Understanding The Principles of The Kingdom | Dr. Myles Munroe

0:00 foreign [Music] the principles of the Kingdom and I believe it might be good for me to begin talking briefly about religion and the kingdom the kingdom is an idea it's a concept that needs to be understood and the Bible is a very difficult book if you don't understand the kingdom concept the Bible is not about a religion it's about a kingdom I believe the greatest enemy of the

0:45 kingdom is religion it's not atheism is not sinners and the reason why the the greatest Envy religion of the kingdom is religion is because religion parades itself as a substitute for the kingdom that makes it dangerous if you believe you already have something then you stop looking and that is the challenge of religion

1:31 so if you believe you found something then you stop searching and religion pretends that it provides what man's looking for and some are religion has convinced Humanity that it has found what it's looking for so Humanity even though it is not satisfied with religion stops earnestly searching deep in their hearts they know something's missing they know that what they're involved in is empty they are quite aware that the rituals are not satisfying their deepest yearning but they've been convinced by religion

2:16 that you've found what you're looking for and the result of that is people back off and they say well I'll just endure this religion experience Jesus came to Earth to bring a kingdom and not a religion God's Redemptive work on his program was to restore his kingdom now this statement up on the board at the moment is very important what we've done is we have reduced God's program which is a means to an end

3:03 to to the purpose itself God's ultimate goal was to re-establish his kingdom on Earth which is what Adam lost but we have magnified the program and made it more important than the result we've actually turned the process into the end this is why Calvary is more important than the kingdom I'm saying some heavy things here that's why the blood is more important

3:49 than Dominion Jesus never preached about his blood am I too bold I really don't care I want you to read the four gospels for yourself every statement I am making has taken me 30 years to make them I thought about him for 30 years that's why I can make them now I'm not irresponsible we've made

4:34 the process of redemption more important than the purpose for Redemption and that's why we have built a religion on the process and have for the most part ignored the purpose for it this is why most of you are here today you are here today because somewhere you heard the kingdom message at least a little piece of it and you thought I never heard of that before and I've been saved for 40 years see you've been

5:20 preoccupied with the process for 40 years the kingdom is the purpose for that process very important man therefore has reduced the means to the end when your car breaks down what becomes your problem mobilization am I right when your car stops working you become immobilized so you take your car to a mechanic the mechanic initiates a process

6:05 the purpose for repairing your car is not for you to worship the car but to regain with the car used to provide for you which is what mobilization so you don't worship the mechanic you don't sing songs about wrenches and batteries you don't spend years thanking the mechanic for what he's done you get the car back and you drive and so for almost two thousand years

6:51 we've been stuck at the mechanic shop with the car in the garage of the mechanic thank you the mechanic singing to the mechanic and describing all of his equipment and we've not been driving for 40 years for two thousand years we appreciate the mechanic oh yes we thank him all the time but we've not appropriated what he fixed very important write this down Minds misconception therefore has produced religion

7:36 religion is is is is is man's attempt to satisfy his emptiness man is suffering from missing something he misses Dominion and he wants it back and he's coming up with programs to try and get it those programs are what we call religion so when we talk about the kingdom a couple of thoughts here the mess of the Bible is about a king a kingdom and his royal family

8:23 that's what the Bible is about if you read the Bible any other way you're going to get involved in the means to the point where they become more important than the end every human being 6.7 billion of them are seeking for the same thing they're seeking for the kingdom I'm going to show you this in a minute from the statements of Jesus but according to to Christ every human being is seeking for the kingdom some are not sure what they're looking for but they know they're looking for something and they're using everything they possibly can to try and find this thing that they don't know what they're looking for

9:12 so Buddhism Hinduism Shintoism Islams taoism Confucianism Scientology Baha'i faith all of these different processes a result of Man's Search for the kingdom therefore all religions our minds attempt to find it Jesus uses some statements about this he said he said the kingdom of God is under pressure he's an all-man

9:59 are forcing their way into it all men everyone it doesn't mean they're getting into it it means that they're trying to find it they're trying to get to it and they're doing all kinds of things that puts the pressure on life the mission of Jesus simple mission it was a kingdom message he never preached anything else that's all he preached and it's very important to note that all true kingdoms contain the same qualities characteristics and components Jesus Christ introduced the kingdom concept back to the earth I want to stress and

