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How To Understand The Kingdom By: Dr. Pete Norris

Harvest Fellowship Church

May 3, 2026 · 29 min7K

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When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:13-17 NKJV)

Son of Man deals with the flesh. Flesh and blood have not revealed this to you.

But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:23-24 NKJV)

Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed— (I Corinthians 15:50-51 NKJV)

Take notice! I tell you a mystery (a secret truth, an event decreed by the hidden purpose or counsel of God). We shall not all fall asleep [in death], but we shall all be changed (transformed) (1 Corinthians 15:51 AMPC)

Do not be deceived: “Evil company corrupts good habits.” Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. (I Corinthians 15:33-34 NKJV)

Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29 NKJV)

Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. (Colossians 4:6 NKJV)

But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or, “ ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ ” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): (Romans 10:6-8 NKJV)

I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; (Deuteronomy 30:19 NKJV)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit. (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV)

Corruption cannot put on incorruption.

Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. (I Timothy 1:4 NKJV)

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” 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. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ (John 3:1-7 NKJV)

Nicodemus answered and said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.” (John 3:9-13 NKJV)

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:11-14 NKJV)

Who owe their birth neither to bloods nor to the will of the flesh [that of physical impulse] nor to the will of man [that of a natural father], but to God. [They are born of God!] (John 1:13 AMPC)

Now they came to Jericho. As He went out of Jericho with His disciples and a great multitude, blind Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, sat by the road begging. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Then many warned him to be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” (Mark 10:46-48 NKJV)

He is crying for flesh and blood part of Jesus.

Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool. (Acts 2:29-35 NKJV)

For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. (I Corinthians 15:25-26 NKJV)

Concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (Romans 1:3-4 NKJV)

Son of David is flesh. Son of God is Spirit.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. (II Corinthians 5:16-17 NKJV)

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2 NKJV)

For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:6-15 NKJV)

This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever. (John 6:58 NKJV)

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Today on Power in the World. This I say to you brother, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It doesn't say one thing about eternity, doesn't say one thing about heaven, it says he cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So flesh and blood cannot be a part of the kingdom of God. So if you're trying to deal in the flesh and blood, then there's your whole problem with trying to understand the kingdom. Because your head can't understand the kingdom because you're a spirit, and if you're going to deal with God, you've got to deal in the spirit. You with me? Welcome to Power in the Word. As believers in Christ, we know that our spirit is eternal. When our body passes away, our spirit lives on. Today, Dr. Norris helps us to remember that God's kingdom is made up of spirit beings, not flesh and blood. He shows us in the word of God that we must live in this world, but not be part of it. It's a great and powerful message. Stay with us. But tonight we're going to talk about how to understand the kingdom. So let's go to Matthew chapter 16. I'm going to show you something that he showed me, and I'm going to try to help you understand the kingdom of God tonight. How many of you know the kingdom of God is inside of us? The kingdom of God is not something you see with your eyes, it's what's on the inside of you. It's a recreated spirit that's on the inside of me and you. But I was reading this text and the Holy Spirit just began to speak to me. Let's go to Matthew chapter 16, verse 13, and we're going to get going. And Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, and he asked his disciples, saying... Now here's Jesus. Now you've got to understand what his question is.

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He said, Who do men say that the Son of Man am? Now think about that a minute. Who do men say that the Son of Man am? Now you know that's not good English. And the Holy Spirit spoke to me immediately. He said that he's asking them in flesh and blood who the Son of Man is. Because the Son of Man was who Jesus was before he went to the cross. Because he was declared to be the Son of God after the cross. So Jesus never done a miracle as the Son of God. He only done them as the Son of a man. Because after he come back from the resurrection, he didn't do any miracles. Because it was illegal, because he had a body. He had a glorified body then. I want you to watch this. Verse 14. So we know the Son of Man is dealing with flesh and blood. And they said, Some say you're John the Baptist, some say you're Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. Verse 15. And he said to them, But who do you say that I am? Now watch this. He jumped from talking about the flesh and blood, and now he's saying, But Peter, who do you say that I am? Are you in agreement with him? Now watch this. Peter was not born to get here, guys. Peter didn't have the Spirit of the Lord living inside of him at this time. And then Peter said this, verse 16. Simon Peter, now Simon means a weakling reed and Peter means a rock. So he's calling them both of his names, which he was and which he will be. You've got to understand where we're headed here. He was talking to both parts of Peter.

