Because of the Lord’s Supper (eating of His flesh and drinking His blood), we have the ability to “teach Kingdom”!
I thank God for the three part series teaching on the Lord’s Supper. We see and know that Jesus paved the way and paid the price for us by His death, burial and resurrection, which enabled us, equipped us and brought us out of darkness into His marvelous light. All He’s done has given us the opportunity, the right, and privilege to “live and teach kingdom”.
Text: Romans 10:17: So then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God: Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Ghost.
Even in Genesis 1:1: In the beginning God created the heaven and earth:
• vs 2: And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep (an abyss) [bottomless chasm (prison)].
This “darkness” had nothing to do with the “dusk to dawn hours”, but it is misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness and obscurity, coming from the Hebrew root word choshek'.
• And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
The “waters” here are not the Atlantic or the Pacific Oceans, but people: Revelation 17:15: And he saith unto me, “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sits, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”.
We can see even in these first two verses with man (mankind) in a fallen state, how God had designs of grace toward him even then.
• Genesis 1:3: And God said, “Let there be light”.
We are seeing the activity of the Holy Spirit and the spoken Word, “Let there be light”. This “light”, is from the root word “owr” (ore), meaning, illumination (lighting or understanding of higher levels); clarification [spiritual or intellectual enlightenment]; luminary in every sense including lightning, happiness, bright, clear, morning.
A luminary is a person who inspires or influences others, especially one prominent in a particular sphere. When God said “Let there be light”, “light” was manifested and produced by the spoken Word and God saw the light and it was good! This was not the light of the Sun in this verse. This “light” was the light of understanding, wisdom, and knowledge God saw even then manifested and produced in mankind (male/female). He was seeing “Himself in man” and “man in Him as one unit! That’s why in Mark 10:17-18:
• And when he (Jesus) was gone forth into the way, there came one running and kneeled to him and asked him, “Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life”? And Jesus said unto him, “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God”!
Good is the root word agathos’, meaning good, good thing, that which is good, the thing which is good, well, benefit. This word agathos’ as an adjective describes that which being “good” in its character or constitution is beneficial in its effect. God knew that making man in His image after His likeness would be beneficial (advantageous, favorable, of service, instrumental, valuable) to God to manifest Himself in, in flesh form and also beneficial to man to be like God ruling and reigning over God’s creation as His representatives.
In Genesis 1:3, this “light God saw that was good” was as though He was looking at Himself in a mirror as man in the earth!
• Genesis 1:26: And God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth”. Vs 27: So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Vs 31: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was “very good”!
So here we have the activity of the Spirit and the ministry of the Word of God joined together. It is by these two workings that man in Christ became a new creation!
• 2 Corinthians 5:17: If any man be in Christ he is a new creature (creation); old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new.
Someone might say, “Well, in Genesis, Christ hadn’t come at that time”! Well, what you may not know yet is that Christ has always been! Genesis 1:1: In the “beginning” (Christ) God created! It was “in Christ” that God created everything.
• Colossians 1:18: And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning.
• Revelation 3:14: And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; “These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God”.
It is by the moving of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God that has made us a new creation! Before we became new creatures we were all walking in darkness.
• Romans 3:23: For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
STAY WITH ME, I’M GOING SOMEWHERE WITH THIS!
We too were blinded, our hearts and understanding darkened. We too were unable to see the awfulness of our condition, the condemnation we were under or even the urgency of the need of a Savoir. We were physically alive but spiritually in total darkness.
• Ephesians 4:17: This I say therefore and testify in the Lord, that you henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind: vs 18: Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart.
This “heart” here that is blinded (slow; callous; hard), is not the muscle that pumps blood through the body, but it is the Greek word kardi’a, meaning the thoughts or feelings (mind); also the middle: or the very core of one’s being! These are the people that fight against the Word of God, and the will and purpose of God for their life. But the “light” comes to the sinner through the Word being applied by the Spirit! This “light” that comes to man is in actuality “life” which is “Zoe” (God life)!! This is the “life of God Himself” that man was alienated from, not annihilated from, but was restored back to mankind through Jesus the Christ!
• St. John 1:3: All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made. Vs 4: In him was life; and the life was the light of men.
• John 5:26: For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself.
• John 14:6: Jesus said unto him (Thomas), I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
And we are given this same “everlasting and eternal life” and we must believe it and receive it by faith in Christ Jesus! It is not optional!
• John 3:15: Whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal (quality) life. Vs 16: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting (unending) life.
John 10:10: The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. [Had to get a praise in right there]!
