The Secret to God's Kingdom

Well, our beloveds, today we are starting a series of talk or lectures regarding relationship in Christ. Today it will be about expanding God's kingdom and we have taken a portion from the gospel according to st. Luke chapter 13 verses 18 to 21.

Expanding God's kingdom. Now reason being, before we come and start diving into the relationship in Christ and when I say relationship I mean marriage, that kind of a relationship. So before we come and straight away and dive into it, we need to really look from the very beginning.

We did God establish his kingdom on earth? Why did he do that? Now reason being, because God's intention was to establish a family, because God himself in his nature is family. He is the father, he is the son, he is the Holy Spirit. The bond between the father and the son is in the Holy Spirit.

So God revealed himself from the very very beginning that I am family and the first thing when God came to establish his kingdom on earth, he established it with the marital relationship, Adam and Eve, in order through Adam and Eve he has many children and flourish, expand and fill the whole earth. Therefore to God's number one priority is family, the unity of the family and Satan's priority is that division of the family. So the unity of the family is the marital bond and the dysfunctionality of the family or the division of the family is divorce.

Now we did mention last week, you know pre-warning, it's gonna be a bit sensitive topic but we need to know what the Lord expects from all of us. We can't just give a blind eye because there are certain truths that will probably upset me or hurt me. I need to face the truth because in the truth there is freedom.

The Lord Jesus said and the truth shall set you free and then he came and said I am the truth, in me there is freedom. So let's go into relationship in Christ but we will be addressing today expanding God's kingdom. Expanding God's kingdom and this series of relationship in Christ we will be exploring number one the nature of the kingdom of God, number two the principles of the kingdom of God, the nature of the kingdom of God and the principles of the kingdom of God and in the principles of the kingdom of God we will be looking at three things in this principles of the kingdom.

First expansion and growth, second be small i.e. self-denial and third one the right environment. These three things are part of the principles of the kingdom of God. Expansion and growth, be small or remain small i.e. self-denial and then the third one the right environment and this is why we picked Luke 13 18 to 21 because in Luke 13 18 to 21 the Lord is speaking to us and is telling us a parable.

So let's go to Luke 13 18 to 21 then he said what is the kingdom of God like and to what shall I compare it. It is like a mustard seed and please pay attention to the word mustard seed. It is like a mustard seed which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches.

Verse 20 and again he said to what shall I liken the kingdom of God. It is like leaven. Pay attention to the word leaven.

It is like leaven which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. So in Luke 13 the Lord is speaking in a parable. He gives us two things the mustard seed and the leaven.

One would ask what is the kingdom of God? What is it? What do we mean when we say the kingdom of God or more accurately what does the Holy Bible mean when it speaks about the kingdom of God? Well let's see. The kingdom of God is the rule the rule the reign and the manifest presence of God. The rule the reign and the manifest presence of God.

Let's dive a little more deeper now. For those who are writing if I'm going too fast just put your hand up and you'll have to buy me a KitKat later on so I can have a break from you. Wonderful.

So now let's come into this. The kingdom of God is what? The rule the reign and the manifest presence of God. Now question if God is omnipresent.

Omnipresent meaning everywhere present. Omnipresent God is everywhere present. So the question people ask if God is omnipresent meaning present everywhere or everywhere present he is omniscient meaning all-knowing and he is omnipotent almighty.

So if he is he is everywhere present he is all-knowing and he is almighty then the question is why is there the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world? Why is there two kingdoms? If God is is everywhere present if God is all-knowing and he is almighty how come there is another kingdom called the kingdom of the world? Well my beloved since the fall of mankind kingdom of the world was established. Since the fall of mankind kingdom of the world was established. How did Satan establish this kingdom of the world? By dividing the family.

By dividing the family. And how did God the Lord Jesus establish his kingdom in the world? By uniting the family. It is very ironic more so for the Western world.

This is a message to the Western world. It is very ironic for the Western world to de-secularize marriage and making race still sacred. So if you go and speak about race they will come and say you are being offensive, you are judgmental, you are discriminating between the races.

How dare you speak about races you're offending people. But when it comes to marriage they will de-sacralize marriage but they keep the race sacred. My question to the Western world.

Which one came first the race or marriage? What made the race exist? What made the race possible? Wasn't it marriage? If it wasn't for the marriage would there have been ever a race? Never. So the sacredness is in marriage more so in race. Because marriage is the foundation to the race, to human existence.

And that marriage was between Adam and Eve male and female God created. Now so the reason why there is the kingdom of the world ever since mankind fell and transgressed against God. The kingdom of the world was established.

Now we come to this point here. What is the kingdom of God? And we'll look at the nature. What is the nature of the kingdom of God? But before we do that we will look at the nature of the kingdom of the world.

Since there are two kingdoms on earth. One is the kingdom of heaven which is run by the Lord Jesus and the other one is the kingdom of the world ruled by Satan. So let's look at the nature of the kingdom of the world.

What is that nature? The nature of the kingdom of the world which is ruled by Satan is death, is decay, is decomposition and breakdown. That is the nature of the kingdom of the world. Death, decay, decomposition and breakdown.

Therefore there will never come a time the world will be living in unity. In fact before unity there will never come a time the world will live because the nature of the kingdom of the world is death. And whoever chases this kingdom of the world their end is 100% death, decay, decomposition and breakdown.

Because this is the nature of the kingdom of the world. You cannot escape it if you wish to belong to it. If you wish to belong to it.

Now we'll come to the nature of the kingdom of God. The nature of the kingdom of God ruled by Jesus Christ of Nazareth is life which is growth and expansion. The nature of the kingdom of God ruled by the Lord Jesus is life.

