Okay, so. Like, I wasn’t planning on this being a to a two-part message, but it’s just how it happens. I just want to go over a couple of things from last time. Too much to cover all of it.

But, we’re talking about lordship and this word, Lord. It means he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding. The Lord is inviting us into a new revelation of who he wants to be in our lives. And it’s not because he desires to exert control and manipulate and play games with us.

It’s because he actually desires to bring us into the fullness of life with him. And so as we yield to His lordship, as we yield to his covering, as we yield to his goodness, he’s able then to strip off of us all the things of this world so we can come fully into life with him. He’s a good Lord.

He’s not a tyrant. He’s not a dictator, he’s a servant, and he is love. We discussed a little bit last week the gospel of the Kingdom, and how the gospel of the kingdom has been so diluted and so twisted to be so self-serving. The gospel sometimes goes out like, come and meet this one who will give you everything you want instead of coming to meet the one that I have found that is worthy of everything I have.

That’s the gospel of the Kingdom. I finally found someone who is worth serving, who is so good that I can trust my whole life to him, without worry or concern that he’s going to mistreat me, mislead me, lie to me, dominate me. He’s always good to me, and so I can give him everything that I am without fear, without concern and without reservation.

That’s the good news of the gospel, is that I can finally be free for myself. Praise the Lord for that, and I can be free from everything this world tries to put on me. That is only heaviness. It’s only bondage, it’s only darkness. And ultimately it’s only death. But praise God that he sent His Son to give us a way to come to the father that he sent his son to find brothers and sisters and bring them in to the family.

This is the good news of the gospel we spoke last week. I just want to remind us this is not a political issue. Yeah, the gospel of the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not a political issue. Now, a lot has happened this week since last Sunday. Yeah, we still on track that this is not a political issue.

Okay. Some may be very happy about certain results that happens. I’m maybe not so happy either way. We live in the kingdom of God and we cannot get distracted by politics. There’s a big difference between government and politics. Did you hear that? The Kingdom of God is about governing and this is why he needs men and women in all spheres of life, including in politics, who know how to bring the government of God and not get caught up in the world’s idea of political contention.

Yeah. We good with this? Okay. I think sometimes it’s easier for us to be in that mindset when things aren’t going the way we want. Oh, it’s okay. I’m not part of that kingdom anyway. And then when things happen the way we want to, it’s like, oh, good, now everything’s going to be fixed.

The governments of this world cannot fix death, right? All right. Only God can do that. Only the kingdom of God is designed to translate people out of darkness and death into life. That’s the governance of God. Yeah. Praise the Lord. So continuing on today, discussing the kingdom of God, the kingship of God, the Lordship of God, and what it means to be a citizen and disciple of the Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God brings with it the restoration of God’s original plan for mankind, which is to stand in a position of fruitfulness, authority, and dominion over the earth as an extension of himself.

Is here that the Kingdom of God. When we walk in the kingdom of God, it actually brings us back to the place that God designed men and women to live, and that is in communion with him in the fullness of life, exercising the dominion of God’s kingdom in the earth. All right, we’ll get this. In the beginning, God gave man dominion.

We remember this the book of Genesis. God blessed them. Adam and Eve, man and woman. And we see there’s an emphasis God is wanting to restore the position of men, restore the position of women, restore them back to partnership and to wholeness, and to right relationship with each other in communion with the Lord. God bless them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth.

That was God’s original state for mankind. And of course, we know that through the sin of rebellion, man handed that dominion over to the enemy, to Satan. And then Jesus came. Jesus came to destroy the power of sin and death, freeing us and giving us the choice to serve either sin unto death or righteousness unto life. Do you know that one of the primary reasons Jesus came was actually to restore to you choice?

Yeah. Because before he came, you were born dead. Okay. Through the sacrifice of Christ, he allows us the choice to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And along with that, the responsibilities and privileges that come along with it. Romans 5:17: for if by the trespass of one man Adam, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

We are talking about the overcoming church. We are talking about the overcoming church, the church that knows how to exercise dominion. Not in harshness, not in cruelty, but in divine love, the same way that God loves, they love. And so they exercise the love dominion of God through Christ Jesus. We are designed to be in governance on the earth.Okay, so. Like, I wasn’t planning on this being a two-part message, but it’s just how it happens. I just want to go over a couple of things from last time. Too much to cover all of it.

