The Kingdom of God

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From: TFTW Bible College

We saw earlier Jesus talking about building His church and giving keys to open the doors to His church, the kingdom. “And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16:18-19 ASV) 

We also saw that the kingdom would come with power, and the power and kingdom came on the Day of Pentecost. Then, in Acts 2:47, we saw that God was adding people to the church. "Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." (Acts 2:47)  

Did you notice who preached the sermon recorded in Acts 2? “Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) It was Peter! Just as Jesus prophesied, Peter was opening the doors to the kingdom of Heaven by telling people how to go in. 

Those that repented and were baptized, were added to the church by God.  (Acts 2:47) The kingdom of God is another name for the church, and it was established on the Day of Pentecost.

The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, not a physical kingdom. Some people in the days of Jesus were expecting Him to set up a physical kingdom and overthrow the Roman Empire. “When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6) 

Some people today are still expecting Jesus to come back to Earth in order to set up some physical kingdom with a physical throne in Jerusalem. But, notice that Jesus tells us what kind of kingdom He will have. “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.” (John 18:36) 

Jesus was going to have a spiritual kingdom. The house of God, the family of God, the called out, and the kingdom of God would all be spiritual, not physical! 



a Christian, writer and homemaker

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