“Thy Kingdom Come”
“This is not only a desire of the church, it is also a responsibility of the church. The church ought to bring the kingdom of God to earth.”......Watchman Nee (The Prayer Ministry of the Church).

This should be the prayer of the Church. The Ekklesia should be advancing the Kingdom of God in whatever region that we are in.


“If I By the Spirit of God casts out demons there is the Kingdom of God.” (Matt. 12:28). “Today wherever the children of God cast out demons by the Spirit of God, and destroy their work, there is to be found the kingdom of God.”... Watchman Nee. (The Prayer Ministry of the Church).


“and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.” (Luke 10:9)

“nor will they say, 'Look, here it is!' or, 'There it is!' For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:21)

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Mike

Another important perspective Mike

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William

“Thy Kingdom Come”
“This is not only a desire of the church, it is also a responsibility of the church. The church ought to bring the kingdom of God to earth.”......Watchman Nee (The Prayer Ministry of the Church).

Watchman Nee didn't go far enough.

We don't bring the kingdom of God to earth, its already here.

If we are born of God an indwelt by the Spirit of God, there is the Kingdom of God. If you are born of God and know you are made a part of Jesus bride, you are a citizen of that Kingdom. If you are born of God and believe God's spirit has anointed to you fulfill his will, obey his commands, bare his spiritual fruit, you manifest the Kingdom of God in your own life.

Everyone that is born of God is in God, as Christ is in the Father, so we are in Christ and Christ is in us. God's kingdom dwells in us, we dwell in God where God's kingdom originates.

We don't bring it, Jesus has already brought it, we are it and we are to declare it to the lost, rejoice in it by way of covenant and worship Jesus because he has made us partakers of it.

The gospel of the kingdom is the goodnews that a sinner may enter that kingdom at the moment of faith. When we put on immortality, we will see the Kingdom of God without blinders, without carnal intrusions. We will see that when Christ lives in us by the Spirit of Christ who is the Holy Spirit sent of God, we will know what we declare and proclaim to the world is a Kingdom we are citizens of and sons and daughters of God himself. We are a royal priesthood a holy nation...we are not merely secular people who have added Jesus to our list of gods we serve.

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Marvin

I tend to believe there are two phases to this,... ‘SEEING’ and ‘ENTER’
What do you see ?

Jn.3:3,
“¶ Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, ‘HE CANNOT ‘SEE’ the kingdom of God.“
............

Jn.3:5,
“¶ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, ‘HE CANNOT ‘ENTER’ into the kingdom of God.”

We know what it is to be born of ‘THE SPIRIT’, but what is it to be born of ‘WATER’ ?

Eph.5:25,26,
“Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26 That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the ‘WASHING OF WATER BY THE WORD”

But, what does it mean to wash with The WATER of The WORD ?
.... not just washed with The Word,... The ‘Water’ of the Word-

To me,
If we try to just read the word and do it,.. ... NO,...we are to be led by The Spirit of that Word,..to lead us,...show us,.. led by The Spirit of God,Who is The Word,..

OR,.. (the same)...

Baptized unto a death,....

.....is that a death that has to continually be worked in us through
The Spirit ?
Paul said death worketh in him, but life in others,... then I believe once life was working in them , then death worked in the one (s) that comes to that life,..... there has to be a death to bring forth life.
THAT, is the Life He leads us into.

Titus3:5,
“Not by works of righteousness which we ‘HAVE’ done, but according to his mercy he saved us, ‘by the washing of regeneration’ , and ‘renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

(Changed from glory to glory)

Or, wouldn’t our King , give us power to become son’s/ children of God,
in God’ kingdom...
( meaning: children of The Word ? (God,...He is The Word).... in His Kingdom,... as obedient son’s / children ?,...

*the ‘high calling’ of God.

Jesus,Who cannot be separated from ‘The Word’ is our King.

A love that will not let us go,
Oh ! What a love,
❤️

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elizabeth

Yes Amen!!!
Praise God for His mercy and how He is revealing Himself in this thread!
So encouraging to read so many posts that bare witness of His present and eternal glory:)))

Continuing with the aforementioned analogy (not because it is mine, but is literally how He began confronting/comforting me a month or so ago) utilizing the producer/director/script context;

“The Lord directs the steps of the godly” psalms 37:22

Jesus Himself is the kingdom and the script-
“The universe cannot contain Him”
“In Him we live, move and have our being”

A kingdom is the area in which the authority of the King is actualized...

