Introducing the Kingdom Preface to Study

What to Expect.

How do we prepare?

The Foundations To The Kingdom.

 

Re-edited and expanded, December 22, 2015

Mat 13:33 He spoke another parable to them, "The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three pecks of meal, until it was all leavened." 34 All these things Jesus spoke to the multitudes in parables, and He did not speak to them without a parable, 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, "I WILL OPEN MY MOUTH IN PARABLES; I WILL UTTER THINGS HIDDEN SINCE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD.

To be able to “hear” these eternal things that have been hidden from the foundation of the world might be worthwhile. Then why have they been ignored? They are concealed within the Kingdom of God! Enter the Kingdom; Hear the words!

To study the Kingdom of God with the intention of discovering the words that we have been assigned to preach will be a great frustration. If we fully accept that we SHOULD preach the Kingdom and just begin by mentioning the word “Kingdom,” as a message, that is not what was intended.

The Kingdom Government of God has Eternal Substance that contains an eternal message. Jesus demonstrated that but His words were not often recorded. We believe that was not a mistake but was intended to be that way. Why? That is because the Message of the Kingdom is not in Word ONLY but in Power and Demonstration of the Spirit. That makes the Kingdom the most unusual “message” designed for this earth system of communications.

1Thes 1:5 for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

In this statement the Scriptures connects the Message to the person and his or her’s personal life and testimony. In other words, if your life does not measure up to the message, the message is powerless and ineffective! This, in effect, makes the “message” very offensive to the hearers. They not only reject the person, they reject the message! Not only is the “person” who gives the message responsible but the whole team of “MEN”, who minister, must have the same exact testimony to make the “message” effective!

Therefore, the Gospel of the Kingdom is the most stringent, strict, precise, and exacting message to be delivered, to the whole world! It is far beyond just preaching words. Why? That is because the “messenger” himself must demonstrate the message within his own personal life!

This is one of the strangest phenomena we might imagine but it does explain why this message has been severely neglected by the church!

Well, brother, what is your point? The privilege, the responsibility and the effectiveness of the message is directed related to the CHRISTIAN LIFE and its manifestations. Our point has been that the Christian life is totally dependent upon having the SEVEN (FULL) foundations of the Christian life laid in our lives, experientially, as the “preface” to ministry. Why? The removal of Adam and receiving the fullness of Christ occurs within the experiential foundations. Our bad testimony and human quirks have destroyed our credibility and effectiveness in demonstrating the True Gospel. That is why our “message” has just fallen to the ground and was rejected!

Therefore, as preface to understanding and ministry, God must complete the first part of our preparations by WORKING IN US both to will and to do His good pleasure. First priority, TO PLEASE THE LORD! Phil 2:12 So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.

There is the popular thought that we ALREADY have the commandment to go into all

the world and preach, so lets us go, we don’t need another commandment! That may be true but few recognize that they are not fit to preach The Kingdom! But, brother, can’t we just go and preach the OTHER Gospel? You can, but why waste your life, accomplishing nothing? Of course, in the past, many “went” (including us) but that is why “we should be sent.”

LUKE 4:43] But He said to them, "I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose."

MAT 24:14] "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come.

The primary purpose of the first coming of the Messiah was to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the cities of Israel. Both His Life, His ministry and Calvary was certainly part of that message! And NOW, Before the second coming of the Messiah, the church has been commissioned to preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the whole world. This Gospel of the Kingdom MUST be preached BEFORE the second coming of Christ! When will the Lord return? AFTER the Gospel of the Kingdom has been preached. But, brother, what if the church NEVER preaches the real Gospel. That would present an interesting situation but that is not possible! Why? Someone will!

Since preaching this message of the Kingdom to the whole world is prior to the summation of the church age, it would be reasonable to assume that we would have been given a clear message to preach. We might expect that the message would be so universally clear that every believer would be equipped to preach the same clear message. In that case, there would be no confusion about the content of the Gospel of the Kingdom! We would not have this counterfeit “DIRT KINGDOM” being preached today.

The fact is that no clear message is given for us to preach. We can assume that for 3 ½ years Jesus preached the Kingdom of God but, except for the parables, most of what He preached was not recorded. After His resurrection He taught the disciples about the Kingdom of God for 40 days but what He said is not recorded.

