Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:20-21.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
You have probably noticed that Jesus had many conversations with the Pharisees and it was primarily the Pharisees who sought Him out and instigated these conversations. But if you also noticed they were always questioning Him and most of the time not because they were interested in the answer but were trying to catch Him off guard and lead Him into speaking in contradiction to the Law or the Prophets. But they never could. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and in Him you are complete.
Today’s conversation, however, is one of the times that the Pharisees asked Him a question with no evil intent but it shows they believed He had the answers to prophecies and future events that they did not. But this makes their rejection of Him as Messiah and Lord, however, all the more unjustifiable. Like Nicodemus, they knew that Jesus was from Me and had a connection with Me they did not have.
In this conversation, the Pharisees approached Jesus and asked Him when the Kingdom of God would come. Luke 17:20. Jesus preached about the Kingdom so they wanted to know more.
Do you know what they were speaking about?
You will see much in referral to the prophecies of Daniel in the ways the people and the religious leaders related to Jesus. Jesus also quoted Daniel to them. At the time of Jesus, you will see the people were on the alert, looking for the Messiah. Even the Samaritan woman by the well.
They wondered if it could be John the Baptist but he denied that introducing himself as the one prophesied as the forerunner, the messenger, who would open the way and prepare the people for the coming Messiah.
And then, seeing the identifying signs He preformed, they were constantly wondering if Jesus was the Messiah.
Why so much interest at that time more than any other time? Before the prophecies were seen as for times in the future but suddenly the people were looking for Him in their here and now.
It was the time, foretold in the sevens (weeks) prophesies of Daniel, that we discussed in a prior life lesson, for the Messiah to show up in Jerusalem. And Satan knows Scripture as well, as you see from his testing of Jesus in the wilderness at the beginning of his ministry. He searches the Scriptures to stop events from happening that will defeat him, thus the massacre of the infants and young boys in Bethlehem, the city foretold for the birth of the Messiah and the star that led the Magi there. But he is no match for the prophesies, My Word, once released into the earth with faith, will come to pass.
But in the questioning of Jesus by the Pharisees they were not so much referring to the Messiah as savior from sin but as to the overthrow of the pagan kingdoms that ruled them of which Daniel foretold the sequence in his interpretation of the dream of Nebuchadnezzar. In that dream, Nebuchadnezzar had a vision of a massive idol that represented the various ruling kingdoms of the earth, the Babylonian, Persian, Greek, and Roman. And in that vision a stone, not hewn by human hands, crushed that idol representing the dominating kingdoms that took over the known world as taking down the clay and iron feet of the Roman empire and giving them the rule in the Kingdom over the earth. This is what James and John and their mother were thinking of when requesting that James and John be seated next to Jesus in authority as He ruled from His throne.
Then there will be a fourth kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces. In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be a divided kingdom; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay. As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle. And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery. In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever. Inasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.” Daniel 2:40-45.
And there are other references to the setting up of My Kingdom on earth in the Old Testament but it is all realized and fulfilled in the last two chapters of the Bible in the Book of Revelation far beyond what you could ever ask or imagine. For what beauty, glory, power and majesty beyond what eye has not seen or ear heard I have prepared for those who love Me.
And the Pharisees also knew what I would do when I set up My Kingdom which would never be destroyed from the prophet Daniel:
These great beasts, which are four in number, are four kings who will arise from the earth. But the saints of the Highest One will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, for all ages to come.’ Daniel 7:17-18.
And so they asked Jesus when My Kingdom would come. They knew they were the righteous who would rule. He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, ‘See here!’ or ‘See there!’ For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.” Luke 17:21.
This made no sense to them.
Of this church I was made a minister according to the stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:25-27.
Jesus, who is My Word made flesh, declared to you,“the Kingdom is within you.” Luke 17:21. The word used there that is translated “within” is the Greek word “entos,” which means inside, within, and is the same word used in Matthew 23:25-26 when Jesus speaks of cleansing the INSIDE of the cup and not just the outside to the Pharisees.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.” Matthew 23:25-26.
It is within your inner being. Are you not aware that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from Me? 1 Corinthians 6:19. Glorify Me within your body. 1 Corinthians 6:20. When you join yourself with the Jesus you become one spirit with Him. 1 Corinthians 6:17. Through Jesus, you all access Me, your Father, by the One Spirit. Ephesians 2:18.
You are on earth, but when you are born again from above you become My child and a new creation in Christ, a citizen of Heaven and have come to Mt. Zion and myriads of angels. John 3:3-5; 2 Corinthians 5:17, Philippians 3:20; Hebrews 12:22. You have become a “house of God and gate of Heaven.” 1 Corinthians 3:16. You are in the world, but you are also in the Kingdom. John 17:15-16. By My Spirit dwelling in you, you can enter the Kingdom, and My Kingdom has entered you. Most people do not begin to understand the spiritual realm that is within that you can tap into through your spirit. Most think of your bodies as finite, and physically the earthen vessels that hold your spirit and soul, which they do, but the spirit realm you have access to within is unlimited and without boundaries, a wide and open space. Psalm 18:19.