The nature of the kingdom of the world is death which is ruled by Satan. But the Lord gives you life. The nature of life is growth and expansion.

Life does not know anything but to grow and expand. Death knows one thing, contracts and diminish and eventually disappear. But when it comes to life, life naturally grows and expands.

That is the nature of life which is the nature of the kingdom of God. So now we'll look at this other point. What is the difference between God being present everywhere and the manifest presence of God? What is the difference between God being present everywhere and the manifest presence of God? God is everywhere, his kingdom is not everywhere.

When we say God is everywhere but his kingdom is not everywhere. Yes he is everywhere but his kingdom is not. What is the manifest presence of God? It is the kingdom of God meaning, manifest means that the invisible God becomes visible and tangible.

So the manifest presence of God is where God becomes visible and tangible. That is the manifest presence of the kingdom of God. Now we'll go further and elaborate on this.

When does manifest presence of God becomes visible? When does that become visible? When you are with him because God is with you all the time. Go back on this. What does it mean God is everywhere? God is everywhere, his kingdom is not.

What is the manifest presence of the kingdom of God? Is when God becomes visible and tangible, meaning the manifest presence of God becomes visible means when you are with him, not only him being with you. When you become with him then it is the manifest presence of the kingdom of God. Now when you are with him then you are living in the kingdom of God.

When you're with him you're living in the kingdom of God. So to sum it up, the presence of God is God being with us. So God everywhere means God is with us.

But the manifest presence of God is us being with him. God is everywhere meaning he is with us. But the manifest presence of God it means we are with him.

The issue, the whole problem of us human beings is this point. Are we with him or not? That's what everything hangs on. God is with you but if God is with you and you're not with him, not gonna help you.

Not gonna help you at all until you be with him. So now my beloveds look at this. We read in Genesis 5 24 and it says, and Enoch walked with God and he was not for God took him.

And Enoch walked with God and what? And he was not for God took him to himself. In other words my beloveds, when God is with me and I'm not with him, even God the source of life being with me, I will still die. But the moment I become with him, there will be no mention of death.

Enoch, the Holy Bible did not say that Enoch died. Adam died. All the other people died.

Why? Because God was with them but they were not with God. That's why they all died. Enoch walked with God.

So Enoch was with God. That's why there was no mention that Enoch died. The Bible says God took him to himself, meaning Enoch never died.

When you are like Enoch, you are now in the kingdom of God. When will God's kingdom be present? When it rules over you. If it's not ruling over you, God is present with you, but his kingdom isn't.

And until his kingdom is not ruling over you, God is not ruling over your life. So if God is not ruling over your life, there is another kingdom that will 100% rule over your life called the kingdom of the world, which is ruled by Satan. And if Satan rules over you since you are in his kingdom, then the end result will be death.

For this is the nature of the kingdom of the world. Are you with me? There are two kingdoms, no more no less. One of them must rule.

God never created us to be our own kings, our own rulers over our life. This life is not ours. It is God's.

So God created us for him to rule over our life. And the only way for God to rule over our life, we must be in his kingdom, meaning we must be obedient to him. We must be under his law, under his rulership, under his reign.

And when we walk with God, God's kingdom comes upon us. When God's kingdom comes upon us, then God being the king to this kingdom, he will automatically, naturally rule over your life. When God rules over your life, the end result or the nature of his kingdom is life.

You will live when Christ is ruling. But if God is with you and you're not with him, you will still die. It's not gonna help you.

This is why a lot of people, especially including Christians, this is why Christians say, well, why is this happening? Like, where is God? No, wrong question. Where are you in relation to God? You need to ask the question to yourself, not to God. God is with you, but are you with him? So don't say where is God when you have walked away from God.

You can't expect God to rule over your life if you are not allowing his kingdom to come in your life and reign and rule over your life. God cannot do anything until you walk with him, until you listen to him, until you are obedient to him, my beloved. Are you with me so far? Now, we come to this question, how can we be with God? How can we be with God? Here we go.

The manifest presence of God. We are still in this. How can we be with God? In salvation.

In salvation is the only way to be with God. What do I mean by that? Well, in John 3 16, it says, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. That is the core and the center of the entire Bible in both its branches, Old and New Testament put together.

For God so loved the whole world, he gave his only begotten Son. His Son was nailed on the cross. So the only way to be with God is through God's salvation to the human race.

And what was God's salvific plan to the entire human race? The cross. Jesus Christ hanging on the cross. This is the only way to be with God.

That's the only way. There is no other way but the cross. There is no other way.

We continue. Look at St. Paul, 1st Corinthians 118. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. The message of the cross to those who are perishing, it's foolishness. But to those who are saved like me, St. Paul, it is the power of God.

In the cross, through the cross, by the cross, with the cross, I am with God. There is no other way. What did the Holy Cross do for all those who accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior? What did the Holy Cross do? Three things.

Salvation, i.e. the Holy Cross, comes to us in three fundamental dimensions of time. Number one, past. What did the cross do to our past? We were saved from the penalty of sin.

When it comes to the past, the Holy Cross dealt with the penalty of our sin. Present, we are being saved from the power of sin. In the present time, we are being saved from the power of sin.

Third, future. We shall be saved from the presence of sin. So the Holy Cross dealt with us in three ways.

Our past saved us from the penalty of sin. The present time we live, it is saving us from the power of sin. In the future, it will save us from the presence of sin.

Penalty of sin, past. Power of sin, present. And then the presence of sin in the future.