10:45 in my newest book that will be coming out in a few weeks throughout the world this book deals with some important issues to re-educate everyone who was born in the Western World about the kingdom what a kingdom is because if you don't understand what a kingdom is you it's impossible to understand the Bible as a matter of fact I have come to the conclusion that the majority of the western theologians are part of the problem that God has because they are literally experts in defection the defects in the theology because

11:32 they study the Bible from their culture and they bring to bear on their interpretation of the Bible their cultural experiences here you have a first class Theologian in the top seminary in America who was born in America all its life never lived under a kingdom have no idea about Kingdom Concepts Kingdom culture Kingdom protocol and now he has to present the Bible to his students

12:20 in this book on the kingdom people wonder why I spend the first two chapters talking about one issue Concepts is because you can only interpret through your Concepts and if your concepts are wrong then your conclusions are wrong this is why we need to deal with the very concept what is a kingdom Christ did not use the word Kingdom as a symbol he used the word Kingdom because that's exactly what he bought so you must study what a kingdom is to

13:06 understand every word he makes and states I stress for us to understand the kingdom we have to look at these Concepts and understand how they work now I want to make it clear that a kingdom is not a religion it's not a religion at all kingdoms don't have members for example no members live in the kingdom kingdom of citizens not members you cannot be a member of a country and

13:52 a kingdom is a country see membership for example is by privilege but citizenship is by right and if you get it mixed up you can't function it's Concepts let's read what I call the the mission statement of Jesus his first public statement Matthew uh as many began to really talk about his work Matthew 3 verse 1 now some of you think that John preached about baptism that is not true I don't know why we call him John the Baptist that is not what his name is

14:41 what did John preach read it for yourself John preached the exact same message of Jesus John did baptism but he preached the kingdom I was born in this country in 1954 right here in this island at that time we were not a country we were what they call a colony of a kingdom we were under a queen and a king a group was my life under queen and the King in 1973 our country became what they call Independent from the kingdom

15:27 we are still in the Commonwealth but we were under a king all the way up to 1973. that's just 30 years ago or so okay so we're very young country so most of my life was under a kingdom and therefore my cultural experience is closer to the Bible than most of you because the concepts under which I was born were Kingdom Concepts he has a concept for example a king never shows up it's called royal protocol a king will never just show up when a king is coming anywhere or going

16:13 anywhere it is required protocol for the king to send ahead of himself what they call a Herald it's his kingdom stuff so a king can never just show up they have to send someone ahead to prepare the people for Royal arrival when I was a boy and the King of England was coming to the Bahamas or the criminals come to the Bahamas we would get noticed one year in advance as a colony and we had to sweep the roads sweep the roads I said we have to clean our houses even though

17:01 chances are she will never come in your house you see you weren't sure whether she might decide to come through your corner that's how it really was so everyone cleaned their houses sweep the yard planted new flowers all along the streets why because the king is coming a year in advance and the person who bought that communicate from England was called a Herald John the Baptist is introduced when in Malachi last three verses and it says before the Messiah comes he will send one before

17:48 his face and he will prepare the way why it's Royal protocol see some of you want God to show up in your church meeting you wonder why he wouldn't come no preparation you're walking in late sin in your life God I ain't going there so he sends the holy ghost ahead to try and get you to get your act together you ignore the Holy Ghost meeting starts at 10 you come in at 10 20. listen if you ever miss an appointment with a royalty it's over did you know that it's over they don't want to see you no more well protocol

18:35 so here's John the Baptist and he comes to what announce the coming of the king let's read what he announces John 3 1. in those days John the Baptist came what preaching preaching means to announce or declare it wasn't a sermon you know in the 16th century 17th century when kingdoms covered the whole earth I mean all over Europe's kingdoms there was a kingdom you know Great Britain France Portugal Spain these were all kingdoms and whenever a king was coming to a village he would send a Herald ahead of him and the herald would go like two three weeks before he would walk through the village with his big patchment and he'd say

