Many times we are tempted to bug God about changing things in our lives and we pray over and over again but I want you to know today and understand how faith works – faith is a rest – you don’t have to worry; you don’t have to fret because God wants you to know that He has Already heard you and though the manifestation seems to be NOT YET, I am here to prophesy to you today that God is going to change your NOT YET to IT’S HERE because with Him it’s ALREADY!

 ALREADY BUT NOT YET

“Looking for the future Kingdom of God while living in it today:”

Luke 17:20-21 (NASB)
20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed; 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

Introduction:

• Do you know that it is a fact that less than 15 per cent of people do any original thinking on any subject?
• The greatest torture in the world for most people is to think.

What the Jews were Thinking when Jesus Came Into the World.

• We can deduce from the scriptures that:
  • They were Messiah thinkers.
• They thought – they looked for – they spoke about the coming Messiah.
• They were ‘up the road thinkers’.
  • They were always looking to the future
• You could say it this way, they were end time thinkers.
• They looked for the Messiah who would bring the end.
• The end meant a new beginning for Israel.
• It meant the beginning of God’s new age; the Age of the Messiah
• Isa. 11:4-9 describes some of this which was known to the Jews

Isaiah 11:4 (NASB)
4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,…

• Isaiah tells us Messiah’s age will be an age of righteousness
• Godly and moral rightness will be the order of the day.

Isaiah 11:4 (NASB)
…And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;…

• Isaiah tells us Messiah’s age will be an age of fairness
• No bum deals, no rips off or cons in Messiah’s age
• Life will be a fair deal unlike today.

Isaiah 11:4 (NASB)
…And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

• The waste pool of wickedness seen on planet earth will not be in Messiah’s age.

Isaiah 11:5-8 (NASB)
5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,
And faithfulness the belt about His waist.
6 And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together;
And a little boy will lead them.
7 Also the cow and the bear will graze,
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den.

• Even nature will be at restored to the originality of God’s design.
• Messiah’s age will be an age where the laughter and simplicity of children will be known.

Isaiah 11:9 (NASB)
9 They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
As the waters cover the sea.

• And finally Isaiah tells us here that the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord such that there will be no destruction – no war – no murder – no slavery.
• This was music to the ears of the Jews who were nothing but oppressed slaves to many different empires. How appealing this was to a Jewish mind.
• How they longed for it.
• How they desired to see the days of the Messiah.
• In the midst of this expectant Jewish mentality, the Word of the Lord came to John in the wilderness.
• And as John was preaching to the people the Word of God says:

Luke 3:15-16 (NASB)
15 Now while the people were in a state of expectation and all were wondering in their hearts about John, as to whether he was the Christ, 16 John answered and said to them all, “As for me, I baptize you with water; but One is coming who is mightier than I, and I am not fit to untie the thong of His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

• And so, the ministry of Jesus began to take prominence and John the Baptist ministry having, fulfilled its purpose, slowly faded away.

Matthew 4:12, 17 (NASB)
12 Now when Jesus heard that John had been taken into custody, He withdrew into Galilee;
17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

• Now can you understand how this statement from the immaculate lips of Jesus played on the hearing of the Jews?
• “It’s here, it’s here the kingdom of God is here”, they thought!
• The time has been fulfilled!!!
• And so Jesus cast out devils.
• And so Jesus healed the sick
• And so there were MANY miraculous works and signs.
• But a funny thing happened on the way to the Messianic Age.
• Jesus said something very interesting one day, He said…

Luke 17:20-21 (NASB)
20 Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed 21 nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

• That should have been a clue to the expecting multitude but it wasn’t.
• It should have registered on their radar screen but it didn’t.
• Their hearts were darkened and there mindset was skewed and the scriptures they did not know.

The Importance of Being Able to Hear

• You know there is a problem when your heart is not open and you’re looking to the future.
• How important it is to be able to hear.
• How important it is to be able to understand what the Spirit is communicating when you come to the crossroads of life.
• You see, they should have understood these words but they didn’t even hear these words of Jesus about the kingdom being in their midst.
• They should have heard these words:

ALREADY BUT NOT YET!

• Jesus just kept on ministering.
• That is what you do when people around you just don’t ‘get it’.
• And after almost 3 ½ years of signs and wonders and phenomenal teaching by the Spirit of God, Jesus was involved in an astounding miracle that just seemed to cap all the Messianic expectations.

He raised Lazarus from the dead!

• The miracle was so overwhelmingly popular with the people that the Jewish leaders said in John 11, ‘We need to kill Jesus. We have to eliminate His influence.’

John 11:47-48 (NASB)
47 Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs. 48 “If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”

• But, the crowds just kept getting larger.
• The expectations were getting more intense.
• The religious leaders then decide that they need to kill Lazarus also!

