| Article number: | CDR2R71 |
| Availability: | Out of stock |
In this lesson, we learn the difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. The Parables that Jesus taught concerning the Kingdom of Heaven refer to the outward rule and reign of Christ upon the Earth, and they apply to Christ’s outward Church. The Kingdom of God has to do with the hidden Kingdom of God within us. This lesson covers the four phases of our obtaining the Kingdom of God. The first phase is that we enter the Kingdom of God through repentance by faith (Mark 1:14,15), which means that we must repent of our unbelief, which buys us more of Christ’s Faith, and only God can show us where our unbelief and fears are. We must take heed that we do not take on spiritual pride and self-righteousness, which will stall us in our spiritual journey, as Jesus warned the Church in Revelation 3:17 and 18. Secondly, we enter the Kingdom of God by pressing into it (Luke 16:16). A kingdom has subjects and a king. By violently pressing against ourself and the Devil, we allow Jesus Christ to take the throne of our heart and to bring all of our attitudes and dispositions under subjection to Him. The third phase is that we enter the Kingdom of God through much tribulation, which works patience in us (Acts 14:20-22). We must thank God for the tribulations that come our way, which are just harrows that take the clods of impatience out of our heart so that the ground of our heart can be good ground in which to plant God’s Word because His Word is what transforms us to be more like Jesus. Then, the fourth phase is that we enter the Kingdom of God by birth (John 3:3,5,7). In John, chapter 3, when Jesus made the threefold repetition of our being born again, He referred to man’s three different phases, as we were created in God’s Image and are a triune being—spirit, soul, and body—(First Thessalonians 5:23 and Hebrews 4:12). Just as there are three phases to a natural birth—the conception of the seed, the nurturing of that seed, and the manifestation of its full stature—there are the same three phases to a spiritual birth, which are accomplished through the ministry of the Holy Ghost Who travails out our flesh and travails the birth of God’s Word in us (Galatians 4:19).