19:20 his Royal Highness is on the way prepare yourselves hear ye that was called preaching declaring announcing John the Baptist is that Herald and he comes to planet Earth that's the village Earth Village Earth Village got it yeah yeah the planet is a village and the king is coming to visit the village to fix the village back so he sends his Herald ahead of him and the herald says what repent for the kingdom of heaven is there

20:07 the word repent means to change your thinking think differently now the word repent means to change the way you've been conditioned to think the word repent means to uneducate yourself so you can be re-educated because what's about to come does not sync with your education everything you've been taught is contrary to what you're about to see and hear so change your thinking that's the way it repent John the Baptist announces

20:54 the coming of the king and his kingdom by the way uh when you see the new book get it it's going to be the most exciting experience for you because in the book you know I try to explain how kings are there are about 35 unique things about a king that you need to learn to understand Jesus and you can't study A King by studying a president and most of you were born under a president or a prime minister a king is opposite to a prime minister and a president completely opposite for example one thing about a king is this whenever King shows up the whole kingdom is present he is his government

21:45 so when John says change your mind for the kingdom is coming he was saying the entire government of Heaven is about to arrive on Earth because the king himself is about to come when Philip asked Jesus show us the father Jesus says look all of us are here he that has seen me now in the next chapter Jesus is introduced Matthew 4 17. read what he says from

22:31 that time forward Jesus began to declare announce to preach quote repent for the kingdom of Heaven has arrived there's a word in your new King James or your King James version which says is at hand that statement is an Old English statement from the 17th century it means has arrived this is the unique announcement of Jesus repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived now remember the kingdom is it's the government of a country

23:17 so he was not introducing a religion at all he was bringing back to Earth with Adam lost and apparently Adam did not lose a religion if you want to know what man lost study what Jesus brought to Earth because he came to restore whatever man lost and here he's announcing what he's bringing he says change your mind because a government has arrived the ruling influence of a King has returned to Earth this is the announcement of Jesus I put it to you then look at Matthew chapter 4 verse 23. I love this verse and Jesus went throughout all Galilee teaching in their

24:05 synagogues preaching the Good News of what the kingdom and then healing every disease and sickness among the People by the way it's important for you when you read the four gospels again about his message and his method you will notice that he normally preached the kingdom first and then he did miracles in other words he he didn't do it the other way around there's a reason I'll give you the most important reason a kingdom is the influence of a government in a territory so if if you tell someone a government influence is in this city

24:50 a new government has arrived here today their first question prove it so then he has to do some action so he takes diseases of people takes demons out of people he gives them sight and hearing and whatever was wrong with him he corrects it to to confirm reinforce and to give evidence that the new government is present let me tell you another example how do you know that the British kingdom was here just try to drive you [Music] do you see what I'm saying the evidence is you drive on the left-hand side here because a kingdom was here

25:43 why do we drink tea in the Bahamas rather than coffee because a kingdom was here you see there has to be evidence that the government is here are you with me so when the Bible says he he says the Kingdom of Heaven is here it says and then he proved it very important so the principal message of the Bible then is threefold a king a kingdom and a royal family say neighbor I'm in okay listen you have Royal genetics let me tell you something about kingdoms you

26:29 don't vote Kings into power and you don't vote their children into power rulership is in the blood say it listen Prince Charles is not made Prince because you like him rulership is passed on through genes this is why you must be born again you you can't Hallelujah

27:16 it's about a royal family the Bible is about a royal family it's about a family business the family business is rulership that's our family business we are in the rulership business and our daddy rules the whole universe [Music] and he provides a little place for his kids to practice rulership call Earth and he put us there and told us go ahead kids take over let me see how you learn from Papa he he gave us the genes that's why you hate to be told what to do you are wired to give commands not to take them foreign [Applause]

28:02 that's why you love to be in control of life that's why you short circuit when you owe people money because you ain't supposed to be a Slave to the lender you're not built for it no I don't want to start teaching at that level yeah that's why when God called Abraham and he told him he says look if I'm going to restore you to your Dominion let me warn you about the effects of it number one you're going to be rich [Laughter] he said number two you will be the head number three you'll be above only

