“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

John 17:16

Kingdom Now?  Not quite…

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

John 18:36

Kingdom Here…

Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.

Luke 10:19

Kingdom, At Hand, Looks at a different place, and, similar to the power of sin in the individual life of a believer, accomplishes the visible by means of an invisible change.

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.

1 Corinthians 15:50

If you fail to grasp the dynamics of the Kingdom, you will miss it.  It is not of this world.  What did Jesus give His disciples power over?  “[A]ll the power of the enemy” (see Luke 10:19 above).  After His resurrection, Jesus told His disciples,

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.

Matthew 28:18 (portion)

If you want world domination and conquest, you must look at the cross, because that is what it was.  A perfect, sinless life;  the pure, holy blood of a meek and gentle lamb, sacrificed for all generations past, present, future, and every tribe and nation of the Earth, and His words suffice:  It is Finished.  (John 19:30).

It is not some complicated thing.  Jesus’ act of obedience defeated the enemy, “having stripped the principalities and the authorities, he made a shew of them openly — having triumphed over them in it.” (Colossians 2:15 YLT).

What, after all, was it that caused satan to fall from heaven like lightning, except the company that Jesus sent out  preaching repentance and the Kingdom of Heaven, healing the sick, and casting out devils?

There is absolutely no way in the world for a human being to be holy as God is Holy, except by His Spirit.  God gave His perfect legal code of holiness proving this.  Jesus came to fulfill the law, and through His sacrifice, we are made holy, but through His enablement, through a new heart, and a new conscience, and a new mind, and His Spirit, we are not only Holy before the Lord, but, for the first time since the fall, we are able to in Spirit AND in truth, LIVE holy (see 1 John 2:1-2 and 1 John 3:1-10).  The proof that Christians can live Holy, to the modern, worldly, nominal Christian, is simply that, short of Jesus, you can’t.  That is proof.  Jesus, the God of creation, has now come, and, as Paul wrote, if we live by the Spirit, we will not gratify the desires of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).  We have mercy and grace to learn, because we have a new heart that wants to, and no longer wants to grieve the one we love, serve, and honor.

To quote a prophet, we rule the visible realm from the invisible.  As the Spirit of Christ comes into our heart, displaces the stony heart, and gives us the new heart of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26), and as our minds are renewed day-by-day we are transformed (Romans 12:2).

World conquest is Calvary.  So too, when we, through prayer, through obedience, and through sacrifice step into God’s plan, into His dimension, and into His Spirit, we affect the heavenly atmospheres.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Ephesians 6:10-12

World Wars have been changed through prayer and fasting.  Other nation-changing events have been shaped by the fervent prayers of the faithful.  What moves God?  Faith, Hope, and Love.  Dilligence, Excellence, Faithfulness.

I am grateful for what has been done in this nation through the power of the Gospel.  Yet, what remains must be a combination of prayer and obedience to get the job done.  The men sent out by two’s most likely had no clue of the power of their feet walking throughout that nation, preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, but it brought down the stronghold over the nation.  And, it was prayed in by the Master Himself, as well as by the generations before.

To deny the Kingdom is to deny the ministry of Jesus.  To attempt to make it look like what you think it should be is the same religious spirit that says you can be holy in and of yourself.

As prayer arises, God moves.

[I]f my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.

2 Chronicles 7:14-15

As the Kingdom of the Heavens advances, doorways of opportunity will open, and people with the right policies will find advancement.  As prayers go forward, and as the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places are dismantled, righteous government, among many other things, will be established.  But the battle, the war of the kingdoms, is invisible.  The visible only truly shifts when the invisible does, as the house will only fall as the foundation does (Matthew 7:26).

The Kingdom does not start with outward acts.  It begins as the Holy Spirit, the hidden leaven, the smallest of mustard seeds, and grows to produce the full plant.  It does produce fruit, in time, but not from the arm of the flesh.

We have the Kingdom, if we are willing to receive it as a child.  And, if we want nations to change, it is the only thing stronger, the only thing greater.  In fact, the only real objection is that it seems too easy.  Too small a thing, the Holy Spirit within us, that littlest of all seeds.  But, I tell you the truth, that what is planted as the smallest in the beginning WILL grow to be the largest of all garden plants.

If you want to take the World for Jesus, give Him yourself.  All of it, all the way, holding nothing back, forever.  As a life-sentence.  If you want every nation of the Earth to be living for Jesus, why not start with every nation of your own plot of “Earth”, called your life, your own soul.  How about start there?

I promise you this…

[I]f then thy whole body is lightened, not having any part darkened, the whole shall be lightened, as when the lamp by the brightness may give thee light.

Luke 11:36

I think the saddest thing in the world is that we settle for church strategy books when we have the Great Holy Ghost.