Look at this. The Holy Cross paid the debt and saved us from the penalty of sin of our past. It paid the penalty of our sin of the past.

To what? To enable us to live the present with God and be saved from the power of sin. In order to bring us into the kingdom of God in the future and be saved from the presence of sin. For in the kingdom of God, there will be no more sin.

There is not going to be any presence of sin in his kingdom. So my beloved, the present tense in salvation of being saved from the power of sin is the expansion of God's rule and reign in our life. This is, this is our topic.

Expansion God's or expanding God's kingdom. Expanding God's kingdom. So the present tense in salvation of being saved from the power of sin is the expansion of God's rule reign in our life, i.e. the less we make mistakes, the more God rules and reigns over our lives.

It is only natural to be. You want God to rule over your life? You need to stop making mistakes. So the less mistakes we make, the more God reigns and rules over our life.

The more mistakes we make, the less God rules and reigns over our life. And when God is not ruling over our life, who is? Satan. Satan.

That's why people love going clubbing. That's why people love drinking, gambling, drugs, dealing with drugs, men and women, and mixed of everything under the sun. Why? Because the moment you walk away from Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Satan is ruling because there is only two kingdoms.

It is either the kingdom of God being ruled by Jesus Christ or the kingdom of the world ruled by Satan. You follow the kingdom of the world, you will die. You follow the kingdom of God, you will live.

That is the nature of these two kingdoms. The kingdom of God's nature is life. The kingdom of the world's nature is death.

All people who live for this world will all perish. Very simple. God came, gave us the only way to be with him.

What did we say about Enoch? And Enoch walked with God. That's why there was no mention that Enoch died. Because he walked with God.

Wasn't just God walking with him. God walks with all humanity. Not just Christians.

God walks with every single human being. But are all people walking with God? No. Those who do not walk with God will die.

But those who choose to walk with God, death will never conquer over them. So let me say this. God is everywhere, meaning his kingdom is not.

What does that mean? For as long as his kingdom is not established in you, even if God is with you, he can't, you're not letting him to help you. You're not allowing him. His kingdom has to reign in you in order for God to be king over your life.

God without his kingdom in you can't be your king. Are you with me or not? Are you with me? Okay. This is why when the Lord was approached by the disciples, where they asked him, Lord teach us on how to pray.

What did the Lord Jesus say? He said, every time you pray, you'll find it in Matthew 6 9 and Luke 11 3, every time you pray you say our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be your your name, your kingdom come. Why is the Lord Jesus teaching us to pray to our Heavenly Father and beg him for his kingdom to come? Why? Because unless the kingdom come in us and be in us, God cannot be the king over us. And if God is not king over us, he is with us, but we are not with him.

And as long as we are not with him, he is not ruling, reigning over us. We will die even if God is with us. But when the kingdom is established in us, then God is the king to this kingdom.

The moment you accept that kingdom, you're accepting God being king over your life. The moment God is king over your life, he is controlling your life now. You will live forever, for there is no death in the nature of God's kingdom.

And the only way for God's kingdom to be established in us is the cross. That's how God established his kingdom in us after we fell. It is the cross.

Without Christ, there is no kingdom of God in us. The present tense and salvation of being saved from the power of sin is the expansion of God's rule and reign in our life. When God begins ruling over your life, God will start working in you for you and me to make lesser and lesser and lesser mistakes.

Why? Because the mistake is what keeps us away from God. The mistake is that is the one that stops us from walking with God. Every time we sin, that's a mistake, every time we sin, we are not walking with God anymore, we're stopping.

But God moves, God walks, never stops. So when we stop, what happens? The light keeps on going and we stop. Where do we remain once the light is gone? We remain in darkness.

What is darkness? The kingdom of the world ruled by Satan. You're in deep trouble. Before I was going to church every Sunday, I stopped following Christ and walking with him.

I ended up going every day to Satan's house called the club. And I started doing everything wrong under the sun, because that's what happens when Satan is ruling over your life. You'll start making a lot of mistakes.

God says, let my kingdom be established in you through my son Jesus Christ, the cross, so that I reign and rule over you. And the moment I rule over you, I'll start helping you to stop making mistakes. Because the lesser mistakes you make, the more I am manifesting in your life, ruling over your life.

Are you with me? This is foundational to later on when we speak about relationship. This is foundational. It's not about I saw her, I met her, I met him, and I fell in love.

Get a life. What do you mean you met him? You need to lay the foundation right. And God must be that foundation.

Otherwise forget it. Otherwise forget it. And this God, this sweetheart, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, till the day the Lord calls me home.

This is my God. May the whole world, I want the whole world to know this, to hear this. There is only one God in heaven.

His name is Jesus Christ. You look for another God, you're wasting your life, you're wasting your breath, you're wasting your time. Come to Jesus.

For there is no other way but Him. There is no other way but Him. Now, God's reign means God is in control.

God's manifest presence means God is tangible and we are with Him. In other words, this means within reach. When I am with Him, God is within reach.

I have access to the awesome power and salvation God offers me. When I am with Him, I have that access to His beloved Son. I have access to eternal life.

I have access to everything that is of God's nature. I have access. We go for that.

It's the kingdom of God. This question, is the kingdom of God in the present time or it is in the future? Well, it is both. It is present and future at the same time.

Let's look at this. I'll give you a few verses showing us that the kingdom of God is present right now. In Matthew 3 to and saying repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

It is now. It is not in the future. Matthew 12 28.

But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you, meaning now. So these verses are telling us that the kingdom of God, it is now present with us. It is not something that is futuristic coming later on.