“Anyone who claims to live for God must walk as Jesus walked” 1 John 2:6

So how did Jesus walk...was His life “scripted” by the Father?

“The Son can do nothing of Himself but all things are of the Father. The Son doesn’t do anything He hasn’t seen the Father do and doesn’t say anything He hasn’t heard the Father say,... if you’ve seen the Son you’ve seen the Father- for the Father and I are one” (paraphrased from memory)
Sure sounds like Jesus was following a script...
here are more examples;
“Man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” Luke 4:4
“Why do you say you love me but you don’t do what I say” (paraphrasing from multiple scriptures)

So Jesus served as an example of one whom obeyed or stuck to the script... even unto death and a death on the cross-

When one is under orders of a King, everywhere their feet go to carry out those orders, there is the kingdom being advanced. Hence blessed are the feet that bring the good news!

Declaring the captives free is to say that they are no longer bound by fleshly efforts, groping in the dark, attempting to be good enough all while caught in a closed loop whereby the more success they have in that endeavor the more death and destruction it brings- but now Jesus (the King of creation) has reconciled in Himself ALL THINGS WETHER ON EARTH OR IN HEAVEN!!!
Hallelujah praise God:))))
Now we have the very light by which God created light, no longer groping in the darkness tryin to find Him, but He has appeared to us and given us a new life as citizens of His kingdom:)))
When we find this, it is indeed a pearl of great price and we gladly go and sell (die to) all of our old life and joyously go ALL IN on this new found treasure, whereby we have assurance that He will by His Spirit direct us in the way of His Son. And while it does start as a small seed, if we continue in His production- not going back to our old one, it grows and grows spreading, flowing into every nook and cranny of not only our life bed but those whom He has authored to touch thru us:))))
I mean how awesome is that??!!!!!

As best I can presently see, God the Father went “all in” on Jesus and everything He does, by word or spirit, serves to glorify/magnify His Son the Christ. And as we follow the script written for us before the foundation of the world, doing the good works for which we were created, by the power that works mightily in and thru us, He brings about His will- the expression of His perfect love:)))
How cool is that??!!!!
I mean the beauty of His love is sooo overwhelmingly glorious that it is literally the desire of the nations, the song of our hearts, the anthem of our lives!!!

Christ is in me!!! His is alive and risen in me!!! His kingdom is within me!!! And I’ll not be ashamed for I will boldly proclaim His glory and praise Him and worship Him because He is good to me and is worthy of all praise!!

“To he that is holy, everything is holy... to He that is not holy, nothing is”
If we are allowing His grace to divinely influence our hearts to follow His Holy Spirit, then everything we see and do, being His will, is Holy!

“Pray continuously, without ceasing, giving thanks in ALL THINGS, for this is God’s will for you IN CHRIST JESUS”
If we are standing on His promises, walking in His ways, then EVERYTHING that happens with/for/to us is part of His will and we can fully trust in it:))) Peace!!! The unending, overwhelming, Peace!!!
How great is our God!!!
How great is His name!!!
How blessed are we that we should be called His children??!!!!

Thank you Lord!!! Thank you for who you are and everything you’ve accomplished thru Christ Jesus and for the gift of your Spirit and your Word!
May we walk worthy of the gospel that saves us<\\\><

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Fletcher

"We don't bring the kingdom of God to earth, its already here."

Brother Marvin, I agree with you that the Kingdom of God is within every believer, but the Lord has taught us to pray "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." We are to continue to pray this prayer until Jesus Christ returns and establishes His Kingdom upon the earth.

We are in a spiritual warfare with principalities and powers, and even as the Son of God was manifested to destroy the works of the devil, the Church has been called to declare the victory of the Lord Jesus over all of the works of the devil.
The Kingdom of God has yet to come in it's full manifestation, for when that happens the principalities and powers will be displaced, for the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

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Mike

I believe the KOG “is what it is.” It is fully in force now. The extent to which it is not fully manifested is due to our failure to fully “enter in,” not because the KOG has only partially been revealed.

