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                                          All scripture is taken from the KJV unless otherwise stated                                                                      

TRAINING OF THE 12, BLUEPRINT FOR THE CHURCH  - Part 2

               When Jesus came to earth having been sent by the Father, he came preaching the good news of The Kingdom of God, Luke 8:1, Luke 4:43-44.

        Not only did Jesus come to pay the penalty to save mankind from the eternal damnation of Hell, but he came to bring deliverence from this present evil world to all those that would receive and believe on him, Gal.1:4. Entrance into this place requires that one be born [again] into this new world, a world Jesus called the Kingdom of God, John 3:3 & Col. 1: 12-14.

                  The new birth makes us a new creation that has never existed before, a new race of people so to speak. The old way of living and thinking must all pass away, and a new way of life must henceforth begin, 2 Corn. 5:17. Jesus said, the Kingdom of God is within you,  Luke 17:21 so, this transformation will take place starting within you. After receiving Christ you must begin to renew your mind by reading the written word of God, Rom. 12:2. This is your spiritual food and is absolutely essential if you are to function in this Kingdom life. The Bible says, Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, Rom.12:2. The idea of being transformed is like the process of metamorphous, where a caterpillar turns into a butterfly. The word of God has power in it and has the potential within it to transform the entire life, as well as everything that touches and associates itself with that life, Heb. 4:12.

          I want to speak the truth in love here ; Make  no mistake about it , if you think you can live life in the Kingdom of God while feeding your mind on a daily diet of things such as Soap Opera’s or programs like Desperate Housewives, it will never happen. You will simply remain locked into this natural realm of life, wondering why miracles are never a part of your life. If your not careful, you may even become one of those who are opposing the supernatural power of God as not being for today simply because you are not experiencing it for yourself. The [carnal] mind set on the things of flesh is death, the mind set on the things of the spirit, will reap spiritual benefits, Rom. 8:5-7,John 6:63, Gal.5:19-21.

        We see in scripture how the Pharisees stumbled over Jesus preaching the Kingdom of God. Likewise today in the church world, many stumble over it as well. The Pharisees knew the Old Testament prophesies about a future coming kingdom, but they expected to see a literal kingdom come to earth and putting down all secular rules and setting up a physical kingdom in its place. When Jesus did not bring in the Kingdom the way they thought it should happen, they simply rejected him as being the promised Messiah.

               Jesus clearly told them; My Kingdom is not of this world, John 18:36.Yet they refused to accept it. This statement Jesus made to these religious leaders concerning the Kingdom of God must have completely and utterly blew their religious minds and wrecked havoc on their entire theology!  When Jesus was asked by these Pharisee’s, when, the Kingdom of God would appear? This is what he answered them; The Kingdom of God does not come by observation [looking for it], neither will they say; lo, here it is [in this place], or lo, there it is [in that place] ; for behold, the Kingdom of God is within you !!!Luke 17:20-21.  This is not at all what they expected or wanted to hear.

      I will show you in scripture, that Kingdom life, is a life lived in the realm of the supernatural. Not a life lived as we are now living with all its natural limitations and way of thinking, but a life lived in a new world where all things are possible with God, Mat.19:26. This is exactly why Jesus trained all of his disciples right from the very beginning to go forth preaching the good news of the Kingdom of God while demonstrating it  with healings and miracles.  Kingdom life, is a life lived beyond this natural earthly existence .I like to refer to it as living life in God’s world. The Bible tells us, it is the Fathers good pleasure to give us the Kingdom , Luke 12:32. What a glorious gift! Thank you Father !

          Scripture tells us, we are heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ Jesus,  Rom.8:17.  Kingdom life is part of your inheritance.   Let me quickly interject something here before I continue. Although Jesus brought the Kingdom of God with him at his arrival here on earth, this Kingdom will not be fully manifested throughout the entire earth until the Second Coming of Christ, Rev. 11:15.

         At salvation, the Bible tells us we are made a new creation where old things pass away and all things become new,   2Corn. 5:17& Col. 1:12-14.

 It is unfortunate but nevertheless true that in many churches today, after someone receives Christ and gets born again, they continue to live their Christian lives in the realm of the limitations of this natural earthly life instead of pressing on into life in the Kingdom. This is a great loss to the believer.  

