OUTLINE FOR OPEN CELLS

(Week of 6 /27 – 7/3, 2010)

The Church And The Coming Kingdom (4)

"Enthusiasm; The Kingdom Invades The Kingdoms"

Subject - The Kingdom of the Father is propelled forward by Christ being in me, me being influential in the world and me helping and equipping others to do the same. This is the essence of loving God, loving others as myself and then discipling nations. Herein is the simple pattern destined to slowly and patiently overcome every opposing force. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord.

I. There are many versions of the how and when of the Gospel's triumph, but we should be able to agree on the what.

A. (Rev. 11:15 NLT) "Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in             heaven: 'The whole world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.'" (KJV - The kingdoms of this world, they have become . . . )

1. If there is an ultimate conclusion, there must of necessity be an ongoing "becoming. (summed up in the phrase: "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.")

B. (Rev. 5:10 NLT) "And you have caused them to become God's Kingdom and his priests. And they will reign on the earth." (Note that the promised position of God's people is of ruling through becoming.)

1. The hope of glory (Col. 1:27) for the world is not you and I in church, but Christ in us.

2. An ongoing transference of ownership must, of necessity, imply an ever-increasing transference of responsibility. This is truly where "the rubber meets the road."

II. The original beachhead of a heavenly invasion; Jerusalem.

A. (Acts 1:8) "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

1. It is a human tendency for each of us to camp and live at our Jerusalem. God can move us!

B. (Acts 2:16-21, Joel 2:28-32) (Joel/800 B.C. to Acts 0-62 A.D.) 800 years for that to become this!

C. From the early beginnings of this heavenly invasion, the world has seen an increase from about 120 followers to 2 about billion worldwide. There has been slow, ongoing success, but the goal lies ahead.
D. (John 20:19-23) We have been, from the beginning, an army of love, acceptance and forgiveness.

III. The Kingdom Key: No longer simply "with you," (Immanuel) but "in you." (Incarnation)

A. (John 14:16-18) "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever - the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you . . . I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

1. Christ in you/He dwells with you and will be in you/I will not leave you orphans/I will come

B. Kingdom enthusiasm; not programs, personas, performance, prophetic predictions, personal perseverance, or the power of prosperity, but the INWARD PRESENCE OF A PERSON.

C. enthusiasm/entheos/absorbing or controlling possession of the mind by any interest or pursuit; lively interest, an occupation, activity, or pursuit in which such interest is shown, any of various forms of extreme religious devotion, usually associated with intense emotionalism and a break with orthodoxy

1. roots/having a god within, god-possessing, possession by a god

2. synonyms/eagerness, warmth, fervor, zeal, ardor, passion, devotion

3. antonym/indifference

D. How are our lives kept in true Kingdom enthusiasm, or restored once we have exhausted it all? The ongoing expansion of the revelation of the love of Christ is directly tied to ongoing inward expansion (enthusiasm). (Eph. 3:14-19) Paul's constant prayer for the Ephesian Church.