 Welcome back after the break. We'll continue. So, before we went for our break, we were looking at, you know, thinking for the king's sake, okay? As an aspect of kingdom thinking is that we think for the king's sake, and I gave you an example, okay? So, when we, kingdom thinking, you know, does not perceive loss as too much for the king's sake, you know? But for the world, our decision can seem foolish, it can seem unreasonable, it can seem unnecessary. But inside us, you know, we look at it from a totally different perspective. I'll just give you another example. You know, for example, God moves you to give, you know, all your savings, the money that you have saved to buy an apartment or to build a house. You give it away for, to build an orphanage so that, you know, children's home, so that the children, often children can have a home to live in, you know, and, you know, they can be safe. So, when you say tell us to the world or to your family or to people who are of the world, then they will think that it's foolishness, it's, you know, it's unnecessary, unwanted. But, you know, you are thinking from a totally different perspective, you know, they say, you could have saved this money, you can build your own house, buy your own apartment, your own flat. It's such a waste of money. I think you're being foolish. But, you know, we know that it's God's leading, God is asking us to do. And we don't see this, and we don't perceive this loss as too much for the king's sake. So, there are times when we have to give up things and we give up our time, entertainment, even when we're in the ministry, sometimes, you know, we don't have time for entertainment, don't have, you know, the pleasures that we can, you know, go sightseeing or go to different countries for a holiday. But we give that all up for the king's sake. Okay, so that is another aspect of kingdom thinking. We look at another aspect of kingdom thinking with Jesus' challenges is to be like children, childlikeness. Okay, we see this in Matthew chapter 8 verses 1 to 4. The disciples, you know, came to Jesus and they wanted to know who would be great in the kingdom of heaven. And we know what Jesus did. He called a little child, he had them stand in the midst of them. And he said, unless you become like little children, by no means you can enter the kingdom of heaven. And Jesus goes on to say, therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child will be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. So what does this teach us about kingdom thinking that we need to become like little children to enter the kingdom of heaven? So if you want to be great in the kingdom of God, you know, you need to humble yourself as a little child. So if you want to enter the kingdom of God, if you want to experience the kingdom of God, or if you want to be great in the kingdom of God, then you have to be childlike. So we don't confuse childlike to being childish. Okay, these are two different things. Childlike and childish are two different things. Childish is all about me. Okay, I want this, I me myself, you know, anything and everything you see yourself there, you want the promotion, you want to be high up the ladder, you want to get the, you know, the privileges, the benefits. So thinking all about yourself, how to make more money, how to live a more, you know, happy life. But that is being childish. Childlike is being humble. So what is it to be childlike? You know, a child fully trusts their parents. Okay, so when a child, the parent is eating, feeding the child, the child doesn't say, Mom, I don't think, you know, this is the food for you need to give me when I'm five, five months old or nine months old, I think you need to give me meat or chicken or fish. I mean, the child does not say that whatever the parent feeds the child, the child just eats. So the child is totally and utterly dependent on their parent, whatever the parent dresses, you know, buys for them, feeds them. You know, the child is utterly dependent on their parents. So we need to come to a place where we are totally dependent on God. You know, in anything and everything that we do, we totally depend, dependent on God. We come to a place where we say, God, you know, without you, I'm nothing. And without you, I can do nothing. Okay, that is being childlike and being childlike is of great value in God's kingdom. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 19 verse 14, let the little children come to me and do not forbid them for of such is the kingdom of heaven. So Jesus is saying that these are the kind of people that I want in my kingdom. Who are the kind of people that I want in my kingdom? People who are childlike, people who are, you know, just totally trust and depend on me. In Mark chapter 10 verse 15, Jesus says, Surely I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it. So if you want to enter, experience the kingdom of God, you need to receive it as a child. You need to be totally dependent, abandon yourself to God, totally submit surrender to God, which means there will be a lot of things God says, you know, and asks us to do, which we cannot figure out, you know, we just receive it as a child and we just step out and do that. Okay, so being childlike is what qualifies us to enter and experience and to be great in the kingdom of God. Okay, so kingdom thinking is childlike thinking, no reservations in just leaning on the father. Okay, another aspect of kingdom thinking is when Jesus said, in order to be great, we need to be like a servant. Okay, if you want to be great in God's kingdom, you need to be a servant. Okay, Matthew chapter 20 verses 20 to 28, we see the mother of, you know, of the sons of