 prayer so could somebody please start off this session with prayer yeah Charles would you like to pray can't hear your choice Charles is not able to pray could somebody else lead please Prabhakar how about you I can pray pastor oh okay sure Rose please go ahead father in heaven oh glory praise and honor to you thank you for another spacing time when we can learn more about you help us settle in this moment so we may receive what you have willed to reveal to us we commit this hour to you father open our eyes open our ears most of all open our hearts and make them fertile soil so your word might produce fruit some 30 some 60 and some even a hundred fold in the name of your only son Jesus Christ and the help of your most holy spirit amen amen amen thank you thank you rose for leading us in prayer so we will just have a very quick review of what we have learned in the last class we talked about kingdom thinking and we said that the way we think as people of the kingdom is different from the way the world thinks so based on our thinking obviously our thinking is going to translate into the decisions that we make it's going to translate into the lifestyle that we develop so kingdom thinking will produce kingdom lifestyle and as part of the kingdom we saw that we are in the kingdom of light so you know these are all ways of living righteous these are all patterns where we are called to exercise kingdom authority these are all decisions that we make with kingdom resolve for the sake of the kingdom so though we live here on the earth we know the way Jesus said I'm from above we are people from above with that born again life of Christ so we're living the regular life like everyone else but we have a kingdom mindset and we have a kingdom way of thinking so we looked at you know different thinking patterns decisions that we can incorporate we said as part of the kingdom we have higher living standards Jesus went a step further from just the behavior aspects to the the motives and the intentions of an individual we talked about having faith in everything that we do we talked about living this life for the sake of the king because we are part of the kingdom of God we said that we need to have a mindset which is childlike childlike as it depending on God relying on God and completely pledging our allegiance to God then we talked about servant humility where we learn that those who are least in the kingdom right those who humble themselves in the kingdom they are the greatest we talked about celebrating the king's perspective where we know that our king is righteous and he is just so the decisions that he makes we put our trust in that okay and we are led by the king we are directed by the king kingdom resolve we talked about committing ourselves you know letting though we're living here in the world we are responsible for all that God has entrusted to us but at the same time we are very focused on the expansion of the kingdom on the fruitfulness of the kingdom life that God has given us so the focus is always there and it must remain we also talked about the fact that when we live for the kingdom there will be rejection which we might experience from time to time but we don't let that affect us we take it knowing that you know God is the one who ultimately rewards us for being faithful to him so that even persecution opposition for doing the right thing obviously we're not encouraging doing the wrong thing and then receiving opposition for it so when we're doing the right thing living for God we are bound to experience rejection but we face it positively knowing the eternal rewards and then the next section here talks about trusting God over the riches of this world and you know this is this cannot be over emphasized Jesus brought it up in his teachings we see this in other passages of the New Testament where we are encouraged not to you know I mean obviously again we are living in the world so we have to be earthly wise but giving ourselves completely to the world or the world having us you know the the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the pride of life when those things take over our kingdom focus our kingdom resolve can diminish so we have to be careful about not giving into the things of the world then the last section I think yeah says we live righteously and we live so not for the sake of our reputation but it's an inner transformation see the Christian life is always live inside out so we're not doing anything to earn God's approval we are not doing anything to to earn our salvation salvation is already given to us as a gift of God's love but once we receive that we live a righteous life living out of the truth that exists which is we are now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus as a second Corinthians 521 puts it so we live our lives inside out and not outside it so the example of people who live their lives for the sake of man's applause they are the Pharisees in scripture so you find Jesus rebuking them and telling them hey you know you're not doing this for the glory of God but it's just an outward form or it's a shell or it's projecting something to the world which actually does not exist so that is not kingdom thinking and that is not kingdom living but kingdom living true kingdom living has to be from the inside out so these are the patterns that we are called to and when we look at the word of God we know that we are complete we are born again and our spirit is transformed a hundred percent and the life of God is is flowing in and through our spirit man but given that no we also have a mind okay and the mind which has the components of our will our emotions and what's the the third one I'm forgetting mind will learn our emotions