ADD: 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; 11 concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.
John 16:7-11

Jesus did not seem to think his physical presence was needed for the KOG to function fully.

Nonetheless, we look forward to his physical presence.

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Todd

Joh 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

If Jesus thought his kingdom was not of this world should we not think so , Jesus could have defeated the Romans and set up his kingdom but he chose to die on the cross for our sin

I think most people are trying to set up there own kingdom in the guise of the kingdom of God

Jesus is setting up a future kingdom, when the disciples asked and thought about the kingdom

The messianic kingdom is yet future , I can see noone has actually read what I have written

Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?

We tend to play pick and choose with the verses we like that support are view of the kingdom of God without taking a whole Bible approach from genesis to revelation

I guess this is due to biblical illiteracy

Acts 1

6 When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?

7 And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.

8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth

Note when they say the kingdom to Israel in acts

The millennium is something that is discussed throughout the old testament

Like in John Bunyan's pilgrim progress most people are trying to make the city of destruction the heavenly city it will not work
There is an invisible kingdom , who is waiting for the Kong of kings and lord of lords

It seems to be a flights of fancy kingdom , when we say THY kingdom it is not our own view of what the kingdom is

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Dominic Shiells

//I guess this is due to biblical illiteracy//

Is that your go-to comment when people do not agree with your view?

Jesus clearly said the KOG was “upon you” meaning “here, right now.”

Your interpretation is strained at best.

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Todd

Hi Dom:

Well, to put if frankly Dom, youre either not reading what's being said or you are unwilling to listen to what is being said.

1. Joh 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

You quoted the verse in rebuttal to an opinion no one who has posted on this thread holds. "set up there own kingdom in the guise of the kingdom of God"

Then you said "Jesus is setting up a future kingdom, when the disciples asked and thought about the kingdom

The messianic kingdom is yet future , I can see no one has actually read what I have written" Ive read this whole thread and what you've written. The problem may be you have an incomplete understanding of the Kingdom of God yourself.
Again, there is no one here claiming we are living in the full manifestation and full completion of God's kingdom. We (I specifically )are saying the Church is under the rule of God, we can see the kingdom as we see Christ work in and through us and one another. We enter the kingdom by faith, which starts at the moment of conversion. The Church is Jesus kingdom, God's kingdom. Since the kingdom is "in us" we know we have both seen and entered the Kingdom of God.

You quoted the Act 1 text supposing the 'kingdom' means the Kingdom of God, but that is not what is I view here, it's the land first obtained under Moses and Joshua, where Israel may live out its covenant with each other and with God. The restoration of promised land is what the disciples asked about, but Jesus wanted them to see "new covenant" minded, that their inheritance is to be Ps 2 I will give thee the heathen for thy inheritance"...way beyond the little plots of land they were concerned with.
They were going to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God, so that the heathen may enter it both immediately and finally when they receive immortality in their bodies.

We also know this present world is not fully yielded to Christ, and Christ has not presented it to the Father as yet. So we wait for that and in that sense Jesus is still setting up the Kingdom of God.

Jas 2:5 Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?
You quote the James text as a proof text, yet seem to miss the reality of God's present "kingdom rule" in the Church.

Then you quote other texts all alluding to future restorations, fulfillments and completions of God's work in this world. But none of that undoes the remainder of God's word pertaining to the Kingdom of God being entered, seen and obtained this very moment.

Ive read Pilgrims progress about a dozen times, I am currently re-reading it now. It does not teach what you say "most people are trying to make the city of destruction the heavenly city it will not work"
Bunyan taught that the city of destruction was poplar because the celestial city was evil spoken of, difficult to go to, or didn't really exist. The city of destruction was inhabited mainly because sin and the pleasure of sin is its main attraction.

lastly, Ive not read any flight of fancy posted by anyone speaking of the Kingdom of God, so far ( other than yourself) we are all echoing in our own words the very present working of God in his people; they are citizens of that kingdom and declarers of it's immediate availability upon faith in Christ. The full apprehension of that Kingdom will come in Christ's appointed day.

The long post was not made with the intention of belaboring my point of view, but to give you reason to rethink your position and attitude about the previous posts that were made.

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Marvin