The Kingdom Is Not Heaven: God's Rule Goes Wherever You Go

Sermon outline

The kingdom of God is not a place you go to when you die but the rule of God within every born-again believer, so wherever you go the kingdom goes and what you say comes to pass.

1. The kingdom of God is not heaven: it is the rule of God

   Traditionally we were taught that the kingdom is where we go when we die. There is a place called heaven, but heaven and the kingdom are two different things. The kingdom is God's way of doing things, His promises and principles, the domain where He has dominion, and it is seen when born-again believers heal the sick and speak words that come into existence.

   “The kingdom of God is the rule of God here on earth.”

   • Mark 10:15
   • Luke 12:31-34
   • Luke 17:20

2. Salvation is for here and now

   Salvation does not mean going to heaven one day. The Greek word soteria means preservation, fullness, healing and prosperity, so a believer can walk in protection and supply while others are in want. We have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness and are ambassadors of a foreign government with a new King, who gives what His children ask.

   Illustration: An ambassador represents a foreign government. He says he does not operate in the economy of the world or under inflation, but in the economy of the bank of heaven.

   “Salvation means I've got the fullness of God here on earth.”

   • Psalm 91:10
   • Psalm 23:1
   • Philippians 4:19
   • Colossians 1:13
   • 2 Corinthians 5:20
   • John 8:44
   • John 16:24
   • Romans 8:15

3. Two things to know: the blessing, and how to possess it

   God has a wonderful blessing for you, but it will not help you unless you know how to become a possessor of it. New believers think they have arrived, yet they are newborn babes who must grow from children into sons. Maturity is measured by whether you understand and apply the principles of the kingdom, such as giving and tithing: the thirtyfold want what the hundredfold receive without doing what they do.

   Illustration: A baby born in the nursery does not put on a suit and make executive decisions in a corporate company. It has to grow, study and be schooled first. We want the executive's results without walking the road.

   “Chronological age does not determine your maturity in the kingdom of God.”

   • 1 Peter 2:2
   • Acts 20:35
   • Malachi 3:10
   • Luke 6:38
   • Mark 4:20
   • 1 Corinthians 13:11
   • Hebrews 5:14
   • Mark 4:24

4. Four things we must understand, and a childlike heart

   He lists what must be understood: what the kingdom is, what it means to enter it, what it means to receive it, and what it means to receive it as a little child. Becoming like a child is about the heart, not about behaving or understanding like a child, living only for 'me, myself' and being led by hurt feelings. Be led by the Spirit and you will have grace and peace where God has placed you.

   Illustration: A woman who left one church for another had no peace for three years. Asked whether God had told her to go, she said no, she felt she must help them. He told her to go back to Nineveh and get further instructions. She went back, her circumstances had not changed, but she came home smiling with the peace of God.

   “Where God gives you the vision, He gives you the provision.”

   • Mark 10:15
   • Acts 20:35
   • Romans 8:14
   • Jonah 1:1-3

5. Number one: what is the kingdom? It has come, and it is within you

   The prophets foretold the kingdom and John the Baptist announced that it had come. In Matthew 16:27 Jesus speaks of His future return with His angels, but in verse 28 He speaks of something else, because some standing there would see the kingdom before they died. He told the Pharisees that it does not come with observation: it is within you. It came at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was poured out.

   Illustration: He calls Mark and Adrian to the front to act out Jesus speaking to the crowd. He also borrows a subject from law, the interpretation of statutes: a judge must find the intention of the legislature, and we must read the Word the same way instead of through religious sunglasses.

   “I don't have to run from church to church looking for the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is within me.”

   • Matthew 3:2
   • Matthew 6:9-10
   • Matthew 16:27-28
   • Hebrews 8:1
   • Luke 17:20-21
   • Acts 2:1-16

6. Wherever you go, the kingdom goes

   You carry the rule and presence of God, and everything that pertains to life and godliness, into your home, your business and the darkest places, and darkness becomes light. Out of you flow rivers of living water, so you will have what you say, good or bad. He defines the kingdom as the spiritual state in which the life of God and of heaven is made accessible to men to enjoy here on earth. God is with us, for us and in us, and He sees whether we are ready for promotion.

   Illustration: Years earlier, while pastoring in the Springtown area, he was warned not to visit a home where seventeen people sold drugs and liquor. He and his wife went anyway and planted a home meeting there. All of them were saved, stopped selling, and within a year had bought houses.

   “Wherever I go goes the kingdom.”

   • 2 Peter 1:3
   • John 7:38
   • Job 22:28
   • Mark 11:23
   • Joel 3:10
   • Genesis 1:3
   • Matthew 1:23

7. The signs of a kingdom: a King, His presence and His rule

   Every kingdom has a king, and ours is Jesus. When you stop bowing to more than one king and are wholly His, He confirms what you say and do. The King's presence is what you feel when you pray or worship, given by the Holy Spirit so that you are not left an orphan. The King's rule was established on earth at Pentecost, which is how those standing with Jesus saw the kingdom before they died.

   “Some people don't have spiritual breakthroughs because you have more than one king.”

   • John 14:18
   • Psalm 103:19
   • Matthew 16:28
   • Acts 2:1-4