But we’re talking about lordship and this word, Lord. It means he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has the power of deciding. The Lord is inviting us into a new revelation of who he wants to be in our lives. And it’s not because he desires to exert control and manipulate and play games with us.

It’s because he actually desires to bring us into the fullness of life with him. And so as we yield to His lordship, as we yield to his covering, as we yield to his goodness, he’s able then to strip off of us all the things of this world so we can come fully into life with him. He’s a good Lord.

He’s not a tyrant. He’s not a dictator, he’s a servant, and he is love. We discussed a little bit last week the gospel of the Kingdom, and how the gospel of the kingdom has been so diluted and so twisted to be so self-serving. The gospel sometimes goes out like, come and meet this one who will give you everything you want instead of coming to meet the one that I have found that is worthy of everything I have.

That’s the gospel of the Kingdom. I finally found someone who is worth serving, who is so good that I can trust my whole life to him, without worry or concern that he’s going to mistreat me, mislead me, lie to me, dominate me. He’s always good to me, and so I can give him everything that I am without fear, without concern and without reservation.

That’s the good news of the gospel, is that I can finally be free for myself. Praise the Lord for that, and I can be free from everything this world tries to put on me. That is only heaviness. It’s only bondage, it’s only darkness. And ultimately it’s only death. But praise God that he sent His Son to give us a way to come to the Father, that he sent his son to find brothers and sisters and bring them into the family.

This is the good news of the gospel we spoke last week. I just want to remind us this is not a political issue. Yeah, the gospel of the kingdom. The Kingdom of God is not a political issue. Now, a lot has happened this week since last Sunday. Yeah, we’re still on track that this is not a political issue.

Some may be very happy about certain results that happened, maybe not so happy either way. We live in the kingdom of God and we cannot get distracted by politics. There’s a big difference between government and politics. Did you hear that? The Kingdom of God is about governing, and this is why he needs men and women in all spheres of life, including in politics, who know how to bring the government of God and not get caught up in the world’s idea of political contention.

We good with this? Okay. I think sometimes it’s easier for us to be in that mindset when things aren’t going the way we want. Oh, it’s okay. I’m not part of that kingdom anyway. And then when things happen the way we want to, it’s like, oh, good, now everything’s going to be fixed.

The governments of this world cannot fix death, right? All right. Only God can do that. Only the kingdom of God is designed to translate people out of darkness and death into life. That’s the governance of God. Yeah. Praise the Lord. So continuing on today, discussing the kingdom of God, the kingship of God, the Lordship of God, and what it means to be a citizen and a disciple of the Kingdom of heaven. The Kingdom of God brings with it the restoration of God’s original plan for mankind, which is to stand in a position of fruitfulness, authority, and dominion over the earth as an extension of himself.

Is here that the Kingdom of God. When we walk in the kingdom of God, it actually brings us back to the place that God designed men and women to live, and that is in communion with him in the fullness of life, exercising the dominion of God’s kingdom in the earth. All right, we get this. In the beginning, God gave man dominion.

We remember this from the book of Genesis. God blessed them—Adam and Eve, man and woman. And we see there’s an emphasis: God is wanting to restore the position of men, restore the position of women, restore them back to partnership and to wholeness, and to right relationship with each other in communion with the Lord. God blessed them. And God said to them, be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth.

That was God’s original state for mankind. And of course, we know that through the sin of rebellion, man handed that dominion over to the enemy, to Satan. And then Jesus came. Jesus came to destroy the power of sin and death, freeing us and giving us the choice to serve either sin unto death or righteousness unto life. Do you know that one of the primary reasons Jesus came was actually to restore to you choice?

Because before he came, you were born dead. Through the sacrifice of Christ, he allows us the choice to be a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. And along with that, the responsibilities and privileges that come along with it. Romans 5:17, for if by the trespass of one man, Adam, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ?

We are talking about the overcoming church, the church that knows how to exercise dominion. Not in harshness, not in cruelty, but in divine love, the same way that God loves, they love. And so they exercise the love dominion of God through Christ Jesus. We are designed to be in governance on the earth.