John 12:9-11 (NASB)
9 The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus.

• Listen to what happens:

John 12:12-15 (NASB)
12 On the next day the large crowd who had come to the feast (understand how large this crowd is – we are talking anywhere from 85,000 to 125,000 people on top of the 25,000 that were resident to Jerusalem), when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, 13 took the branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, and began to shout, “Hosanna! BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD, even the King of Israel.” 14 Jesus, finding a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written, 15 “FEAR NOT, DAUGHTER OF ZION; BEHOLD, YOUR KING IS COMING, SEATED ON A DONKEY’S COLT.”

• The people are going crazy, absolutely nuts!
• A few days later – a handful of hours later – Jesus is dead. What happened?
• But a few days later – He’s not dead anymore!!! What’s the deal?

The Road to Emmaus

Luke 24:13-32 (NASB)
13 And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14 And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. 15 While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them. 16 But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him. 17 And He said to them, “What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you are walking?” And they stood still, looking sad. 18 One of them, named Cleopas, answered and said to Him, “Are You the only one visiting Jerusalem and unaware of the things which have happened here in these days?” 19 And He said to them, “What things?” And they said to Him, “The things about Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word in the sight of God and all the people, 20 and how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to the sentence of death, and crucified Him. 2 1“But we were hoping that it was He who was going to redeem Israel. Indeed, besides all this, it is the third day since these things happened. 22 “But also some women among us amazed us. When they were at the tomb early in the morning, 23 and did not find His body, they came, saying that they had also seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive. 24 “Some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just exactly as the women also had said; but Him they did not see.” 25 And He said to them, “O foolish men and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken! 26 “Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?” 27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures. 28 And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther. 29 But they urged Him, saying, “Stay with us, for it is getting toward evening, and the day is now nearly over.” So He went in to stay with them. 30 When He had reclined at the table with them, He took the bread and blessed it, and breaking it, He began giving it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened and they recognized Him; and He vanished from their sight. 32 They said to one another, “Were not our hearts burning within us while He was speaking to us on the road, while He was explaining the Scriptures to us?”

• What happens here?
• What was the discussion?
• The rumors were, “Well He’s dead – no, but wait, He’s not dead He’s alive.”
• Is there still a Messianic chance?
• And so, we have the disciples in expectation in Acts 1:6 popping the big question.

Acts 1:6-8 (NASB)
6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.”

Can you hear Jesus saying here in this passage ‘Already but not Yet’?

The Plot Continues

• Now, after Jesus is taken up into heaven, we have the Holy Spirit flooding the church.
• The power of the Spirit was in manifestation it seemed even more than in the ministry of Jesus.
• They were doing the works of Jesus and even greater works collectively than He did.
• There were Jesus people everywhere.
• And yet the disciples still didn’t get this Kingdom of God thing.
• They thought with all this Holy Ghost being manifested the end is right on us.
• “Jesus just went to heaven for a moment.”
• “He’ll be right back, just went to get a change of clothes and He is turning right around and coming back and then the kingdom will finally start.”
• But, a funny thing started happening.
• They started dying!
• And there was such a concern among the Thessalonians that Paul had to write a letter and tell them that it’s okay that the saints are dying.

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 (KJV)
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.

• You don’t have to sorrow – you don’t have to grieve – there is going to be a resurrection.

The Truth Finally Began to Dawn

• And, it seemed with the passage of time that this truth ‘already but not yet’ FINALLY began to dawn on the hearts of the believers for they could see the parallels and I want you to see them also.
• They could see as the message of the New Covenant was being preached and revealed to the men of God and the great company of those who published it.
  • They could see that they were in the beginning of the end and not the end of the end.
• They could see the parallels of the kingdom and what Jesus had tried to get over to them when He said the kingdom of God is in your midst.
• They could see:
  • Where sin is concerned: Already forgiven – but not yet perfected.
  • Where death is concerned: Already victorious – but not yet glorified.
  • Where the devil is concerned: He is Already defeated – but not yet chained.
  • Where righteousness is concerned: We’re Already righteous – but yet there is a judgment.
  • Where holiness is concerned: We’re Already holy but not yet sanctified.

Already but not yet.

Call to Action

• This is just the introduction, but I want you to see with this thought that there are many parallels to this in your walk with God. Don’t ever forget this about prayer and faith and trusting God. For many times we are tempted to bug God about changing things in our lives and we pray over and over again but I want you to know today and understand how faith works – faith is a rest – you don’t have to worry; you don’t have to fret because God wants you to know that He has Already heard you and though the manifestation seems to be NOT YET, I am here to prophesy to you today that God is going to change your NOT YET to IT’S HERE because with Him it’s ALREADY!

ALREADY BUT NOT YET!

Question: In what areas of your life will simply acting victorious change your situation, Please leave a comment below.