by Jeffrey W. Hamilton<\/p>\n\t
I. John 3:1-21<\/p>\n A. In this teaching to Nicodemus, Jesus alludes to three different kingdoms. One\ndirectly and two indirectly\n
1. The kingdom of the flesh, or the world.<\/p>\n
2. The kingdom of God, or the Spirit<\/p>\n
3. The kingdom in heaven<\/p>\n B. One preacher, Alexander Campbell referred to these three kingdoms as the\nkingdoms of nature, grace, and glory.\n
II. What is a kingdom?<\/p>\n A. It is a place where someone rules, a king, and where many live under that rule, the\ncitizens.\n
B. The Kingdom of this World<\/p>\n
1. It was created by the word of God – Gen. 1 “And God said”<\/p>\n
2. We enter the kingdom of this world through birth<\/p>\n a. In fact, it is impossible to be a part of this world, a citizen in it,\nwithout being born.\n
3. It was designed to support and reproduce beings of its realm – Gen 1:28<\/p>\n
a. It supports its natural life<\/p>\n
b. Humans reproducing to bring about other humans<\/p>\n
4. Satan is its king, the prince of this world – Jn 12:31<\/p>\n
a. He is even called the god of this world – II Cor 4:4<\/p>\n
5. His citizens are all those who live in disobedience to God – Eph 2:2<\/p>\n
a. I Jn 5:19 – The whole world lies in darkness<\/p>\n
C. The Kingdom of God<\/p>\n
1. It too was created by the word of God<\/p>\n
a. John 1:1 – Jesus was the Word<\/p>\n
b. Matt 16:18 – Jesus established his church (vs. 19 – his kingdom)<\/p>\n
2. We enter the kingdom of God through birth<\/p>\n
a. A spiritual birth – Jn 3:5<\/p>\n b. As with the physical world, it is impossible to be a part of the\nchurch without being born into it.\n c. Paul speaks of going through birth pains with the Galatians – Gal\n4:19\n
3. It too was designed to support and reproduce beings of its realm<\/p>\n
a. I Pet 1:23 – We are born of the incorruptible word of God<\/p>\n
b. I John 2:29 – Righteousness produces righteous people<\/p>\n
c. I John 5:1 – Belief and love produces children of God<\/p>\n d. Christians reproducing by spreading the word of God to produce\nother Christians\n e. Being in this kingdom, we take on characteristics of this realm – Gal\n5:19-20\n
(1) Have put on Christ – Gal. 3:27<\/p>\n
4. Jesus Christ is the king – Col. 1:13<\/p>\n
a. We are delivered from one kingdom into another.<\/p>\n
b. I Cor. 15:25 – Reigns until all is conquered<\/p>\n
5. The citizens of this kingdom are those who live in righteousness<\/p>\n
a. Gal 4:3-7 – We are adapted in God’s family<\/p>\n
b. Given the right to inherit<\/p>\n
D. The final kingdom<\/p>\n
1. It too was created by the word of God<\/p>\n
a. Jn 14:2-3 – Jesus prepares a place<\/p>\n
2. We enter it through a birth<\/p>\n
a. I Cor 15:35-58 – We die to the old and are changed into a new form<\/p>\n b. In fact, we cannot become a part of heaven without a rebirth. The\ncorruptible cannot inherit the incorruptible.\n
3. The nature of heaven is to support the eternal life of its citizens<\/p>\n
4. God is it’s king – I Cor 15:24,28<\/p>\n
5. The citizens of this kingdom are those who have live righteously to the end<\/p>\n
a. They are delivered from one realm into another<\/p>\n
III. The three kingdoms<\/p>\n
A. Of nature – the physical<\/p>\n
B. Of grace – a gift freely given to those who would accept<\/p>\n
C. Of glory – a victory of the incorruptible<\/p>\n
D. Many shadows<\/p>\n
1. The temple<\/p>\n
a. Outer court – the world<\/p>\n b. The Holy – the church where the priests serve (all Christians are\npriests)\n
c. The Holy of Holies – heaven where God reigns supreme<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I. John 3:1-21 A. In this teaching to Nicodemus, Jesus alludes to three different kingdoms. One directly and two indirectly 1. The kingdom of the flesh, or the world. 2. The kingdom of God, or the Spirit 3. The kingdom in heaven B. One preacher, Alexander Campbell referred to these three kingdoms as the kingdoms of nature,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[448,345],"class_list":["post-63611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-church","tag-kingdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":16830,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/nebuchadnezzars-dream-in-daniel-is-a-good-way-to-reach-muslims\/","url_meta":{"origin":63611,"position":0},"title":"Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel is a good way to reach Muslims","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 12, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Sir, the Muslims believe that Allah is the God of Abraham and the prophets. Although they err greatly by attempting to come to God without coming through Christ (John 14:6), nonetheless, Islam recognizes the God of the Old Testament. I have found Nebuchadnezzar's dream Book of Daniel to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":30602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-only-eternal-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":63611,"position":1},"title":"The Only Eternal Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 15, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer There is only one kingdom that is eternal. Only one that stretches across time, physical boundaries, nations, tongues, and earthly rulers. Only one that is not dependent in any way upon kingdoms of the world. Only one that does not advance through the shedding of blood or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":92715,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-kingdom-came\/","url_meta":{"origin":63611,"position":2},"title":"The Kingdom Came","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Terry Wane Benton In Daniel 2:44f, the kingdom of heaven was coming. But four earthly kingdoms were on the docket to come before this very special kingdom. Daniel explained to Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, that his kingdom would be left to the Medes and Persians (the second kingdom\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-gospel-of-the-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":63611,"position":3},"title":"The Gospel of the Kingdom","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 13, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton \u00a0 Text: Psalms 2 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0An important event happened during the first century that many today have ignored or have declared did not happen \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus spent time teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand - Mark 1:14-15 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It was the good news about the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":34737,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-have-a-seventh-day-adventist-claiming-that-daniels-vision-of-the-statue-is-still-being-fulfilled\/","url_meta":{"origin":63611,"position":4},"title":"I have a Seventh Day Adventist claiming that Daniel’s vision of the statue is still being fulfilled","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hello Jeffrey, I hope all is well with you and your family. 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He told Nebuchadnezzar what he\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=63611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63611\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}