What is the Kingdom of God, and how do we walk in it?
When Jesus came to the earth, he said He came to show us the Kingdom of God. This Kingdom isn’t a physical place but a spiritual position that we can learn to enter into. There are tremendous benefits of remaining under God’s covering within the Kingdom of God. It is also a position where the Holy Spirit can work in us and through us to do His works in the earth. In this article, Pastor Benny Parish explains how to enter the Kingdom of God. He presents four keys to the Kingdom of God and gives instruction on how to use them.
The principles of the Kingdom of God are something that we may think we understand, but the real question is, have we put them to practice? Do we just know what the Bible says, or do we put what it says to practice? The reality is that we are human, so perhaps sometimes we walk in it and other times we don’t, and then we come back in and out again. There was only one person who walked in it perfectly; that was Jesus Christ. But do we want to do better?
What is the Kingdom of God?
Romans 14:17 says:
For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.
To be able to walk in the righteousness, peace, and joy of the Holy Ghost, we need first to understand it. We also need to believe that we can have it and walk in it. If we’re stressed all the time and getting symptoms in our body because we are listening continually to stressful, fearful thoughts, that would indicate that we are not walking in the Kingdom of God in that area of our lives.
Jesus Christ came to preach the Kingdom of God so that we could live in the Kingdom of God while we’re still here on earth. We don’t have to wait for it; we can live in it here and now!
And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent. Luke 4:43 KJV
Why was Jesus sent to preach the Kingdom of God?
Jesus needed first to establish the Kingdom of God in the earth. Then, after the millennial reign of Christ, His assignment will end, and He will sit at the right hand of the Father. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 tells us this:
For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. 23 But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. 24 Then [cometh] the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. 25 For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy [that] shall be destroyed [is] death. 27 For he hath put all things under his feet. But when he saith all things are put under [him, it is] manifest that he is excepted, which did put all things under him. 28 And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. 1 Corinthians 15:22-28 KJV
In other words, Christ turns the Kingdom back over to the Father, and He awaits His next assignment.
How should we walk in the Kingdom of God?
Jesus gave a very good picture of how we can walk in the Kingdom of God in His discussion with Nicodemus.
There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews: 2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. 3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. John 3:1-8 KJV
What are the keys to the Kingdom of God?
In this conversation, Jesus showed Nicodemus the keys to the Kingdom of God. How do you get into the Kingdom? It’s like a door that is locked, and you need three keys to enter in. I want you to notice here that you can be born again, water baptized, and baptized in the Holy Spirit, but that still does not guarantee that you walk in the Kingdom. They make it possible that you can, but you still have to choose to enter in.
A lot of people may say, “Well, I’m born again, baptized with water, and filled with the Holy Spirit.” But yet, they don’t walk in righteousness, peace, and joy. They think because they have the keys to the Kingdom of God that they have entered in, when in reality, if you check their lives, they have not.
The first key that Jesus showed Nicodemus is that you must be born again. And Nicodemus does not understand. He is taking it from the perspective of the physical world, and Jesus is preaching the spiritual world to him. Therefore, he asks Jesus if a man can enter again into his mother’s womb.
But Jesus does not answer him directly; He goes on to say that unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the Kingdom. That is water baptism and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He’s telling Nicodemus that these are the keys, but still, most people never really walk in the Kingdom.
How do we walk in the Spirit?
Verse 8 is interesting. Jesus said:
The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. John 3:8 KJV
He’s saying that when you are born of the Spirit, there is the possibility that you can walk by the Spirit. The scriptures say that you should pray without ceasing. So you are praying all the time, and you are aware that God is there to lead you and you are sensitive to His voice and respond in obedience.
Let’s use a football game as an analogy to compare the physical to the spiritual. If you wanted to go to the game, you first get a schedule to find out when the game is. The next thing you’d do is purchase a ticket. Finally, you get in our car and drive to the stadium.
Have you entered the Kingdom of God?
So now you are there, but the problem is, no one told you that you need to enter the stadium to watch the game. So you never enter. You may stand around outside and wonder what’s so great about a football game.
In the same way, a person may say, “Well, I’ve been born again, water baptized, and baptized in the Holy Spirit, but I’m not experiencing the righteousness, peace, and joy of the Holy Ghost.” It’s because they never entered into the game. That is a possibility for all of us.
Going back to Romans 14:17, we know that the Kingdom of God is not meat or drink. It’s not physical things; it has nothing to do with what you eat or don’t eat. But the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. That’s what we really want to experience, don’t we? We may have the keys to the stadium but have we entered into the stadium to enjoy the game?