Why am I going back? There you go. It's just like that fax. Luke 10 9. And heal the sick there and say to them, the kingdom of God has come near to you.

Luke 17 21. Nor will they say, see here or see there. For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.

It is now in you. You don't need to wait for it to come. It's already here.

The only thing you need to do is grab it. How do you grab the kingdom of God? Except Jesus Christ, the cross. Now we're gonna come to the cross.

It's not just having, you know, it's not fun. You come to the cross and you say, I accept you, Lord Jesus. There are there are conditions to that.

It's easy said than done. How do we accept Jesus Christ? We're gonna come to that, my beloved. Now let's look at other verses telling us and showing us that the kingdom of God is futuristic as well at the same time.

Um, why is it going back to look 10 9 again? I'm pressing the right button, I think. Here we go. The kingdom of God in the future.

Matthew 26 29. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my father's kingdom. That is in the future.

Second Peter chapter one verses 10 to 11. An entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Jesus Christ. That is a futuristic verse.

Now let's come again to the very parable we read earlier, which is Luke 13 18 to 21. Let's come back to that parable. What is the kingdom of God? The Lord Jesus told us what the kingdom of God is.

Then he said, What? What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a mustard seed. What is the kingdom of God like a mustard seed? That's one which a man took and put in his garden and it grew and became a large tree and the birds of the air nested in its branches. And again, he said to what shall I like in the kingdom of God? It is like leaving.

Second thing. So what is the kingdom of God? The Lord gave us the kingdom of God in a parable in very simple words, yet extremely deep, revealing the kingdom of God in a parable, revealing the kingdom of God in a mustard seed and a leaving. It is like leaving which a woman took and hit in three measures of meal till it was all leaving.

The Lord here is revealing the kingdom of God in a form of a parable. So let's come and see what is a parable. What is a parable? Parable uses simple visible illustrations to reveal the order or the nature or the governing laws and principles of the invisible.

The Lord here is revealing a principle, a governing law about the kingdom of God. So through the mustard seed and the leaving, the Lord Jesus is revealing what the kingdom of God is and the principle of this kingdom, how it functions in other words. He revealed the functionality of the kingdom of God in a mustard seed and a leaving.

So easy said then done. Now let's come to the mustard seed. The mustard seed and the leaving, the parable.

The Lord Jesus reveals to us the following, how the kingdom of God operates and what is expected of us to do. In the parable of this mustard seed and the leaving, the Lord is revealing to us how the kingdom of God operates and what he expects of us to do for him. That's what the Lord is trying to reveal through this parable.

Now the principles of the kingdom of God revealed by our Lord Jesus in the parable are, number one, expansion and growth. Number two, he's remain small, i.e. self-denial. Number three, the right environment.

Through the mustard seed and the leaving, the Lord Jesus is saying, I want you, I'm talking about that the kingdom of God is about expansion and growth. It is about being small or in self-denial always. And three, I want you to be in the right environment in order to flourish.

If you take a tree and you plant it in the wrong environment, it will never flourish. But if you plant the tree in its right environment, you will see amazing things the tree will give. If we are planted in the wrong environment, we will not flourish.

But if we are, then we will be fruitful. There are two environments, kingdom of the world and kingdom of God. We belong to God because he created us, not Satan.

Satan is a creation of God. Why are you following a creation and denying the Creator? It's only foolish to do that. So when we are planted in the kingdom of the world, it's the wrong environment, we will die.

But if we are planted in the right environment, the kingdom of God, that's where we're gonna flourish. Now my beloveds, must it seed and leave in both, both of them expand and grow? Meaning, expansion and growth meaning success and profitability. That's what it means, success and profitability.

Our Lord Jesus established his kingdom on earth to grow, expand and be profitable, filling the whole earth. Anyone who opens a company, their intention is for the company to be successful and profitable. If the company is not profitable, it's gonna end up being bankrupt.

No one wants his company to be bankrupt, nobody, including God. So when God established his kingdom on earth, his intention was for his kingdom to expand and grow. Meaning, I want my kingdom to be successful and profitable, otherwise what's the point of dying on the cross? There is no point.

Are you with me so far? Now, this is what we call perpetual expansion. It's an ongoing process. From the day the Lord established his kingdom on earth, he expects his kingdom to be an ongoing expansion and growth.

He doesn't want it to stop, not even for a second, because the nature of life is expansion and growth. Life has to grow, life has to expand. It is death that contracts and diminishes and disappears, but life expands and grows.

So that is the nature of the kingdom, it has to grow. It can't stop, it cannot stop. So now, here is some biblical verses showing expansion and growth.

Here are some biblical verses showing expansion and growth. Look at this, Genesis 128. Then God blessed them and God said to them, be fruitful and multiply.

I want you to grow and expand. Fill the earth and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

When God created Adam and Eve, he said you must grow, you must expand and grow, because my kingdom, its nature is life, and with life it is expansion and growth. That's why I want you to multiply and increase and fill the whole earth. I want my kingdom to expand and grow and reach the four corners of the world, where God becomes present in your life and where you become present in his kingdom.

That's what he wants, he wants you to be in his kingdom. Now another verse, Genesis 15 5. Then he brought him outside and said, look now toward heaven and count the stars if you are able to number them. And he said to him, so shall your descendants be.

God spoke to Abraham, your descendants shall be like the stars of heaven. Growth, expansion and growth. Another verse, John 12 24.

Most assuredly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it produces much grain. Expansion and growth, expansion and growth.

That is the nature of the kingdom of God, my beloved. Now let's look at Isaiah, Isaiah chapter 9 verses 6 to 7. Look what Isaiah is saying here. For unto us a child is born, he's speaking about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, all glory to his holy and mighty name.

