Passion For Jesus Ministries

Notice in verse 22, “the Son of Man”. This is a messianic title. In the book of Daniel, the Holy Spirit records a prophecy that refers to an individual called a “son of man” coming to receive a kingdom. It is important that we remember that the message that Jesus preached was the Gospel (the good news) of the Kingdom of God. Everywhere He went He preached the same message, “Repent for the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”. All throughout the Gospels, we find that Jesus’ emphasis was always on the Kingdom.

Jesus chose twelve men to be His disciples, He ordained them as Apostles (sent ones) and sent them out to preach that very same message. He commissioned them to preach the Kingdom of God, heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out devils. He commanded that they not only preach it, but they were also to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. In Luke 10, Jesus appointed 70 others and sent them out two by two and instructed them to do the same thing. He told them to go, preach and proclaim that the Kingdom of God is at hand and heal the sick. The primary reason Jesus came to Earth was to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. Most preachers erronesously emphasise that the reason Jesus came to the Earth was to die on the Cross. Jesus did come to die on the Cross, but that death on the cross was for a purpose - and that purpose was to establish the Kingdom of God.

In the previous verses, the Pharisees missed the Kingdom. I want to point out here an important fact - that is that even as a Christian - if you are not careful, you too can miss the Kingdom of God, when it is right at hand!

There were multitudes of people that heard Jesus preach the message of the Kingdom. Some of those missed it, others did not. Jesus said, “The kingdom of God has suffered violence, and the violent take it by force”. That word “violent” does not refer to a natural violence, but rather, it refers to a person who has a revelation of the Kingdom and seizes it! They take it by force. The word to take by force means to “seize it”. As an example, when a policeman comes with a warrant for an arrest, they seize someone, they take them by force. When the Kingdom comes to you, you need to seize it - forcefully! You need to take it by force, don’t let it go by. If you do, you can miss it. Don’t take all the time you want to ponder and decide if you want it. When the Kingdom comes, you have to grab it.

There are two Greek words that are translated in English as our word time. The first is chronos, it is the word that we get our word chronological from - it means linear, sequential , moment-by-moment time. The second Greek word that is translated time is the word kairos - it means opportune moment of time - an opportunity. You cannot miss chronological time, but you can very easily miss a kairos moment of opportunity! 

The message of the Kingdom comes to some people and they hear it, they think about it, they think about it, they think about it, they examine it and in the process of all that eamination, the kairos moment of opportunity passes them by. Others hear about the Kingdom and they immediately reach out in faith and grasp it. Why do they grasp it? Because they are desperate. The Gospel that Jesus preached was preached primarily to the poor. Why? Becaue the poor were desperate. Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach the gospel "to the poor”. The reason the poor enter the Kingdom of God faster than the rich is because they are desperate. The rich man often hasn't come to the end of himself and his resources. The poor are desperate, despondent and dependent on another - they are broken and they realize that they are in need of help.

When the Good News of the Kingdom of God comes to the poor, they are ready for God News. The poor, the sick, the blind, the withered, the lame and the demonized eagerly rush into the Kingdom of God. We see in the Gospel accounts that those are the ones that followed the ministry of Christ. The Bible says that before the ministry of John the Baptist the law and the prophets were in effect. But since the time of John's ministry, the Kingdom of heaven is preached and every man presses into it. The word “press” represented a crowd pressing to seize the Kingdom.

Jesus went about all the local towns and villages preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, the good news. And His listeners were crowds of poor, sick and demonized people. They were considered to be the lowest of society. They were those who had been disqualified from being included in the number of the righteous because of their weakness, their sin, their failure. Yet, here they were pressing in, crowding to seize the best news that they had ever heard. Even in their state of  sinfulness, even thought they were sick, and poor and demonized, they knew, they had a revelation that this Man, Jesus did not come, as the religious do, to condemn them. He didn’t come to judge them or to rebuke them. He came to bring hope, to bring a Kingdom that is not like any kingdom of this world. It’s the Kingdom of God.

In the book of Daniel, we discover that Daniel describes the kingdom of men as that of a beast. The nature of man is likened to that of a beast. The number 666 is the number of man; it is the number of the beast. Often, even supposedly civilized men and women can behave like beasts. They have the capacity to be cruel, domineering and abusive. Often in lower classes of society, the kingdom of man consists of those who have been rejected, looked down upon and talked about. They are mistreated as if they have no rights, they are despised and taken advantage of.

In the kingdom of man, value is often given based on position, power, fame and economic status.In the Kingdom of God the opposite is true. In God’s Kingdom, a person’s status, power and name means absolutely nothing. How much money you have does not impress God.

Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. (Matt 19:24) Jesus was not saying that it is impossible for the rich to enter His kingdom. But often men have power, money, prestige and influence, they also tend to have pride and aren't usually known to be humble. Rich people often don't feel that they need to depend on anyone, so when the Kingdom comes to them, they reason, they ponder, they examine and often they say within themselves, "I don’t need that, I have everything. I have money and houses, I have a nice car, position, fame and power. I’m number one in my own kingdom, in my society." They don’t have the revelation or the understanding of their need for the Kingdom of God.

The poor who have been oppressed, who are in need of deliverance, those who have been run down, taken advantage of by more affluent folk, thay are the ones that Jesus came to preach the Kingdom to. These are the ones who pressed into the Kingdom and seized it because, you see, they had an understanding of their own need. They understood there is a Kingdom that is higher than the kingdoms that have held them down. A Kingdom that is higher than any political kingdom, religious kingdom, higher than the kingdoms of witchcraft, or the kingdoms of sickness and disease. Every one of those people that came to Jesus, they pressed, they believed and they SEIZED the Kingdom of God and, as a result, they were healed, delivered and set free.

Beloved, you have to seize the Kingdom while you have the opportunity. If you don’t, I assure you, it will pass you buy! It’s amazing how often that a miracle can be right at your door, and if you don’t grab it, it will go right by you. Healing can be right at your door, and if you don’t grab it, it will go right on by you. Don’t sit and look religious, when God shows up, grab Him! Bring Him into your situation. When God is manifesting His Kingdom, that is not the time to be cool or to worry about what your friends and family will say. For God's sake, literrally, for God's sake, for the sake of God's Kingdom, recognize your need for healing and deliverance and your need for the Kingdom of God. Thank God for His Kingdom!

Like in the times of the earthly ministry of Jesus, present day Pharisees, the religious, are the ones most prone to miss the Kingdom of God. Religious people are self righteous and they think that they know everything. They do not think they need God because they think that they already know and have God. They believe they have everything under control. They despise those that are struggling and they look down on people who don’t have what they have. They look down on people who are not in the church and they despise those who have outward sin in their lives.

Beloved, don’t ever forget where you came from!

When Jesus came and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, it was not a foreign concept to the people of God, the Jews. They were expecting the Messiah to come with the Kingdom of heaven. They had the prophecies of Daniel about “one coming”. Even the Pharisees were looking for the Son of man to come in the clouds of Glory to deliver them out of the hands of the Romans. They were looking for the King of Israel. The Gentiles did not understand the Kingdom of God like the Jews did.

The Pharisees did not accept that Jesus was the One, yet they asked Him when the Kingdom would come!. Jesus had been preaching that the Kingdom of God had come, that is was here. He preached it then, and we preach it now, the Kingdom of God is now, it is here! Like the Pharisees of old, religious people today can’t see because they are blind and full of pride. Understand this, if you are full of pride, you will not see the Kingdom of God. The religious take pride in their position, but the Kingdom is not about position. It’s not about how anointed you are, or how great you are or what your name is or whether you are on television or on radio, or on the internet.

We have churches all across America, full of church people who have missed the Kingdom of God. They come in with the wrong concept of what the Kingdom of God is and in its place have substituted worldly beliefs into the church. The world’s way doesn’t fit into the Kingdom. They are might be saved, born again, they are in church, and yet they still see or understand the truth about the Kingdom of God. They have missed it. They have pondered, examined, weighed and measured the Kingdom, and in the process, missed it. They did not seize it. Now they want a title, they want power and recognition from men. They don’t like humility or being obscure, it’s too hard on the flesh.

Begin to get knowledge of the Kingdom of God. God says to humble yourself and He will exalt you. If you make yourself of no reputation, He will promote you. When God promotes you, there is nothing man can do about it. He is the Judge. He puts one down and He raises another one up. He is the King in His own Kingdom!

Thank God for the Kingdom!

Renew your mind, change the way yoiu think; Jesus came to bring a different order. He came to bring a different Kingdom, unlike anything you have ever known. Remove from you mind those things that you are familiar with. Remove from your mind what you see on television, even on "Christian" television; what’s on “Entertainment Tonight” or “Hollywood minute”. It doesn’t matter who leads or who follows. Take all that out of your mind. That is not the Kingdom of God.

The Kingdom is about being humble; it’s about serving and loving. It’s about being merciful. This needs to be preached across the planet, even in the church, in the house of God.

We have been so busy in ministry "for God" that we have missed the Kingdom. Jesus did not come to bring ministry, He came to bring the Kingdom. We are in church, we sing, dance, preach and prophecy, we cast out devils, we travel and have big ministries, we have big churches and we still don’t know even the basics about the Kingdom of God! We know about faith, we know about healing, we know about miracles, about the apostolic and the prophetic. We know all about intercession and demons and how to cast them out. But we don’t know about the Kingdom of God. Jesus did not come preaching faith or healing. He didn’t preach miracles. He preached about the Kingdom of God! Healing, deliverance and faith were a result of those desperate enough to seize the Kingdom of God. The foremost thing on God’s mind is His Kingdom.

