"Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven" ( Mathew 53).

During this series we will discuss the qualifications for entering the Kingdom of God, the responsibilities, the benefits and the description of it.  The first qualification is as Jesus said,  "Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."  Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old?  Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"  Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God"  (John 3:3-5).

We all dwell in a spiritual kingdom.  That is the default for every human on earth.  There are not three or four kingdoms; there are only two: The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan, sometimes called "The World."  The Bible also refers to it as Babylon, sometimes Mystery Babylon.  As you study the Old Testament, when you see Babylon you can translate that "the kingdom of this world," When you see Zion, you can translate that "The Kingdom of God."

Adam and Eve had been in the realm of the Kingdom of God in sort of a primary way.  They were to fellowship with God each morning, allow the Word to be planted in their hearts, allow that Word to bear fruit in all areas of their lives, and govern the earth by being the King's personal ambassadors to all the animals and people.  Adam and Eve chose "mammon" or in other words the world system's method of increase and survival.  They felt that their own intellect and resources without the Word of God would suffice.  The result had many and varied results, one of which was that man would now have to work through the "thorns of life" and earn his existence from the sweat of his face rather than the blessed way of bearing fruit with God from his own heart by the Word.  This choice gave Satan the power to set up his kingdom and to govern through mankind, which he has done for thousands of years, and does indeed still do.  However, Jesus broke that power and He "experienced the thorns," the curse, for us.

You may see with your physical eyes institutions and governments that just look secular, but none are secular.  They are all governed by one kingdom or the other.  A study of Revelation 17, 18 and 19 will show how the Kingdom of God overthrows Mystery Babylon.  While I believe that there will one day when that is complete, it is my opinion that our task while living on this earth is to overthrow the kingdoms of the world and put into place the Kingdom of God in our own little realm of influence.  If you take the example of Revelation, we do that by warfare, trials, sufferings, etc.  The wrath of God is now being poured out on the earth and its kingdoms.  We need to make sure that we are not under those kingdoms otherwise we will catch some of the wrath just by default.  We need to make sure that we have changed kingdoms and are walking with the King of King in His kingdom, right now!

Jesus came to His own, the Jews.  He saw them, God's own people living under the oppression and slavery of the kingdom of the world.  They had actually been in captivity in Babylon centuries before.  Here were God's people living under the oppression of the enemy.  As Daniel stated, the kingdoms of this world change over the centuries, Daniel chapter 7.  This was the time of the Roman Empire. 

He preached "Good news, the Gospel of the Kingdom," What was the good news to them?  It was that they could change kingdoms, that is if they qualified.  Today God is offering the same to you and to me; "Do you want to change kingdoms?  Are you poor enough?"

Kingdom of God description number one. 

Matthew 16-17 tells us more about the Kingdom. 

In verse 16:21 Jesus tells His disciples about His death and resurrection.  That is His Cross.  We will focus a lot on His Cross and the blood covenant it represents.

Then in verses 16:24-26 Jesus says that we must take up our cross.  That is our cross.  We will focus a lot on taking up our cross as it takes two people to shed blood in order to ratify a blood covenant.

Then in verse 16:28 Jesus told His disciples that some would see the Kingdom even now before they tasted death.

In Matthew 17 Jesus was transfigured and seen in His future glory by His disciples. 

After some discussion about Elijah and Moses and building a residence there to stay in the glory, God spoke from Heaven and said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.  Hear Him."  Mark 4:11 states that the mystery of the Kingdom is in the parable of the Word being planted in a human heart.

When we see His Cross, and take up our cross, we will see Jesus and hear His Word, which will be planted in our heart as a powerful and living seed to produce Heaven on earth.  Glory to God!

Kingdom qualification number one.  You must be "poor in spirit." 

Study the footnote [1].

It's all about being desperate and broken!

Why then do so many complicate Christianity?  Why do so few walk the way of the Kingdom and so many miss the mystery?  Why is it sometimes so difficult to convince Christians to do whatever is needed to see Jesus, to take up their cross, to hear the Word, and trust that it will do God's work for their lives and for God's Kingdom?

Jesus gives us a very simple answer.  I have seen people all over the world get a hold of this and I have seen people totally miss it.  I pray that all who read this will catch it.

In Matthew 19 the Rich Young Ruler confronts Jesus.  Jesus knew that he had much to trust in; riches, fame, position, religion, etc.  He advised him to give it away if he really wanted life.  You know what happened; he refused and Jesus was grieved because He loved him.