I stated a minute ago the “light” comes to the sinner through the Word applied by the Spirit!
• Psalm 119:130: The entrance of thy words giveth light: it giveth understanding unto the simple.
This marks the initial work into the soul. Just as the light in Genesis manifested the desolation upon which it shined, God’s Word has the same effect on the human heart, revealing the awful ruin sin has wrought. This is why we have to “teach and preach kingdom”! God’s people have to hear it!
• Romans 10:13: For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Vs 14: How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? Vs 15: And how shall they preach, except they be sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things”!
Briefly, the word “preach” in verse 15, is from the root word kerus’so, meaning to herald (as a public crier), proclaim (declare; announce; pronounce; make known), especially “divine truth” [the gospel]. Not a message saying “one of these days when Jesus comes back” – but the message [good news] saying, “He is already here right now”! (John 4:4) Greater is he that is IN YOU, than he that is in the world! Not a message saying, “When you die and go to heaven” – but a message [good news] saying, “When you are in Christ, you are in heaven” while you’re alive! Ephesians 2:5-6: Even when we were dead (pass tense) in sins, hath quickened (made alive) us together with Christ, (by grace you are saved); and hath (already; right now) raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places IN CHRIST JESUS! [I’VE GOT TO GET ANOTHER PRAISE IN]!!
• Romans 10:17: So then, faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
As we are giving the Word of God out (teaching kingdom) to God’s people it cannot be sugar coated! It cannot be watered down just to keep from hurting feelings or stepping on toes regardless of relation or status in Society. Only the truth will make God’s people free (John 8:32).
If you are traveling on a highway going as fast as you can with no laws or signs in place, the police can’t give you a ticket because there were no signs, no laws in place for driving fast. But once the laws are in place and the signs are visibly seen for speed and you break those rules and is caught speeding, then they can give you a ticket. In other words, you can’t be held responsible for something you did not know. Even in the courts of law of our land, a man or woman is not sentenced without first giving them a trial. So it is with the Word of God. We are not held accountable for anything we don’t know. Therefore we must first “hear it” and whatever we do afterward is on us.
God in giving of the law through Moses said in Exodus 20:3: Thou shalt have no other gods before me. But Israel was always a whoring after (worshiping) idol gods. Isaiah 65 (speaks of judgment and salvation in relation to Israel and the Gentiles):
• Vs 1: I am sought of them that asked not for me: I am found of them that sought me not: I said, “Behold me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name”. vs 2: I have spread out mine hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walk in a way that was not good, after their own thoughts: vs 3: A people that provokes me to anger continually to my face; that sacrifice in gardens, and burn incense upon altars of brick.
So this tells us that Israel and the Gentiles (those not of Jewish stock) heard the Word of God and both became responsible for it. The Israelites were yet rebellious against God’s word but the Gentiles became receptive to it. (John 4) [The Samaritan woman at the well]: (Acts 16) [Cornelius and his house]: (there are other examples in the Gospels).
• Romans 10:20: But Isaiah is very bold and said, “I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me”. Vs 21: But to Israel he said, “All day long have I stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people”.
Israel had ample time to respond to God, so that tells us they heard the Word of God which made them responsible for it. Likewise with us, once we hear the Word of God we are then responsible for what we do with it, either we receive it or reject it. The right and proper thing to do is receive it!
I believe many that have gone before us had ample opportunity or at some point in time had someone to minister the Word of God to them and some received it and some rejected it. But our job is to give them the Word of God because the very Word will judge them. Our duty is to give them the truth (teach kingdom)!!
• John 12:46: I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.
• Vs 47: And if any man hear my words and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world.
• Vs 48: He that rejects me and receives not my words hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.
The “last day” is not a coming event. The “last day” is Christ Himself. He is the “first day” and the “last day”! Outside of Christ there is no other day! This day, is the day that the Lord hath made (Psalm 118:24). Tomorrow will be “This is the day”!!
• 2 Peter 1:19: We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto you do well that you take heed as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the “day dawn”, and the “day star” (Christ) arise in your hearts.
• Revelation 1:8: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty: vs 17: I am the first and the last.
Jesus Himself is the “last day” and if any man rejects and refuses to believe His Word will continue to live in the state of darkness. John 3:17: For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
So just as that light which shined on us because someone took time to tell us of God’s goodness, His mercy, and grace, which kept us and told us what we had to do to be saved, we too have to shine that same light into the lives of others.
Again, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17). And it’s just as important that as we give others God’s Word that it’s “kingdom messages” or “kingdom teaching” that we give them!!