okay our decision making so the mind has to be renewed and the mind can be renewed as we meditate on the word of God and as the book of Proverbs 4 you know it says that you you take the word and keep it in the midst of your heart keep it in the center of your heart so when the word is inside us the word will transform us okay and also the psalmist writes right like how can a young man keep his way pure by keeping hiding the word of God in his heart so the word of God in our lives will bring the transformation now as we study about kingdom thinking as we study about kingdom living some of us could could feel that I'm far from this pattern of thinking or you know I'm far from making decisions in this sort of a righteous way but see the whole point is yes by virtue of our you know our exposure by virtue of our upbringing our our background so maybe we are not used to some patterns of kingdom thinking but the good news is that we're all called to renew our minds right so it's only when we renew our minds as we commit our bodies as a living sacrifice to God that whatever we we are taking in from the word of God you know that begins to transform our lives and so we start living it out it's more than just saying oh wow you know thinking in this way is good and I must I must decide in accordance to this word of God but it becomes a part of you and even through the leading and the prompting of the Holy Spirit we can make decisions based on these kingdom principles that we looked at so today we will jump into the next chapter here which is about kingdom living so the kingdom thinking kingdom pattern of kingdom mindset should translate into the lifestyle that you and I developed so going into this chapter here on kingdom living we begin with an introduction where Jesus used to preach and say that the kingdom of God is within you okay so the kingdom of God you know again the kingdom of God is is what God has done in us and we continually release that life of God so the kingdom of God within us is you know the the Holy Spirit working in us the transformation that has come through us becoming born again and and you know through the word of God whatever has been deposited into into our spirit basically the rule the reign the domain of the king within us okay and every aspect of our lives so when Jesus preached the kingdom the Pharisees expected him to talk about a little kingdom they expected him to talk about establishing Jerusalem as the headquarters they expected him to talk about the conquest of new territories in a little geographical sense but they must have been amazed to hear the teaching of Christ where Jesus said that the kingdom of God is near you the kingdom of God is within you so he was preaching and saying that the kingdom of heaven the rule and reign of the kingdom of heaven can be experienced by everyone who believes right here on earth so he used your terms to describe the nearness of the kingdom even the fact that the kingdom of God is within us so the kingdom of God again has to be an out working so it is within us and every day as we abide in the Lord John chapter 15 it says that we must abide in the Lord and if you study the book of 1st John you know it talks about the fellowship that we have with the father the son and the Holy Spirit so we begin to live our lives fellowshiping with God and there are many ways in which we do that we pray we worship we spend time in the word we meditate the word we live a life of obedience to God and as we are doing all these things we can expect the very life of God the very kingdom of God to flow out of us and that's the manner in which the out working of the kingdom actually takes place so this is a good thought so to the extent that the kingdom rules within me the kingdom will rule around me and through my ministry or through my life okay so we let the kingdom reign in us that is what is most important so when the kingdom reigns within me I'm able to release that kingdom in various ways and I can touch the lives of people I can bless the lives of people so the kingdom from within the kingdom which is near the very kingdom of heaven the rule and reign of God it's not limited just to heaven but by way of me abiding in God by way of my intimacy with God you know that release is given to me and that rule and reign from within me is released outside to the world so while the Pharisees expected a kingdom outside of them and a literal kingdom that they could feel and touch the kind of kingdom that that Jesus was talking about was very different it was a spiritual kingdom but a kingdom which could affect the natural world okay so what are the characteristics of this kingdom now the characteristics of this kingdom will be the values that kingdom people carry and every believer is a kingdom person so every believer should have and carry these values okay uh yes thank you Samir and Mangi for answering Christopher's question here so we're in chapter five uh and right now page number 27 yes page number 27 so we're looking at the characteristics of kingdom living so the first characteristic of kingdom living is holiness and reverence okay holiness and reverence uh so this needs to be a part of all of our uh lifestyle now looking at the Corinthian church now Paul addresses the Corinthian church and uh he invites them to uh have a life which is aligned to what God has already done for them so uh anything helpful to read the passage which is given here on page 27 uh if somebody could read 2nd Corinthian 6 verses 14 through 18 that will be good could somebody please read it shall I read ma'am yes yes please I'm going 2nd Corinthians 6 14 to 18 do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship has righteousness with lawless