Zebedee, you know, come to Jesus and, you know, as all parents, she's very ambitious for her two sons. And so she, you know, wants them to be in high places, high position. So she tells Jesus, you know, grant that these two sons of mine, once it on your right hand, once it on your left hand in your kingdom. And so Jesus answered and says, you know, are you able to drink the cup that I will drink from? And both the men said, yes, we can drink from that cup. And Jesus says, you know, yes, you can drink the cup of suffering that I am going to partake in. Of course, you are also going to, you know, face persecution. You are also going to go through suffering. So you will drink the cup of suffering. But Jesus says to sit on my right and my left is not for me to decide. But it's my father who decides that. Okay. So Jesus says it's not I who decides it, but it's my father. You know, it's been prepared by my father. It's my father who decides it. But you know, Jesus goes on to deal with the root of the matter. He's saying what you are asking is for greatness in the kingdom. And he says, you think that sitting on the right hand on the left hand is when you will have greatness in my kingdom. And that's not so. He says, you know, the people of this world who want to be great, they exert their authority or they exercise their authority, their Lordship over others. But he says, in my kingdom, if you want to be great, then you have to be the least. In my kingdom, if you want to be a leader, you need to be a servant. So this is something again, very radical that Jesus is bringing about kingdom thought, kingdom thinking. Because if you want to be great in my kingdom, you have to be least. If you want to be great, you want to be a leader in my kingdom, you have to be a servant. So, you know, this is the culture you and I belong to in the kingdom of God, you know, when we serve people is actually when we are leading them. You know, we always think, you know, as leaders, we need to sit up on that, you know, the podium, the high pedestal on the chair, and everyone brings everything for us. They care for us, but it's totally opposite in the kingdom of God. You know, when you are a leader, when you are leading people, you are actually someone who has to serve them. Okay, so when you become least in the kingdom of God, that's when you become great. That's when you become great. That is kingdom thinking. You know, how wonderful it will be in our families, in our churches, if all of us did this, if you're willing to just serve each other, if you're willing to just get down and be humble enough, you know, to wait on people to serve them, to care for them and to love them. And if you, you know, have this heart of a servant, that's when you are truly a leader in the kingdom of God. If you do it with a heart that thinks, you know, I'm not great, I'm insignificant, but the God I serve is great. I want him to be seen in and through my life. It's not about me. It's not about who I am. It's not my talents. It's not the way I speak, but it's, you know, I want this great king of this kingdom to be manifest in and through my life. I want to be a true representative of who he is. I want to represent him for who he is and in his fullness. That is when, you know, each one of us are preparing ourselves for the greatness in the kingdom of God. But if you say, you know, I want to be recognized. I want to be great. I want everyone to know me. Then we are disqualified for greatness in the kingdom of God. And so we see that it's totally different from the way the world thinks and the way, you know, we as people or kingdom citizens think. Okay, now let's look at the parable to understand what else Jesus taught us about kingdom thinking and other perspective of the kingdom thinking. There are many parables that Jesus gave us, but here is a parable that Jesus spoke in Matthew chapter 20 verses one to 16. And in this parable, you know, Jesus says that the kingdom of heaven is like a land owner. Okay, so whenever he introduces anything that he's teaching about the kingdom of God, he always says a kingdom of God is like this. The kingdom of God is like this. Okay, so the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went very early in the morning just say he went out at nine o'clock to look for laborers in the vineyard. He found few of them. He asked them. He said he would pay them or dinadas for working the whole day. They agreed. He took them to his vineyard and they started their work at nine o'clock. Then he goes out again at eleven o'clock and he finds, you know, the marketplace he goes. He looks for more laborers. He finds more laborers. He tells them he'll pay them and dinadas for paying for working for the rest of the day. They agree. They come. Then he goes out again at one o'clock and then he looks for more laborers and he tells them the same thing. He'll pay them one dinadas for working for the rest of the day and they are willing. They come and they begin to work and join the others who join at nine and eleven. So we have nine. People join at nine. People join at eleven. People join at one. Then he goes out again at, say, four o'clock and he looks for more laborers and he brings in the laborers and he says he'll pay them a dinadas for working for, you know, the rest of the few hours that is left the day. At six o'clock, you know, everybody is done with their work. They're standing in the queue. And the one that, you know, the people who started working at nine o'clock, they get one dinadas. People who work at eleven, they get the same thing. The people who work at coming at one o'clock begin working at one o'clock. People who work at four o'clock, they also get the same