“The Kingdom Within”
Luke 17:20-37
“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 the kingdom of God is within you.” – Luke 17:20-21
“The kingdom of God is within you.” But what does that mean? Is it a self-confidence that you muster from within? Is that what it is? Because that is what the philosophy of this world will tell you. It is that delusion that you must first love yourself before you can love others.
Well, in the spirit of straightforwardness, that’s a crock! Nowhere in the Bible does it say that! The Bible clearly teaches that we must die to “self” because “self” is the problem.
Romans 6:6: “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.”
2 Corinthians 2:17: 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Matthew 22:37-40: 37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Loving yourself is nowhere in your Bible. Really! Check it out for yourself.
And so, “the kingdom within” identifies a selfless work; it is the Holy Spirit working in the born-again believer’s life! And you become “born-again” of the Spirit of God when you confess your sins, repent of your sins, ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your personal Lord. In short, call upon the name of Jesus and be saved. Romans 10:13: “13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
And when you do that, the Kingdom of God comes into you, and the Spirit of God begins to rule and reign your life. It begins the Kingdom life in the here and now, by faith, and continues through eternity when our faith turns to sight.
Kingdom life cannot be seen or touched in a material way in this life. There will be a future time for that. It is, however, seen by faith, and that is why faith is so important in this physical life.
“Faith,” remember, “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” [Heb 11:1]