28:48 [Applause] that's the effects of getting your Dominion back he said you'll be a lender [Music] they never get your royalty back thank you here's a dilemma I call it Kingdom now Kingdom Come you know a lot of people wonder is the kingdom here is it is it present now well here's a couple of thoughts we are citizens when right now citizens right now we are in the kingdom when right now

29:34 we have access to Kingdom power when right now these are important statements the kingdom will come to Earth in its fullness when the king returns but the kingdom is here now let me give an example if you are from another country here right now you're in the Bahamas but you are not a citizen of the Bahamas but you're in the Bahamas so your country is not from here you are in the Bahamas but not of the Bahamas now you are not as rich as the country you are in you are as rich as the country you are from

30:22 [Music] that's why Jesus refused to be from Earth that's right if you claim that Earth is your home you are poor see it's possible to be born on the Earth but not be from the Earth they said to him many times aren't you The Carpenter's son

31:07 it's not your mother Mary are not your brothers and sisters here with us today and he would answer I came down from my father he would answer no man knows where he came from I'm going back to where I came from I came down from my father he that was sent from the heaven is now on Earth he kept telling me he refused to be from Earth see as long as you ain't from Earth you are rich from as where you came from so Miles Monroe is not from Earth I am on Earth but I'm not from Earth that puts my resources beyond the limitations of your economic system foreign

31:58 very important write this down the kingdom is growing and expanding when right now I am a citizen of the Bahamas no matter where I go I am always a citizen of the Bahamas no matter where I go so it doesn't matter where you are you are always a citizen of your country so whether you are on earth or not you are a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven if you are in the kingdom of God you don't need to go to heaven to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven that's the point I'm trying to make so the kingdom is when now I am a Bahamian now whether I'm in Africa or Asia or Canada or California I am a

32:44 Bahamian now so wherever you are you are that now you are in that Kingdom now I am not going to be a Bahamian citizen it's effective now very important is the kingdom here now here's some couple questions you want to answer Matthew 26 verses that you never saw before verse 29 I tell you the truth I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it Anew with you in my father's Kingdom let me ask you a question

33:29 do you read the Bible no you don't here's a verse you never read okay Jesus is about to die he has a few days left on Earth and he makes this statement he says look I'm going to leave you all in a few days he said but I'll make you a promise I'll drink and eat with you again so here he is at this supper on the front side of the cross he says now I will not eat with you again read it read it carefully until what read the whole thing until what okay in other words I I'm gonna drink

34:17 wine and bread with you and eat with you now he says now this is my last meal you and I will not eat and drink again until I am in the kingdom when the kingdom is enforced so he goes to the Cross right after that they kill him he rises again the third day and he meets them again and guess what he does he pours wine he eats we don't think about it see some of you thinking the marriage some of the Lamb you know in the last day no no he said look I can eat this

35:02 with you again whenever I eat with you again we in the Kingdom now to explain that whole process you can understand our kingdoms work he goes to the Cross he dies I'm making this very fast because of time he he races from the dead guess what he does he goes each one of them and he does something that we don't we don't understand he breeds on each one of them and he says see the Holy Spirit write the word receive down I want to show you something to change your life receive say it now write it again but this time take away the prefix press come on right r e that's the

35:48 prefix remember a prefix is not a word right it's a grammatical stem attitude where to change the meaning of it okay now what does re means re means to go back to the original state so when you take away the word prefix I mean the prefix uh re you have what so sieve is a word you don't use it anymore it's an old 16th century word the word c write it down c i v c means to have to have or to possess now when you put re back in front of it it means to possess again you can never receive something you never had before

36:41 God so Jesus could not say see the Holy Spirit because they already seated in Genesis chapter 2 when the Bible says God breathe in demand a breath [Applause] then man sins and the Holy Spirit lives oh man I just finished writing a brand new book for the Whitaker Publishing House in Pennsylvania it's coming out in January it's probably the most important book I have ever written on the Holy Spirit the book is called the most important person in the world it's a long title it's going to be on the New York distribution list in January