         As there are laws such as gravity that govern this natural life, so also are there spiritual laws that govern life in the Kingdom of God. As Christians we must learn Kingdom living from the scriptures, particularly the New Testament. Flood your mind with that New Testament. It will do you good. The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of this world are two entirely different realms of life and often operate contrary one to another as I will shortly show you.

        One very quick example of what I am trying to say is this; In this natural world, people live by the “seeing is believing” mentality. In Kingdom life God says, believe first and then you will see  Mark 11:23, 2Corn. 5:7.

You see, Kingdom life works just the opposite of this natural life.

             Faith, in the word of God is the key and the currency to living life in God’s Kingdom, At some point I will dedicate a whole teaching to this most important subject. By the way, the terms Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Heaven are used interchangeably in the New Testament. Both are referring to the same thing.

               Now, lets go to the scriptures and watch very carefully how Jesus trains his disciples to live life in the Kingdom of God. I have to refrain myself because some of these scriptures are so wonderful that I could spend at least an hour bringing out some wonderful points in each of them. 

            I will give you seven examples from the Bible as Jesus trains the twelve and don’t forget as we saw in part one, that all 83 disciples were trained exactly the same way.  

    Also, notice that in everyone of these scriptures Jesus specifically teaches them that they can do the very same things that he is doing. This lesson is for us as born again believers as well.  I will enlarge or highlight various important key words.

1-    Matt. 21: 18-22 –   Now in the morning as he {Jesus} returned into the city, he hungered [was hungry]. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward forever. And presently [immediately] the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, how soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said to them, Verily I say unto you, if YOU have faith, and doubt not , YOU shall not only do this which  has been done to the fig tree, but also if YOU shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it SHALL BE DONE. And ALL THINGS whatsoever YOU shall ask in prayer BELIEVING,   YOU shall receive.                     

* These scriptures will completely destroy much church doctrine these days.

 Five times in these verses, Jesus uses the word YOU to clearly show them what he did, they could do as well, John 14:12. And YOU can do. Also, this wonderful scripture covers  every situation that we could ever face in life,  ALL THINGS ,WHATSOEVER, YOU shall ask in prayer believing you shall receive. Do you know that I personally know some religious people that claim to be Christians and actually hate these verses of scripture, or at the very least, they try to twist them in some sort of way, so it will not mean or say, what it actually means and says. When you start living by faith you will surely meet some of them for yourself. If there were not another promise in the Bible, this promise covers everything we may ever have need of .God thought of everything for his children. Jesus was setting them up to live life without limits in this glorious Kingdom! He is trying to set us up as well. We need to go forward and not miss out.      

2-        Matt. 17: 24-27-   And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute [ tax] money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master [ Jesus] pay tribute [ taxes ] ? He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou , Simon [ Peter] ? of whom do the kings of the earth take custom or tribute [ taxes]? Of their own children or strangers ? Peter saith [ replied ] unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, then are the children free. Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast a hook, and take up the first fish that cometh up, and when thou [ you] have opened his mouth, thou shall find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for thee [you and me].

* This is one of the clearest pictures of Jesus trying to coax these young men out of living life through natural born reason and logic alone. Jesus could have simply sent him to a logical place such as a cabinet or a home to get the tax money they needed. But instead Jesus sent him to the sea with a fishing hook .What are the chances of throwing in a fishing line and come up with the exact tax money in the mouth of the fish to pay both of their taxes? Think about it, Peter was a fisherman by trade. Who knew better than Peter, that this was not a “reasonable” way to get the money they needed to pay their tax bill. I think I can safely assume that Peter never before went fishing when he needed immediate cash to pay any of his other bills prior to this. Another very important point to see is that Peter himself, had faith enough in the words of Jesus to do the unreasonable thing  that Jesus requested of him and in his obedience to Jesus command, his faith was rewarded. Faith in the word of God, is the necessary currency for Kingdom living.

3-     Matt. 14:24-31-  The ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary [ they were fighting heavy waves ]. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled [afraid], saying, it is a spirit and they cried out for fear. But straightaway [immediately] Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I ; be not afraid. Then Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou [you], bid me [call me out] to come unto thee [you] on the water. And he said; Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he SAW the wind boisterous he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou [you] of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt [or why did you doubt] ?