Then the disciples got anxious about how could anybody enter the Kingdom.  Jesus told them a parable to answer their concerns.  Matthew chapter 20 contains a parable about a man who owned a vineyard and went to the market place to hire workers for the harvest.

He hired the first man for one denarius a day.  This was for a full day's work.  I submit that he hired the strongest and most able of the five men.  This was Man #5

At the third hour he returned to hire more help and asked Man #4 to work a partial day and he would pay him fairly.

At the sixth hour he did likewise.  Man # 3.

At the ninth hour he did likewise.  Man # 2.

At the eleventh hour he returned again.  Man # 1.

He asked Man # 1 why he was still there.  The man answered, "Because no one would hire us."  He went out and worked for one hour.

First, these men were not lazy or they would not have been sitting in the employment agency all day.  Most likely this one-hour man was the least able of all.  Perhaps he had a physical or mental handicap.  I submit that he was the weakest of all.  Remember, this parable is about the Kingdom of God and how and when people receive it.

When pay time came, the master called the one-hour man first, Man # 1, and the all day man, Man # 5, last saying, "So the last will be first and the first last.  For many are called but few chosen."

The one-hour man received the Kingdom of God in the here and now and brought the Kingdom to earth, as in the Lord's Prayer.  Perhaps Man #5 went to Heaven when he died and received the Kingdom at that time.  But the one who had nothing else to trust in received it now.

What was the manifestation of receiving it now?  If you are a one-hour man, you will trust only in hearing the Word of God while fellowshipping with Jesus to supply everything you need for life and godliness &endash; see 2 Peter 1:2-11.  While we ministered this in a Spanish speaking country the group of leaders really got it.  They came up with a theme and carried signs reading, "El Hombre una sola hora."  The one-hour man!  "We are one-hour people," they shouted.  Are you desperate enough to call yourself a "one hour person" and shout halleluiah?

Many people in this world are desperate, but not all desperate people are broken. 

I submit that the one-hour man was both desperate and broken.  Broken means that one has come to the place that he/she knows that there is no help available from any human being or agency, not even from one's own abilities.  Notice that the one-hour man remained in the employment agency.  He was not out begging, or trying to manipulate people to support him.  Applying this to your Christian walk, it means that unless your Lord does something, you are done for, you are lost!

My opinion is, that when you are a one-hour-man, your ears will be open to hearing The Creator speak His vision, His Word, His power into your heart.  Then you will be a seed bearer for the Kingdom of God and your will bear fruit to His glory!

Often God must allow us to become one-hour-people through the sufferings in life.  Trouble seems to be part of life.  However, trouble is the seed to victory!  Jesus was crucified and that was the worst trouble ever, but it displaced Satan's kingdom with God's.

A testimony.

"Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). 

It was in the early 1980s right after I had met Jesus that my life began to crumble.  Actually my life was already in a mess; it was just that the outward circumstances had not yet caught up with me.  I was in touch with the Lord, He spoke to me daily, often hourly, but everything was coming undone.  My business was loosing money faster than I could count; my family had major issues, and more.  At that time I moved into a mobile home owned by a friend, in a cornfield 50 miles from my business, and stayed in a 10 X 12 foot room with a hole in the floor.  That was my home for some time.  I would go for walks in the cornfields and praise God at the top of my voice.  Every night as I would soak in the Word, I felt that all night long I was changing.  I felt like a worm going through a metamorphous.  I could feel myself changing, as I would awake during the night.  My adult son asked me one day, "Dad, how are you doing these days?"  I answered, I am entering into the Kingdom of God, and it is glorious."  I had finally become a one-hour-man!

When we live in the Kingdom of God, we become more like Christ every day.  His Cross, His death and resurrection, absorbed all the curses passed down since Adam, all of them.  When we face trouble it is often from our passed-down curses.  Therefore, if we are like Christ, then our "shadow of death and resurrection" or in other words, our suffering and overcoming, will create a blessing from every curse.  Remember, Jesus took the actual death and penalty of our curses, all we experience is the "shadow."

[1] 4434 ptocov ptochos {pto-khos'} {to crouch AV - poor 30, beggar 2, poor man 1, beggarly 1; 34 1) reduced to beggary, begging, asking alms 2) destitute of wealth, influence, position, honour 2a) lowly, afflicted, destitute of the Christian virtues and eternal riches 2b) helpless, powerless to accomplish an end 2c) poor, needy 3) lacking in anything 3a) as respects their spirit 3a1) destitute of wealth of learning and intellectual culture which the schools afford (men of this class most readily give themselves up to Christ's teaching and proved themselves fitted to lay hold of the heavenly treasure)