The Kingdom of God!
Chapter 145
In Matt. 4:17 it says,
"From that time Jesus began to
preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand.'
In Luke 17: 20-21 Jesus had been questioned by the Pharisees
as to when the Kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said,
""The
kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo
here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you!"
I want to talk to you about the
heart. What is it and what voices are trying to get it's attention? The New Testament is full of
referrals to the heart. Jesus spoke often about the heart. He said in Matt.
6:21,
"For where your treasure is, there will your be also. "
And in Matt. 12:35-37,
"O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good
things? for out of the
abundance of the heart the mouth
speaks A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth
good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil
things."
Also, in Matt. 15:18-20,
"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come
forth from the heart and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed
evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies:These
are the things which defile a man."
Jesus was not referring to the fleshly heart that pumps the blood through
our bodies. I have shared with you previously that we are spirit, we have a
soul which is our mind, will and emotions and we live for now in this body
flesh. This being true, I
can say to you that the heart is that area of our being where we do our
thinking and form our beliefs. Most people would say that it is our
minds. While our minds are very important for us to be able to function in this
body of flesh, it is not our heart. When this body of flesh dies its mind does
not go to be with the Lord, but it is our spirit that does!
Peter said in 1Peter 1:4,
"But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price."
Jesus said in Matt. 11:29,
"Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart
and you shall find rest unto your souls."
There are many thoughts that enter our hearts and attempt to get our attention. Where do these thoughts come from? There are several avenues where these thoughts come from. Many of them come from what we have stored in our minds and from the attitudes we have formed. These come from experiences from our past and what other people have told us. This is why it is so important for us to renew our minds by learning what God's will is for us. To learn of His ways and how He views things that we have to deal with. Paul said in Rom. 12:2,
"Be
not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect,
will of God."
Paul also said in 2 Cor. 10:4-5, (NIV)
"The weapons we fight with are not
the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We
demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we
take captive every thought to make it obedient
to Christ."
Paul also said in Phil. 4:8,
"Finally, brethren,
whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever
things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report;
if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
So, the mind stores the
information that is sent to it and fills the heart with what is stored in it.
The flesh also endeavors to get
the heart to think about what it is seeing, touching, hearing, smelling, and
tasting. With the flesh we touch this world and each other. The flesh has many
desires and needs, and all of these must be considered by the heart. The flesh
gets tired and weary. It gets hungry and thirsty. It requires rest and sleep.
It can get hurt and require medical attention. Jesus said in Matt. 26:41,
"Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is
willing, but the flesh is
weak."
Paul said in Gal. 5:19-21,
"Now the works of the flesh are
manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies, e nvyings, murders, drunkenness,
reveling, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also
told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."
As we live in this body of flesh,
we are faced with many of these problems on a daily basis.
It is in our heart that we have to weigh these things
and make a decision on what action we are going to take. Many times, we will
react the way we have meditated on without even thinking about it. This is why
Jesus said that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks, and the
flesh reacts. We are basically what we think because that is how we will react
in any situation. Prov. 23:7 says,
"For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he!"
As I said at the beginning, we
are spirit! We don't have a spirit, we are spirit and
we have a soul and we now live in this body. It is with our spirit that we touch God. Jesus
said in Jn. 4:23-24,
"But the hour cometh,
and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in
truth: for the Father seeks such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and
they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
Paul said in 1 Cor. 6:17,
"He that is joined unto the
Lord is one spirit."
If we have been
born again the Holy Spirit has joined us to the Lord and we have become one
spirit with Him. Or in other words, we are alike and have been born by our Father. We have the same Father and that makes Jesus our
brother. Paul said in 1 Cor. 12:12-13,
"For as the body
is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many,
are one body: so also is Christ. For by one
Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free;
and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.
Jesus said in John 4:14,
"Whosoever
drinks of this water shall thirst again:But whosoever drinks of
the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life.
He also
said on the last great day of the feast in John 7:37,
"If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He
that believes on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow
rivers of living water.
Paul said in Phil. 2:13,
"For it is God which works in you
both to will and to do of his good pleasure."
And in Rom. 8:3-4,
"For what
the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his
own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the
flesh: that the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after
the flesh, but after the Spirit."
So, our heart gets information from all three of these
sources. Remember, our heart is where we do our thinking. For it is out of the
heart that the mouth speaks. Our salvation depends on what comes out of our
mouth. Paul said in Rom. 10:8-11,
"The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in
thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach: because if thou
shall confess with thy mouth Jesus as Lord, and
shall believe in thy heart that God raised him from the dead, thou shall be
saved: for with the
heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture says, Whosoever
believes on him shall not be put to shame."
It is with our spirits that we touch God because we are like spirits. God is our Father and has united us with His Spirit so that we can be called the sons of God. Paul said in Rom. 8:14,
""As
many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God."
Someone may say to me, "Well, David, how do I know when I am being led by the Spirit of the Lord?" This is a very good question. What is coming out of your mouth? Is bitterness, hatred, judgmentalism, strife, envy, etc.? Paul said in Gal. 5:22-25,
""The
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, meekness, self-control; against such there is no law. And they that
are of Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with the passions and the lusts
thereof. If we live by the
Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk. Let us not become
vainglorious, provoking one another, envying one another."
Jesus said in John 13:34-35,
"A new commandment I give unto you, That you love one
another; as I have loved you, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples,if you have love one to
another."
When love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control are being displayed by our actions the world will know that we have been with Christ and will think we are strange because they are not accustomed to being around people like us.
Paul said in 2 Tim. 1:13-14, (NIV)
""What you heard from me,
keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ
Jesus. Guard the good deposit that was
entrusted to you, Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us."
Also in Phil. 4:4-8 (NIV)
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is nearby. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable,if anything is excellent or praiseworthy,think about such things."