When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you can gaze right into the heavenly realm. An early believer after Jesus returned to Heaven, the man named Stephen, was filled with faith and the Holy Spirit. Acts 6:5. He was persecuted for his witness to Jesus as the Messiah and Lord. And when he was being stoned for his witness to Jesus as Messiah and Lord, being FULL OF THE HOLY SPIRIT, he looked intently (in Greek the word is “atenizo,” which means to look fixedly, gaze steadily, observe with great interest and a fastened gaze) into (in Greek the word is “eis,” which means into a place, entering into a place, an open place) Heaven and saw My Glory and Jesus standing at the My right hand. Stephen saw the heavens opened up (in Greek the word is “dianoigo,” which means to open up completely, all the way across) but no one else there did, it was with the eyes of his heart. Acts 7:55-56; Ephesians 1:18 (Paul prayed that the “eyes of your heart would be enlightened”). And then Stephen talked directly to Me and Jesus right from where he was, and he told Jesus what he wanted done. He wanted to come home to Me and not remain on the earth any longer and he wanted Me to forgive those who killed him. Acts 7:59-60. And it was done according to his faith.
Paul was standing there, known as Saul at the time, participating in and approving the murder of Stephen. It was Stephen’s prayer that saved him, and in a powerful way. Acts 9:1-19. Paul became a fervent believer in Jesus as Messiah and Lord and the writer of about two-thirds of the New Testament. I revealed great truths of the gospel of grace to Paul in extraordinary ways. 2 Corinthians 12:7. And later, when Paul was stoned for his witness to Jesus, Acts 14:19, he did not ask to leave the earth as Stephen had done but decided to stay on earth longer to witness, and so he did. Philippians 1:23. But much later when he had finished his race and was satisfied, he decided to go. 2 Timothy 4:6-8. The choice is yours.
Stephen, as a Spirit filled believer accessed an open Heaven that he perceived with the eyes of his heart. And if you have received Jesus as your Lord, so can you.
When I tell you to come with confidence to My throne to receive from Me, where do you think you are going? Many people are thinking of Me as distant from them—outside your atmosphere and beyond outer space to a far-off place called Heaven, but that is not the case at all.
The righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith. Romans 10:6-8.
You go within to pray. Go to that innermost chamber, My secret place, for I am the Most High, and there you will connect and be in the Kingdom.
I have raised you with Christ and seated you in Heaven on His throne at My right hand. You are seated there with Him. That is past tense not future. Ephesians 2:6. In the spirit realm within you, you are there, there are no limits.
John understood this on the island of Patmos. Physically in a cave, he tells you that he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and suddenly he was over in another realm, the realm of My Kingdom and he was right at My throne gazing on the rainbow around Me, present with the angels and holy ones. Revelation 1:9-20; Revelation 4:1-6. Suddenly, he was in My presence and of all of the community of Heaven. Revelation 4 – Revelation 5; Revelation 7 – Revelation 8.
When you enter into prayer and seek Me within, you are not bound by earthly limits, “but you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews 12:22-24. Notice that is not a future tense but the past. You are there now, for you have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for you through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since you have a great priest over My house you can draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having your hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and your bodies washed with pure water. So hold fast the confession of your hope without wavering, for I am faithful; and consider how to stimulate your brethren to love and good deeds, not forsaking assembling together, for you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Me through Jesus Christ, encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near. Hebrews 10:19-25; 1 Peter 2:4-5.
When you enter the realm of the spirit to pray, worship, talk with Me, walk with the Me, dine with the Me, and sing praises with the family in Heaven, you are seated above with and in Christ at My right hand. Ephesians 2:6; Revelation 3:20-21. You are there but you access it within, not without.
Paul wrote to Timothy: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.” 1 Timothy 5:21. Within Paul and within Timothy there was all of heaven present. And so it is with you who have the same precious faith. 2 Peter 1:1. I have rescued you out of the realm of darkness and translated you to the Kingdom of My beloved Son, who is the Light of the world and the lamp of Heaven. Colossians 1:13.
You could say a modern-day way to describe the Kingdom within is like the cloud technology and virtual classroom in computer technology today. All who have the password can enter but there is no boundary, no limits. You access it on your own computer or other device from any part of the world, but it is not downloaded on your computer. You can enter it at the same time that an unlimited number can enter from all over the world. Together you enter the virtual classroom of Heaven that is stored in the cloud (to use modern technology’s version) and the only way in is the password of Jesus as Lord. And you all plug into the same Kingdom for you access Me in one Spirit. Ephesians 2:18.