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The part of Peter that was the old Peter, and he was talking to the new Peter that was going to bring the revelation of the new Peter when he understood who he was. Now watch this. Jesus and Peter answered and said, You are the Christ. Now John said, If you believe he's the Christ, then you're born again. But you've got to understand he wasn't the Christ at this time. That's why the Holy Spirit came to Mary and he said, You're going to bring forth the Son, and he's going to be the Son of God. But he wasn't the Son of God yet because he wasn't the Son of God until after the resurrection. Now he didn't become the Son of God until you became the Son of God. Are you with me? So he said, Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now watch verse 17. Jesus answered and said to him, Blessed are you Simon bar Jonah. Now how many of you know this? Simon means Weakling Reed and bar means the son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed that to you, but my Father who is in heaven. So flesh and blood didn't reveal this to him even though he was asking him, Who do you say that I am? He said, Oh, you're the Son of man. But he said, Who do you say that I am? He said, I say you're the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now he had a revelation of what was going to be. Not a revelation of what he was right then. You've got to understand that Jesus is always somewhere in the future because there's no time in him. Your identity of how you receive your healing is based on when he does it. The reality is it's already done. And so everything in Christ is already done before you were ever created and you got everything, but you're still looking to get it. Because Peter, even Peter in the flesh understood that he was talking about something in the future.

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He was not talking about in the now. Because your perception of who he is is going to be what happens in your life. Why don't you go to John chapter 4 verse 24. And God tells us who He is. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit. Now, think about it a minute. Watch this now. He goes to, He goes parallel here again. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth for the Father is seeking to worship Him. Now look at the next verse 24. Look at what it says. God is the Spirit. Now He just said that God's the Father. Now which is He? Now watch this. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. So He's telling you that I'm a spirit. And if you're going to get to me, you're going to have to go through the Spirit to understand who I am. Now He's gone from being God in 24 to His Father in 23. He was not a father this time. He had no children whatsoever. But He said there's going to come a time when He becomes a father. Now get this, because this is the only way you're ever going to understand the kingdom. Because without a father, you remain a servant. And the church is full of servants. Because we don't know that we've got a father. Now, I want you to go with me to 1 Corinthians 15 verse 50. This I say to you, brother, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. It doesn't say one thing about eternity. It doesn't say one thing about heaven. It says He cannot inherit the kingdom of God. So flesh and blood cannot be a part of the kingdom of God. So if you're trying to deal in the flesh and blood, then there's your whole problem with trying to understand the kingdom. Because your head can't understand the kingdom because you're a spirit. And if you're going to deal with God, you've got to deal in the Spirit.

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Nor does corruption inherit incorruption. Now watch this. Corruption cannot inherit incorruption. Because flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now what's corruption? You and I were born, according to 1 Peter 1.23, of an incorruptible seed. So corruption cannot inherit incorruption. And so I asked the Lord. I said, Lord, explain to me what you're talking about here. And so we're going to go somewhere tonight because I'm telling you how you operate in corruption and how corruption destroys you and it cannot inherit incorruption. Now, go to 1 Corinthians 15 and 51. Let's read 51 first. But behold, I'm going to tell you a mystery, brother. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed. Now the word sleep here is not we're all not going to die. Now how many of you know there's some people that ain't going to die? But it ain't going to be because of no rapture. It's going to be because people understand the kingdom of God and they live in the incorruptible. Because corruption can't take on incorruption. And flesh and blood can't inherit the kingdom of God. So you and I have got to understand that this thing ain't even about heaven. It's about you becoming incorruptible to where you've been incorruptible because the seed that you're born by in 1 Peter 1.23 and that'll mean you're born of an incorruptible seed. Now an incorruptible seed is a seed that cannot die. 1 Peter 1.23 tells you that. So you and I have got to understand that we're not corruptible, but we're incorruptible. And corruptible can't take on incorruption. Now we'll read 51 in the Amplified. Stay with me, I'm heading somewhere. Take notice. I tell you a mystery, a secret truth, an event decreed by a hidden purpose in the counsel of God. We shall not all fall asleep in death, but we shall