Act 1:1 The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. 3 To these He also presented Himself alive, after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days, and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Act 1:4 And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

It should be interesting to EVERY ministry that Jesus spent His last 40 days on earth preaching the Kingdom of God and connected that to the Baptism in the Holy Spirit! I am now assuming that the fullness of the Holy Spirit, as an Inner Life reality, is the key to preaching the Gospel of he Kingdom. Since the Gospel of the Kingdom has been severely neglected for the last 1900 years, it could be assumed that the absence of the fulness of the Holy Spirit is the reason.

Acts 8:12 Phillip went down to Samaria to preach and he preached the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus but it is not recorded what “words” he preached. However, they were being baptized, men and women alike. It is silly to separate the Gospel of the Kingdom from Water Baptism among the believers and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, also!

In Acts 19:8 we find Paul preaching about the Kingdom of God in Ephesus for three months but it is not recorded what he preached. Still, both Water Baptism and the Baptism in the Holy Spirit was directly involved. In

In Acts 28:30 Paul was in Rome preaching the Kingdom of God and the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for two full years, but nothing is recorded of his message.

In 2 Pet 1 Peter lists 8 requirements to enter the Kingdom but the many other details of the Kingdom that he preached is not recorded. We can only conclude that God has commissioned us to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom, but has hidden the message from us so we don’t know what to preach. This may be the reason that the church has ignored the message of the kingdom and substituted another, more shallow “gospel of salvation” which is part of the Kingdom message but has neglected the Gospel of the Kingdom, itself. The conclusion we have arrived at is this; During the dispensation of the Holy Spirit, we are to receive the specific message, for a specific people, at the same time we are to preach the message. This happens by the Living and abiding Word of God along with the abiding Holy Spirit by the Inner Anointing! Since we can be sure this “absence of the Kingdom message” was not an oversight on the part of God, there must be several valid reasons for this omission. There is! Matthew 13 and possibly Matthew 5-6 &7 may explain why.

The Kingdom is like a great treasure that is hidden in a field but when it is discovered the plan is for each of us to sell all that you have (total consecration) and buy that field. (Metaphorically) Why? The Kingdom is part of the field and to get the treasure we must buy the field. We cannot steal the treasure out of the field!

(Buying fields (buildings) that have no Kingdom Treasure is a big deception)

It seems that if God wanted us to find this eternal treasure easily, He would have put it out in plain sight so it would be easy to find. However, we discover that God will only reveal the Kingdom to those who diligently seek for it. The casual looker will find nothing. The one who sits in a pew and expects someone to search for him, will never find anything. This also applies to pastors who, are pulpiteers, but are ignorant of the treasure and never seek for the Kingdom.

Therefore, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness means; as “our first priority” and before all other seeking. This may be the reason seeking for the gifts has been so popular but has been so shallow that it has become very disappointing. The gifts are normal “in the Kingdom” but of questionable effectiveness outside the Kingdom. The “anointing of the Holy Spirit” is of a different effectiveness and reality “in the pulpit” when the minister is functioning within the Government of the Kingdom!” This is one reason the “Kingdom church,” which we hope is emerging, will look very different from the “visible and evangelical church” that we see today.

The Seven Flames of Fire on the Lampstand Church will illuminate the Kingdom of God that is revealed in the Showbread. It is the 12 loaves, the Word of God, (eternal completeness) when eaten, indicate a complete inner experience of the Living and abiding Word of God, which is manifested as Life.

If this is true, why is this available only in the next dimension, the Holy Place? That is because this bread is reserved for the functioning Priesthood. The current, authentic Priesthood is ONLY after the Order of Melchizedek! He is not making revelation available to the casual believer or even those who are still in preparation. Some eternal things can only be discovered when we search with our whole heart. It would be very unusual for a casual believer, the lukewarm, the half-saved, to receive any revelation of the Kingdom of God.

MAT 13:10 And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?" [11] And He answered and said to them, "To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. [12] "For whoever has, to him shall more be given, and he shall have an abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him. [13] "Therefore I speak to them in parables; because while seeing they do not see, and while hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. [14] "And in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,`YOU WILL KEEP ON HEARING, BUT WILL NOT UNDERSTAND; AND YOU WILL KEEP ON SEEING, BUT WILL NOT PERCEIVE; [15] FOR THE HEART OF THIS PEOPLE HAS BECOME DULL, AND WITH THEIR EARS THEY SCARCELY HEAR, AND THEY HAVE CLOSED THEIR EYES LEST THEY SHOULD SEE WITH THEIR EYES, AND HEAR WITH THEIR EARS, AND UNDERSTAND WITH THEIR HEART AND RETURN, AND I SHOULD HEAL THEM.'

