To Live in the Power
of the Kingdom
we must REALIZE OUR
citizenship IS IN HEAVEN1
AND LIVE AS A MEMBER OF CHRIST’S BODY, THE CHURCH2
Jesus was getting ready to finish the task He’d been given. He told those who followed Him that they
would do the same things He had done and even greater things.3 Speaking to Father God, He asked that the
ones who followed Him and the ones that would come after them would experience
the unity that comes from a relationship with God.4 He told His disciples that the love they
displayed for each other would show the world that they were His followers.5 After sharing these words He went for His
coronation, and paid the price so everyone could be part of His Kingdom.6
While He was here Jesus began to build His Church and showed us
what it should be like. He told His
followers that He would build His Church and it would have the power to defeat
the forces of hell.7 His life
showed us how this was to be done. Those
who followed Him continued doing what He had shown them when The Church was
given life on The Day of Pentecost. 8
How did Jesus build His Church while He was here? What did those who followed Him do to
continue building His Church after He went to Heaven? The Church is an outgrowth of Jesus
relationship with Father God. During His
years of preparation for ministry Jesus received a clear understanding of what
The Church should be and what needed to be done to establish it.9
As we’ve already shared in our previous message, He made His
personal relationship with Father God His number one priority. This relationship gave Him a love for
people. Love empowered Him to serve
others in ways that showed them the Kingdom and enabled them to become part of
it. 10 His loving service drew people to be part of what He was doing.11 Jesus knew establishing His Kingdom was a
team effort and that The Church He was building would complete the task. He invited people to follow Him. When they indicated they wanted to follow Him
He made it clear that they must totally surrender their lives to Him in order
to be part of the company of people that He fellowshipped with.12 It was this company that He spent most of His
time with and that would eventually become His Body, The Church.13 He would send them forth in teams to change
the world and establish His Kingdom on earth as it is in Heaven.14
The life of Jesus and the things His followers did after He left
them show us what we must do in order to be what God wants His Church to be. He wants The Church to walk in the Power of
the Kingdom and defeat the forces of the enemy of all mankind. As we’ve already shared, our relationship
with God must be our top priority. Our
fellowship with God is manifest in the way we love and serve other committed
followers of Jesus. Our ministry to them
shows how much we truly love Christ and want His Kingdom to come on earth. The early Church maintained the unity Jesus
talked about, and transformed their world because they lived in The Power of
The Kingdom. Establishing The Eternal
Kingdom was their hearts burning desire.
They met daily from house to house, not out of religious duty, but to
encourage each other, pray for one another, and to see that each member of
Jesus’ Body had their needs met. It was
not a religious service, but a time of fellowship where they ate a meal
together, sang, shared what God was doing in their lives, received the words
God was speaking to them as a local expression of His body, and remembered what
Jesus had done by sharing The Lord’s Supper.
They were not guided by selfish ambition, but by the Holy Spirit and the
unity He brings when we all serve Christ’s Body where God has positioned
us. They were not building some
denomination, organization, or doctrinal position in Jesus name but the only
thing that will last forever, The Kingdom of God. As a result their very lives drew people into
The Kingdom. They not only talked about
Jesus and His kingdom everywhere they went, but demonstrated it by living in
The Power of The Kingdom. When people
saw what was happening, those that were seeking God surrendered their lives to
Jesus the King. Those that were
satisfied with their religious ways opposed them. Miracles and transformed lives were the daily
fruit of their labor. They were known as
those who turned their world upside down because as Christ Body they lived and
worked together in The Power of The Kingdom.15
God is calling His Church today to return to what He said it was
to be, a united body led by His Spirit that will transform societies and
establish His Kingdom throughout the world.16 In order to do this we must become what the
Early Church was, a group of people whose burning desire is to establish The
Eternal Kingdom. We must lay down our
denominational, organizational, and doctrinal differences and unite with all
committed followers of Jesus to do His ministry locally, and worldwide. Continuing to do things in disunity is
unacceptable to God.17 We
must not come together just to have religious or organizational meetings, but
to fellowship with Jesus and each other.
We must hear from Him during our times together and go out to do what He
shows us to do. His work must be done,
not out of a selfish desire for personal recognition, but simply to see His
Kingdom come in the hearts of men. Only
as we do this can we truly live in The Power of The Kingdom and change the
world.
Scripture
References: 1Philippians 3:20; 2 Romans 12:3-21, Colossians 1:18; 3John
14:12; 4John 17:20-23; 5John 13:34-35;
6John 19:16-22; 7Matthew
16:18; 8Acts 2:1-4; 9John 17:4-8; 10John 13:1,
Luke 4:31-41; 11John 12:32; 12Matthew 4:18-20,
Luke 9:57-62; 13Luke 6:12-13, Mark
9:31, Matthew 5:1-2; 14Matthew10:1-42, Luke 10:1-20; 15Acts
Chapters 1-4, 8:4, & 17:6;
16Ephesians 5:25-27, 17 Ephesians
4:1-6
Henry &
Rita Pulsifer
As God leads
share this message with someone. Feel free to make copies.
If you have
questions about living in the Power of The Kingdom, please contact us.
You can find out
more about living in the Power of The Kingdom on our website www.basicministries.com
Phone:
(228) 255-9251
P.O.
Box 633
Grapevine, TX 76099 USA