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. And the government will be upon his shoulder. And his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Look at verse 7. And of the increase, of the increase of his government and peace, there will be no end. So his government is on the increase and there will never be an end to this increase. Even though it's not our topic, but look at verse 6. For unto us a child is born, but unto us a son is given, not born.

This is showing the person of Christ, both perfect God and perfect man. The child is born, his humanity. The son is given, his divinity.

The son here means the son of God who is God. God can't be born. God is the creator.

So his divinity is the son. The son was given to us, but the child was born. His humanity was born in a manger, but his divinity is the one who created everything.

Now we go further. Let's look now at the mustard seed and the leave-in. Point number two, they are both small.

First, expansion and growth. Both mustard seed and the leave-in, both expand and grow. But now we look at the mustard seed and the leave-in.

Both are small in size, tiny seed, very tiny seed. And small, biblically speaking, talks about self-denial. Look at this, my beloved.

2nd Corinthians 12, 9 to 10. I'll give you these verses that talks about remaining small or being in self-denial, living a life of self-denial. 2nd Corinthians 12, 9 to 10.

And he said to me, my grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.

For when I am weak, then I am strong. For when I am small, then I am strong. For God's strength is revealed in my weakness or in me being small.

Saint Paul asked the Lord Jesus to heal him. Looks like he had a bit of a little lump on his foot and a very foul odor would release every time it bursts. So he begged the Lord to take it away from him.

He said, no, no, no. My grace is sufficient for you. I'll leave it on.

I won't take it. Because this little lump keeps you small. Because every time that foul odor comes out of you, you run away from people being, you know, embarrassed.

That will always keep you broken. And that brokenness will keep you small. Because to be in my kingdom and remain in my kingdom, you need to remain small.

Self-denial. A Christian cannot be boastful of themselves. The moment you start saying, as a Christian, you start saying, I did this and I built this and I preached to the whole world and I brought the whole world to Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I build the churches for him. I healed the sick. When I pray on people, they are transformed.

I, I, I cannot exist in you as a Christian. It is the Lord who is I, not I anymore. You deny yourself in order for Christ to be ruling over your life completely.

For the principle of the kingdom of God is, one, you need to expand and grow, and two, you need to remain always living in self-denial. Don't bring false glory into your life. Don't be a boastful person about yourself.

Don't ever do that. All glory must be given to the King of Kings, not to you, not to me. Are you with me? Come on, you're too quiet.

Are you with me? Thank God for that. All right, we're almost there, another two hours. Another verse about remaining small in self-denial, John 12 24.

Most assuredly or truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. The grain of wheat has to die, and what is death? Self-denial. The Lord Jesus in John 12 24 is talking about himself.

He is that grain of wheat. He's talking about himself. Why? Because I am the living bread that descended from heaven.

When you read in John chapter 6, I am the living bread. And where do you get bread from? The grain of wheat. So I am that living bread, I am that grain of wheat, and I was buried.

I remain small for my father to be glorified, and as long as I remain small, I remained in his kingdom, then when you remain in his kingdom, his glory will be yours. His glory will be yours. But if you become boastful, you've lost track of the kingdom of God.

You've moved out of it. God will never accept boastful people in his kingdom. God will not accept people that are bringing loss to his kingdom.

He wants them to be profitable and successful in his kingdom, because that is the nature of his kingdom. It has to expand and grow. Now we go further.

I don't know why it whether you are weak, strong, small, big, poor, or rich. Why? Because Christ wants both quantity and quality, because he came for all. And so God, for so God loved the whole world.

He gave his only begotten Son. His begotten Son was given for the whole world to accept him, and lest it all perishes. So when you are strong, come to Christ.

And when you're weak, come to Christ. When you're rich, come to him. And when you're poor, come to him.

When you are smart, come to him. And when you are not so smart, come to him. He came for all the rich and the poor, the intelligent and not so intelligent, the strong and the weak, because the moment you give him your heart, he will change it in a way that he rules over your life.

Therefore he's able to work through every single human being, no matter who you are or what you are. All it takes, give him your heart and let him reign over your life, so that you end up being with him, not him only being with you. Just give him your heart, my beloved.

Now third, the right environment. What is the right environment? The leave-in is buried in the bread, and the mustard seed is buried in the ground. This is the right environment for both of them to be expanding and growing, to be successful and profitable.

There has to be the right environment for both of them. If I was going to bury the leave-in in the ground, will it work? And if I were to bury the mustard seed in the dough, will it work? You start complaining, and you go back to God, you start whinging and saying, why God? I'm trying my best. I'm doing what I can.

Why are you not there? How come you've left me? Sorry, you're in the wrong environment. You're still mixing with the wrong crowd, and you expect God to make you succeed and be profitable. You cannot mix with the wrong so-called friends, and expect God to make you successful.

You cannot put yourself in the wrong environment, and expect God to be with you, and make you prosper in your life. You need to be placed in the right environment, and the only right environment for you and me, me and you, in order to be with God, is we must be buried, like the leave-in in the dough, and the mustard seed in the ground. And we must be buried in whom? In Christ.

This is the right environment of God's kingdom. Jesus Christ is the right environment. I was crucified with him, I was buried with him, but I rose in him in glory.

You want to rise from the dead? You want to live forever? You want to be successful and prosperous in life, and profitable? You want to receive God's glory? You better bury yourself with Christ, to be risen in Christ, and receive the glory of God. Now what is being buried with Christ? Denying yourself. What is denying yourself? Meaning, whatever I loved to do, I stopped doing.

