"Just where is the Kingdom of God? Is it 'within us,' or is it 'among us?'

Just where is the Kingdom of God? Is it within us or among us? We'll try and settle that question today. The text is taken from Luke 17: 20 and 21.

Welcome to the Jeshurun Ministry Bahamas channel. Please remember to hit the subscribe button and be sure to visit our website where you will find some very helpful information. Now, today's message, the Kingdom of God, also called the Kingdom of Heaven, is neither liberal nor conservative. You may be surprised to know that. It is neither Democratic nor Republican if you're an American. It is neither the right nor the left. The Kingdom of God does not belong to any political party in any country or any earthly organization. The Kingdom of God does not belong to the Christian nationalists. Of course not. The Kingdom of God does not belong to the Baptists even, the Pentecostals. It does not belong to the non-denominational church of which I'm a member. Neither does it belong to the Catholics or the Anglicans. The Kingdom of God has no loyalty to any people, friend, to any group or any movement. The Kingdom of God is far too large to fit any agenda, any doctrine, any philosophy. And there are only three that bear witness or testify in the Kingdom of God. And they are The Father, The Word, who is Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. And these three are one. Yes, one God functioning as three in one. I'll tackle this in another message. It is of a absolute important that believers in Christ be able to tell the difference between the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. And all who cannot differentiate between the two are at risk of being deceived and being trapped by the kingdom of the world and the whore of Babylon which rules the earth presently. Stay with me. I will give very helpful perspective on the Christian nationalist movement and the late Charlie Kirk in this message also.

Father, we thank You for Your love and mercy. Anoint this word, send it forth with power in Jesus name.

As we look for the Kingdom of God, we can find direction in Luke 17 and 21. Let us examine this text to see what it means. Some say the interpretation is the Kingdom of God is among you. Others say it says and should be the Kingdom of God is within you. Now, which of these two is correct? There are many who say that when the King James version of the Holy Bible says that the Kingdom of God is within you, it is a poor translation, glory to God, of what Christ actually said. They say that the more correct translations say the Kingdom of God is among you or the Kingdom of God is in your midst. They say that in this text, Jesus Christ is referring to Himself as the Kingdom of God. Yes, He is referring to Himself as the Kingdom of God and wherever He goes, the Kingdom of God is there. But I do not believe this is what He was referring to here. And I will show you that this way of translating it doesn't make proper sense when we consider what Christ said before saying or telling us where the kingdom of God on earth is presently.

The King James version of Luke 17:20 and 21 say, "The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation, neither shall they say, lo here or lo there, for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you." Glory to God. There are quite a number of translations that deny this is what He meant. They deny that He said the Kingdom of God is within us. Here's the way it is presented in the New Living Translation and many other translations. The Kingdom of God cannot be detected by visible signs. You won't be able to see say here it is or it's over there for the Kingdom of God is already among you. And some versions say the translation should be it is in your midst. But if Christ was attempting to say that the Kingdom of God is among you in your midst instead of saying the Kingdom of God is within you then what Christ says in the first part of His statement would not make proper sense to us.

I will show you, for clarity of language let us use the New King James version which is essentially the same as the King James version. It says, "The Kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here, or see there, for indeed the Kingdom of God is within you." The first sentence of the text, friend, is crystal clear. Simply saying, "The Kingdom of God is not something that can be observed or seen." In other words, it is not an observable entity at this time, which means it is hidden from view. And if it is hidden, then it begs the question, where is it hidden? And if it is hidden, then it means we cannot see it. And this rules out the correctness of the interpretation that says this particular text is telling us it is in our midst or among us. If it was in our midst or among us, we would certainly be able to see it and access all its blessings here on earth right now. But alas, we cannot. This brings us back to the conclusion that we must take the text to be saying just what the King James version, the New King James Version and many others are saying and that is that the Kingdom of God is within us.

Since we cannot observe it, we can conclude therefore that it must come inside when we receive the Holy Spirit and salvation. I'll show why. Revelation 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into him and dine with him and He with Me. Indeed, Christ the redeemer is knocking on the door of the heart of the believer. If we open the door to our heart, the Holy Spirit will come in and have sweet fellowship with the believer. And when the Holy Spirit comes in, friend, the Kingdom of God comes into our heart. Now, if the Kingdom of God is within us, how does it change us? How does this shape our behavior? First of all, it produces what is called the fruit of The Spirit. And as you recall, the fruit of The Spirit is introduced in Galatians 5 and:22. And these are the positive qualities that begin to manifest themselves and control the behavior of the born again believer in Christ. Bit by bit, the character of the new believer is being shaped, chiseled by the fire of the Holy Spirit, who represents the Kingdom of God.

As a new creature in Christ Jesus now studies the Word of God, he studies to show himself approved unto God, scripture tells him. And he begins to demonstrate more love, more joy, more peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control as he moves through life handling its challenges. And when the Kingdom of God comes on the inside of a person, then the kingdom of the world must go out because no man can serve two masters. These two cannot coexist in the same heart. And this is confirmed by the scripture in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 that says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new." The believer can still be tempted to behave the way the people of the world behave. But it will not sit well with him day after day because when he sins, the Holy Spirit will convict him. Glory to God. This fire will keep convincing him and convicting him until he yields. And if he does not yield, it will be extinguished and he will be like a zombie.