lawlessness and what communion has light with darkness and what a God 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 a father to you and you shall be my sons and daughters says the Lord Almighty yes thank you Ammi so here here we find that Paul is inviting the Corinthians who lived you know very sinful lives just by the by the things that he is sharing here and then as you go through the book of Corinthians you will find that they they carried and they brought all kinds of issues that they had earlier into the church so Paul had to address matters of unity he said okay you must not live in strife and division there is sexual immorality among you you know and just issues of life that were not pertaining to the kingdom of life okay so even here he is telling them and he's saying that you must live a life which is separate unto God and God is saying when you do that when you live a life when you have separated yourself unto God you know I will be your father so this aspect of holiness as you look at the Old Testament we find that there were certain vessels there was some furniture there were things which were set aside or there were people who were set aside for the service of God and anything which was set aside for the service of God generally we we see that God told the priest you know that it must not be mixed with anything else it must be separated unto the Lord or in other words it must be kept holy so the meaning of holy is keeping aside setting it aside or dedicating it the general example which you know I use and a lot I've heard others use also is you know the communion cups that we use in church generally the communion cups are treated with a lot of reverence okay so so you you clean them up and you keep it for whichever Sunday you know where your church practices holy communion so on that Sunday it's brought out neatly set and the the grape juice is poured into that and distributed and once that's done again it's taken and put back but nobody will ever think of using the communion cup for anything else because you know it's almost like oh I we could never do that you can't touch that holy thing and maybe you know use it for some other beverage because it's set aside and it is kept aside for God so holiness is like that you know our lives are set aside for God and Paul is telling the Corinthians once they were born again he said look what is the connection of light with darkness what is the connection of righteousness with lawlessness right so what is the connection of with of God with Satan now we know that there is a like a huge delight there's no way of these two things connecting together because if there is light there is no darkness okay so what is Paul actually saying he's saying that we must live a life which is clearly holy a life which is set aside for God so when it comes to the decisions we make when it comes to you know the way we choose to live we make every effort to live it in such a way that you know there is God's truth in our lives and that nothing puts us away from the worship of God right anything anything at all should not let make me mix with the things of the world so basically sinful things basically standards which don't glorify God and Paul is inviting the believer in every aspect of their lives to to live holy so whether it is our workplace and I'm sure you know in the workplace there are so many opportunities for us to make the wrong decisions because the world out there wants to be profitable in any which way hook or crook but that's not how a believer must demonstrate prosperity similarly you know when it comes to relationships when it comes to even ministry you can do it whichever way you want but we have to go by the standards of God we have to go by the right things and the truth of God's word and Paul is saying that there's no connection or darkness with life so we are called to holiness and to reverence now Paul also points out to the convent church as well as other churches he he calls up certain certain things in people's lifestyle okay and and now some we might want to think that oh these are extreme sins or you know things like this I'm not associated with uh and so you know it doesn't doesn't really I don't relate to this so whatever even if you don't relate to it uh Paul did see sins like this and he called it out so he was addressing certain Christians who who who sins were out there okay and uh he he addressed it harshly and he warned them so in first quarantine six uh versus nine through ten he calls out things like fornication idolatry adultery homosexuality and you know he says no sodomites thieves those who are covetous drunkards revilers extortioners um he goes to the extent of saying that no such people will not inherit the kingdom of God so you know developing that sinful lifestyle um not uh responding to the convictions of the Holy Spirit and when people have caught up uh in these kind of sins your Paul brings them a very stern uh warning and says that you might you run the risk of losing the kingdom of God even okay and uh there are other such sins that he that he writes about he writes to the Galatians he says lewdness uncleanness contentions hatred sorcery jealousy outbursts of wrath selfish ambition dissensions heresies right so he basically lists some all these uh patterns of life uh and he says that it doesn't suit a person who has experienced salvation salvation is about sanctification right we have been saved we have been cleansed uh and in Christ Jesus we have already been sanctified but the beauty of of God's word is that it also says that we are being sanctified okay so it is a continuous process as well now which is taking place in our lives and we must yield to that so when we talk about