37:31 the book is in my attempt to explain who the holy spirit is but let me just give you a glimpse just one little snippet of it in every time there's a kingdom when there's a kingdom all kingdoms like to extend the influence so they like to go and get new territory when they get new territory they normally would colonize it colonize it means that they hooked the territory up to the kingdom and then they send through that hookup everything that makes the territory just like the kingdom now the person they use to convert the territory into the kingdom is a person they call the governor if you drive downtown in the Bahamas don't forget your visitors please take a tour tell them to take you

38:17 to the governor's mansion there's a pink wall downtown with a big house behind it it's called the governor's house that house was always occupied by a white British man all my life until 1973. no Bahamian could live in there why because the governor that was put there for 250 years of colonization in the Bahamas had to come directly from the Queen of England said by her he lived in the Bahamas he was a British man who didn't speak our language and his job was to make us British and as long as he was in The Colony Britain was in The Colony

39:06 are you following me see the governor that you have in America is not that's not the original concept of governor governor pilate was a governor his job was to make Palestine just like Rome that's why he says when in Rome does Romans do whatever Rome is you are in Rome the governor lived in the colony remember they never lived in England they had to live with the people they had to stay on the property in the colony way because they had to be there to make sure the property became England it was the governor on the authority he's the one who got the speech from the throne they call it he got the mind of the king or queen and made it clear to the citizens and he made us understand what the King was thinking all the time

39:52 and he made us drive on the left hand he made us wear suits in 90 degree weather because that's what the kingdom were he made his dream tea he made us drive on the left he made us wear short pants and long socks with tie right that's the way the kingdom dressed he made us eat chocolate with tea he made us eat cucumber sandwiches yuck it was British sandwich in other words he made us speak English we lost the African language his job was to give us the the Kingdom's language [Applause]

40:40 now watch this and you'll remember this don't forget this you can remember this pastor the moment you declare independence from the kingdom the governor becomes illegal so he has to leave and go back to the kingdom the minute Adam declared independence in Genesis chapter 3 the governor left Holy Spirit left that means that the kingdom left when Jesus came back to Earth the Holy Spirit was nowhere else the

41:29 Bible says he was filled with the Holy Spirit without measure he had the whole ghost so so that's why John says repent right the kingdom coming back of when he comes he says here it is what the contact with the kingdom is in the Earth again the governor is in the mansion foreign oh you're gonna get it he says now we can eat again and drink again because the kingdom has arrived

42:18 it's no longer Just In Me Now but as many as would believe they become the governor's mansion your body is the temple that's why he says the kingdom is not over there and over here he says it is within you wherever the governor is the whole government is that's why I'm a dangerous man

43:05 we are about to build a big mall up there it's going to cost millions of dollars because the governor told me very clearly that he wants us to occupy until the king comes now the governor is present okay so we can occupy real estate we could occupy economic influence we got to occupy political influence education influence scientific improvements we got to occupy influence because the governor is here to influence the territory oh come on somebody let me tell you something Heaven is not supposed to look like Earth Earth is supposed to look like heaven so he says when you pray pray like this Our Father who is where in the

43:52 headquarters country holy is your name thy kingdom influence come thy will what you want be done where in the colony how like it is in heaven give him a hand for his program he's a program of influence look at Matthew 16 real quick verse 27 and 28 he says I tell you the truth some who are standing here with me now he says will not taste death until they see the son of man coming in his kingdom

44:38 he said that 2 000 years ago to people sitting in a village standing next to him he says he says you will still be alive when the kingdom comes now listen our problem is we keep postponing it to the Future either Jesus lied or the kingdom is here they're important so according to him everybody is searching for the kingdom he has a verse to remember this every religion is a result of the search for the

45:23 kingdom and no religion or ritual can substitute for the kingdom of God so no matter what we do we'll never be satisfied unless and until we find the kingdom this is why religion does not satisfy people that includes Christianity Christianity is a religion so the human spirit is looking for what it lost it lost the kingdom here's something to remember then Luke chapter six Jesus said these words and verse 20 blessed are you who are poor in spirit the word blessed means happy he says if you are

46:10 spiritually poor and bankrupt you can now be happy why for the answer to your poverty has arrived blessed are those who are spiritually poor spiritually empty spiritually back billion people all over the world he says your spiritual hunger can only be fulfilled by the kingdom this is why all of your years of Christianity they're still an empty spot there when I found the kingdom I stopped searching I don't want anything else can you imagine that there's I don't want