Now it’s time to enter the stadium and live there. There may be times where you exit the stadium for some reason or another, but when you realize that you’re not walking in the righteousness, joy, and peace, you can recover yourself and enter back in.
What are righteousness, peace, and joy?
Let’s read in Romans 4:1:
What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? 2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath [whereof] to glory; but not before God. 3 For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Romans 4:1-3 KJV
Was it Abraham’s idea to move to a foreign land? No. It was not.
That’s what life in the Kingdom should be like. We should be asking God where we should go and what He wants us to do, even in the little things. We need to come to the place where we understand that this is not of us; we cannot do it on our own.
You don’t have any righteousness other than doing what God told you to do. Then it is counted unto you as righteousness. So you read the Scripture, and you begin to follow it and apply it to your life, and that is counted to you for righteousness. But you didn’t write the Scripture, did you? No, He did, but He still counts you as righteous when you follow through.
Righteousness leads to peace.
Isaiah says:
And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. Isaiah 32:17 KJV
We can’t make our own peace. We need to take God’s peace and acknowledge that peace comes from Him. We have nothing to offer other than obedience to the leading of the Spirit of God and the Word of the Scripture so we may do what is right in His eyes.
John 14 says this:
These things have I spoken unto you, being [yet] present with you. 26 But the Comforter, [which is] the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. 27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:25-27 KJV
So we don’t have our own peace, but Christ leaves His peace with us through the Holy Spirit. The enemy wants to steal the peace of God, but the Holy Spirit is there to remind you of what God says in the Scripture so that you can have His peace back. It’s all about Him!
Peace will lead you into joy!
Proverbs 12:20 says:
Deceit [is] in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellors of peace [is] joy. Proverbs 12:20 KJV
Righteousness leads you into peace, and peace leads you into joy. They all work together.
Hebrews 12:1-2 says:
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, 2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2 KJV
Think about Jesus here, He’s beaten, He’s carrying the cross, and what is He thinking about? The joy that was set before Him. What was that joy? That He would present you and me to the Father and turn the Kingdom back over to the Father. That’s what He was looking at that helped Him endure the cross. He despised what was going on, yet He still looked forward to the reward of what God was doing.
Get an eternal perspective
We can do the same thing. We can say, “Yeah, this is a big mess! I can’t wait to see what God’s going to do with it!” And if we think just a little bit further out from that, we’re going to get a glorified body and serve as kings and priests, and we will rule and reign with Christ in the new millennium. And the New Jerusalem is going to come down, and we get an apartment in the sky. And there’s not going to be any more pain or sorrow. It is going to be totally awesome! Sometimes we just have to look a little bit further out to keep the joy of what God has set before us.
I want to show you another picture. God used Moses to deliver the Old Testament Church out of Egypt (a type of the world). For the last plague against Egypt, the Israelites were commanded to put lambs’ blood on their doorposts to protect them from the angel of death that would come and take the firstborn of every family. This represents Jesus shedding His blood for us on the cross. 1 Corinthians 10:1 says this:
Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness. 6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.1 Corinthians 10:1-6 KJV
The cloud represents the Holy Spirit. And their passing through the Red Sea was a tremendous picture of water baptism. The waters opened for the church, and when they got out on the other side, the enemy came in after them and was destroyed. Moses represented Christ as a type of deliverer. He delivered them out of the world.
What will keep us from entering the Kingdom of God?
What was the sin that so easily beset the Israelites in the desert? Unbelief.
Hebrews 3:7 says this:
Wherefore (as the Holy Ghost saith, To day if ye will hear his voice, 8 Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation, in the day of temptation in the wilderness: 9 When your fathers tempted me, proved me, and saw my works forty years. 10 Wherefore I was grieved with that generation, and said, They do alway err in [their] heart; and they have not known my ways. 11 So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest.) 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. Hebrews 3:7-12 KJV
What kept the Israelites from entering the Promised Land? Unbelief. They didn’t believe the Word of God. What can keep you from entering into the Kingdom of God and walking in His righteousness, peace, and joy? Unbelief.
Do you believe and receive the free gifts from God?
Unbelief could be as simple as this: God tells you that you’re righteous, and you say, “No way! Look at all the bad things I’ve done!” But God says, “I’ve forgiven you, and I’m expecting you to forgive yourself.” But you don’t believe it, so you do not walk in freedom from the curse of your sin.
Or, when you lose His peace, do you turn to God and say, “Hey! I’ve lost your peace. How do I get it back?” He is right there, ready to help you; all it may take is for the Holy Spirit to bring Scripture to your mind to show you what God says about the situation.
