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Life in the Kingdom

Forcefully Advancing the Kingdom
Jesus also spoke of our responsibility in extending the Kingdom to
others. He said that “from the days of John the Baptist until now, the
kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing” (Matthew 11:12). As
servants of the King, we must aggressively advance His kingdom. Five
times during the 40 days between His crucifixion and His ascension, Jesus
commanded His church to take the gospel to all people, all places, and
all nations (Matthew 28:18–20; Mark 16:15–18; Luke 24:49; John 20:22;
Acts 1:8). This is the primary way we advance the Kingdom in the earth,
by preaching the good news to everyone!

In forcefully advancing the Kingdom we must, in the power of the
Spirit, preach the gospel “in the whole world as a testimony to all nations”
(Matthew 24:14). To do this we must pray to the Lord of the harvest “to
send out workers into his harvest field” (Matthew 9:38). The church must
then fully cooperate with God in sending missionaries to the nations
(Mark 16:15; Acts 13:3; Romans 10:15).

Beyond these things, our responsibility in forcefully advancing the
Kingdom includes the following:

• Like salt and light, we must influence the world around us
(Matthew 5:13–16).
• We must pray for the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth
(Matthew 6:10).
• We must faithfully do the business of the King as we wait for His
return (Luke 19:11–26).
• We must do spiritual warfare against the kingdom of Satan
(Matthew 12:28; Luke 11:20; 2 Corinthians 10:3–6; Ephesians 6:12).
• We must boldly demonstrate the power of the Kingdom through
miracles, signs, and wonders (Mark 16:15–18; Luke 9:1–2; 10–11;
10:9–11; 16:17–20).
• We must live a life of love and compassion toward those in need,
especially to those of the household of faith (Galatians 6:10).

You can learn more about life in God’s kingdom versus life in Satan’s
kingdom by studying Appendix A, “The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom
of Satan,” at the back of this book.

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