Your Kingdom Come

This coming Sunday, July 24th, I’m going to be finishing up a series on the return of Christ by focusing on the millennial reign of Christ, when He returns to this earth to establish His righteous rule for 1000 years.  While this kingdom, promised to King David long ago in II Samuel 7:8-12, is both physical and future, there is an aspect of God’s kingdom that is also spiritual and present.  In Matthew 6:33 Jesus declares, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (the necessities of life) will be added to you.”  Do you see what Jesus is saying?  Though we ought to be expecting and longing for the establishment of His future kingdom, we also ought to be building and experiencing His spiritual kingdom now.  In fact, so important is this spiritual kingdom that it is to be the priority and focus of our lives.  We are to seek it “first” even before we worry about what we will wear, where we will live, and what we will eat.  I wonder, is that your priority and focus?  Are you striving to experience God’s kingdom in your life now?  Perhaps you are struggling with that because you don’t really know how to do it.  Let me suggest a few ways you can and should experience God’s kingdom.
 
First, a kingdom starts with a king.  If you are going to “seek first the kingdom of God” you must acknowledge that Jesus Christ is the king and submit your life, that is your will, to Him.  The Bible is very clear, in order to make Jesus your King, you must repent of your sin and embrace Jesus as Savior, realizing that He died for your sin and is the only way that your sin can be forgiven.  If you’ve never done that, I would invite you to do so today.  You will never experience the Kingdom of God, whether the present, spiritual one or the future, physical one, unless you turn from your sin and embrace Jesus as Savior.
 
Second, you must follow the King. Maybe it goes without saying, but unless Jesus is Lord of your life you will never experience kingdom living.  Though Jesus is both King and Lord whether we submit to Him not, to make Him Lord of our lives is to submit our will to His will, which is spelled out for us in His Word, the Bible.  Those who seek God’s kingdom must regularly be reading, studying, and applying God’s Word to life.  They must also continually refuse to live by their own agenda and follow God’s agenda.  It is only when we walk in obedience to the King that we experience the kingdom.
 
Finally, we experience the kingdom by inviting others to follow the King.  In II Corinthians 5:18-21, the apostle Paul tells us that followers of Christ are also ambassadors for Christ.  The job of ambassador requires that we seek to establish peace between men and God by inviting them to leave the wicked and sinful kingdom of Satan and self and enter the kingdom of God through repentance and faith.  In other words, we are inviting those who have no relationship with Christ to do what we have done, to embrace Jesus as both Savior and Lord.  Perhaps there is no better way to experience kingdom living than by sharing the benefits of the kingdom with others.
So how about it, are you experiencing the kingdom of God now?  When Jesus taught His disciples to pray (Matt. 6:9-13), He instructed them to pray, “Your kingdom come...”  If it isn’t already, let’s make that our prayer today.  Let’s pray not just for Jesus to return to establish a future, physical kingdom, but let’s pray for Jesus to reign, as we establish His spiritual kingdom in our hearts and lives today.

Moved To What?

For those readers that attend Harvest Bible Chapel, West Olive, MI, you know that for the last several weeks now, we have been engaged in a study of the return of Christ and the significant events that accompany that return.  To say that God has been at work through this series would be an understatement.  Two weeks ago immediately after the service a gentleman, with tears streaming down his face, came up to me and said, “I have just one thing to say, God was here today.”  His comments summed up what I heard from many others.  This past Sunday, many people were gathered at the steps of the platform to repent of sin and to pray that they and those they love would take sin as seriously as God does.

 

What I have observed over the past several weeks, both in my own heart and in the church, is this great stirring and moving of the Spirit.  But as I observe this convicting work of God, the question I believe we need to ask is, moved to what?  So God is moving us, we are being stirred in our hearts and spirits, but to what end?  What do we do with this great sensitivity to God and His truth that has been stirred within us?  As I’ve given thought to those very questions, I would suggest that we should be moved to at least four things.

 

1. Moved to pray

First, I believe we should be moved to pray.  As God’s works in our hearts, one response to that moving and stirring of the Spirit should be to express our utter and complete dependence upon God in prayer, asking Him to continue the work that He has started, revealing areas that need to be addressed and changed, and to express our submission to His authority in our lives.

 

2. Moved to Urgency

Second, I believe we should be moved to urgency.  It is sad to say the least, but over the years I have observed people who have been convicted by God in some way but the attitude that accompanied that convicting work was, “someday I will have to get after that thing.”  Listen, if God is moving in your heart to change in some way, to repent of some sin, to do something, don’t put it off.  The time to obey the moving of the Spirit is now! 

 

3. Moved to Boldness

A third way we should be moved is to boldness.  When God is moving in our hearts, it ought to result in a greater living out of our faith, a faith that does hide in the shadows, but openly and boldly shouts our love for Christ.  That boldness should not be just lifestyle, but words that declare who Christ is and what He has done for us.

 

4. Moved to Action

Finally, there should be a movement to action.  Perhaps that is implied in these other things I have listed, but a stirring of God, an emotional response to God’s truth, should not be an end, but a means to an end.  The question we need to ask is, what is God asking me to do?  Am I being moved to repent of some specific sin, to serve in some capacity, to speak to someone, to worship?  No doubt the possible actions are just about endless, but let’s be sure to ask with each stirring in our hearts, God what do you want from me, what action do you want me to take?

 

Heaven forbid the moving of the Spirit lasts only as long as our morning service.  The next time we sense His convicting and stirring work in our lives, let’s be sure to consider the question, moved to what?