Jesus said His Kingdom was not of this world (realm) (John 18:36).  It is a spiritual kingdom, and as such, must never be confused with an Earthly one.  To lose this distinction, even when speaking of a Millennial reign, is an error of great dimension.

The Kingdom is not constituted in books of laws, governmental seating, and minted coinage, and the like.  Yet, on the other end, it is not without potency in the physical dimension.  Consider Jesus’ life and ministry.  He said, to paraphrase, “If I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you.” (Luke 11:20).  The same is true with healing.  Therefore, it was the entrance of the Kingdom which brought about the deliverance in the first place!  Somehow, the invisible, spiritual, and “ethereal” had directly, manifestly affected the natural order.

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And I will send an angel before thee; and I will drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite: Unto a land flowing with milk and honey: for I will not go up in the midst of thee; for thou art a stiffnecked people: lest I consume thee in the way.

Exodus 33:2-3

When Moses carried up the people of Israel from Egypt, and they came to the Jordan river, the company of men all chose to disobey God and not enter, rather than to continue on into their promise.  God was angry, and would no longer go forward with them, and told Moses that He Himself would not go with them, but that He would send his angel instead to defeat the enemies.

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And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.

John 1:16

But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Matthew 7:14

We understand that it is by God’s grace that we are saved.  It is not our own efforts, but is His efforts.  It is only by coming with no merit of our own, but as sinners who sin, with no excuse or righteousness of our own merit, and by coming to the bloody cross with our own souls, that we enter into Christ’s life within.  It is only in the fullness of that finished work that we have any life whatsoever.  Paul called any efforts besides simple faith in the cross to be “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1).

On the other side of this is Jesus’ Words, saying, that unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and Sadducees, we will in no way ever enter the Kingdom.  He said that the gate was small, and the the road to life was hard and narrow.  Only a few find it.

Between these two places on either side, which we could call ditches, we find the road.  Narrow as it is, it is still the road, and it must be traveled.

When we learn to preach the fullness of His Grace hand in hand with the narrowness of the road, we will have begun to understand the finished works of the cross.

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From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Matthew 4:17

The revival we are seeking is the “revival of repentance”.  We could say, we see a measure and we must prepare our hearts more for the coming thing that God has, but the heart of every true revival must always include a increasing draw towards holiness, from the head to the foot.

The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.  The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.

Matthew 12:41-42

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I just love teaching. Oh, my. I–I–I think it’s wonderful. It gives the basis and settles the church.
And in preaching, now, there’s some people that are preachers. They can pick up the Word with inspiration, and sway It out there in places. That’s watering the Seeds that the teacher has taught. See? Now, you got to put some Seed in first, and then water It. And the watering comes from the preaching of the Word.
There’s a great vast difference between a teacher and a preacher. See? It’s two different gifts of the Spirit altogether, two different gifts. And I humbly say this, but I haven’t a gift of either.

But mine, as of usual, is praying for the sick. That’s what the Lord called me to do. And then, in this time it gives a relaxation of my mind to study on something different, not having Divine healing services, just–just teaching the Word. And oh, we get along pretty good here. We… I remember, you put up with me for a long time, about twelve years around here, on it.

–William Branham, The Seven Church Ages (54-0512 p16-19)

The Bible is clear when it comes to judging the motives of one’s heart out of our own fleshly, soulish pride.

 Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:

Luke 6:37

Unless by the Spirit the Lord reveals the heart of another, the fate of another, or the motives, we must not give way to soulish judgment, wisdom of the flesh, or the like.

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And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.

Luke 18:19

The victory cry of Israel was, “For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.”  Psalm 100:5  They sang this refrain over and over, as a praise to their God who had given them them their victory.  No other words are recorded, if there were any, this was their triumph!

No one is good but God.  Even Jesus, God Himself, didn’t try to stand in His own goodness as a man.  Everything He did, He obeyed His Father, as an example.  He said that whoever does truth comes into the light so that it might be plainly be seen that what has been done has been done through God (John 3:21).

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When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

Acts 2:1-3

When the day of Pentecost came, something new came.  John had prophesied concerning Jesus, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” Luke 3:16.  Jesus never did this in His life before the crucifixion, yet alive today, He is the baptizer with the Holy Spirit.

The Kingdom of Heaven poured out His Spirit, and the believers were given power from on high to be witness.This was the baptism in the Holy Spirit.  This was not the same as the receiving as the Spirit.  They had received the Spirit prior, according to John’s Gospel, after His resurrection when He appeared to them.

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Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen.

Mark 16:14

After the most dramatic day in history, and probably one of the most traumatic to the disciples, the Lord’s passion, the Lord appeared to the twelve.  Yet, the recorded portion of the content of His message on that day was not the substance of most sermons today.  Instead, He rebuked them for unbelief and hardness of heart.

Today, these are two of the things we must not have in our midst.  Unbelief, the belief in the natural over the Spirit, is the “un”-faith that will not see the things of God.  When Jesus ministered on the Earth, this was the thing that stood in the way of His mighty works (Mark 6:5).  Hardness of heart, however, is translated as “stiffness of heart” by the YLT.

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That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore.

Matthew 13:1-2

The crowds came to Jesus.  Thousands had heard of the miracles following this man.  This man, who was God, had the wisdom of the Eternity within His heart, and He chose to take a moment to go out to the lake.  Perhaps He went out to pray in a quiet place, or possibly to rest for a moment, but, whatever the reason, the crowds surrounded Him until He was pressed on every side.  While the masses swelled, He entered a boat and taught them, while the people came.

Everyone wants the miraculous, the signs, wonders, and miracles, but who wants the reason behind them?  We want the power, but who wants the man?  We want the demonstration, but who wants the price he paid?

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In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3

It takes faith to see!  Faith is not the definition of being born again, but is a requirement for it, therefore, faith is a prerequisite for seeing.

Consider miracles.  Jesus said that there will be many who had done many great miracles but were not know by the Lord (Matthew 7:22).  The apostles, even Judas the traitor, were casting out devils in His name, yet not all had come to the consistent walk of faith. If the word “faith” in your vocabulary only means miracles, then something is grossly missing in your understanding of the Kingdom.

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