It's not easy. It's extremely painful. Man, I used to have fun sitting with me mates, and sniffing the white powder.

Man, it was fun when I went to the club, and I gambled my money. It was fun when I drank, and I lost myself. It was fun when I mixed with people, and I enjoyed it to the fullest.

Plenty of gazelles, plenty of lights, colorful lights in my life. It was fun when I watched the wrong things. It was fun when I said the wrong things.

It was fun when I did the wrong things. It was fun. You expect me to give up on all these pleasures, to be with God? But you know, to be with God, I need to go through the cross.

The cross is pain. The cross is being rejected like Jesus was. The cross is being denied.

The cross is being dragged in the streets. The cross is being persecuted. The cross is being shredded.

The cross is being told off, swore at, spat at, kicked, punched, ridiculed. The cross is being nailed on it. The cross is death.

That is an extremely excruciating process. I can't give up on the pleasures, having fun to go and kill myself. For what? To be with God? I don't see God.

I see the world. Which one is easier? Which one makes more sense to be in? To be in a place where I can see or to be with someone I don't see? To be somewhere where I, what is tangible, I can see the results. When I punched somebody in the face, I saw the results of that.

When I go, when I went and chopped someone's head, I got the result of that. But when I prayed, it got worse. You know, I went and prayed.

I said, Lord, heal my illness. The illness became worse. I prayed to God and all those who were my friends, now they are my enemies.

They walked away from me. They left me behind. Why? Because it takes self-denial to be with Christ and self-denial is you need to be in the right environment.

You need to be buried in order to be fruitful. The mustard seed can never be a big tree unless it's buried, unless it dies. And the leaving cannot give you bread unless it's buried in that door.

Without leaving, there is no bread. Without death, there is no life, bread. Christ is the living bread.

You want to receive the living bread? You need to die for him the way he died for you. This is the principles of the kingdom of God. One, expansion and growth.

You need to be profitable and successful. Two, you need to live in self-denial. Three, you need to be in the right environment.

And the right environment of the kingdom of God is you need to die with Christ. For the only way to be in God's kingdom is through the cross. And the cross is death, burial, and then glory, resurrection.

I always say this, Sunday resurrection will never come before Good Friday. Sunday resurrection will never come before Good Friday. You want to be with the Lord Jesus, you better embrace Good Friday before Sunday resurrection.

Good Friday is being profitable, is being successful. It's growth, it's expansion. Good Friday is self-denial remaining small.

Good Friday is death being buried in order to get to Sunday resurrection being glorified. You can't expect God's glory without paying for it. You can't.

The conclusion of this parable, the right environment is being in the presence of the Lord Jesus. That is the right environment. It's being what? In the presence of the Lord Jesus.

The only way to achieve this is by denying ourselves, i.e. remaining small, in order to achieve life which is the essence of growth and expansion. In order to grow and expand, in order to be successful and profitable, you need to live. Because life is growth and expansion.

And in all the only way to live is you need to remain small, i.e. you need to deny yourself. What is self-denial? Death. I live, but not I anymore.

It is Christ who lives in me. I am living for the Lord Jesus. I'm not living for myself anymore.

That is self-denial. That is death. When I live for the Lord, no longer for myself.

As a Christian, you are not free to do what you wish to do. Since the Lord has purchased you with his precious blood, you belong to him. He paid the price for all of us.

It's like going to a furniture shop and you pick a set of furniture and then they'll say it's $10,000. The moment you pay the $10,000, the furniture is yours. The furniture cannot say thereafter to you, I don't want to come with you.

You know what? I don't like you. I'm not coming to your place and I will never let you sit on me. You're not going to enjoy me anymore.

The moment the price is paid, the furniture is mine. I am in total possession of it. I can smash it.

I can change it. I can break it. I take it home.

I sit on it. I jump on it. I sleep on it.

It's mine. I paid for it. The Lord paid for all of us with his own life, with his own blood.

Therefore, I am no longer belonging to me. I belong to the one who purchased me, who is Christ the King. So now, the Lord has full right to do whatever he wishes to do with all of us.

We don't have the right to say, why are you doing this to me? Or I say to the Lord, I'm going to live. I'm going to follow you my way, not your way Lord. I don't have a say anymore.

I'm his furniture now. He's totally free in what he wants to do. Yet, the Lord is so merciful.

Yet, he has full right to do as he wishes without asking us, but he still is asking for our will to be given to him. After he bought us, he still comes and asks, please my child, please just let me be with you. What a merciful, loving, tender father he is.

He doesn't need to ask Bishop Murray, I want to take your eye. He doesn't need to ask. When he bought me, the eye, the nose, the whole body, the soul, the spirit, it's all his.

It's all his. It's all his. It's not mine.

We all know this fact. Nothing comes easy and nothing comes for free. Nothing.

In this world, at a human level, in this physical world, nothing comes for free and nothing comes easy. You want to live in a mansion overlooking the Darling Harbor? You need to pay for it. They will never give it to you for free and they will never give it to you at a price that is like buying a property next to Fairfield, Nita City, you don't love, or Liverpool.

It's not going to be the same price. You buy a house here for a million, the same house in the city is ten million. You want to be with the Lord? The ultimate.

Do you think it comes cheap? Do you think it comes easy? It's very expensive. There's a price tag. You want to be with the Lord? Because with the Lord, meaning, whatever is his is going to be yours.

So he's going to give you something you can never ever imagine, the glory, the unfathomable. How can he give you all that if you don't even wish to suffer a little bit for him? Where is fairness here, my child? Suffering, he gave us in this parable, mustard seed and the leaven. He showed us the principle of his kingdom.

