The Kingdom of God Forever
The first question is this, a very basic question: Whose kingdom is it? Whose kingdom is it? What's the first word. What? "Thy." Who is "Thy"? God's kingdom. It is God's kingdom. In fact, a better translation of the word "kingdom" is "the reign and the rule of the Lord." He reigns, he rules in heaven and on earth. And, in fact, this word, "kingdom," "basilia" in the Greek, is a term I never missed on my Greek exams. Basilia~a fishing term. Bass~I never missed that. So basilia means kingdom.
Turn, though, to Psalm 22:28. Psalm 22:28. Take a big left turn to Psalm 22:28. Whose kingdom is it? It's the Lord's kingdom; it's God's kingdom. Verse 28 of Psalm 22 says this: "For the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Now, historians tell us there have been at least 21 great civilizations that are now extinct. The Babylonians, the Persians, the Syrians, the Assyrians, Alexander the Great, on and on we go. But now they're gone. They're devastated.
They are extinct. They're done away with. But only one kingdom, we know, will last for ever and ever and ever and ever and that is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. Jesus used this phrase over and over and over again. It was the heart of His message. He taught the disciples about the kingdom of God. When He died on the cross and rose again, He talked about the kingdom of God. It's mentioned over 750 times in the Bible. The kingdom of God.
Now, when I think about the word "kingdom," I think about Zorro, you know, the sword. En garde. I think about knights and horses and castles and green hills and cannons and all this. But that's not truly the kingdom. The kingdom is the reign of Christ. It says here, Psalm 22:28, "For the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Now, our problem as people who say we love the Lord is, when we pray, we usually pray like this: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. My kingdom come-my agenda, my plans." But that's not the stance of proper prayer. It shouldn't be my will. What should it be? "God, your will through my life. Your plans, Your agenda for me."
According to Ed Young Contemporary Church, when we have that stance, that's when we will be joyful. That's when we will have contentment. So, whose kingdom is it? It is the Lord's. And I love what a writer said about Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson, the great general, it said about his life, his motto was, "Lord, whatever you want me to do, I will do it." What a great motto. What a great word about a man or a woman.
Turn, though, to Psalm 22:28. Psalm 22:28. Take a big left turn to Psalm 22:28. Whose kingdom is it? It's the Lord's kingdom; it's God's kingdom. Verse 28 of Psalm 22 says this: "For the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Now, historians tell us there have been at least 21 great civilizations that are now extinct. The Babylonians, the Persians, the Syrians, the Assyrians, Alexander the Great, on and on we go. But now they're gone. They're devastated.
They are extinct. They're done away with. But only one kingdom, we know, will last for ever and ever and ever and ever and that is the kingdom of God. The kingdom of God. Jesus used this phrase over and over and over again. It was the heart of His message. He taught the disciples about the kingdom of God. When He died on the cross and rose again, He talked about the kingdom of God. It's mentioned over 750 times in the Bible. The kingdom of God.
Now, when I think about the word "kingdom," I think about Zorro, you know, the sword. En garde. I think about knights and horses and castles and green hills and cannons and all this. But that's not truly the kingdom. The kingdom is the reign of Christ. It says here, Psalm 22:28, "For the kingdom is the Lord's and He rules over the nations." Now, our problem as people who say we love the Lord is, when we pray, we usually pray like this: "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. My kingdom come-my agenda, my plans." But that's not the stance of proper prayer. It shouldn't be my will. What should it be? "God, your will through my life. Your plans, Your agenda for me."
According to Ed Young Contemporary Church, when we have that stance, that's when we will be joyful. That's when we will have contentment. So, whose kingdom is it? It is the Lord's. And I love what a writer said about Andrew Jackson. Andrew Jackson, the great general, it said about his life, his motto was, "Lord, whatever you want me to do, I will do it." What a great motto. What a great word about a man or a woman.
Source...