The Key Of Unity Series

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

Page 2.

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.