What does it look like to walk in the Kingdom?
Walking in the Kingdom of God is about us allowing Him to lead us; it’s all about Him, not us. Here is the fourth key to the Kingdom. You’ve given up unbelief, and now you completely turn the reins over to Him. You may not understand everything that is going on. But when something hits you that is not good, your attitude is, “Wow! That is not good! I can’t wait to see how God’s going to fix this!” We need to watch out that we don’t mumble and groan and complain as the Israelites did in the wilderness. And if we catch ourselves going there, we repent and turn our faith and trust back to God and take His peace back as well.
Proverbs 3:5-8 says:
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. 7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 3:5-8 KJV
As we walk in the Kingdom, He is going to direct our paths. We will petition Him about the things that we want that are the things that He wants too. And then it says that the effect of this is health all the way into your bones, into the marrow where the immune system is made. Walking in God’s righteousness, peace, and joy is good for your immune system!
Once we understand His righteousness, peace, and joy, we’ll be able to walk in it. But we’re going to be led by constant communion with Him as He leads us into it.
What will we achieve by walking in the Kingdom of God?
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness; 12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: 13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated [us] into the kingdom of his dear Son: 14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, [even] the forgiveness of sins: Colossians 1:10-14 KJV
Here’s another scripture that talks about our need to remain dependent on God to enter the Kingdom:
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. 2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every [branch] that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. 5 I am the vine, ye [are] the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:1-5 KJV
That’s a good place to live right now, with the understanding that you can do nothing without Him. I know many are reading this who are trying to get something done in their own strength and are frustrated. They are tired, weary, worn out, and stressed out. They don’t feel righteous. They don’t have any joy.
We cannot do God’s job for Him; we need His help!
The truth is, when we try to do God’s job, it’s very frustrating because we can’t do it! Maybe today is the day that you’ll give up. Give up trying to do what only God can do. Turn it over to God. He says, “My shoulders are broad; lay it upon me. I’ll fix it.” Do you believe that?
Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30 For my yoke [is] easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30 KJV
Many people prayed for something that never came to pass in their lifetime, but they never gave up. They had the attitude, “God said it, so I’m going to believe it.” It’s that simple. So here’s where I would invite you to live: Ephesians 2:8 says:
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8-10 KJV
God’s plan for you is for your good
Before you were born, God knew you; He knew who you were supposed to be. He wrote a book about you and foreordained what He wanted you to do. If you commune with God, He’s going to reveal to you what is written in that book and show you what you should be doing. And then, when you do it, it’s going to be counted to you for righteousness!
You may try to do good things your own way, but maybe He didn’t call you to do that. Perhaps He has another job for you that you’ll miss because you’re keeping yourself busy. And if you won’t listen to Him, He’s not going to count it to you as righteousness. He may call you to do something that you’ve never dreamed of, but I promise, it’ll be worth it!
The Kingdom of God is a priceless treasure.
I’m going to end with this parable in Matthew 13:
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: 46 Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. Matthew 13:45-46 KJV
The Kingdom is where the real pearls are: His righteousness, peace, and joy. We need to sell out for the Kingdom of God. We need to go after it and seek it with everything that we have. Abandon the ways of the enemy. Abandon the need to try to fix things on your own. You need to walk in the Kingdom knowing that God is going to fix it. That’s where He wants you to live.
Are you ready to overthrow the enemy’s kingdom in your life with the light?
Here’s another parable:
Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: 32 Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. Matthew 13:31-32 KJV
When you follow it, this Kingdom message will permeate every part of your spirit, soul, and body. When it gets into your heart, and you abandon your ways and the enemy’s ways and decide to live in God’s ways, the light is going to come in and drive out the darkness. The light comes from being led by and following the Holy Spirit and applying the truth from the Word to your life.
May you walk in His Kingdom,
Pastor Benny Parish
Watch this complete teaching in this Hope of the Generations Church Service:
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Read more articles related to this topic:
How to Walk in the Supernatural Power of God – A Legacy teaching by Dr. Henry W. Wright on how to be empowered to do the work of the Kingdom of God.
Signs and Wonders – By Pastor John Shales – How God wants to use you to do His Kingdom work through signs and wonders and why they are still important for today.
An Introduction to the Different Types of Baptism – A Legacy Teaching by Dr. Henry W. Wright on the importance of understanding and participating in the Doctrine of Baptisms in order to be anointed and prepared to do the work of the Kingdom of God.
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