Okay, I’m not going to push too hard on you. I’m going to rely on the Holy Spirit to quicken it to you.

We will only overcome to the extent that we are willing to yield to him as Lord.

We think overcoming has to do with going higher. It’s actually about going lower. The more humble, the more yielded, the more God would use you to display his authority and his government in the earth. We’re right. Okay.

I mentioned before that God gives us a position of citizenship in his kingdom, and this concept is an interesting one. You know, I’m, we’re getting ready to go to Greece, and I’ve been taking lessons and just trying to make my poor brain learn a new language and culture and all of this. And so we’re having some interesting discussions with my teacher, who is a believer, and we are talking about what it means to be a citizen.

What is it? What does that mean? And it’s interesting to see our culture through another culture’s eyes. And one of the things that she said, you know, people are really down on America for a lot of things. Yeah, it’s very popular to just bash America and everything about her culture. But she was like, you know, one thing that Americans really understand is citizenship.

They understand what it means to be a citizen, to belong to a place and take responsibility for it. And I believe this is actually a very biblical, scriptural, godly principle that was infused into our nation. Now we see out in the world, maybe this idea is fading away a bit, but, you know, the church is meant to preserve the culture of the kingdom of God.

Did you know that when the Lord says that you are salt, you’re meant to preserve things? And I believe that actually the church can preserve this principle of citizenship for our nation, because a citizen is one who is not just part of something for what they can get out of it, but is saying, how can I contribute?

And when there’s a problem, I can actually bring solution to it. Did you know that the strength of the American people, yeah, maybe you don’t realize it. Other places don’t think that way. Okay. They’re very adversarial with their government and they have a very different mindset. This is something that’s unique about Americans: they’ll look at a problem in society.

They’ll look at a need, whether an economic, social, or educational need, whatever it is. And they’ll say, I think I can fill that. And they’ll step in. They’ll invent something, start a business, take a position in government, take a position on a school board, step in, start a school. They’ll look for, they’ll look at problems, and they’ll step in, take ownership of it, and bring a solution to it.

I want you guys to hear this because, even though this is not a political issue, there is a culture of righteousness that is preserved through godly men and women. And this is something that we, whether or not you realize it, it’s inherent in us, it’s built in us. It’s honored in this place.

And I was thinking about this, you know, we’re talking about the citizenship of heaven. And every culture has a strength; when it comes to the kingdom of God, there’s something in them that they can bring to God’s purposes. And I just want to say, this is one of those places. I’m trying to encourage you a bit today.

I feel like we just get beaten down so much about our culture. And I’m telling you, there’s a unique strength in the American culture. The Greeks have their strengths as well, right? The French have their strengths as well. But this is one of the strengths of the American culture. And the American church is that we have something in us that says, hey, that’s a problem.

And if I need to be the one to bring a solution, then I’m going to do it. I believe that I can, I believe there’s something in me that can bring hope to that, and I can bring solution, and I can make people’s lives better. This is a good thing because what will happen is it translates into kingdom.

The kingdom mindset of, hey, I don’t just go to church to see what I can get from it. I take ownership for it. When there is a problem or a need or people have, I see something. There’s a gap; I can step in and fill that thing. Because when we’re talking about ourselves as believers, the Spirit of God in me raises up and equips me, and he’s designed me to step in, fill that spot, encourage, build up the body, bring hope to people, and bring actual solutions to them and what they need.

Is this making sense to you today? Philippians three. I want to read this to you. Philippians 3:17 through chapter 4:1. This is Paul writing to the Philippians: Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows that they are really enemies of the cross of God.

They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite. They brag about shameful things, and they think only about life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives, and we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior. He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like his own, using the same power with which he will bring everything under his control.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you.

I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. I think Paul’s parchment has had some tear stains on them as well. But listen, he’s saying these people around us just live for what they see. A kingdom people—we understand that we are part of something that is eternal.