kingdom living one uh aspect that we must have as a characteristic or or of value in us is holiness and reverence because outside of that no we we are not really demonstrating the true nature of the kingdom of God okay and God gives us the grace to live uh with holiness and we've talked about this several times where uh we've said that God has already empowered us he has given us the victory uh we have the the covenant blessings of the cross since shall not have dominion over us so whatever we need to live a victorious life has already been handed to us now the decision is ours we need to uh walk faithfully before God and uh live that life of holiness so I see a question here uh from Christopher and you say please define yoke with examples can a believer be unequally yoked with an unbeliever okay so uh Christopher the this passage is usually used to talk about um you know a believer wanting to marry an unbeliever so then you know people say don't be unequally yoked right what does light have to do with darkness so yes that is uh the right application also but even in general even in general uh Paul is writing this to the believers uh I think applying not specifically to marriage alone but it is applying to uh any any sort of close uh decision making kind of connections that we have okay uh so I would also say okay so suppose you have a uh ministry okay or or let's say kingdom venture that that you are launching out and the values the core values of that venture are based on scripture okay and uh you are found uh you are the founder of this venture and you're going ahead and starting it out now the kind of people that you must have as your close advisors or partners ideally it should be those who have your values because uh the mission and the vision of what you are doing is kingdom based now if you have let's say an unbeliever sooner or later uh you might run into conflict of interest because you might find that you know they they don't agree with the way you want to handle money or with the way you want to um uh you know approve certain certain things that that have uh that you have come across so basically decision making value-based decision making right so unequally you would mean that when you are in in a close relationship even a working relationship with somebody uh where both of you have to make big decisions right so if we are unequally you're uh and for for something like a kingdom venture then you will you will run into difficulty when it comes to decision making and appropriately uh talking about a believer marrying uh an unbeliever we know that you know uh that's that's not uh it's not advisable and the the word of god definitely does not recommend that because the value system is different and here there is a spiritual dimension uh to to marriage okay so uh if one person is born again you know it's like they are from the kingdom of light and one person is not born again they are from the kingdom of darkness now uh how do two people like the book of amus uh three it says how can two people walk together if they do not agree right so then later you're going to end up uh with with a lot of challenges because of the decisions that you have to make okay uh and i i mean i would uh anyway that's a different i mean i'm going on a tangent so does it make sense christopher uh yes um i think i also asked a question because uh you know a few years ago when i was when i started a commercial venture i was uh i was advised that you know if i was to look for a business partner uh it should be a it should be a believer and um well i could not find anyone so friendly i decided to do it all by myself so uh that that was something that i am that's what really prompted me to ask that question yes the second question is i see about you know just about uh you know because there it is mentioned unequally you so i was just saying is there any are there any scenarios where it is where you could be equally you as a believer but i don't think that's really going to be possible right uh no no you i mean there's no question no christopher because the values are so different thank you sure sure no problem um and just uh an extension to what we are discussing here now this doesn't mean that we cannot have a working relationship with an unbeliever that's not the point no we uh invariably when uh we we get uh job assignments we're working with unbelievers and that's okay that's totally fine now we're talking about uh positions where we have to make decisions together with them at kingdom decisions now if there is going to be interference when you're launching out of business in that scenario in that context being unequally you can cost us uh but otherwise yes you know if you have even though you you have a kingdom venture if you have uh people at a level of implementation where they're just very skilled and uh they are able to roll out what what you have planned or designed that's fine because you know they're at a different level you're not at the decision making level right so when it comes to a decision making level where you have to make big decisions about the resources about the future plans if we are unequally yoked that that is very difficult so just a little clarity there yes any any other thoughts or questions about a lifestyle of holiness and reverence we could address that and then move forward so i think it's rather clear uh we uh are called to live a life which is holy set apart for god committed to god okay moving forward uh a life which has the rule and reign of the kingdom of god uh will also have righteousness peace and joy because that is what you have uh up in heaven and that's what god wants for us here on earth so this passage from robins 14 uh was 16 through 19 