 *   Jesus must have been thrilled when Peter called to him wanting to walk on the water just as the Master was doing. He knew Peter was getting a hold of what he had been teaching them all that time. Notice that Peters downfall came when he took his focus off of Jesus and his word and placed his focus on the wind [something we FEEL] and the waves [something we [ SEE] and he then began to sink, 2Corn. 5:7. Fear had set in. Fear and faith are contrary to one another. All his physical senses told him he should not be able to do this. Logic screamed, you can’t do this ! He gave in to his senses and lost the miracle. Jesus corrects Peter and tells him exactly where he missed it when he said to him; Why did you doubt? Doubt will always rob you of the blessings of God, James 1:6-8, Heb.11:6 . Faith is an important principal in Kingdom living, without it we will remain shipwrecked.

Mark 6: 35-44-  And when the day was now far spent, his [ Jesus ] disciples came unto him, and said, This is a desert place, and now the time is far passed [it was very late]. Send them[ the people] away, that they may go into the country round about, and into the villages, and buy themselves bread: for they have nothing to eat. He answered and said unto them, Give ye them to eat [or YOU give them something to eat]. And they said unto him, Shall we go and buy two hundred pennyworth of bread, and give them to eat? He said unto them; How many loaves [of bread] have ye? Go and see. And when they knew they said; Five and two fishes. And he commanded them to make all sit down by companies [in groups] upon the green grass. And they sat down in ranks [groups of], in hundreds and fifties. And when he had taken the five loaves [of bread] and two fishes, he looked up to heaven, and blessed, and braked the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before them [the people]; and the two fishes he divided among them all. And they did eat and were filled. And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments, and of the fishes. And those that did eat the loaves were about five thousand men.  

 *   What an amazing miracle ! With fives loaves of bread and two fishes Jesus miraculously multiplies it to feed over five thousand people, and to boot, they had twelve baskets left over. Isn’t that just like God to provide more than we need !  First, I want you to notice something comical. Here they have over 5 thousand people to feed , they are in the middle of nowhere and Jesus says to his disciples ;YOU give them something to eat. Now remember something, they had no trucks or cars to transport or carry any of this, it was also late in the day, not to even mention the expense of it all. Notice Jesus was turning the tables and putting the responsibility of feeding the 5,000 people on his disciples when he said to them; You give them something to eat. How could 12 men, go to the marketplace and bring back enough food to feed five thousand people? Very simple, they could not, and Jesus knew it. Again, Jesus was training these men to live in a realm beyond the limitations of human reason and logic. And by telling them to feed the people he wanted to cause them to think.  So he did the miracle and had his disciples distribute the food among them all. They were learning first hand from the Master.  Remember, Jesus said: The works that I do shall you do also, John 14:12. He was preparing them to do these same works if the need should arise. 

 And he [Jesus] said unto them, Why are you so fearful ? How is it that ye [you] have no

4-             Mark 4:35-41- And the same day, when even [evening] was come, he [Jesus] said unto them; Let us pass over to the other side. When they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with him other little ships. And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full [of water]. And he [Jesus ] was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish [or don’t you care if we all die ]? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. faith?

                                                                                                                 *Take notice, Jesus expected them to do something about the storm situation when he said to them; Where is YOUR faith?  Again I remind you, Jesus said; The works that I do shall you do also, John 14:12.

6-     Luke 5:1-9 – and it came to pass, that, as the people pressed  upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw the two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen had gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s [ Peter] and prayed [asked] him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship. Now when he had left [finished] speaking, he said unto Simon {Peter}. Launch out [go] into the deep, and let down your net for a draught [to catch some fish]. And Simon [Peter] answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled [worked  all night , and have taken [caught] nothing, nevertheless at thy word [because you said to do it] I will let down the net [ into the water]. And when they had done this, they inclosed [caught] a great multitude of fishes and their net broke. And they beckoned [called] unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both ships [boats] so that they began to sink, When Simon Peter saw this, he fell down at Jesus knees saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man O Lord. And he was astonished, and all that were with him at the draught [catch] of the fishes which they had taken.

 *   Peter being a fisherman by trade had just spent the entire night fishing in that same area and caught nothing. They probably spent a lot of time cleaning their nets for the next fishing trip and had them folded away and here comes Jesus telling them to go back out to the same spot they were fishing in all night and caught nothing and then tells them to drop the net in again for the catch. Notice, after Peter had explained the situation to Jesus he did not simply end it there, but put his faith in the word of Jesus and said; Nevertheless, at thy word I will let down the net. Peter chose not to rely on his logic and reason, but decided to step out in faith on the word of Jesus and for this act of obedience Peter was greatly rewarded.  In this lesson they were learning to completely trust the word of God and act upon it and do not lean to their own understanding Prov.3:5.  