The principle is, both mustard seed and the leaven, they both expand and grow. They both are buried in order to expand and grow. They both remain small and they both are placed in the right environment in order to be effective.

The right environment, the leaven in the dough, the mustard seed in the ground. Both must be buried, both must die in order to be fruitful, profitable, successful in order to expand and grow. You want to live in a glorified life, in an honorable life, you must be in the right environment and the right environment is Jesus Christ.

You must be in his presence. When you are in his environment, you will start expanding, you will start growing, you will start flourishing. But when you are in his presence, you have to be buried because Jesus was that seed that was buried in the ground.

So you need to be buried with him in order to be successful and profitable and resurrected in him. Because after burial, resurrection comes. After being buried, the bread comes and the tree comes.

From a seed to a tree, from a leaven to a bread that gives life. Amen my beloved. We go further.

Words of encouragement, Matthew 11 12 and from the of John the Baptist, until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent takes it by force. Who entered the kingdom of, who entered the kingdom of God first? Who can tell me? Hmm? Who was the first person that entered the kingdom of God? Paradise. The thief wasn't it? How did he entered that paradise? He was nailed on the cross wasn't he? He had to die for it huh? So the first one who entered it was a thief, but he entered it with being dead.

Sorry can we turn the aircon on for a little bit, a little bit, it's a bit warm now. So he was nailed on the cross, he suffered, he died, but he gained eternal life. But on the other side, if the thief made it, then why are you worried? Look at the mercy of God, how far it stretches, how deep it goes.

If the thief was the first person ever to enter paradise, I think you've got a very good chance of entering paradise. I'm sure you can do a little bit better than a thief. So don't be disheartened, discouraged, but rather encouraged.

Matthew 16 18 and I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Before he was Simon, he used to catch fish. After the Lord found him, he started catching people for the Lord.

His name was changed from Simon to Peter. Did you know my beloved, Simon denied the Lord Jesus before a woman out of fear for his own life, but Peter said, if you're gonna crucify me, I do not deserve to be crucified like my master. You better crucify me upside down so that when I'm crucified upside down, my lips are kissing the very nail that went into the feet of my Lord Jesus.

Look at Peter man, amazing. He was a martyr. He was killed for the Lord Jesus.

They killed him, but we still remember him. He's got epistles in the Holy Bible written by him. We read them, we learn from them.

Is he dead? Not. He who dies for the Lord shall live forever. He who lives for himself shall die forever.

In conclusion my beloved, be consistent and be persistent. Consistency and persistency, if it exists, pays off. So when you come to the Lord, you knock once, nothing happens.

You knock twice, nothing happens. You knock ten times, nothing happens. Don't walk away.

Be consistent, keep on knocking, and be persistent. And he said to the Lord, Lord listen, by your grace I will nag on and on and on until I force you to grant me my wish. I'm not gonna let you rest.

I'm gonna turn the whole world upside down. I won't let go of you Lord until you answer me. The Lord loves it.

Sometimes the Lord does that on purpose. He makes you think he has forgotten about you. You pray and you knock and you go, you go to all the churches and you knock on every door.

You bring every saint from heaven. You bring all the angels from heaven and you beg the Lord Jesus for one word, one little tiny, just a sign, Lord, something just make me happy. Not a whisper coming from the Lord Jesus.

You know why? Because we're talking about relationship in Christ. Have we forgotten that when that couple get together, live together, live for one another, in that relationship, one of them wants to be spoiled. So he will, he wants to hear from you all the nice words.

He wants to see that even if he's not doing anything you're still loving him. My husband is not doing much but I still love him. Inside of that husband, he's dancing Shaykhani, you know, like he's dancing with the beat baby but he's not showing it to the wife.

Why? Because he just wants to be spoiled a little bit. He wants to see, will my wife go the extra mile for me or is she gonna give up because I'm not giving into what she's asking me from the Word of God? Or is she gonna be persistent and remain with me even if I'm a pain? True love can only be put to the test in dark times, in difficult times, not good times. That's where true love is tested.

It is tested through the narrow door, not the wide gate. It is tested through the difficulties, not the easy times. Will you still remain loving me even though you're not hearing a whisper from me, Bishop Murray? It's like a dry desert, dead one for you, isn't it Bishop Murray? The Lord is saying, oh yes Lord, it is very dry but by your grace I'm a pain in the neck.

I will keep on faxing the papers. I will not email them until you come and show me how to email them. He came himself.

The Lord wants that from you and me. He wants to see are you gonna stay or you're gonna walk away. When you stay, the Lord will not send a saint anymore.

The Lord will not send an angel anymore. He will come himself. Rest assured, he will come himself.

And when the Lord comes, you're not gonna look any further. You're not gonna say anything anymore. You're not gonna ask for anything anymore.

When you have the Lord, you have everything and everyone. Amen. Almost there, almost there, almost there, almost there, almost there.

One more. Let's see what happens. Oh yeah, thank God it's working.

In conclusion, principles of the parable. Number one, expansion and growth. Number two, be small.

Live in self-denial. Don't be boastful. Avoid pride.

Don't get a big head. Don't be a big balloon. Please remain small.

When people say oh you're a saint, you're this, run away. Don't say thank you and become a big head. You've lost the Lord Jesus.

Don't seek people's approval. Seek Christ's approval. Don't search for people.

Search for the Lord in his church. Search for Christ. That's why I say when you're sitting in the church, don't look around you who came in and who walked out, who sat beside you, in front of you or behind you.

None of your business. You're not here for people. You're not here for the bishop.