it says the kingdom of god is not eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy in the holy spirit and uh we have to live a life in this manner acceptable to god and approved by men so uh now how do we how do we do this how do we uh live a life of righteousness peace and joy well it would be a life of surrender to god basically that's what it means now and when we are walking obedient when we are uh yielding to god at every prompting of the word every prompting of the holy spirit righteousness uh it not just in the positional truth but also uh in our walk now we're able to live out that righteous life uh peace when we are at peace with god that peace will flow through in our daily lives and joy of course we don't have anything hindering our relationship with god we're abiding in god then the joy of god also begins to flow out of us and also notice in the passage he says that uh the kingdom of god is not about eating and drinking but righteousness peace and joy so basically he's also making a point there where he says that uh as we live the life here uh on earth you know we we are actually rejoicing about the things of the kingdom so when it comes to the benefits or the privileges that this world has to offer even if it comes to letting go of our rights sometimes okay we are willing to do that so instead of you know suppose you are not well accepted uh for your faith and your friends say that okay we don't we are not going to invite you for a for a particular gathering then you're okay because for the sake of the kingdom you're letting go uh of of um you know those those friendships or those relationships or so the sort of things that you could have had if you uh compromised your lifestyle but you're not willing to compromise and therefore so you are experiencing the righteousness peace and joy of the kingdom instead right and that should be enough and we are given to that so that's what uh we are called to and god will release that for us and we can walk in it so righteousness peace and joy uh and now we also realize that you know sir it's a wonderful thing uh in our everyday lives we may be going through circumstances where uh that peace and joy because of the circumstances it may not come naturally but because we are people of the kingdom and the way Jesus started he said the kingdom is in you right so the righteousness peace and joy can actually be produced inside and we released outside so that's the beauty of it so inside out righteousness peace and joy we can bring the kingdom uh Jesus taught us to pray thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven and uh we can see the release of that kingdom okay i see that uh uh shrikumar has a follow-up question to what we were talking about um so just backtrack a little bit uh i hope that doesn't confuse us so in the context of working with an unbeliever shrikumar is asking uh taking advice from an unbeliever consultant is the right thing okay okay so uh shrikumar the point is what kind of advice okay it depends on that is it uh business uh business uh advice taking from the uh an unbeliever consultant is it okay is it right because anyway we can consult with a doctor that's another thing but consulting about the business is it the right thing what we do or i just want to know that thank you okay okay sure uh yes thank you um yeah that's something we we do think about uh i believe that it's okay because see when you are going to a consultant you're going on the basis of their work experience you're going for an opinion based on their skill uh so yeah there's nothing wrong with that i mean they they have those many years of experience uh in the workplace uh you can take their advice but when it comes to implementing it i think the only thing we should be careful about is check whether some of the principles that they have shared are they based on the kingdom if it's not then don't implement it that's all thank you pastor thanks a lot yeah sure thank you thank you uh and um yeah the uh you know the converse of this is unfortunately like if you don't have a believer who is skilled or you don't have a believer who is well experienced in that area of work uh then you know you have to go to an unbeliever it doesn't give you much of an option right yeah very true yeah so yeah so i think we can like encourage young people to pursue their dreams their careers and everything we should have a lot of uh skilled believers hopefully yes yes pastor yeah thank you okay uh all right so now we will continue we talked about righteousness peace and joy um that is produced within us and it's uh something that the Holy Spirit produces in us so you know we can actually walk uh victorious in the mid-storm storms okay uh the next uh characteristic is power authority and dominion yes power dominion and authority now uh Paul when he wrote to the Corinthian believers he said the kingdom of god is not in word but in power so the kingdom we talk about the kingdom uh and we connect demonstration of the kingdom because if we fail the demonstration of the kingdom then uh just talking about it is actually incomplete okay and that's the way Paul introduced the kingdom uh even Jesus preaching teaching and demonstrating we've seen this uh earlier when we talked about the kingdom of God so demonstrating the power the authority and the dominion of the kingdom becomes very very important for a believer so instead of um uh you know being bogged down by by all that uh the world brings at us we talked about this in the believers authority as well right so the world comes against us or it could be Satan who uh plots against us whatever it is any sort of an interference any anything that is against the purpose of God we can override it by the