Sermon Tone Analysis

*Living in the Kingdom Part 1*

| */Hebrews 10:19/* | */Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,/* |

| */20/* | */By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh   /* |

The concept of living in the spiritual Kingdom of God while still in the flesh on this earth was foreign to the disciples of Jesus.

They were expecting a literal Kingdom of God to be established in the earth.

However Jesus clearly said that His kingdom was not a material kingdom it is a spiritual Kingdom.

| */John 18:36/* | /*Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence*./

|

Jesus while upon the earth walked in two realms, namely the heavenly and the earthly.

Jesus clearly indicated that it was possible to live in both words, but He also said that this was hard for His disciples to grasp.

| */John 3:12/* | */If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?/*

|

| */13/* | */And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven./*

|

*Spirit Soul and Body*

Man is not just a physical being, there is a part of man which is spirit.

This is the invisible man within us, sometimes referred to as “the hidden man of the heart”

| */1 Peter 3:4a/* | */But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible,/* |

| */2 Corinthians 4:16/* | */For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day./* |

Our inward man is a spirit being; it does not exist in time but in eternity and has all the capabilities of a spirit being.

When a person dies and their spirit leaves their body the spirit of that person is a complete person in spirit form, a spirit being.

Now once out of the physical body that spirit can see clearly in the spirit realm.

It can see angels, demons, and can travel at the speed of thought.

In other words it lives in the spirit world as a spirit.

Even when still inside you; your spirit is aware of the spirit realm, but because we are so dominated by our physical body with its senses of sight ,hearing, touch, taste, and smell, and our natural mind which is an enemy of God and His realm we do not perceive what our spirit is perceiving hearing, and seeing.

The question now arises how do we meld with our spirit so that we perceive what it perceives?

How can we live in these two realms while still on this earth?

We are told to come before the throne of God with our requests, how can we do this?

Kingdom living requires that we have access to both the Kingdom realm of God as well as this physical realm.

| */Hebrews 4:16/* | */Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need./*

|

| */2 Corinthians 3:18/* | */But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord./*

|

| */2 Corinthians 4:18/* | */While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal./*

|

The bible also tells us that it is possible to taste of the powers of the age to come while still in the flesh on this earth Heb 6:5.

We are told very clearly that the Lord wants to become our friend.

John 15:14.

The question is how do we become friends with an invisible spirit?

The Apostle Paul gave us a clue to this when he said:

| */2 Corinthains 4:18/* | */While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal./*

|

Paul said it is possible to look at things which in the natural are unseen.

These two realms the spirit and physical exist together; one is unseen to the natural eye and mind the other is clearly seen by our spirit.

The problem is we have lived so long in the natural realm that it has become the only real realm to us.

*Out of the body experiences*

There are many well documented out of the body experiences which have occurred when the spirit has left the physical body.

In these experiences it becomes clear that when in the natural physical realm, only the physical world is visible.

However, but when a person’s spirit leaves their body both realms are visible.

Angels can clearly see at the same time our physical world as well as the spiritual realm.

As I said before when Jesus walked this earth he also was walking in the spiritual realm at the same time.

This interaction between the natural and spiritual realms were common such men as Elijah, Moses, Enoch, the apostle Paul and the apostle John.

*The imprisoned spirit*

Our spirit sometimes referred to as the hidden man of the heart, dwells within us.

Even tho the Holy Spirit is joined to our spirit, our spirit is still somewhat imprisoned behind the barriers of our soul and body.

Deep within us, our spirit lies buried and imprisoned behind the bars of unbelief, carnality and rebellion, and our soul life predominates.

As carnal Christians we live in a purely physical realm unable to access and walk in the Kingdom realm of God.

This is the experience of the majority of Christians.

However this is not normal Christianity as portrayed in the bible.

Walking under an open heaven is Gods norm for us.

This is where Jesus walked when He was on earth; He had continual access to the Kingdom of heaven.

| */John 1:51/* | /*And he saith unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.*/ |

The apostle Paul had  problems with the Corinthian church which had some very real soulish problems.

| */1 Corinthains 3:1/* | */And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ./*

|

| */2/* | */I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able./*

|

| */3/* | */For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?/* |

The carnality in the souls of these Christians limited them to a walk with God that was described them as being just babies.

This was a church that moved in the gifts of the

Spirit but they did not have a walk with God.

They had an outer court relationship with the Lord.

They knew nothing of intimacy and relationship with the Lord.

Jesus warned us about this kind of Christian walk when He said this.

| */Matthew 7:22/* | */Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?/* |

| */23/* | */And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity./*

|

Jesus here was not talking about occultists, He was talking about Christians.

Jesus preached the Gospel of the Kingdom; it was not the gospel of the church.

He told us to pray thy kingdom come in this earth as it is in heaven, and in these words He encapsulated  the essence of kingdom living.

We are to live here as we would live if we were in heaven.

We are talk here in a way in which we would talk in heaven.

Our citizenship is in heaven and we are ambassadors to a foreign planet earth.

We are supposed to act as we would in heaven.

We are going to see more and more people taken to heaven so they can see and understand how heaven operates and they will come back and teach us here on earth how we should live.

We cannot live in the Kingdom realm and walk in carnality as well, the one excludes the other.

As Christians we have to come into a new way of living, namely as citizens of heaven.

| */Peter 1:22/* | /*Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:*/ |

The purifying of the soul is linked to obeying the truth; what truth?

The truth of the commandment Jesus gave in Mathew 22. Unfeigned love

| */Matthew 22:37/* | */Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind./*

|

| */38/* | */This is the first and great commandment./*

|

| */39/* | */And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself./*

|

*Compatibility the issue*

The problem lies in the incompatibility between our soul and our spirit.

When our soul is in harmony with our spirit the bars are removed between our spirit and soul and our spirit is free.

In our spirit is the very nature of God, which the bible tells us, is love.

The very spiritual DNA of God was placed in our spirit at the new birth and we became a new man.

The problem is our soul was not changed.

The new birth is instant; the saving of the soul is progressive.

| */Peter 1:22/* | */Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:/* |

*The purifying of the soul is linked to obeying the truth; what truth?

*

*The truth which Jesus spoke the in Mathew 22. Unfeigned love*

| */Matthew 22:37/* | */Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind./*

|

| */38/* | */This is the first and great commandment./*

|

| */39/* | */And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself./*

|

In order to walk in the spirit with the Lord our soul (mind, emotions and will) have to be pure.

The level of soul purity to a large degree determines our ability to walk with the Lord.

Our spirit has difficulty communicating with our soul when our soul is not pure.

As our soul become purer the veils begin to be removed and the realm of spirit becomes more real to us.