Jonathan Williams with Word of God, Speak

There is a reason why the first Christians excelled. They understood that their position in the Kingdom carried with it a historic responsibility. They realized that they were the key players in this present phase of God's Kingdom plan for the world.

The first believers understood their identity well as recipients of the promises and citizens of God's Kingdom. As we understand our identity as citizens of a triumphant kingdom, we will be taking an important first step in preparing ourselves to do our part in fulfilling the Kingdom mission.

There are many promises in the Word that Jesus has fulfilled and is fulfilling since He was enthroned in heaven. But the ones we will look at in this message are enough to show us that when Jesus left the earth, He did not leave the battle. Instead, He ascended to the most strategic place in the universe from which to lead His people to carry out the present phase of the Kingdom plan.

The second strategic event took place in heaven: Christ was enthroned in the place of highest authority. He is in the best place from which to lead the forces of His people to carry out this present phase of God's Kingdom plan which is to take the gospel to every nation, every people group, every tribe, every language, everyone! No wonder that Jesus said to His disciples, “It is to your advantage that I go away to the Father” (John 16:7)."

Immediately after Jesus finished clarifying to His disciples their ministry priority, He returned to heaven. That priority is to reach the very nations which have for centuries resisted and rebelled. Yet, Jesus returned to heaven. Why did he leave, especially with such a challenging task he gave to his people then and now.  How we wish we could have Him with us physically on the earth leading us! But He did not stay. Why did He leave?

The manifestations of God's Kingdom had only begun when Jesus returned to heaven. Those first disciples understood that the King was now going to exercise His power and authority through them as they obeyed His final command. The final command that Jesus gave to His first followers is also His command to us. The priority of the Kingdom for this age has not changed.

In 40 days, the little band of men who had fled in terror on the night of Jesus' arrest had been gathered, forgiven, restored, and strengthened. They had their minds opened and renewed as they listened to “the things concerning the Kingdom.” The Resurrected Teacher was putting the finishing touches on His work to prepare them for the challenge that lay before them.

In a matter of a few days, the Kingdom of God had exercised its power in the world in two new ways: victory over sin and death at the cross and the introduction of eternal life and immortality in the resurrection. The Kingdom of God was not set back by the evil plans of men, nor had it been abandoned by God for other plans. Rather, the Kingdom triumphed over every enemy and circumstance that opposed it. God continued to fulfill Kingdom prophecy and rule with might in the midst of His people.

Jesus' followers were stunned, shocked. In a matter of a few days Jesus had gone from the pinnacle of praise to the depths of a weak and shameful death. Had not all that Jesus stood for come to a painful and cruel end? Hopes were shattered. Disappointment and fear abounded. But what they could not see was that Jesus' death was the unexpected victory of the kingdom.

Jesus used parables about the kingdom to test their perception of his mission and the way he was inaugurating the kingdom. In this lesson, we will look at the parables of the wheat and the tares, the mustard seed, the leaven, the treasure, the pearl, and the fish net.

A parable is a simple story drawn from everyday life. Throughout His ministry Jesus used them to illustrate key points in His message. Yet as the confrontation with some intensified, and as the multitudes increased, Jesus began to use parables for something more than illustrations. He used them to test their perception of His message on the Kingdom.

The Jews believed that a complete realization of God's Kingdom would come only when God broke the rule of Rome. Thus, when Jesus stated that the Kingdom of God had arrived, many Jews found this difficult to accept. How could the Kingdom of God be present on earth if the Romans still ruled in the land promised to Israel? God's Kingdom could not be present, they thought, for His kingly power had obviously not been displayed in judgment. How did Jesus address this difficulty in the minds of His people?

How glorious it must have been to behold Jesus' mighty works of power! Those works of power showed that the Kingdom was present. But another way he demonstrated the presence of the kingdom was through His teaching.

How did Jesus demonstrate that the Kingdom of God had entered the world? The first way was by His mighty works of power. Never before had such an awesome and complete display of power been exhibited in Israel. Jesus demonstrated mastery over men. He gave sight to the blind and healed the lame and lepers. He gave speech to the mute and hearing to the deaf. Even the dead were raised back to life.

In this study we come to the sixth concept and the final period that set the stage for the arrival of the King on the earth. It was a time that was marked with darkness and difficulty for Israel.