thing. The people who started working at nine and eleven, they get very upset, you know, because how can you pay, you know, all those who came. At one o'clock and four o'clock, how can you pay them the same as you paid us? That's unfair. And what does the owner of the vineyard say? You know, he says, friend, am I doing you wrong? Did you not agree with me for a dinadas? And then he says, take what is yours and go your way because I wish, I wish to give this last man the same as you. And he says, is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own thing? Okay. Now, this is a parable like Jesus, you know, shared with them. And, you know, we don't see this pattern happening in our world. You know, when you work for a whole day, you get a whole day's wages. If you work for a few hours, you get the wages that you work for the number of hours that you have put in. Okay. But Jesus said, this is how it is in the kingdom of heaven. And he points, the point is that God has the right in this parable what Jesus is trying to bring out. The point is that God has the right to do as he pleases. Okay. And you and I must celebrate what he does. For example, you know, you're praying for something. Just say you've been praying for 25 years of your life now, or 20 years or 15 years of your life. You've been praying for something. Okay. And after 15 years or after 25 years of your life, God has answered for after 10 years of your life, God has answered. But the same prayer, you know, someday just pray for one day or pray for one week or pray even for one month or one hour and God answered them. And you're saying, this is not fair. God, you know, you made me wait for 25 years or 10 years or 15 years. And you answered me after so many years. And this person, they just prayed hardly one hour or, you know, just one day or one week or one month. And you answered them. And that's not fair God, you know, or, you know, for example, you've been a pastor for many years. And, you know, you've planted a church and the church has very few members to say around 100 or maybe 150 members after say about five or eight years. And then there's comes this young man, you know, Johnny and, you know, Johnny just started his ministry. And in a just in a year's time, you know, Johnny's church has grown to a membership of 500 members and you're saying God, this is not fair. You know, and we go to God and say, you know, God, you know, this is not fair. This is not what you what you have done is not right. How can you be partial? But God is not partial and God says, you know, have I not? Don't I have the right to do as I wish just like this owner of the vineyard says. But there's no don't I have the right to do what I wish so we can't we cannot evaluate what God is doing from our perspective from our thinking. But we must celebrate what God is doing in his kingdom. So if Johnny's church has grown to 500 in your same locality in the same in the same city, then you just celebrate what God is doing in Johnny's life. You don't be angry with Johnny. You don't be jealous of him. You don't say, hey, he's doing some manipulative work to get people into his son. I must find out what wrong he's doing. No, we don't do that. We just celebrate what God is doing in Johnny's life. Because in God's kingdom, he chooses who he wants to bless. So God chooses to bless who he chooses to bless. You know, in God's kingdom, he chooses to have mercy on who he chooses to have mercy. He extends grace to whom he chooses to extend grace. What you and I need to do as part of that kingdom is to celebrate what God is doing because we are not. If you don't celebrate, which it means that you are not building God's kingdom. You're building your kingdom. You're knocking them. You're looking for your progress. You're, you know, your kingdom to be great, but we are building God's kingdom. So if Johnny is progress and 500 members are coming, say, hey, that's good. That's great because God's kingdom is being established. God's kingdom is being extended. Many people are accepting the Lord. It's good that God's kingdom is growing. So we need to celebrate what God does. If you see another brother or sister blessed, see what God, you know, celebrate what God is doing in their life. And it's a privilege and an honor for us to celebrate what God is doing. Remember, we learned that God is looking at the heart attitudes, not at the externals. In Romans chapter 14, verse four, you know, this is slightly different context, but just wanted to mention that Apostle Paul wrote, Now, who are you to judge another's servant? It's to his own master, he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand for God is able to make him stand. So we can't judge what God is doing in another person's life. But if you're truly part of the kingdom, you will truly rejoice in everything the king is doing in his kingdom, the lives of people, even though in your mind it looks unfair. But the king is doing what he pleases. He knows who he wants to bless. He knows when to bless and he knows when to come through. So there will be a time when he will come through to you. You know, he will also bless you, but it's important that you hold the right kingdom heart attitude. You hold the right kingdom thought process. You think the kingdom way. Okay, so that is about, you know, how we need to think in celebrating the king's perspective. The next one is, you know, thinking the kingdom resolve in Luke chapter nine, versus 57 to 62. So can somebody read that with me please. Luke chapter nine 57 to 62. Luke chapter nine versus 57 to 62. What happened as they journeyed on the road that someone said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go. And Jesus