Now, let's talk about something that is rapidly spreading in the world today and deceiving many who claim that they believe in Jesus Christ. Political parties and groups in various nations with selfish agenda have attempted to hijack the gospel of The Kingdom and have redefined it to their liking. This has been happening for years at various times. The wickedly violent have taken the Kingdom of God by force, you might say, and now command it to do their bidding. Essentially, they are lost but do not know it. They will continue to grow powerfully in the eyes of the world but are nothing in the eyes of God. Weaklings. The Word of God say these only have a form of godliness. And here's how the amplified version of 2nd Timothy 3 and 5 expresses this. It says they are holding to a form of outward godliness or religion although they have denied His power for their conduct nullify nullifies their claim of faith. Because of this avoid such people and keep far from them. You see they are pretending to be godly but are not. They deceive many just as their father the devil comes as an angel of light to deceive.

For instance, Wikipedia says that Charlie Kirk, a professed Christian who was assassinated recently, became aligned with the Christian right and advocated for Christian nationalism. I sincerely pray that his soul was right and that he is with The Father. But here is what Christian nationalism is. It is a form of religion that focuses on promoting the Christian views of its followers in order to achieve prominence or dominance in political, cultural, and social life. Look it up. This does not sound like the agenda of Christ. He is not calling for the world to, for the believers in Christ to dominate and to have prominence by any group. We are to call for His Kingdom to come. And now those aligned with this movement have made Kirk a martyr after he was shot to death, in order to further their agenda of dominance and prominence in the political arena of America and the world.

Now let's be clear. I'm not trying to put Charlie Kirk in heaven and I'm certainly not trying to put him in hell. I'm talking about the Kingdom of God and the forces at work in the world presently which Satan uses to create deceptive messages about the Kingdom of God in order to deceive those trying to get into The Kingdom.

What is Christian right and Christian left anyway? There's no such creature. Is there any such thing recognized in God's Kingdom? Certainly not. The Kingdom of God is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, is what we are told in Romans 14:17. It is neither right nor is it left. There are quite a number of other groups and organizations in fact who have redefined Christianity in terms of their own narrow selfish agenda while at the same time blackballing others who do not fit their theology and philosophy. Look around you. They are all around us. Meanwhile, they present themselves or their organization as pillars of righteousness. And this is so wrong. This is similar to what the Pharisees and the Sadducees were doing.

In fact, simply by declaring or swearing your allegiance to any people, any group, any organization, political or otherwise, that demand loyalty, you immediately exclude yourself from the Kingdom of God. For no man can serve two masters. The Word of God tells us a political organization is a master. It requires certain kind of loyalty and obedience to the tenants of that organization and all members are required to tow the line. They are expected to go along with the systems, the beliefs and the actions of that organization whatever they are and they must support the manifesto of the party.

For every political party is of the world friend which means it is also of Satan. Yes, I say that I mean it. This is a strong statement but unfortunately it is true. The Apostle Paul urges born again believers in Christ not to become mixed up, tangled in the politics of the world. He warned his son Timothy and all believers by extension. And he said to them, "Endure hardships as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier." 2 Timothy 2:4. In other words, followers of Christ are engaged in warfare and already have an assignment and should not allow themselves to become sidetracked, entangled in things like politics that would distract them from their duties.

The holy scriptures tell us the same thing in at least three ways. One, do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Romans 12:2. Secondly, do not be unequally yoked or tied to unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? Second Corinthian Corinthians 6 and 14. Number three, set your mind on things that are above, not on earthly things. Jesus Christ said that the Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. A mustard seed is the tiniest seed but grows into a humongous tree so that the birds of the air come and nest in his branches. Meaning people from all over the world find a place of rest in God's awesome kingdom. And Christ said it is like treasure hidden in a field. And when someone finds this treasure, this holy kingdom, they cast aside the things of the world and invest their entire life and their time in the pursuit of this treasure which represents the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God.

And therefore, the Kingdom of Heaven is a force that started out as the least significant force in today's world, but will grow into the most powerful force on earth. Yes, friend, it will eat up, mash up all the gigantic nations, all the big kingdoms and powerful world leaders. Christ also compared the Kingdom of God to leaven or yeast in fact which a woman needed into dough and caused it to rise into a huge loaf, large enough to feed so so many. These comparisons friend describe how the Kingdom of God starts small then spreads and transforms everything that comes into contact with it. The Kingdom of God is not exclusive. It is inclusive. And soon the Kingdom of God will be like a huge locomotive on the train track, moving at tremendous speed, running over all those who attempt to get in its way or misuse or abuse it. It will bulldoze anyone who tries to divert it from its course. The Kingdom of God is headed for the train station. It will arrive at its destination on time, after which there will be a glorious celebration in heaven and on earth, and all flesh shall see it together.

Father, we thank You for Your Word today and pray the blood of Jesus upon it. We thank You for the listeners. Bless the listeners with truth. Glory to God. The truth of Your Word and cause them to hunger and thirst after righteousness. My friend, if you've been listening to this message and you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we want to give you an opportunity to do so today. Please say this prayer after me.

Engage your heart:

-Father, I am a sinner.

-I am sorry for my sins.

-I crave Your forgiveness.

-I need Your forgiveness.

-Thank You Lord for Your forgiveness.

-I thank You for Jesus Christ who died for me.

-And today I invite Christ into my heart.

-Dear Lord Jesus, make my heart Your home.

-I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

-Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

-Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are many of us here awaiting the return of the Good Master. He is coming. He is going to return very soon. But in the meantime, you and I need to be busy. In your case, first thing, become water baptized. Let your pastor know that you have given your heart to the Lord and you want to be baptized the way Jesus Christ was.

You want to begin reading the Word of God right away. Begin in the book of John, then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Reading audibly as often as possible because faith comes by hearing the Word of God. The more you hear it, the stronger will your faith become. Pray daily. Attend at your local church. And one glad morning. The Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself. And we shall indeed forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.