God is king, and the King sovereignly created mankind to rule under his authority, but the earth was now a battlefield as the nations struggled with one another for supremacy. It is also a battlefield between the rebellious kingdoms of men and the Kingdom of God. Those are the first three major concepts to know if we want to understand the kingdom of God. We covered those in the previous lesson. Today, we will cover the next two concepts about the Kingdom of God.

When John the Baptist came to Israel and announced that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand, it was the climax of a long series of events that had preceded him. The coming of God's Kingdom was a vibrant hope that had been cultivated in the hearts of God's people for centuries. What events and what concepts from the OT prepared God's people and set the stage for the arrival of the King on the earth?

When we say or hear “Kingdom of God,” what exactly are we referring to? What might be surprising to some is that Scripture nowhere provides a precise definition for the term. That is because the biblical writers assume that everyone is familiar with its meaning. Concepts such as “kings” and “kingdoms” and all they represented were standard, everyday terms and experiences among people of ancient times. In today's lesson, we are going to dig more deeply into the background of the word “kingdom.”

We have seen how the kingdom of God was the hope of patriarchs and prophets. It was also the hope of every Jewish man, woman, and child in the first century. It was also Jesus' primary teaching. He spoke of it more than any other person and any other topic.

In this study, we will explore how everyone from patriarchs to prophets looked forward to the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.

In this first message of God's Kingdom Plan for Planet Earth, we will investigate Habakkuk's words in Habakkuk 3:2 and see how it is a perfect outline for this teaching series, for human history, and for our priorities in life.

We must go beneath the promises of God to the doctrines that support them. A promise is only as good as the one making the promise.

Have you experienced great anguish over an injustice – maybe an injustice done to you or to a loved one? What you have experienced may be the voice of anger.

God wants us to be real about life and to be open with Him and with others about the true condition of our heart. And it is only when we are this way with God that we will find His grace in our time of need.

When your heart and your mouth are full of praise for God and all he has done, that's when you look your best.

God isn't interested in a religious show, and God isn't interested in pious praying. God is interested in us finding our true heart and our true voice and being real with Him.

Sin is not a friend. Sin is a ravenous beast, always devouring, never satisfied, and its desire is to master us.

If you are in Christ you have died to sin and you are alive to God. Just as the shadow of the cross no longer exists between the Father and the Son, no shadow of our guilt remains between you and God.

If you have a new identity before God as a justified man because you died to sin's penalty, then don't let sin have its way with you because that is inconsistent with what God has done for you.

Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him.

Let's be real here. The Bible may say that I am dead to sin but sin sure doesn't seem dead inside me!

We are under grace, and as we learn to live under grace, we will come to see that his grace is about a whole lot more than forgiveness.

God comes into our lives like a personal trainer and says, “Let me work with you. Let me reshape my image in you. You have Olympic-sized capabilities because I made you. I'll take you to places you never dreamt possible.”

God's grace is not a free ticket to a life of sinful indulgence but the means by which we escape the clutches of sin and find a new life.

God did not pour out his grace that we might continue in sin. God poured out His grace that it might free us from sin so that righteousness could reign in our lives and change us.

“I am a follower of Jesus.  I want to please Him and advance in my faith, but I have these problems that cause me to stumble.  I want to believe I died to sin, but I find myself still living in it. Can you help me?” Listen today and find out!

Worshipping God must be the beginning and the end and the center of our lives. If it is not, then idolatry in some form will penetrate our hearts.

For 75 years the walls of Jerusalem lay in ruin. Then, a man came along who trusted God and led the people to get the job done in 52 days. Is it possible that God can give us this same kind of spirit to get the work of God done in our time?

What's more important to us? Acquiring wealth or advancing God's work? Is it the American dream or is it the kingdom of God?

Today, I am going to share with you the greatest threat you and I face. It's not other people. It's not other nations. It's not distressing circumstances. The answer may surprise you.

Do you ever feel like everything is being thrown against you? Have you ever had people spread rumors about you? Have you ever had people make fun of you? What do we do in such situations?

Rebuilding our broken world can be hard enough, but when external obstacles arise against us, it becomes one of life's greatest challenges. What can we do when we face obstacles in life?