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Chapter 2

MOST IMPORTANT IS THE   "KINGDOM OF GOD"!

Most important is the Kingdom of God! Jesus said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness" and [everything will be all right!!!] Matt. 6:33 (KJ). In the Lord's Prayer, we pray, "Thy Kingdom/come. .. [on] earth as it is in Heaven" Matt. 6:9 (KJ). Jesus taught more about the Kingdom of God than anything else. So did John the Baptist, John, Mark, Luke, and Matthew, the twelve, the seventy, Daniel, the early disciples!

There are literally thousands and Thousands and thousands of scripture verses relating to the Kingdom of God and the Lordship of Christ! The word 'Lord' or Yahweh or Yahvah, meaning the

Mighty Right Now God, is used more than 7000 times alone!!! 

And yet, almost no Christians know what the Kingdom of God is! Talk about a need in the marketplace! !! Someone said, "To be a success, find a need in the marketplace and fill it!" I have asked many book sellers, handlers and distributors if they knew of any books on the Kingdom of God and they have said, "No." (Although I know I of two or three good ones.) One book I am aware of reads like a doctoral thesis for seminary graduates. In our semiminars and ministry we have asked the question, "What is the Kingdom of God?" Almost no one seems to know! We also have seen books with the title, "The Kingdom of God," but they end up mostly talking about something else! In other words, we deeply feel the I need for more teaching in the church and through the church to the regions beyond on God's priorities, the Great Commission, and the Kingdom of God!!!

Let's look at only a few scriptures that speak to the importance of the Kingdom of God:

"The Lord is King forever and ever."-Ps. 10:16.
"For God is the King of all the earth. . ."-Ps. 47:7.
". . my eyes have seen the King, [Yahvah Sabbaoth]-the Lord of Hosts [or Armies]."- Isa. 6:5.
"Who would not fear thee, O King of the nations."-Jer. 10:7.
"The Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the Everlasting King: at His wrath the earth quakes, and the nations cannot endure His indignation"-Jer.10:10.
"And the Lord shall be King over all the earth. . . And it shall come to pass that everyone that is left of all the nations. . . shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts [armies], and to keep the feast of tabernacles" -Zech. 14:9, 16 (KJ).
"Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand" (John the Baptist) Matt. 3:2.
Jesus said, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. . . And Jesus was going about in all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people" -Matt. 4:17b, c23. ".
. He went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God: and'the twelve were with Him"-Luke 8:1 (KJ).
"And the people. . . (followed Him: and He received them, and spake unto them of the Kingdom of God, and healed them that had need of healing"-Luke 9:11 (KJ).
"This Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a witness to all the nations, and then the end shall come" Matt.24:14

Look at this verse again: "And this Good News of the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then will come the end" Matt. 24:14 (AMP). Is it possible that if this good news of the Kingdom of God is not preached in all the world for a witness, that the end will not come? If being born again is only a part of it-only the beginning-and if the good news of the Kingdom of God is so important, we'd best find out what it is.

But let's look at this thing of priorities. What is the most important thing? Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God! Tell me, if you were to make a list of the things that are important to you in your life, where would the Kingdom of God be on your priority list?

The Bible says there is a day soon coming when we will all stand before the Righteous Judge of all the universe to be judged by only one thing: "Did we seek first the Kingdom of God? Did our

lives conform to God's plan and blueprint?" Because all of us will be judged by what was important to us: by our priorities, by what we did with our money, time, talents, potential, energies, possessions and life. God will say, "How much of My plan and will did you fulfill?"

Thus saith the Lord, "There will be no excuse for not doing the plan and will of God."

So, I ask, "Where is the will, plan, and Kingdom of God on your priority list (or things important in your life)?" God says it must be first!

But for many years, the Kingdom of God was number four on my priority list. Food, clothing and shelter for my family came first, second and I third. I said, "I will provide for my family first, and will serve God with the time, money and energy left over." But at age 40, I suddenly realized that over half of my expected years were gone and that there hadn't been enough time, money or energy left over to fulfill the great plan and commission for my life!!! 

