The Holy Spirit Ushers in the Kingdom of God/Heaven.
Matthew 12:27And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. 28 But if I drive out demons by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
There is no place for demons or their oppression when the Kingdom of God/Heaven is released into any situation.
This scripture clearly shows the power of the Holy Spirit is released bringing the Kingdom of God/Heaven into any situation.
Healing is also a Kingdom of God/Heaven manifestation.
When we are walking in the Spirit, we are bringing the Kingdom of God/Heaven into our situations.
Titus 3:4 But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, 5 He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. 6 This is the Spirit He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour, 7 so that, having been justified by His grace, we would become heirs with the hope of eternal life.
We are regenerated being washed in the new birth from our sins and guilt, and our human spirit is made alive being transformed by the Holy Spirit.
The unbeliever’s human spirit is like a flat battery which is sparked and charged and brought to life by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the agent of the new birth when we express our faith in Jesus Christ.
The Kingdom of God and the Old Testament saints
Matthew 11:11 Truly I tell you, among those born of women there has risen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet even the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been subject to violence* and the violent* lay claim to it.
v11.Jesus speaking here. Few of us would guess that John the Baptist was greater than all the OT patriarchs, prophets, priest, and kings!
But that is what Jesus says.
v11 Greek word beazetai: has two meanings 1) bad meaning violence inflicted on the Kingdom of God/Heaven both Jesus and John the Baptist were murdered.
2) Good meaning; to press into the Kingdom of God/Heaven. The Kingdom of God/Heaven is not automatic but needs us to press into it with great energy.
It is essential that we press into the Kingdom of God/Heaven. If not you will miss all the Kingdom of God/Heaven blessings e.g. healing and other supernatural things.
In these days we need to aggressively pursue the Holy Spirit leading us into the Kingdom of God/Heaven.
Our need to keep on pressing into the Kingdom of God/heaven..
We press into the Kingdom at the new birth but we need to keep doing it to bring the Kingdom into any given situation.
Hebrews 4:9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.
10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.
11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief.
Seems like a contradiction: resting from our works and yet we are told to labour to enter that rest!
All this is to say we must be on active duty in all our Christian walk and be pressing on into the Kingdom of God/Heaven.
We need to be obedient to the Lord at all times honouring him as our King.
The Kingdom of God requires inner righteousness.
Matthew 5:20 For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 23:27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.
Entrance into the Kingdom of God requires an inner righteousness of the heart and this can only happen when King Jesus first enters our hearts and imparts his righteousness to us. This is unlike the external legalism of the scribes and Pharisees who religiously followed (outwardly) the Law of Moses e.g. blowing a trumpet to give alms, and looking down on the other sinners.
Jesus called them out as hypocrites who were full of inner uncleanness in their hearts.
Amen
Personal Prayer
In Part we 4 we discover that Kingdom living needs the character and behaviours as described in the Beatitudes.
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