THEME: "HOW THE KINGDOM OF GOD OPERATES”
TEXT: MATTHEW 16: 13 - 20
TITLE: "THE KEY OF UNITY"
PREFACE STATEMENTS:
1. The Kingdom of God is "God's sovereign rule, God's sovereign reign and authority over the affairs of man." God is in total and complete control, He has all authority, power and dominion. And it is God's desire for you and I and every "Born Again" believer to be filled with His Spirit and to exercise the power, authority and dominion which He has given to us...on His behalf.
2. Now you cannot and will not exercise the authority, power and dominion of the Kingdom of God, until you first realize and accept the fact that "the Kingdom of God is within you." Turn to Luke 17. And let's see what Jesus said in verses 20 and following. Now notice Romans 14:17
Now then it is vital that you believe what the Word of God says. Because if you do not accept this fact for yourself, and believe it to be so and thus act on it...it will do you no personal good. However, once you understand and acknowledge that the Kingdom of God is within you, you no longer look for the power to overcome, the authority to rule or the resources to achieve...outside of yourself. That is not to say that you, in your natural abilities, natural thinking or in your natural skills are wise enough, capable enough, powerful enough or skilled enough to represent the power, authority, the resources and the dominion of God's Kingdom.
It does mean, however, that God in His great love for you, has given you everything you need to live victorious, overcoming, supernatural, powerful, authoritative lifestyle. He gave you His Kingdom.
3. Now simply because you have the Kingdom of God within you, does not mean that you will automatically begin to live successfully as an over-comer. Jesus said that the "Kingdom of God is within you". In other words, all of the power, all of the authority, all of the dominion and all of the resources of God's Kingdom, belong to you. And God placed them in your life, the moment you received Jesus Christ, as your savior. But in order to take advantage of your God-given privilege as a servant of the King...you must know and properly utilize the "Keys" of the Kingdom.
Again look very carefully at what Jesus said in Matthew 16:19 "And I Give..."
*"The Keys..."of"...The mystery of how the kingdom of God operates.
Matthew 13:10 - 11
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Now once you as a "Born Again" believer know how the Keys function, you will know how the Kingdom of God operates, and then you can begin to win all the time, you can begin to receive those showers of blessings God desires for your life...so that you can be a blessing to someone else.
And on last week we said that the Kingdom of God, operates according to certain principles, laws or as Jesus said "Keys". With the Keys of the Kingdom, the Keys of operation, the principles by which the Kingdom operates, with these keys you are literally now responsible for either "Binding" that is locking in the Power, Authority, Dominion and Resources of God. Or you are responsible for "Loosing" that is unlocking and unleashing the same power, authority, dominion and resources that Jesus Christ operated in and used - which is now within you so that you can receive God's abundance of supply and be blessed, so that you can be a blessing to some one else.
Now watch this…listen, even though you have all the kingdom of God within you – and you have all the power of God; the wisdom of God; the knowledge of God; the peace of God; the authority of God; and all that God is – lives in you! And even though that is true…you have it only in seed form. Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is like a muster seed…” Every thing in “seed form” starts small and must first be cultivated, grow, develop and become fully functional.
God has placed the resources of His Kingdom within you, for your family to become fully functional, for your business, your career, your relationships and your church ministry to become fully functional, effective and impact society. But it is seed form and it must be cultivated, grow, and develop.
God has given us the “Keys and the Principles,” to use as we advance His Kingdom Agenda for His church, for our families, our marriages, careers, etc.
The first and most important Key we discussed on last week is the Key of Faith. Today we will look at the "Key of Unity".
I. THE KEY OF UNITY.....
A. Matthew 18: 19 - 20...Jesus is calling for agreement, but not merely for agreement's sake. He is calling for unity. The Word "agree"...literally means "to make harmony". In the Kingdom of God, there must be prefect harmony in order to receive the fullness of the blessings and benefits.
Turn to John 17:16 - 23...Listen, there is no division in the Godhead, that is between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. They are perfectly one, perfectly in agreement, in perfect unity. Now they have different roles and responsibilities, but they have one purpose. They are united in purpose and goals.
B. Ephesians 4:3, 13...Paul picked up Jesus' call for unity and admonished us to "endeavor" to keep the unity of the Spirit. The word "unity" means "oneness". We are to endeavor to keep the "oneness" of the Spirit.
Listen, you will never see the total, awesome power of the Holy Spirit in your life, in your home, in your church, in this society, in this nation, until there is a oneness of Spirit, among the church. Those in the local church must be united in vision an purpose. Those in local associations, state conventions must be united in vision and purpose. If there is no unity of purpose and vision, there will be no presence of Christ and thus no power for witnessing and evangelism.
* Acts 2...you cannot hear the voice of God, unless unity of the Spirit is maintained.