No excuse will stand before the judgment seat of Christ, but the one excuse I believe most people will try to give for not having done the will of God, the plan and blueprint of God, the living words and works of God, or for not having sought first the Kingdom of God, is that they were too busy providing food, clothing and shelter for their family. But Jesus said that He would take care of these things if we "Seek first tbe Kingdom of God and His righteousness" (Matt. 6:33). II Timothy 2:4 says, "No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of every day life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him."

Jesus said that it is not possible to serve both God and money (Matt. 6:24, Luke 16:13). Matthew 6:33 is preceded by a thorough discussion of food, clothing and shelter. But Jesus said that He would take care of these things if we obeyed Him'and put God's will and Kingdom first. How sad, to think we spent a lifetime seeking and doing a lesser thing that would have been added to us anyway, had we only done the will of God:

Seeking First His Kingdom.

Take the parable of the man who sold "all that he had" to buy a field with a treasure in it (Matt. 13:44). With the treasure now his, he can buy far more than a hundred times more than he had before!

So we see that the Kingdom of God is the most important thing to God! How important is the Kingdom of God to you???

Statistics show that the Christian church is further behind than she's ever been. I mean, there is a greater percentage of unsaved people unreached with the Gospel of the Kingdom in the earth today than at any time since the first century! There may be a few more Christians, but the heathen population has increased far faster than the "Born Again" population.

Jesus said that up until now, the Kingdom of God suffers violence, but violent people take it by force! (Matt. 11:12) In other words, The Kingdom of God and the will of God has not been established and accomplished, and won't be, until we become intense enough and mean business enough to seek first His Kingdom!!!

Three of our four children are old enough to baby-sit now, and we are concerned that they act responsibly. Suppose the parents leave instructions for the dishes to be done after the children are in bed. Then the home catches fire and the baby-sitter says, "Even though the kids are being burned, I need to do the dishes." You say, "That's silly!" But it is no more silly than the activities of our life out of the first will of God, while the world burns. Bill Bright has said that we are like picture straighteners in a burning building.

But one of these days, people are going to become intense enough about the wrong that the Kingdom of God is suffering and we will rise up in the fiery white hot zeal of the Lord of the arimies (hosts) to right the wrong and take the Kingdom for the Lord, fulfill God's Great Commission, and seek first the Kingdom of God!!!

God's Kingdom is number 1 on His list of priorities...:-where is it on yours???

Lord Jesus, show me the importance of the Kingdom of God. Thank You, Lord. Amen.

A friend of mine said to a friend of his, "You've got your priorities screwed up."

Review Questions

MOST IMPORTANT IS THE KINGDOM OF GOD!

1. Where is the Kingdom of God in your priority list?
2. What was the main theme of Christ and the disciples and the Apostle Paul in their teaching?
3. What is the Name of God given over 7000 times in the Old Testament?
4. Have you ever read any good books on the Kingdom of God? What are their titles?
5. Do you remember hearing any teachings or sermons on the Kingdom of God?
6. Did you know what the Kingdom of God was before now?
7. What is the "Gospel of the Kingdom"?
8. Is the "Gospel of the Kingdom" different from the "Gospel" as you have known it?
9. Will the end come if this Gospel of the Kingdom is not preached in all the world for a witness to all the nations?
10. Whose responsibility is it to preach this Gospel of the Kingdom in all the world?
11. How soon could this be accomplished?
12. What sort of sacrifices could you specifically make to see this goal accomplished?
13. Will you?
14. Does the Great Commission apply to you? Why? How? When?
15. Who will be judged at the judgment day?
16. What will you/they be judged for?
17. What will probably be the main excuse given by Christians for not having done the will God? What's yours? Will these excuses stand?
18. A man told me that last year he was only doing about 10% of the will of God and the rest was compromise. Now he says his life is only about 60 to 40% compromise with what he thinks he should be doing. Question: What % of God's will, plan and blueprint for your life % would be compromise.)
19. What do you think the verse means, "You cannot serve God and mammon"? (Luke 16:13; Matt. 6:24)
20. What does II Tim. 2:4 mean?
21. Do you think the person was able to recap or regain more than his original investment in Matt. 13:44?
22. What do you think the main reason is that the Great Commission has not been fulfilled?
23. What is meant by the word "violence" both times it is used in Matt. 11: 12?
24. What is meant by the statement that we have been like picture straighteners in a burning building?