ADVANCING THE KINGDOM

Matthew 11:12
“From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.”

Paul and Silas were in Thessalonica proclaiming boldly and without fear that Jesus had risen from the dead and the purpose thereof. Many believed them and were changed but some of the unbelieving Jews were offended and wanted to beat them up...

Acts 17: 6-8
“But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, these men who have turned the world upside down have come here also, ... And Jason has received them to his house and privately protected them! And they are all ignoring and acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, asserting that there is another king, one Jesus! ... And both the crowd and the city authorities, on hearing this, were irritated, stirred up and troubled.”

Paul and Silas were committed to aggressively advancing God’s kingdom on earth; neither the world’s agenda nor its appointed leaders could intimidate them. They took no prisoners and had earned the reputation of turning the world upside down by announcing that Jesus is King! Can you even begin to imagine how threatened Caesar and his subjects must have felt? As these bold men ventured into unchartered territory, signs, wonders and miracles followed them, confirming the gospel of the kingdom.

Mark 16:17-18, 20 says, “And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My Name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages; ... They will pick up serpents and even if they drink anything deadly, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will get healed ... And they went out and preached everywhere while the Lord kept working with them and confirming the message by the attesting signs and miracles that closely accompanied it.”

These men knew their identity in Jesus Christ and as a result, they advanced God’s kingdom and stirred up nations, withstood authorities and converted the lost. Sickness vanished before them, while Satan and his demons hid when they appeared. They were a force to be reckoned with and the world could not ignore their presence.

Another great example of advancing the kingdom can be found in the book of Nehemiah. He knew that his God-given purpose was to repair the city of Jerusalem, and the day arrived when he commenced with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. As usual, there were some men who didn't like what he was doing and tried to stop him. They ridiculed and slandered him, but he ignored them and pressed forward to the mark that God had set before him. Eventually, they even tried to kill him but Godly wisdom prevailed and their plans failed again as he armed some of the workers with weapons. They then tried something new…something that usually leads mankind away from their kingdom purpose.

Nehemiah 6:2 records them as saying, “Come, let’s have a meeting; let’s discuss what you are doing. Maybe we can help you.”

Here, they proposed a seemingly good thing. “Let’s put our differences aside and have a meeting. Together we can achieve more. Let’s discuss what you’re doing.” But Nehemiah wasn’t fooled. What’s to discuss if God has given you a plan?

In verse 3 Nehemiah responds, “I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?”

Nehemiah knew his purpose and the gifting he had been blessed with to complete that God-given plan with excellence. Nothing would lead him astray for he had an unshakable faith in God and knew that he could not fail. And this is something you need to grasp. We are part of a plan that will not change and cannot fail: this is confirmed in numerous scriptures in the Bible…

Isaiah 14:24
“The Lord Almighty has sworn, Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.”

Psalm 33:11
“The plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of His heart through all generations.”

Isaiah 55:10-11
“As the rain and the snow come down from Heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is My word that goes out from My mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Hebrews 6:16-17
“Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of His purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.”

So, now that we know beyond all reasonable doubt that God’s original plan and intent for man is a settled unchangeable affair, why is it that we so easily come undone and fail to advance the kingdom?

Man is always trying to benchmark himself against world standards and nothing is more depressing than this hopeless view of life shared by countless people. Generally, they go through life doing everything that is required of them, but nothing with real meaning or value attached to it. Poor self-esteem, jealousy, and a lack of consideration for others often characterize their lifestyle as each tries to find value by elevating themselves, belittling others while mastering the art of manipulation. This is not the way God planned for His creation to live. It was His original intention that, in the world we live in and in the area of our gifting, we would fulfill the purpose we were created for, and this would define our lives!

Unfortunately, we have lost touch with God through disobedience and as a result, we no longer understand why He made us and what He intends to do during our years on earth. No amount of accomplishments can replace the passion of finding your own special niche when advancing the kingdom. Perhaps you have never made a spiritual commitment to your Creator through Jesus Christ, and you are living a life of frustration. Perhaps you have managed to fool everyone into believing that you are a success by meeting their expectations, but deep inside you have failed to be true to your inner dreams, which God has placed in you. You have made everyone happy except you.

Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.”

When we conform to the world, we become like the world and advance the kingdom of darkness. However, the opposite also applies. When we passionately conform to God’s ways, His good, pleasing and perfect will, His kingdom aggressively advances and hell trembles with fear! Now, in order to advance, we need to keep our eyes focused on God and not be distracted by the world’s cheap peep show. These take our eyes off the mark and this leads to our demise. Ask Peter when Jesus invited him to walk on water.

Matthew 14: 25-31.
During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear… But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid!"…"Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water."…"Come," he said…Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"… Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?"

Peter was captivated by Jesus walking on the water and desired to do the same. Jesus called Peter to come to Him. Immediately Peter stepped onto the water and started to walk toward Jesus, focused on the mark, focused on the destination. He walked on water for a while but eventually started sinking; not reaching Jesus, missing the mark, no longer focusing on his destination…So what went wrong?

In life, born-again Christians start off in the right direction, pursuing the mark with every good intention. However, at some point in time we are challenged by the cares of the world, and it is at this point that we determine whose kingdom will advance, God’s or Satan’s. You need to understand that Peter missed the mark because he took his eyes off Jesus and instead, chose to focus on the wind. As a result, he was consumed with fear and allowed unwanted circumstances to cloud his focus and dim his vision. But there is more that we learn from this example! Even though he missed the mark, when He called out for help, Jesus bailed him out. It is at this point that we learn a key to advancing the kingdom. Peter’s lack of faith left him found wanting: had he only exercised dominion over the wind, he would never have sunk – he would have walked all the way to Jesus. As a believer, witnessing firsthand how Jesus had been advancing the kingdom, he should have exercised his rights according to Matthew 16:19 where Jesus said, “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."

By knowing his identity in Christ and exercising dominion over circumstances, his success at walking on water could have been a wonderful testimony, which would definitely have ignited a passion amongst all those witnessing the event. Instead, fear reigned and faith in God was sacrificed. Now understand this, “Walking by your senses makes you ordinary. Ordinary will never advance the kingdom!”

Who better to teach us this than a young Shepard boy named David? When the Israelites where confronted with Goliath, all they saw was defeat and at that moment they reject their true identity as God’s chosen. Like Peter above, they focussed on their circumstances and took their eyes off the mark. Their defeatist attitude prevented them from advancing the kingdom and left them looking like fools. But worse, they were selling the world a fake portrait not doing any justice to our great God.

When David arrived on the scene, he immediately approached Goliath with an attitude that implied, “So what is so special about you, do you know who I am?” As a Kings kid, he knew that he had dominion over the kingdom of darkness. It was his unshakeable faith in God that lead him to say and do what an entire nation were afraid to even consider…

To King Saul he said, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” (1 Samuel 17: 32-33)

Then in 1 Samuel 17: 45-47, David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands."
And the rest is history… David rose to the occasion, Goliath was defeated, the kingdom advanced and God was glorified! 2 Corinthians 2: 15 says, “For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” We are created in God’s likeness and image and when we function and advance victoriously in His ways, people taste Him and their lives are changed forever. As we advance, His kingdom advances and soon the whole earth will be filled with the presence of His glory.

In closing, I leave you with this thought as captured in Luke 10: 17-20:
The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

Remember, the enemy is defeated and you have been given authority to advance the kingdom. As born again believers, as Ambassadors of Christ, you have dominion to advance Heaven’s agenda on earth. What you bind is bound and what you loose is loosed. Advance with aggression and stop for no man!