Message 1
Minister: Rev. Ken Igbinedion
Luke 12:13-21 – The Old Testament is a shadow of the New Testament. However, there cannot be the reality which we have in the New Testament without an understanding of the shadow which is the Old Testament. God wants us to come into an understanding that the church is not a monument but a movement.
The soul of man is very important to God. It is important that the soul of a man be governed by God and not by any other god of this world. When the Israelites were delivered from Egypt, they also had to be delivered from the gods of Egypt before they were brought into the promised land. What truly rules a man is in him, no man is ruled from the outside.
The Kingdom, as perceived in the Old Testament, is different from the kingdom in the New Testament. The kingdom of God is not a physical place but it resides within man. Therefore, the kingdom finds expression in you when the gods in your mind have been dealt with.
The kingdom is about dominion and it is all spiritual. When Jesus taught that we pray that the kingdom of God would come, he wasn’t talking about demanding that heaven as a place comes to the earth. He meant that all of what makes God exercise dominion be seen on earth.
You cannot understand the power and riches of God if you do not understand the Kingdom of God. Before Moses went before Pharaoh, God changed him. Before you can be used of God, you have to be changed. You have to be changed from the inside out. You have to learn the ways of God; as you learn, you earn.
The kingdom of God is expected to conquer your weaknesses. When this happens in you, the kingdom of God will conquer your environment. The kingdom of God is that by which God exercises His dominion. The kingdom of God is not a place. Hence, the kingdom has to be put into the hearts of men.
Luke 16:16 – You know a sphere governed by the kingdom of God when you see the will of God done there. The Israelites, during the reign of Samuel, rejected the kingdom of God and craved for a king. That was the idol in them showing up.
We must understand that what the world calls riches is not the same that God call riches. The riches of God’s kingdom are veiled to the people of the world and revealed to the people of the kingdom. The riches of the kingdom are the expressions of the kingdom, they are locked up in Christ. Now, God is calling us to enjoy these things that have been hidden in Christ in order to express the kingdom of God.
If you must learn the things of the kingdom, you must be a follower of Christ. Only a follower of Christ can enjoy the riches locked up in Him. If you don’t have the things of Christ, don’t expect the riches of the kingdom.
The things that hold a man back do not come from outside, they are from within; until these things are dealt with, the glory of God will not appear. The glory that we have been called to inherit has been built in us as a seed and it can only be conferred on us following due process. The riches of the kingdom are the things we have through Christ (Romans 8:18).