said to him, foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has nowhere to lay his head. Then he said to another, follow me. But he said, Lord, let me first go and bury my father. Jesus said to him, let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow you, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house. But Jesus said to him, no one having put his hand to the plow and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God. Thank you. So here we see, you know, what Jesus is saying here may sound harsh, but it's not really harsh in the sense. You know, Jesus is saying, if you want to follow the King, then this is what he expects of you. You know, your assignment for the kingdom or what God has called you to do in his kingdom. You're calling your ministry, your placement in the ministry or for God must supersede all earthly affections, earthly obligations. That means if going home to do a funeral will keep you from pursuing the kingdom of God in your life, then you need to let go of the funeral and pursue the kingdom. If your affections for your family is causing you to look back, you know, and turn your attention away from following the King, then you can't be controlled by those affections. Okay. And what Jesus is saying is, you know, keep working in the kingdom, you know, without going home. This is not to say that, you know, Jesus is saying we need to neglect responsibilities towards our family. No, he's not saying that. But what he's saying that, you know, he's teaching us priorities, teaching us the right perspective to think and what to do when we face these challenges or these situations. Elsewhere in scripture, we see that, you know, in 1 Timothy chapter five verse eight, we see that Paul is writing to Timothy says, you know, we need to take care, we're required to take care of our own families. And yet, you know, Jesus is saying that, you know, we also need to maintain our focus and we need to maintain our resolve to serve the King and follow him wherever he leads us. We shouldn't get entangled with the things of this world where we're not able to follow him like Paul's writing to Timothy in 2 Timothy chapter two verse four. He says, you know, a soldier is always, you know, focused on pleasing his commanding officer. Okay, whatever his commanding officer says, he's focused on pleasing and doing what his commanding officer says, which means that, you know, soldier even leaves his family behind his children. Is there in that, you know, in his training or in his, at the point where he is posted, you know, his posting place and, and also Paul goes on to tell Timothy about an athlete, an athlete, you know, he gives up every thing of this world, you know, whether it's entertainment, you know, good food, you know, happy life, you know, luxurious lifestyle. Just to pursue this whole thing of, you know, running the race and winning a prize in the, in the competition. So he says, you know, also we need to be focused on, you know, thinking and making our commitment to the King and, you know, focused on pursuing what God has called us in his kingdom. Thinking includes a level of resolve and commitment to the King and a cause for his kingdom, which should not be hindered by any earthly responsibilities and affections. Okay, so for example, you know, many of them, you know, who want to step into full time ministry, they find it a challenge because the parents look up to them. You know, to feed the family, to take care of the family or because they're in debt, you know, they want their son or daughter to earn and pay away the debts, but they're very disappointed when their son or daughter, you know, says they want to go into full time ministry. They think, no, there's no possibility for them to pay their debt or who will look after the family, who will care for the family. So, you know, sometimes that can become a difficulty, but we need to choose, you know, what God is calling us to do, or maybe, you know, you want to do something that is, you know, very professional. You have a great profession in your mind where you want to do, you want to become something big, you want to become this big person, you want to study medicine or engineering or whatever, and God is calling you to full time ministry. You know, so you leave, you know, you're willing to give up your affections, willing to give up whatever it is, just to pursue God's call for your life. You know, just as a member, we were doing orientation for the first years and, you know, we were teaching, we were just sharing with them about a few God's general men and women of God who God called to, you know, for a mighty revival to bring about a mighty revival and extend God's kingdom. And one of them was William Raham and, you know, God worked mightily through him, through mighty signs and miracles and wonders. The dead were raised, the sick were healed, the cancers, you know, just a word or just a prayer and, you know, cancers would just leave people's body, people would be healed. And, you know, he just preached in the beginning of his ministry, he started preaching, he preached in a church, he was very fearful, he didn't want to go and preach but somehow he landed up there, he preached and, you know, people just repented and gave their hearts to God. And after that, all the other churches around him, you know, they, and places around him, they heard about the mighty revival that happened when he preached and they all signed him up and he was booked for the entire year. So when he went back to tell his family, his mother-in-law said, no, you know, you can't do this, this is crazy, this is madness, don't get into all of these things, you know, especially the Pentecostal