We are always mindful that we actually belong to the place where Jesus Christ lives right now. And because of that, we don’t have to get caught up in all the temporary things. Yes, we are supposed to speak into them. Yes, we are supposed to bring hope and solution to them. But our hope is not in what happens today or tomorrow on my television.I am anchored somewhere that’s eternal, and I must see life through that lens. That is the only way we will actually live as overcomers, because we understand He has already overcome. My life is tied to His; I’m born of the same nature as He is. Just as Jesus overcame the grave, I will overcome death. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead lives in us now, quickening our mortal bodies, bringing life into us. I pray the Spirit of God breathes on us to bring us to a full revelation that we are not just human beings, swayed by the news or fear, but have within us the life of God, which has overcome sin, death, and holds the keys to death and hell.

Praise God for the amazing privilege of being part of that kingdom.

Now, I want to speak for a few minutes on how the Kingdom of God advances—how the Lordship of God is disseminated and spread in our world. I believe the primary way the Kingdom advances and is established is through discipleship.

First, becoming a disciple of Christ—not just in name, but in daily practice, following Him closely. Christ chose to disciple by bringing people alongside Him in everything He did. It was messy, glorious, dirty, scary, funny—all of it. Jesus modeled establishing His kingdom through daily life and discipleship.

Programs are good, and teaching is wonderful, but what Jesus demonstrated was the importance of daily life in discipleship. Christ’s way is clear in Matthew 16:24-27: “If anyone wishes to follow Me as My disciple, he must deny himself, set aside selfish interests, and take up his cross, expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come, and follow Me…For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world but forfeits his soul?”

Jesus is clear about the terms and conditions: “You want to follow Me? Set everything else aside.” This is how we find true life, rather than the life that only brings fear, depression, discouragement, and confusion. He invites us to set all of that down and follow Him, promising that we will find life.

This call is new to some, and a reminder to many of us. Kingdom dominion and the Lordship of God start with His rule in your life first, and then flow through you. It is the union of heaven and earth in you that begins the kingdom’s work in the world. This kingdom comes as men and women say, “You can be Lord of my life.”

We cannot pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done,” and then refuse to submit to His lordship. We might pray, “God, your kingdom come in my county, in California, in America”—but not within ourselves. It’s easier to ask God to be king over others’ lives than to allow Him to be king over ours.

But the way the kingdom truly comes is by saying, “God, You can be Lord here, in me, and wherever I go.” We bring His rule with us when we walk into places like the school boardroom.God, You can be Lord there, because I’m there for it.

God, when I walk into that hospital, You can be Lord there, because I’m there. That’s how the kingdom comes.

The kingdom comes through yielded sons and daughters who are so humbly submitted that God can freely exercise His authority through them. Our first responsibility is to exercise the authority we’ve been given over our own lives.

Pastor Pat says the Kingdom of God is the manifestation of the internal, not an imposition from the external. In other words, it’s not about looking right, performing right, or trying to put on some image. It’s the reality of making in my life a throne for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, and His lordship within me will be expressed through my life to those around me. In every place I step, He will find a welcome there, because I’m there. This is Kingdom.

Kingdom advances through discipleship: first, becoming a true daily disciple of Christ. But then also, one of the principles God established from the beginning is that like begets like. In other words, everything that is alive reproduces itself. Disciples make more disciples. This is how Kingdom advances. This doesn’t require you to be a pastor, to lead a church, to have a large platform, or to have a bunch of social media followers. It requires you to actually live as a disciple of Christ and invite others into what that looks like. It’s as simple as that. Think about how Jesus changed the world—He invited twelve young men to find their home with Him.

He imparted to them, poured His whole life into them, and then entrusted them with the future of His kingdom on the earth. I want to break some of the lies we’ve been told about effectiveness in the earth. The world adores and worships mass influence, celebrity, and fame. But Jesus modeled for us that establishing His kingdom looks like family, like adoption, like bringing people in and letting them see your life, your faith on display. It looks like letting them see you face rejection, being misunderstood, and letting them see the power of God manifesting through you.

This is how the Kingdom of God is advanced and established on the earth. Let the Spirit of God break off the pressure the world tries to put on us to be significant, noticed, or recognized as some great minister. Jesus’ primary ministry took place around fires, walking along dirty roads, speaking life with these young men He took in. That’s Kingdom.

His primary ministry was discipleship.

Disciples reproduce disciples. Matthew 28:18-20 says, “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, in my authority on earth, and make disciples of all the nations (people groups), baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age.” Jesus was saying, “You’ve seen me do this; now you do it. You’ve seen how I lived with you, how I spoke with you, how I poured my life into you—now you.”