You're here for this crown of glory, Jesus Christ of Nazareth. You're here for him like I am here for him too. My beloved, it's about Jesus Christ of Nazareth period.

No one else, nothing else. He is the kingdom. He is the glory.

He is the eternal life. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, the life and the resurrection.

He is the morning star and he is the evening sacrificial lamb of God. He is it. He is it.

He is it. Look for him. Search for him.

Live for him. He is it. The Lord is incredible.

Be in the right environment. Be with the Lord. He is the right environment for God's kingdom.

Jesus is the only one. When we implement these three principles, expansion and growth, remaining small and living in self-denial and being in the right environment, when we implement these three principles, what will happen? Our relationship is built on Christ and it is definitely successful. Now the reason why we spoke to you for the past, oh my goodness, hour and a bit, why we started this relationship in Christ series with the expansion of God's kingdom.

Why? Because my beloved, if we do not start right, we will end up wrong. If our relationship is not built on the right foundation, it will not last. If the relationship is not built on Jesus Christ of Nazareth, it will not expand, it will not grow, it will not be successful, profitable, it will not live.

It will come to an end called death. So we need to start right. Why God established his kingdom on earth? Because he wanted a family.

This family was established by God, no one else. If that family does not acknowledge God being the foundation to it, the family will scatter, will scatter. We need God to be the foundation and to be with God, like we said, what is the manifest presence of God is when I and you are with him, not he being with us.

When we are with him, this is when God's kingdom has come upon us and this is when God only is now ruling over us, when his kingdom is in us. And the only way for his kingdom to be in us, we have to go through the cross. That's the only way to God's kingdom.

And what is the cross? I have to be buried, I have to die, I have to live, not for me but for God, for Christ. So my son and my daughter, if you are not married as yet and if you are not engaged as yet, if you are now in search of a partner in a marital relationship for yourself, I beg of you, I beg of you, you better put Christ number one, first and last in this relationship before you even start with it. If you are not built on Christ as a man, you will never be a successful husband for your wife.

And my daughter, if you are not built on Christ, you will not be a profitable wife for your husband. Before you meet each other, you better meet Christ in your life. As a man and as a woman, you need to know Jesus Christ before you come to know each other.

The reason why marriages are failing miserably in our time and age more than ever, because Christ is not the foundation. We get married for all other reasons but Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Why did you marry her? Because she's beautiful.

Look at the blonde hair man, look at the blue eyes brother, look at the stature brother. When I saw her passing by, my heart fell to the ground and my jaws just dropped. And I looked like that guy on that movie called The Mask, with the jaw going down, down to the ground brother.

So she took me away. So I married her because she is beautiful. Why did you marry him? Because he is rich.

He can buy me a diamond ring worth two hundred and fifty thousand dollars. He said I'll get you the latest Mercedes Benz and I'll build you a massive mansion and you can spend money here, there and everywhere. And I lived in that kind of a lifestyle, totally detached from Christ, who is God revealed in the flesh.

I lived to die. What a waste. We fight over materialistic things.

We argue over materialistic things before we even are married. We are preparing for the big day and there is World War three already taken place before the wedding day. Why? Because the mother-in-law, the future mother-in-law, she said to her future son-in-law, if you don't buy that most expensive, you know, wedding dress for my beautiful girl, I don't know you and I will not give you my daughter.

Poor thing. He gets Centrelink payments. He goes and borrows fifty thousand dollars to buy the wedding.

When is he gonna pay it off? What do we do? We follow materialism and then we run crazy like a chook without a head to pay for those debts. There was no time for us to be spent together in the love of Christ. So we started arguing, we started fighting, we started blaming each other.

My son, my daughter, if you can only afford a granny flat, live in a granny flat and the Lord is with you, then living in a mansion and Satan is with you. The Lord is the reason for the season. What does it benefit a man if he gains the whole world and then loses himself at the end? But blessed are you, my child, that you lose yourself for my sake, I Jesus Christ, for rest assured, truly I say to you, you shall find it at the end.

You shall find it at the end. So my son, my daughter, when you meet for the first time and he says, can we go out so I can get to know you more? The first time you're sitting, the first thing you ask him, do you love the Lord Jesus? Don't say what do you do for a living? Are you a professor? Are you a lawyer? Are you a scientist? Are you a teacher? Are you a businessman? What do you have? Do you have a house? What kind of a car do you have? Oh look at your car, it's fallen apart. No, no, do you love the Lord? And the same thing, my son, you ask that beautiful girl that made your jaw drop, you ask her, do you love the Lord? When I go to church on Sunday, are you gonna come with me or you want to take me to the club? Are we gonna argue about going to church? Are we gonna argue about praying? Are we gonna argue about reading the Holy Bible? Are we gonna argue about attending the church and listening to the best-looking bishop in the world giving that talk? Are we gonna argue or are we gonna both run to Christ the King? Now this is a family, now this is a relationship that must be built on the rock.

This is the way, this is the way my beloved. Through the parable of the mustard seed and the leaven, the Lord revealed the principles of His kingdom. Both very small, both get buried, both get buried in the right environment and both expand and grow.

That is the nature of the kingdom, life. You want to live? Be with the Lord, not just the Lord being with you, but you be with the Lord. That is when He rules over you.

Amen. And that is it. And now let's stand for the finale prayer, please.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, Amen. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love.

Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt, faith. Where there is despair, hope.

Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. Oh, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

Amen. May the Lord Jesus bless you, guide you, and protect you all the days of your life, now and forevermore. Amen.

God in peace, the peace of Christ be with you always. Amen.