movement in those days, you know, people didn't have a very scared of the Pentecostal movements, says, don't have anything to do with it if you want to have your, you know, live with your wife and your children. So he gave it up, he cancelled all of those things but he said that was the worst decision he made in his life and, you know, he lost his wife and children because of a flood that had affected the place that they were saying. He said if he had just moved out of that place, you know, they would have been saved, he wouldn't have lost his wife and his children. So sometimes we can, you know, listen to family responsibilities and just give up. So there's another lady, a great woman of God called Maria Woodworth. Maria Woodworth and Maria Woodworth, you know, had a call of God and from a very early age and she knew and in her times, you know, women were not allowed to preach, go to Bible college, teach. So she decided to marry a missionary so that she can pursue God's call in her life. But she fell in love with a soldier, got married to a soldier, ended up with six children and, you know, got caught up in household chores and, you know, taking care of her husband and the six children that she could not pursue God's call. And then at one point in her life, she lost all five children and that's when she cried out to God, she kept reading the scriptures, wanting to know why and then she realized it's better for her to pursue God's call for her life. And of course that marriage didn't work, it ended up in a big tragedy, you know. So it's important for us, you know, to pursue what God has for us, you know, and to give up all earthly affections. Not at the extent of, you know, neglecting our responsibility towards family, God wants us to fulfill that, but we need to also, you know, resolve in our commitment to the King and for the cause of his kingdom, which should not be hindered by earthly responsibility and affections. Okay. Another kingdom thinking that Jesus thought was how to handle rejection. Okay, Luke chapter 10 verse 11. Can somebody read that please? Luke chapter 10 verse 11. Luke chapter 10 verse 11. The very dust of your city which clings to us, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless, know this that the kingdom of God has come near you. Thank you. So as representatives of the kingdom, we must understand that, you know, we will not receive a red carpet, a welcome, a great fun fair, a pomp and show, welcome when we go to preach the gospel. People will accept us, people accept our gospel, people will also reject us, people will reject our message that we bring, but that must in no way, you know, decrease our commitment to the truth. To the kingdom or the king or sharing or preaching his gospel and about his kingdom to every people. You know, we will face rejections. And we know it's not because there's something wrong with the message that we are preaching or the king or the kingdom that we represent, but it's simply that, you know, that people's minds have been darkened. A whale covers their eyes. They prefer to live in the darkness because the light exposes their evil deeds. They don't want to, their evil deeds to be exposed. Their love and joy living in darkness. So we don't, you know, we don't get upset about that. It's their choice. It's their will. So in the kingdom thinking, you know, we need to know that we will face rejection. And it is to know that you have been brought to the kingdom of God of people who have already been rejected. People are already rejected Jesus and his teaching and his preaching and his demonstrations of power. They will also reject you, but that should not stop us from advancing God's kingdom preaching his kingdom. We need to move ahead and preach and teach the kingdom of God. Okay, we'll just look at two more, you know, teachings about the kingdom thinking and then we'll move on to the next chapter. Okay, so the next one is the eye of a needle. Here Jesus is talking about the rich people. And, you know, he says that it's easier for a camel to go to the eye of a needle than for a rich man to be, to enter the kingdom of God. And, and when people heard this, they were greatly astonished. And they asked who then can be saved. And Jesus looks at them and said, you know, with man, this is impossible. But with God, all things are possible. So we see that in this passage, you know, from 17 to 31, the Lord Jesus challenges are thinking about money, riches, and wealth. When he states that those who trust in riches will find it very hard to experience or to enter the kingdom of God. Okay, so the love of money, the love for riches and wealth can keep people from experiencing the kingdom of God and will keep them out of the kingdom of God. And yet, Jesus also assures us that with God, all things are possible, which implies that God can see to it that there will be those who are rich in this world. And yet they have the necessary grace not to allow their wealth, their riches, you know, from keeping them from experiencing the kingdom of God or loving God more than their wealth of riches, and then from entering the kingdom of God. So kingdom thinking is thinking where, you know, one loves the king and his kingdom more than wealth, riches, money, prosperity, fame, wealth. Okay, but they look at all of this, they look at positions, they look at authority, they look at wealth, riches, money as tools, which God has given them to honor the king, to serve the king and to build his kingdom and extend his kingdom. That means to just give in to the work of the kingdom. And, you know, they will never be allowed for wealth or riches or fame or position to be a hindrance from them experiencing the kingdom of God