Disciples reproduce disciples. So make disciples of them all. This isn’t just about getting people saved; it’s about the furtherance of the Kingdom of God, showing people what it means to live with Him as the Lord of their lives. Make disciples and teach them to do what He says. Teach them to observe all the things I have commanded you. Isn’t that interesting? “All the things I commanded you” means to teach them and show them how to actually live it—not just rehearse it back. To observe it means to watch out, to guard from loss or injury by keeping an eye on it, to attend carefully, to take care of, to guard, and to keep.

A disciple is one who takes personal responsibility to keep and guard the truth of God from loss, pollution, and corruption. That’s what it means to be a disciple, a citizen. I will take responsibility for it. I will not let the truth of God be forgotten, corrupted, or polluted in any way, because I am a disciple of the Word of God.I found this quote I love. I wish I could find who originally said it, but it says a disciple is someone who has moved from being the recipient of the church’s mission to being responsible for the church’s mission.

I’m not just here for what I can get. I am here to hold the truth, to guard it, to keep it, to instill it in others. And I’m willing to do it the way that God Himself did it when He was on the earth, by walking with people, walking with them in their questions, their misunderstandings, even their misguided ideas about things—and still bringing the truth to them and teaching them. This is how you live. This is it. We often look for ten steps to advancing the Kingdom of God, but the first, second, third, and tenth steps are all discipleship.

There is such a call, an invitation from the Spirit of God in this time. There’s a call for those who are just beginning to know Him, just beginning to find out what it really means to live life with Jesus. If that’s you, I just want to speak to you that it is the best life you will ever live. It is worth giving everything to. It is worth any hardship because it’s so wonderful. He is with you in it all. Listen, you’re going to experience hard things in or outside of Christ, but in Christ, He walks through it with you. For those of you whom God is calling, there is an opportunity for you to just say yes—He’s making room for you to say yes to Him today.

For those of us who’ve known Him, there’s still a call. There’s a call to renew our commitment to discipleship, to truly being disciples of Christ, to letting Him be Lord, and laying down all the things we pick up and try to control ourselves.

I believe that we are going to see the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on the earth in a way that has never been seen before. I feel it coming like rain. There is a true manifestation of the sons of God that the earth has been groaning and waiting for, and it will come through those who are willing to lay it all down and say, “God, I’ve been doing well walking with You, but I know I haven’t been completely laid down. Now is the time; I’m making this decision.”

I’m going to seek first the Kingdom of God and let You add anything else to me that needs to be added. This is such a simple call—it’s a scripture we’ve heard many times—but the Spirit of God is calling for people who will lay themselves down completely.

God, if You want me to pour my life out for these people who are in front of me, I’m willing to do it. God, if You want me to go, I’m willing to go. God, if You want me to stay, I’m willing to stay. I’m giving up every place where I’ve tried to retain control or thought that I was somehow Lord in my life.

God, I’m responding to Your Spirit today. This is not the voice of any man or woman; this is the voice of the Holy Spirit calling Spirit to spirit. And it is a call into freedom. It’s a call to finally be free of every bondage, every limitation—all those things that tell us we’re small, tell us we’ll never matter, tell us those dreams in our hearts can’t actually happen. God is here today with the spirit of deliverance to break off limited mindsets, to break off the weakness that our own flesh brings to us. To say, “I am part of the overcoming church. I am part of the overcoming Bride of Christ.”

I believe that there will be people who will never taste death, who will stand on this earth and walk in the fullness of God when He comes back. Because He is coming back. Jesus is returning for us. He has not forgotten us. He has not forsaken us. He is waiting until His Father tells Him, “Now is the time.” And until then, we will burn with passion, we will go after lost souls, we will bring them in, and we will find lost sons and daughters, and bring them to their Father in the same way that Jesus did.

We’ll say, “Hey, I don’t do it perfectly, and my life is messy, but you can walk with me. You can come into my home. You might see my husband and I fighting sometimes, but we’ll also teach you what it means to reconcile and to love each other.” Because this is actually what Kingdom looks like. This is actually what Kingdom looks like.