7- Matt. 17:14-21- And when they were come to the multitude, their came to him a certain man, kneeling down to him and saying, Lord, have mercy on my son: for he is a lunatic [has seizures], and sore vexed [suffers terribly], for oftentimes he falleth [falls] into the fire, and oft [also] into the water. And I brought him to thy disciples and they could not cure him. Then Jesus answered and said, O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you ? How long shall I suffer you [must I put up with you ]? Bring him hither [here] to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil [that was causing the boys problem] and he [the devil] departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour. Then came the disciples to Jesus apart [privately] and said, Why could we not cast him [the devil] out [of the boy]? And Jesus said unto them; because of your unbelief; for verily [truly] I say unto to you, if you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed, ye [you] shall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place [move from here to there] ;and it shall remove [move],and NOTHING shall be impossible to you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.  

 *  Now, keep in mind something. These disciples had already been given the power and authority by Jesus to do all these miracles Mat. 10:7-8. And yet here a man brings his son to his disciples and they could not get the demon out of the troubled boy and cure him. Why? Jesus puts his finger directly on the problem. It was because of their unbelief or lack of faith. The prayer and fasting was not to remove the demon, but the unbelief in them! It is the same with Christians today. We have the authority and power delegated to us in the written word of God but unbelief paralyzes and stops many Christians right in their tracks. Jesus goes on with the lesson and says to them; If you have faith as a grain of a mustard seed YOU shall say to the mountain move from here to there; and it shall move and NOTHING, shall be impossible to YOU. Too many Christians today are praying and asking God to move their mountains [problem]. God clearly teaches us in the word that WE MUST SAY UNTO THE MOUNTAIN Mark 11:20-24. Read it again. WE are supposed to do something about the mountain. Not God! Prayer, faith and action must all be combined. No wonder there is so much unanswered prayer! We are passively praying and asking God to move our mountains, and God has told us to move them. Of course there are conditions and instructions to follow in scripture. We must study the New Testament and get some good Bible teaching and learn who we are in Christ and how to function in that position. Christ paid a very heavy price for us to have these things. The price was his blood. We have been given authority and power over ALL the power of the devil, Luke 10:19.  John 10:10 tells us the mission of Satan and the mission of Jesus.  Satan came to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Jesus has come to give us life and life more abundantly. Never get the two mixed up.

        Kingdom life is abundant life where we are no longer victims crushed under the merciless heel of the devil.

 Jesus came and destroyed those principalities and powers for us, Col.2:15. The Bible says, there is only one last enemy to be dealt with and that is death, 1 Corn. 15:26.  God in our new birth has made us to be “ more than conquers through Christ” Rom. 8:37. No, not in our own power, but through him !  Listen up!

God says “ Behold I give YOU power…. Over ALL the power of the enemy Luke 10:19.

God says, Whatever YOU bind [stop] on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever YOU loose [ allow] on earth shall be loosed in heaven Mat. 18:18

 God says ; If two of YOU agree asking ANYTHING….. it SHALL BE  done Mat. 18:19. 

       Jesus has given us the Kingdom as well as the keys to it Matt. 16:19. God has already provided everything we need concerning our life here on earth. We as believers need to enforce our dominion over the powers of darkness that Jesus already defeated for us. If you do not do this, it will not be done for you, he will simply continue to wreak havoc over our lives just as he does over the lives of all the unbelievers in this world .Too many Christians pray and then passively wait for God to do something about their problem. This is not New Testament Kingdom life. Kingdom life is a supernatural life lived in Gods world, a life without limits. The only limits will come from our unbelief in the word of God . Our belief or unbelief in the Word of God does not affect it in the least, but unbelief keeps us from having the benefits of it . Whatever God did in the Bible for someone else he will do for you, he is no respecter of persons, Acts 10:34. We need to get rid of our thoughts and take hold of God’s thoughts. God’s thoughts are in the written word , the bible.

. What you know and believe makes all the difference in the world. Sometimes it can even be the difference between whether you live or die, Ecc. 7:17. 

 If you are a Christian and you have never heard of these things please do yourself a favor and go to the Word of God and look up these things so that you can verify that these things are in his word and are true. Jesus said: If you continue in my WORD then you are my disciples and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free, John 8:31-32.

This teaching may be printed out only for personal reading but must not be altered in any way. *