46:56 nothing else in life Hallelujah I'm debt free because of the Kingdom [Applause] that's supposed to be your story too you came here this week and God is going to change your thinking see

47:41 how do I explain this and it starts with thinking repent thinking if your concepts are wrong your life is wrong because I said man thank you this week every session is going to be working on your thinking to challenge your old thoughts the ones that are not fruitful you know they ain't fruitful it ain't working you tired broke and speaking in tongues and singing at the same time you go to Every service and can't pay your rent I mean this doesn't make sense to me you're more distant on your shoulder after you are 60 years old and you you never miss the choir meeting something's wrong with this I mean even God just love to see

48:27 you punish or something ain't working don't miss a session please this is more important than everything you're doing but I'm telling you this conference because if you get this Everything Changes give a couple thoughts for me close Luke 12 32. the kingdom means living under another government remember the kingdom is a government Luke 12 32 says do not be afraid Little Flock for your father has been pleased to give you what the

49:13 kingdom not a religion verse 33 therefore sell your possessions and give to the poor provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted where no Thief can come there nor might destroy for where your treasure is there with your heart be also now he he connects this to Kingdom he said it's the father's pleasure not to give you Christianity what's the kingdom a government he wants you to have a government that means the power to control circumstances to influence the environment

49:58 is the Father's good pleasure to give you back dominion over the Earth very important the focus of Jesus some scriptures real quick Matthew 5 by the way don't ignore these scriptures it helps you to show that Jesus only preached this one message Matthew 5 3 says blessed upon spirit for theirs is what the Kingdom of Heaven Matthew 5 20. for I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the scribes of the law you will sit not enter what the Kingdom of Heaven in other words he said the whole Pursuit is to get into this Kingdom Matthew 6 9 Our Father who art in heaven Hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven in the Book of Matthew chapter 4

50:43 17. from that time forward he began to preach repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand Luke 4 43 but seek ye first I must preach you have to seek the kingdom the kingdom the kingdom he keeps on repeating it look at Luke 9 2 it says and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to then heal the sick always to heal after you preach yeah very important this is really the Heart of Jesus look at these scriptures you know the question I want to close with today is why did God choose a kingdom and not a republic for his system of government another question why did God choose a kingdom and not a democracy

51:30 instead of a democracy he chose a kingdom system thirdly what is the benefits of being in a kingdom over and against being in democracy or Republic there's a big difference why is the kingdom better than a democracy according to God a kingdom is better than democracy because he chose the kingdom instead of democracy and God always knows best but the question is why did he do that you have to understand kingdoms to appreciate the answer what are the advantages of being in a kingdom over and against being in a democracy in the Republic I'll tell you a difference heart attack stress high blood pressure stroke because in a democracy you've got to fight to make a living in a kingdom

52:16 you don't look for nothing except the kingdom and righteousness and all these things and democracy got to run after things in the Kingdom you run after the kingdom and righteousness that's it and all these things why do you worry what you will eat what you would drink what you would wear he said stop this is too much stress Christianity is killing more people than you could believe because Christianity makes you compete for blessings it's stressful religion is hard work

53:01 with very little benefit Jesus said come unto me [Music] and he was talking to those religious people in distress all you are heavy laden let's get some rest is this come on take my yoke upon you he said man there's too much stress for you my yoke is easy you're supposed to have a easy life I'm not talking I am telling you what I'm living I went to the doctor to get a check at my doctor's back here sitting right back there standard Dr Chris he can be one of

53:47 our speakers don't miss him it's powerful speaker he's one of my doctors and he gave me a full checkup the other day and he said to me he said Dr Monroe you got the body of an athlete I'm 52 okay he said I've never seen anyone's blood pressure at your age that's perfect same thing he did they took it twice to make sure it wasn't a mistake no stress [Music] no prostate cancer no nothing let me tell you something what's killing us is running in the rat race and praying all our way through it pray for things

54:33 why do you worry what you would eat to drink and where how you would live he said stop it only pagans worry about these things