• Matthew 19:28: And Jesus said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, that you which have followed me in the regeneration, when the Son of man shall sit in (not on) the throne of his glory, (He already is), you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel”!
This is not future, but for those that are now “regenerated” and have taken on the new birth or have been spiritually renovated from death unto life, it’s happening for us right now.
• Romans 8:6: To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace!
Those that have put off the old man and put on the new man:
• 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature (creation); old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new.
• Colossians 3:9-10: Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds; and have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him.
All the twelve tribes of Israel are in Christ, and we are now sitting (assembled; seated; standing; positioned) in the same throne (seat of authority) with Christ, judging righteously!
• Revelation 3:21: To him that overcome will I grant to sit (already seated; appointed; settled; continue) with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne.
What did Titus 3:5 say: Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing (cleansing) of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost.
Kingdom comes from two words “king” and “dominion”! A “king” is one who rules and the “dominion” is the place or domain in which he/she rules.
• Romans 14:17: For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness (upright living) and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
This is a sphere where we are now in Christ Jesus, being in “heaven” (an elevated place) in the Spirit, which is a place of dominion, authority, power, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, peace, joy, and righteousness, and may I also include immortality and incorruption.
• 1 Corinthians 15:51: Behold, I show you a mystery; we shall not all sleep (shall not die or move out of this physical body), but we shall all be changed. Vs 52: In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye (by putting on spiritual vision), at the last trump [the message of perfection - kingdom teaching] for the trumpet shall sound [the voices of the Sons of God preaching the truth of the fullness of God in us now]: and the dead shall be raised incorruptible (that’s happening now; not some great getting up morning): and we shall be changed (the old has become new, right now, in Christ): vs 53: For this corruptible MUST put on incorruption and this mortal MUST put on immortality (not up beyond the blue, but here and now): vs 54: So WHEN this corruptible [that which can decay-die] shall have put on incorruption [unending existence] and this mortal [that which is liable to die, but doesn’t have to] shall have put on immortality [deathlessness], THEN shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, death is swallowed up in victory. Vs 55: O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
This is a sphere that we don’t have to physically die to be in because it is for us right now, while we’re alive, if we can believe it!!! We MUST believe and receive it by faith!
It’s time now and we’re really overdue, that we the sons of God (male/female) take our rightful place in the earth as God’s ambassadors or representatives as kings (rulers) and priests (intercessors).
• Revelation 1:6 (Jesus said it): And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father! (Revelation 5:10) states it further: And we shall reign on (over) the earth.
Like the words spoken to the children of Israel in Exodus 19:6: And you shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, a holy nation. So it applies to us today – God’s spiritual Israel!!
People have to know that there is more to God than just Salvation. People must know that they have to be regened! A “gene” is the basic physical and functional unit of heredity. Genes are the units of heredity that is transferred from parent to offspring and held to determine the characteristics of the offspring. So there’s more to God than just “salvation”, but also a “new birth”, “regeneration” that stresses the inception of a new state of things in contrast with the old. There is a spiritual regeneration being translated from the kingdom of darkness into God’s marvelous light!
• 1 Peter 2:9: But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, that you should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light!
People need to know that this kingdom is a matter primarily of subjects, territory or extent (an area covered by something). Rather, it is a matter of the king’s power, authority, and rule without limits. Romans 14:17 tells us that we are subject or shows we are subject to the royal rule by what we eat or do not eat. It's not by what we eat and drink physically, but by what we eat and drink spiritually! Jesus said, John 6:53: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you! So rather this “kingdom” is evidenced (indicated) by the truth that God is our King and is evident (obvious; apparent; discernible; perceived) by righteousness, peace and joy, in our lives.
• John 3:34: For he whom God hath sent, speaks the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.
Revelation 3:20: Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him and will sup with him and he with me.
Listen, Jesus didn’t say “I will come in”, which makes it collectively, but He said, “I will come in to him”, making it individually!
So it is not optional that we the Sons of God talk, teach, and preach “kingdom” to those we come in contact with:
• Revelation 12:11: And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
It didn’t say here “until the death”, but “unto the death”. Meaning, even after the religious system kills you (scandalize your name and de-fellow-ship you) because of what you teach and preach, you’re still standing proclaiming (declaring) the message of the Kingdom to those you come in contact with. This is because you've died to that which pertains to humanity (flesh; carnality; the old man) and are walking totally in the newness of life or the Christ man!!
Again, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing, by the word of God" (Romans 10:17).
Evangelist Mary Perry