and entering the kingdom of God. Okay, the last one teaching about kingdom thinking is in Matthew chapter 5 verse 20. So can somebody read that please? Matthew chapter 5 verse 20. Matthew chapter 5 verse 20, for I say to you that under your righteousness exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Thank you. So here the Lord Jesus was very strong in addressing the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. He said that by the hypocrisy of these scribes and Pharisees, they were actually being a hindrance from others entering the kingdom of heaven. Okay, and by their rules and laws and legalism, their judgments, putting down people, they were being a hindrance from people to enter the kingdom of God. So he rebuked them sternly and said that even sinners like tax collectors and harlots would enter the kingdom of God, a kingdom of heaven, even ahead of them. So the problem with the Pharisees was, you know, they told people to do, follow the law, keep the law, practice it in a very strict way, but they themselves failed to keep the law. They themselves failed to practice the law and whatever they did, they did to just to be seen before men as somebody who keepers of the law, good people to be praised by men. And hence Jesus is challenging their lifestyle. Okay, and Jesus is also challenging us to have a lifestyle that exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees where they're not just doing living kingdom culture, behaving like kingdom citizens, or having a kingdom lifestyle just in front of people on Sunday in church or when we meet a fellow believer or when we go for a prayer meeting. But it is something that we live even in secret, even in our closed doors, behind closed doors, you know, we're living kingdom lives, kingdom lifestyles, kingdom thinking, having kingdom mindset, even when nobody is watching us. So kingdom thinking understands that it's not just enough to have the right knowledge, the right teaching and even the right intentions, but they must be translated into action. Okay, just like I said, you know, when we belong to a specific culture, we behave the way that culture requires us to. We think in the way the culture requires us to, and we act in the way the culture teaches us all the way the culture requires us. So we must live by what we know and what we teach. So we just don't preach and teach, but we also live by the kingdom culture. We also think the kingdom culture and have a kingdom perspective and mindset in everything that we do. Okay, so that is chapter 4 where we looked at various teachings about the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven, which Jesus taught for us to have the right kind of thinking or thinking according to kingdom, culture, kingdom, mindset. Any questions? Are you all with me? Yes, no? Yes, ma'am. Only one yes, I heard. Okay. Yes, Ma'am. Okay, thank you. Okay. If there are no questions. Okay, can we move on to chapter 5? Okay, Kingdom Living. We will move on to chapter 5. In John chapter 18 was 36. Jesus said, my kingdom is not of this world. So when he said this, he was making a very important statement. So, you know, even as we are living in this world, we need to know that we are in the world, but we are off the world. We don't belong to this world. So as kingdom people, our lifestyle should be very different. Just like we said, our thinking, our thought process should be very different from the way people of the world think. So our lifestyle should be very different. When our lifestyle is different, it's called kingdom living. So as citizens of the kingdom of heaven, our kingdom lifestyle is very different. We look at what Jesus said in Luke chapter 17, verses 20 to 21. Here, Jesus is basically speaking the Pharisees. The Pharisees misunderstood what Jesus was talking about the kingdom. They thought that he was talking about a literal kingdom, a government that he would establish. And so they asked for a sign. You know, the Pharisees scribes, they were looking for a king who would come riding on a horse, wearing a crown, having a sword, you know, fighting for the Jews. But, you know, Jesus thinking or Jesus teaching or preaching about the kingdom of God, kingdom of heaven was very different from what they understood. And so they asked for a sign that they were looking for a king. And here in Luke chapter 17 was 20 and 21. What does Jesus say? Can somebody read that, please? Luke chapter 17 was 20 and 21. Somebody who's not read, can we hear some other voice? Anyone? Luke 17, 20 to 21. Okay, anyone can read. Luke 17, 20 to 21. I'm reading. 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 indeed, the kingdom of God is within you. And then the disciples, no, I'm done, I speak faster. Verse 21. Thank you. Yes. So here Jesus said that the kingdom of God does not come by observations. What Jesus meant is he's saying that Jesus said it's not the externals you should be looking for because the kingdom of God is within us. Kingdom of God is within you. So he was making a statement here. He was saying, look, the kingdom of God is not the externals. It's something that works within you. It works within us. So as believers, we need to understand the kingdom of God is within us. And everywhere we go, the kingdom is within us. We are carrying the kingdom of God within us and we are carrying the authority. We're carrying the life, we're carrying the dominion of the King within us. So you can say, instead of us, you can just say you. So everywhere you go, the kingdom of God is within you. You are carrying the kingdom of God within you. You are carrying the authority and all the life and dominion of the King is within you. So the kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom and it comes from within us. So the kingdom lifestyle is the outworking of the kingdom of God that is in us, just like I explained already. So in the culture, the kingdom of God is within us. Our lifestyle will be like the kingdom of God or like kingdom citizens or the kingdom of heaven citizens. So the kingdom of God is within us, the spiritual kingdom and hence it affects our thinking, it affects our lifestyle, it affects the way we live. So we can put along a list of things that can describe the kingdom lifestyle, but we will just highlight a few. What are the characters of kingdom lifestyle? First one is we will be looking at holiness and reverence. Second is righteousness, peace and joy. Third is power, authority and dominion. Fourth is endurance and suffering. Fifth is forgiveness. Six is no partiality. Seven is readiness for the king and then the eighth one is living a celibate life for the kingdom's sake. So let's look at the first one, holiness and reverence. Let's look at, let's just read 2 Corinthians 6, 14 to 18. 2 Corinthians 6, 14 to 18. Can somebody read that please? 2 Corinthians 6, 14 to 18. Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness and what accord has Christ with Belial or what part has a believer with an unbeliever and what agreement has the temple of God with idols for you are the temple of the living God. As God has said, I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate says the Lord do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be your father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty. Thank you. So here Paul again contrasts, you know we see Paul is contrasting the people of the kingdom and the people of the world and he draws a clear separation and a distinction between these two. Now these verses hold true for every facet or every area of our life. So as believers, we have no communion as believers with darkness, with Belial which means worthless or unrighteousness. So we have nothing to do with worthless things, with unrighteous things. So if you live with no fellowship with all of these things, then God says, I'll be proud to be your father and I'm happy to call you sons and daughters. So this does not mean that we disconnect ourselves from the world, but we live in this world. We know there's a distinction between us and the world. And even as we live our lives, this distinction becomes very, very evident. People will see it, people will know it and that is how they will come to know the true and living God. And that is why God chose the Israelites and why did he give them the laws? You know there were 615 laws plus the Ten Commandments, so many laws. Why did he give them all of this? Not to burden them, not to make life difficult, not to make them as slaves under him or bound to him or bound to certain laws and writings, but he gave it to them so that through these laws and through their living and lifestyle, the neighboring kingdoms would come to know the true and living God. So the distinction will become very evident even as we live as kingdom citizens and kingdom lifestyles here on earth. In John chapter 3 verses 19 to 21, John says, Men like darkness rather than light. They prefer staying in darkness. So why do they prefer staying in darkness when their own deeds are not exposed? So the world around us prefers darkness. They prefer doing things in darkness. But you and I as people of the kingdom are not people who are living in darkness. We don't live in the darkness as they are living in darkness, but we are children of light. We belong to a kingdom of light. So we are light in the midst of the darkness. So if the people of the world don't see the light, then they don't see any difference in us, then we must question ourselves. Are we really living the way God wants us to live? But if they question the way we live, why we do things the way we do, why we don't... Everybody else in the workplace is doing this, why aren't you not doing it? It gives us an opportunity to minister God's word. I don't work in a multinational, but my sister works in a multinational, my younger sister. And there are a lot of things that she doesn't do and people all make us think, oh, it's surprising that you don't think that you don't copy and we're sure you're just acting that you don't drink. And then she just gives us a good opportunity to talk about Jesus and to talk about what he has asked us to do and to talk about the kingdom that we belong to. So if people are not looking at our lives and they're not seeing the light, then we must question the way we live, because that's not the way God wants us to live. God wants us to live as light and light dispels darkness. Light is very evident in darkness. And God said we are the light and there is no fellowship with darkness and light. So it's important that we are in this world where there is darkness. It's important to be among people who are living in darkness, but our intentions, the way we live life, should be not to become like them, but to influence them and to reach out to them. But if we don't do that, you know, we will end up in the darkness like them. We end up not showing them the light. We will end up compromising the way we live. Then we are not pleasing to the Father. Okay. We'll just stop here. Our time is up. Anyone has any questions? We'll continue with this in the next class. Anyone has any questions? No questions. I hope you're following me. I hope all of you are there in class. Okay. Okay. Thank you, Subashish. Thank you, Anita. Okay. Then thank you, everyone. Thank you, Rosalind. Thank you for joining class today. Have a blessed day and a week ahead. And I'll see you next week. Thank you.