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God's power in your life is diminished to the degree there is disunity. To the degree that there is disunity in your home, God's Kingdom is bound, that is locked up and you receive a decreasing amount of power, authority, dominion and resources.
Example: I Peter 3:7 "if two of you agree...make harmony...unite"
Deut. 32:30 "Through Christ, the Rock…one can put 1,000."
Now when ever there is disunity, lack of agreement, lack of cooperation; there is lack of power, authority, dominion and resources. Jesus said in Mark 3:21 - 25 In other words, Jesus said that disunity will destroy any home, any church, any family, any business, any government, any nation. And notice that He did not say it might not stand, He said, "it cannot stand".
II. THE KEY OF UNITY WORKS FOR GOOD OR FOR EVIL..IT WILL EITHER LOCK UP OR RELEASE GOD'S POWER...
A. The power which is released through the Key of Unity is so great that literally nothing is impossible to those who will unite themselves...that means agree on the same purpose, have the same goals and same motives.
B. This Key of Unity was working for the people after the flood until God stop them at the tower of Babel and confused their speech scattered them throughout the earth.
* Genesis 11:1 - 9
III. UNITY MUST BE MAINTAINED ON TWO LEVELS:
A. On The Personal Level. As an individual you must be united within yourself. If you are going to experience the power which will change the world, if you are going to exercise authority over the devil and demons, if you are going to have dominion over the circumstances of your life and if you are going to enjoy the abundance of God's resources and blessings...you must be united within yourself.
* James 1:6 - 8
One mind in you believing and desiring one thing and another mind in you doubting and desiring something else...will not work in the Kingdom of God.
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The Bible says that you cannot serve two masters. You cannot have divided loyalty and allegiance. You cannot have your job and Jesus first in your life! You cannot have your spouse and Jesus first in your life! You cannot have money and Jesus first in your life! It cannot be the house and Jesus; sex and Jesus; drugs and Jesus; sin and Jesus. That is division in purpose...and therefore the Bible teaches that you will not receive anything from God.
You must become single-minded, putting Jesus Christ first in your life and over your life as Lord! When He is first in your life, when Jesus is in control and you are loyal to Him and Him only...He will say to you..."Love your wife as I loved the church".
No wife can be loved more than that, Amen?
You must become single-minded, putting Jesus Christ first and He will say to you..."Whatsoever you do, do it as unto Me". No job or career can get more attention than that, Amen?
The solution to your personal lack of unity in your life is to become single-minded about Jesus. When He becomes your main purpose in life, your motive for living and your goal is to "know Him and the power of His resurrection" and "to please God in everything". Then and only then will you be able to be released from the weight of trying to be pleasing to everyone, and the terrible internal torment of performing for man.
B. The Collective Level of Unity...
With out internal unity in a group, a family, a church, a business, a nation....the ultimate end is destruction. The lack of unity is destroying our families, and our churches and our nation. * Matthew 12:25..."every"..."shall not"
Jesus, in this verse, was talking about the kingdom of Satan, and showing us that the Key of Unity is so powerful and so universal, that even works of evil will collapse unless they maintain unity. Why...Because unity produces strength; disunity produces weakness.
Listen, when a family is supportive of one another and has a common purpose and common goal, even in the midst of terrible circumstances that family can and will succeed. Do you know why certain groups or immigrants are doing so well in today's society? It is due to the tremendous unity of their families.
When families are not united and there is division, strife and bitterness...all of society will suffer. Because the family is the foundational institution in society, the first institution established by God.
When husbands and wives are divided and end up hating one another, it causes the children to have to choose sides and they get caught up in the force of disunity. Many families, many businesses, many churches are torn apart because of disunity.
The solution again is to make Jesus Christ the motive, the purpose and the goal of our families, our churches and our society. In order to experience the power and the authority and the dominion and the resources of the Kingdom, each individual must recognize that they are different and unique, yet must submit to the common purpose, and that is to glorify God, honor God, and reflect the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
Let me close by asking you this...In your family is their unity of purpose, are you and your family members working together, praying together for the same goals and purposes? If not, Jesus is the answer, as you make pleasing Him, the purpose of your family, you will experience the power of His Spirit in your home as never before.
You will walk in the authority of His Spirit and even in the midst of your deepest trials! You will be victorious and with Jesus Christ as the purpose and the goal of your family life, you will have dominion over every negative situation and you will be blessed with the resources of God's Kingdom so that you can be a blessing to those who are in the world, lost and hurting.
In your individual life…you as a person. Can you honestly say that you are united within yourself. That you are not double-minded about the things of God and that you are single-mindedly seeking only to please the Lord Jesus Christ?
If you would make Christ Lord of your life today and seek to please Him and Him alone...He will empower you with His Spirit and authority and you will exercise the dominion that is rightfully yours and you will be blessed going out and blessed coming in and your children will be blessed after you...so that you and your family will be a blessing to others.