This is not a rebuke for some, but for everyone. We are going to get there. Before Jesus Christ returns we’re going to get this Kingdom thing right. He’s not coming back for the messed up church that you see around you. He’s coming back for a Church without spot or blemish or wrinkle. He is coming back for a Kingdom people. Even if we have not completely understood, thank God for the Holy Spirit. He is a great teacher and He is intent on teaching us about the Kingdom of God. Say this out loud with me, “Heavenly Father, show us, show me, Your Kingdom”. Do not miss the Kingdom of God!

The Jewish people missed the Kingdom of God. They were looking for a future event. They did not understand that Jesus, the Messiah, had two comings. His first coming was that of a suffering Messiah. He suffered once and for all for us, so that we could recieve His Kingdom. When you have suffered all your life, you don’t want a suffering King. Who has heard that a King would suffer and die for His people? Most kings would not die for anyone. As a matter of fact, they would more than likely put you out in front and have you to die before them.

The people surround an earthly king so nothing happens to him, to protect him. But our King is different. His Kingdom is different. He came to die. His Kingdom is not established through military power. Jesus did not come to raise up an army. He came to raise up servants. He raised up disciples and told them “the cup that I drink from, you will drink from this same cup”. We will suffer, we will be persecuted, and some of us will undoubtedly be killed.

Understand this about the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God does not triumph because of its military might like other kingdoms. The victory of the Kingdom of God is here for us because we have a King who obtained victory for us through His suffering.

We have One who went to the Cross and suffered and died for our sins. Israel could not understandthat kind of King because their mentality was in Earthly kingdoms. When Jesus came and preached the Kingdom of God and predicted His own death, the Jews could not believe that He was the One. They believed the One Daniel spoke of would be coming in the clouds in Glory. And He will, when He returns the second time.

The Prophet Isaiah said referring to the Messiah, that He was rejected and despised of men; He was like a root out of dry ground. He was bruised for our iniquities, wounded for our transgressions, the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth, He was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, as the sheep before the sheerer is dumb, He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, who shall declare His generation? He was cut off out of the land of the living, for the transgressions of My people He was stricken, He made His grave with the wicked and the rich in His death: because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth, Yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise Him, he put Him to grief.

Who could understand this kind of Kingdom? It doesn’t make sense, to the natural mind. The leader of this Kingdom, the King, He dies. The followers of this Man, Jesus, His Disciples love the very people that hate them, persecute them and murder them. They bless those who curse them. They give and it is given unto them, they don’t store up treasures, they give it away. They are not after power or fame. They are not after reputation. They love and serve people, they bless and heal people. They are found among the poor, the rejected, with those that society has turned down and against. What kind of Kingdom is this? It’s the Kingdom of God! And still we don’t understand it, even today.

We are still thinking in terms of “my” kingdom, We have preachers building their own kingdoms. They are not preaching the Kingdom of God. They are building their own ministries. They are building a tape ministry, a book and television ministry. Their name is on everything. They float in and out. They take the biggest offering and are not concerned about the poor. They are not concerned about the demonized or the sick and with all their studying and preaching, they still don’t understand the kingdom of God.

Thank God there is a generation that God is raising up who have begun to understand the Kingdom of God. And unlike the ones who have passed before us, they will not go the way of the world, but they will go the way of God. Read Luke 17, people of God. Renew your minds. If you want to operate in this Kingdom you will have to humble yourselves. If you want to operate in this Kingdom you will have to lay some things, most things, even good things, even the blessings of God, aside. Lay aside ambition, the desire to be seen, position, lust for authority over others. That is not the way of the kingdom.

Jesus told the Pharisees, remember they were the churched, the religious people, the problem is you’re looking for some grand event, for the heavens to open up, the Kingdom does not come like that. The Kingdom of God is here and it is now, because I'm here - and I have brought My world with me. I AM THE KING and you don’t see it. In Luke 17:22, Jesus says that they would look to the heavens to see what Daniel spoke of and they will say “when are you coming back?’ Your eyes have been focused up in the heavens, but right here in front of you is the Kingdom of God.

It’s the same today, people look up to heaven looking for something to happen, maybe a rapture to get you out of your discomfort and to get you where you can relax and be with loved ones and with friends forever. But God is saying by His Spirit, to those who are desperate and listening, "My Kingdom is right here, right now. When you hear the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, Seize it! Grab hold of it and press toward it. Don’t miss it!"

Amen!