MAT 13:16 "But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. [17] "For truly I say to you, that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it; and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Even if we discover the great Kingdom Treasure, in the parables, and want to reveal it, many will just think we are sharing another “story” or another irrelevant doctrine and will not see, hear or understand any of it. All revelation is still solely within the permission of God and He is looking at the maturity of the inner man to determine if they can hear. Those who seek with their whole heart will surely receive understanding equal to their dimension of growth. However, seeking for the Kingdom, out of curiosity or with a casual attitude, will be fruitless. God does not waste His revelation on unconcerned individuals.

But why did God make it so difficult? Years ago I was taught to believe it was all by grace and we didn’t need to do anything except believe something about Jesus! Of course, everything really is by God’s Grace! But it is God’s Grace that gives us the ability to seek with our whole heart and the faith to believe that when we meet the requirements, God will freely give. Casual grace, to do nothing, along with casual faith will get you a chunk of coal for Christmas.

Using the word “kingdom” as a cliche must be very distressing for the Holy Spirit who has been sent to lead us into all “Kingdom” truth.

Since the Kingdom is revealed in the Showbread, the next priority for the church should be making the transition from the Outer Court (natural light) to the Holy Place life and ministry. (The Seven Flames of Fire)

The Kingdom and its inner life and inner government, will surely remain a great mystery to those trapped, by the ministries, in the natural light of the Outer Court. Under the Spiritual Light of the Seven Spirits of God, in the Holy Place, anything and everything is available to us and is experiential.

God’s eternal purpose is to reveal these things concerning the Kingdom, first to the church and then through the church to the whole world. How? That is by Preaching the Kingdom to all nations. This is not complicated! Still, too many will never see or hear or respond to the clear word of the Kingdom, when it is finally preached!

Nevertheless, regardless of this stupidity, the Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in

the whole world as witness to every nation and then the end shall come. Well, brother, you make these wild statements but never tell us how to enter into these realms.

1Cor 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, 13 which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. 14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. 15 But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no man.

1Cor 2:16 For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE SHOULD INSTRUCT HIM? But we have the mind of Christ.

Isaiah_11:2 And the Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Of the Seven Spirits of God, these are three of the Seven Spirits (each Spirit has two functions) that rested upon Jesus from the beginning. ( He was given the Spirit without measure) These Seven Spirits were active within the MIND OF CHRIST. If we have the MIND OF CHRIST there is a manifestation that is available to us! How do I know that?

Eph 1:15 For this reason I too, having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists

among you, and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Eph 1:18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you may

know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the one to come.

Eph 1:22 And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all.

These verses remove many of the limitations that we accept as normal for “the visible church.” However, no limitation should assigned to the Church, which IS His body!” Why? If we recognize that His body is the fulness of Him who fills all in all, we should recognize there is NO LIMITATIONS. (Even to the Greater Works) This great provision was brought about by His resurrection from the dead!

The problem is not in these verses but it what we have accepted as “His body.” To refer to the pitiful condition of the average believer and the carnality of the visible church as His body, the fulness of Him who fills all in all, is bordering on the ridiculous! To insist upon that folly is really ignorant!

If we are intent upon solving, at least the beginnings, of this problem with immaturity, the lukewarmness and the casualness of the visible church, we must START TODAY to pray for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation in the Knowledge of Him. Don’t wait for someone to DO IT FOR YOU but take that personal responsibility TODAY.

May God grant us the wisdom to seek the Kingdom first and foremost. The Kingdom

contains all the words hidden in the Showbread that are needed to make the proclamation of the Kingdom but the Holy Spirit reveals these words from the Showbread to those who are standing in the primary Kingdom position, the Holy Place. That means, He reveals to those who are functioning within His Laws and Government. But, brother, why are these words not being spoken today?

1 COR 2:7] but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory; [8] the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory; [9] but just as it is written, "THINGS which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, AND which HAVE not entered the heart of man, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM." 1CO 2:10 For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. [11] For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man, which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God. [12] Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God, [13] which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. [14] But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.

This reveals the problem of preaching the non-visible Kingdom of God before we search for it with our whole heart and find it, in that Spiritual Realm. Man has no words sufficient to speak these things until the Holy Spirit gives us the spiritual thoughts and then He must give us the spiritual words to convey the spiritual thoughts.

However, the natural man, enjoying the natural light, the sounds, the activities, the excitement, the music, the dancing and the sunshine of the Outer Court, (the visible church realm) will not accept spiritual things because they are foolishness to him because he cannot understand them.

