things. Sometimes you're going to think I'm not that smart spiritually. I've never met a child of God that was sincere and wanting to serve God, that God was not constantly on a regular basis, revealing, showing his word to them. It's entering into their spirit, it's being stirred up. I've never known a believer that has nothing to give and nothing to share. We all have the same Jesus. We all have the same desire to grow in God, and God will do it for us. In Romans chapter 8, verse 22. We know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption to wit, the redemption of our body. We know there's a hunger inside of us, and that hunger is a God hunger. And another verse is found in the same chapter in verse 28. And we know, this is Romans 8.28, and we know believers cannot say, I don't know, I never knew. What really goes on is they had no desire to satisfy their hunger. But there is a people in God that want to be able to move on deeper. Let me read you this. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. And that shows me that as I move forward and what God's purpose is for me, I believe the great purpose is that we be conformed and made into his image. So we know, and Nicodemus said, We know you're a teacher.

Born Again To See Clearly

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And they recognize that he was from God, and Jesus says to him, I say unto thee, except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. That's why the world thinks you're have a little bit of an imbalance mentally when you say things about a God they cannot see, a God they cannot feel, a God that they know nothing about, a God that they have no relationship with. That's why you must not become frustrated or let them interfere with your walk in any way. Because when you know the Lord, you see the kingdom, you see the things that's in the kingdom, you see the people of God and what goes on there. You see that, but they don't. But don't let them influence you because they know nothing about spiritual matters. Our eyes are opened when we come to the Lord, when we meet Jesus. I believe that Nicodemus had an eye-opening event occur that night. Jesus is ministering to him, and he's talking to him about being born again so that he can see the kingdom of God, being born again so that he can walk in the kingdom of God, being born again so that he can have a relationship with God. Being born again, you're just starting to open up and the kingdom just starts to unfold with you. Do you

Peter And What Conversion Changes

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remember reading it with the night that Jesus was betrayed in the garden, that whole event through the evening prior? I don't know if it was the same day or the day before or the week before. I don't know exactly. Maybe it says that it's not coming to my mind. Peter and Jesus are having a conversation. Now I'm moving away from Nicodemus for a moment, but I'm talking about the kingdom. In this conversation, Peter was going to lay down his life and what all he wasn't going to do. And Jesus said, Peter, before that rooster crows in the morning, you're already going to have denied me three times. Oh, not me. I'll never deny you. Jesus said, I just want you to know when you are converted, you can look at that various ways. What kind of a spiritual state was Peter in to allow himself to deny the Lord Jesus Christ? Not once, not twice, but three times in just a matter of minutes. What kind of a state did he allow himself to get in? And Jesus said, When you're converted, Luke 22, 32 is where I'm commenting on. The difference is when he was converted, he laid down his life. You can see at this point, he was trying to hang on to his life. And that's where a lot of people have difficulty in walking boldly for the Lord. Now, there are some commentators who will give indication to you that Nicodemus might have struggled and stayed on the fringes all of his life during the lifetime of Jesus. But late down is life. Doesn't matter what people think. It doesn't matter if people think that I've missed the mark or whatever, going this all religious thing. But when you're converted, it means to return and come back. You started on your journey, Peter. Return and come back. And when you come back, you realize that what you have is worth far more than what you were trying to drift into. Nicodemus was into that, and he realized that there was more to it than laws and traditions and rules. He realized that the Son of God was walking on the streets of Jerusalem, and there were a group of men in the Pharisee sect that believed that he was a teacher sent from God. But there was a deeper revelation that they were going to have. And Jesus was saying, if you want to really know, you know that I'm a teacher sent from God, but I want you to know I'm more than a teacher. I'm a savior to the Jewish nation. There's Nicodemus, and the Lord is talking to him about except you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus needed to be born again. That means more than just observation, watching somebody work in the kingdom. You see your need of walking in the kingdom, that it is vital for church growth. So that's what you need to do. Eyes need to be open. Spiritual eyes.

Elisha Prays For Open Eyes

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Elisha and his servant were on a journey, and because Elisha was such a powerful man in God, he knew everything that was going on, the king of the land decided that they were going to capture him. So he sent out an army to capture one man who could see it. And the servant, let's read verse 15. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early and gone forth, behold, a host compassed the city, both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master, how shall we do? And he saw all this army round about him, all these soldiers, and he thought, They're all around us. They know we're here. They're going to capture us. And he answered, Elisha answered, and he said, Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes that he may see. And that's what was happening with Nicodemus. He said, If you get born again, your eyes are going to be open. He said, Open his eyes that he may see. And look what happens. The Lord opened the eyes of the young man. And he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. And when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord and said, Smite this people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote with blindness according to the word of the Lord. And Elisha had to lead the whole army because everybody in that army was blind. They could not see. Spiritual eyes are so important. As a believer, when I see something in the spirit, whether I'm moving in the gifts, such as word of knowledge or any of the word of wisdom, faith, etc., if I can see me possessing it, it's mine.

Natural Thinking Versus The Spirit

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Nicodemus gets into this physical, this discussion of natural thinking. See, natural thinking is an enemy to spiritual thinking. Natural thinking will always hold you back as a believer. It'll always keep you stunted. It'll always keep you immature spiritually. You must have insight into the kingdom. He said, How can a man be born when he's old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb and be born? Like what a stupid question. Nicodemus is not a stupid man. He's a smart man. He's a ruler. He leads. See, having a conversation like that with the King of Glory, I gotta ask you. He wants to believe what Jesus is telling him. And he does believe. But he wants an answer. What are you talking about? Being born again. What are you talking about? Jesus answered him. Verse 5. He said, I say unto you, except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. It's a spiritual experience. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the spirit is spirit. He says it's a spiritual experience. And when you get a spiritual experience and have a relationship with the Lord, no matter what level, whether it's being born again, as you grow and as you mature, as you have these spiritual experiences, you are going to be mightily used in the kingdom, and you are going to do it by walking in the spirit.

Kingdom Priorities For Church Life

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Understand that kingdom is priority for the church. The church is the people, they're the body, they make the church. And the kingdom is what we do in the church. Kingdom is how we go about our spiritual life and ministering into physical, natural issues with people in this life. Seek first the kingdom of God. Seek it. What can you do? What needs to be done? What is happening? Get involved. That's more the first thing you do when you become a believer. Seek the kingdom of God. There's principles we have to understand about the kingdom. It's spiritual. Jesus said in Matthew 18, 36, my kingdom is not of this world. He's saying the power and the structuring, it's not of this world. It's not of the natural thing. This world is natural. Trees you can cut down. Human bodies get sick and they grow old. That's all natural. Governments come and go. But the kingdom is spiritual. He said it's not of this world. In Mark's Gospel, chapter 10, verse 15. We are instructed to receive the kingdom of God as a little child. In the kingdom of God, regarding our walk with God, we got to believe everything that God tells us, not one shadow of doubt, and we will see the work of the kingdom. So amen.

Final Encouragement And Next Steps

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Today may the Lord encourage your heart. See the kingdom, come into it, walk into it, because God has got great things for you.

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