dominion that the Lord Jesus has bought back for us on the cross of Calvary so we can um uh you know silence every storm uh and we can uh uh walk on the water so to speak right so as a kingdom person we must be demonstrating power authority and dominion so that that is something we can ask ourselves you know how how is it going in terms of my personal life you know how is it going in terms of the way I deal with with um problems situations uh it could also be like sickness or some oppression that that we might be going through now am I really using what God has put on the inside of me so I'm a kingdom person uh yes I'm facing all these situations but I have the authority so we release the power of the kingdom into those circumstances how do we do it various ways you know we could uh decree declare we've talked about prayer the way uh when we pray we are releasing the kingdom of God so for a kingdom person you know it's not just about living right use biblical principles use kingdom principles live right live righteous live holy that's about yes that's important but in addition to that you know we we are a part of a uh kingdom dynamic where there is power and authority we can uh we can we're already victorious so we are fighting a defeated four but we can uh totally I mean I'm not getting the word but we can demonstrate that victory okay over uh over satan and the world and that should be something that is happening in our everyday lives and similarly when it comes to uh our ministry okay preaching yes there is there is a place for preaching there is a place for teaching but the demonstration of the power of God so as we proclaim the word you know it's always a blessing when we hear things like okay uh you know you shared that or there was this prophetic word and I got healed uh I this miracle happened because what is that it's from the kingdom it's the power of the kingdom which is being released into an individual's life and as kingdom people uh that should be normal for us to receive those uh confirmations of the living kingdom in our midst so power authority and dominion is also a lifestyle that we must carry I'm moving to the next focus here it's endurance and suffering uh endurance and suffering you know by way of uh us living here on the earth we know that uh we would go through trials tribulations these are things that Jesus said we will definitely face uh but also because we are kingdom people and we're making kingdom decisions uh there will be opposition right uh that could be persecution and in the midst of these things we have to demonstrate endurance and uh that also is something which must be seen in the lifestyle of a kingdom person uh and the way we face persecution is also uh very very uh um how do I put it you know that that is also a testimony isn't it so we we face it knowing that uh we're doing the right thing and uh we have eternal rewards for the opposition which is coming against us so endurance and suffering uh in the midst of these things that we go through here on the earth uh that also shows the kingdom lifestyle extending forgiveness okay extending forgiveness is uh walking in obedience right to what God expects of us so over here in this section the passage which uh has been listed is the one where a master he forgives a servant and that servant is supposed to forgive another person right who owes him uh some talents but you notice that the servant is unwilling to forgive another person who owes him so the master rebukes him and he says you know what is this like um I I gave you a forgiveness but you're not willing to extend it to others so God's expectation is that you and I will continue to walk in that forgiveness which he has given us so we demonstrated and uh we we uh glorify God right in in the kind of lifestyle that we have so as part of this same passage which has been given here uh in that in that parable you also notice that the master gives uh some talents to the servant and this servant is to um yeah this servant is expected to invest uh those talents and be fruitful okay however he doesn't do it so the master rebukes him for this as well and uh and he says that even if you would have given me the money I I would have invested it and I would have got some benefit out of it so there's also the aspect of stewardship which this particular passage is talking about so I thought I would highlight that as well so in the kingdom of God uh we're talking about um living living with the right values living a lifestyle of holiness um living to demonstrate the kingdom with the power of God uh living to release the righteousness peace and joy of God but in addition to that you know um uh having the capacity to endure having the capacity to suffer for the sake of righteousness uh extend forgiveness and also be good stewards and be fruitful in whatever has been entrusted to us so these are some aspects that we are touching upon today but this is not to say that you know an exhaustive list has been presented to us so some of the main things um which describe our lifestyle uh have been given here in this particular chapter but you know if you have any thoughts you two could share it then we can discuss on those particular characteristics that the believer must have so at this point I think I I'm just gonna pause uh and uh if you have any comments for what has been talked about so far we can take that up is say you want to say something okay uh the audio is not coming through it seems like a problem there okay uh you could type your question say anyone else any thoughts uh so if we don't have any uh inputs for now we can take a break and you come back in 10 minutes and continue from where we've stopped we'll see you all in 10 minutes thank you