Even if we did enter into this revelation and received the spiritual thoughts and the spiritual words to preach the Kingdom, our audience, that could actually hear and understand, would be very limited. The average church might reject the message all together as “foolishness or too high and lofty because no one is going to attain to that place anyway.”

Jesus evidently had this same problem because He found it necessary to just speak in parables because the people couldn’t understand. However, the Holy Spirit selected a few people that Jesus could explain the parables and share something about the Kingdom of God. Then after His resurrection He was able to fill in the gaps for them, that was beyond their capacity before that time! It was over a period of 40 days that He removed the veil from them. That was AFTER the veil to the Most Holy Place was torn in Matthew 27.

Paul evidently discovered much about the Kingdom when he was caught up to the third heaven and saw things that were not lawful to speak about, plainly. Still he was permitted to speak about the Kingdom during his ministry and again in Rome for two full years just before he died.

Many of us would be willing to speak about the Kingdom if we knew what to say. Here is the difference; Jesus, Paul and the Apostles “preached the Kingdom”, NOT ABOUT THE KINGDOM! I believe the Seven Spirits of God are willing and eager to reveal the Kingdom to us but first we need to make the transition from the Outer Court to the Holy Place. The Glory of God shining through the torn veil will humble us so the revelation of the Kingdom won’t puff up our ego so we self destruct. Then we must have the wisdom to know who can receive the message and who can’t. It is no wonder the church has substituted another gospel and ignored the Kingdom.

“The keep it simple, stupid” (kiss) doctrine has replaced the message of the “mysteries of God” because it is thought that we must speak at the kindergarten level so everyone will understand. The reason given; How can they believe if they first can’t understand? This is the greatest problem with preaching the Kingdom! For some reason the fact that they didn’t understand didn’t bother Jesus. He knew that no one could come unless the Father drew them.

Still, it is very disturbing to the preacher if what he is preaching is not understood and therefore, he thinks he has failed. If the multitudes don’t understand that may be just normal. For that reason, we should all get all the foundations, experientially in our lives, and then pray and ask for the Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation and seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness so that we might be able to understand. These functioning “Seven Spirits” are certainly lacking in the visible church! The Kingdom is not difficult to understand but it comes by revelation. The natural mind is of little benefit! For this reason, the Kingdom will be hidden from the casual believer and from those who have not made a full consecration and have, in turn, received the Mind of Christ, the renewed mind of the new inner man.

Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual (logical) service of worship. 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

This “presentation of our bodies” is the primary act of our consecration and our introduction to our personal Consecration Offering! It is our “consecration offering” that begins our transition to the next realm of the Christian Life! That is our introduction to understanding what the will of God is for us, personally. This is preceded by the “renewing of the mind” which permits us to recognize the next realm, the Holy Place.

Since the visible church has focused upon the “forgiveness of sins” as full salvation, it has ignored the hundreds of scriptures about going on to perfection or full maturity and has presented the Kingdom as some future event that is irrelevant today. This ignorance has robbed the believers of any zeal for preparing for their eternal destiny and the result is ignoring their responsibility for fulfilling the Eternal Purpose of God. The revelation of the TABERNACLE OF GOD has been reduced to “going to heaven when we die.”

Rev 21:1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be among them, 4 and He shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

The Tabernacle of God IS (1) the New Earth, (2) The New Heaven and (3) the New Jerusalem. Paul was caught up to the Third Heaven, (3) The New Jerusalem, and that transformed his ministry with a personal revelation of the High Calling and to what “goal” he was pressing into.

Since the Tabernacle of Moses and the revelation given in the Book of Hebrews was ignored “as just Old Testament,” there has been no understanding of the Tabernacle of God and the result is; the ignorance of our responsibility to prepare our lives with ALL the foundational preparations for the Eternal Priesthood after the order of Melchizedek.

This has resulted in an earthly, carnal, uninformed ministry, with no anointing on the new inner man and totally unprepared to preach the Real Gospel of the Kingdom!

1John 2:27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him. 28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him.

The “Give your heart to Jesus and He will make you happy and supply all your needs” gospel, has only produced a pitiful, carnal, helpless, lukewarm, casual bunch of “pseudo believers” who sit in a pew with a counterfeit sense of security. “SAY THESE WORDS AFTER ME” and join the church, is NOT the Gospel of the Kingdom. That, at very best, is shifting sand!

If we can all begin here in our “Preface to study” we will be on solid ground!

Since everything is about to SHAKE, this will be a better place to stand.