Jesus is the door and if anyone enters through Him, he will be saved and will go in and out. John 10:9. He takes you into the Kingdom, into My bosom with Him (He prepared a place for you who believe and came back and took you in when He poured out the Spirit on you, John 14:1-3; Acts 2:33) and then once we have received revelation, mercy and grace just when you need it, Hebrews 4:16, He leads you back out into the world to share it. He called His disciples so they could be with Him and so He could send them out to preach. Mark 3:14.
And you will recall in the Old Testament that when I showed up, I came in a cloud. Exodus 16:10; Exodus 19:9; Exodus 34:5; Leviticus 16:2. My presence filling the temple or over the dwelling place in the wilderness was manifested by a cloud. Exodus 40:34; Numbers 9:15-22; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14. And Moses entered into the cloud to speak to Me on Mt. Sinai. Exodus 24:15-18. Even on the mountain of the Transfiguration, I along with Moses and Elijah, showed up in the cloud and entered back into it when departing. Matthew 17:5; Luke 9:34-35. And you learn in the Book of Hebrews that you are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. Hebrews 12:1.
You already HAVE come to Mt. Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of angels and the church of the first born. Hebrews 12:22. This is not a future happening, it has happened. You are there now in your spirit inside of you. It is in Me that you live, and move and breathe and have your being. In the spirit, you are with all the angels and the patriarchs and all the saved. Hebrews 12:1; 22-24. It is accessed now within you. Jesus came as one of you and preached peace to those who were far away, and peace to those who were near; for through Him you have access in one Spirit to Me.
So you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of My household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone (the same stone that crushed the earthly unjust kingdoms in the dream of Nebuchadnezzar), in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord Jesus, in whom you also are being built together into My dwelling in the Spirit. Ephesians 3:17-22.
Within you is the Kingdom and your good Shepherd Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep that I brought up from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant, Hebrews 13:20-21, leads you in to My bosom and He leads you out. He is the door into the Kingdom, there is no other way in.
“I am the door,” Jesus said, “if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.” John 10:9.
Into the Kingdom within you and then take what you receive out to the world around you as He leads you. Spiritual to physical. Come within then go without. You have the best of both. You are in the world but not of the world. John 17:15-16. You have no limits, Numbers 11:23, your life is hidden with Christ in God and there the evil one cannot touch you. Colossians 3:1-3; 1 John 5:18. There is no snatching out of the My hand. John 10:28-30. You bear fruit from the Kingdom, the fruit of the Spirit, Galatians 5:22-23 (“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control”), and take it to feed a starving world. Starving for love, joy, and peace—starving for My Word. Amos 8:11.
Within you, you are living in My presence, as well as of the angels and the saints in Heaven (the cloud of witnesses surrounding you), Heaven is as close as your heart. When you seek Me within your heart, you will find Me right there with you. Jeremiah 29:13. I have sworn that I will never leave you or forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:8. Jesus also is with you and in you always, Matthew 28:20, and with Him comes the Kingdom. Matthew 26:31. It has pleased Me to give you the Kingdom. Luke 12:32. And how do I give it to you? In the Holy Spirit. Romans 14:17. You are My sanctuary and a temple of the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 3:16.
And Jesus told His disciples the night he was betrayed that He would not leave them orphaned, John 14:18, but go and prepare a place for them (He did when He put His blood on the mercy seat and blazed a new and living way to the Holy of Holies by which you enter beyond the veil, Hebrews 10:19-23) and then come and take them there with Him. John 14:3. He brings you into the throne room, the very Holy of Holies, NOW. Hebrews 4:14-16.
There are only two kingdoms which you access, and everyone has accessed one of these and is in contact with that realm. And that is the one that will be within you. Remember that when Jesus cast out demons, they were deep within the person, not out but in. You must be aware of this to keep yourselves in the light where you can have a long, happy, victorious, fruitful life, and that will not stop but continue forever. Avoid the realm of darkness at all costs. Too many have been outwitted by the devil, including Adam, and have become gates for his kingdom into this world. 2 Corinthians 2:11. And that is where all evil, disasters, disease, pain, and poverty come from, in other words, the curse that Adam let into the earth by his dominion authority. Use your authority to shut the devil and his demons down. You can. But you must be aware of his tactics. Do not let him outwit you again by pulling you into fear, doubt, illness, shame, anger, offense, unforgiveness, and hardness of heart.
I love you. You are holy within, walk that out as well. Live pure by living My Word and that means by making it the thoughts of your heart, for what fills your heart you will speak and you will become. Shine. The light of Heaven is lighting your life and that is from within. Selah.