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all be changed and transformed. What's he saying guys? How many is all? All's all. So he said that there's a mystery I'm gonna try to tell you. I'm gonna tell you about this mystery that's been hidden before the foundation of the world and it's been hidden in you that you're gonna take on incorruptible and you're not gonna be corruptible, but you have the power to be corruptible as long as you operate in the flesh and blood. But when you get in the spirit you're incorruptible because you're born of it. Incorruptible, you're born from above and not from among. Listen, listen to me. You have no lineage anymore whatsoever to your family. None! I'm gonna prove it to you in Scripture tonight. You have no lineage. All that garbage about, well your granddaddy had it and Uncle Percy had it and all them had it, that's got nothing to do with you. Because you've been broke for that thing. You've been broke from that lineage. Let's go back to 1 Corinthians 15 to 33. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Now you remember what I said? Corruption can't take on incorruption. Awake to righteousness and do not sin, for some do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. Now watch this. He said, Awake to righteousness. Know who you are. Because, listen to me, you can't be corruptible and be born again. Because you're born with an incorruptible seed. So you're a new creation. Old things have passed away and now everything's become new to you. So if we're going to understand, I'm going to really mess you up right now. Because God never told us to get born again.

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He told us to be born from above. That which is flesh is flesh and that which is spirit is spirit. Your physical birth is forgotten because you took on a new birth. Let's go to Ephesians chapter 2 verse 29. Now watch this, this is powerful. Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearer. Now watch this again, let's go back. Corruption can't take on incorruption, but what comes out of your mouth can be corrupt. It's what's coming out of our mouth affecting our lives. It's what's coming out of our mouth imparting grace to everybody that hears it. It's what's coming out of our mouth building people up and encouraging people. Or it's what's coming out of our mouth is a corrupt word that proceeds out of our mouth which takes on the corrupt part of we're living in a corruption, but we're speaking corruption and living in incorruptible. And so by that we understand that I speak corruption in my mouth because I speak out of my mouth what's bringing not bringing life and edification and building one another up and it's not bringing grace to the hearers that hear me talk. So is it possible that I'm taking myself back into the flesh and blood part of me because I'm living out of the spirit part of me because I don't understand that the flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, but also corruptible cannot take on incorruption. So I'm incorruptible in my spirit, but my outer man is still corrupt because of the way I talk. And now corruption comes out of my mouth and I say corruptible things that keeps me from operating in the spirit realm. Why? Because I have the ability to proceed out of my mouth and speak and create everything that God speaks because the Bible said that you and I according to Genesis were created to be a speaking spirit. Let's go to Colossians 4 and 6.

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Let your speech always be with grace seasoned with salt that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Now think about it a minute. Let your speech always be with grace. Let your speech always be seasoned with salt. And so let your speech always be with grace. Let everybody hears what comes out of your mouth hear grace. Let everything that comes out of our mouth be the revelation that people need to change and transform their life. Speak spirit instead of speaking foolishness. Let's go to Romans chapter 10 verse 6. Now watch this. But the righteousness of God speaks in this way. How many of you know righteousness speaks? He said, Awake to righteousness and sin no more. Awake to righteousness and sin no more. Awake to righteousness. Awake to righteousness. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up to righteousness. Wake up to who you are. Because if you do who you are, you're not going to be sin conscious anymore. But here's what happens with righteousness. Righteousness of faith speaks in this way. Do not say in your heart who would have sinned into heaven that is to bring Christ down to earth. But look at verse 7. Who shall have sinned into bliss that is bring Christ up from the dead? He said we're talking about foolish stuff. Look at verse 8. But what does it say? The word is near you in your mouth and in your heart. That is the word of faith which we preach. Now watch this. So if righteousness is speaking, then what's coming out of your mouth? Is it righteousness?

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Is it incorruptible? Or is it flesh and blood? Or is it corrupt? Or is it not bringing grace? Is it not building everybody up? Is it not seasoning people's lives? Or is it just babbling? See, I believe I'm on to something. And I tell you, I don't think Jesus went around with a bunch of foolishness. I think he had a good time. I'm not saying he can't have a good time. Speak life. Speak life. Speak life. Go to Deuteronomy 30, 19. I call heaven and earth as witness today against you. How many of you know heaven came down to earth? He's called heaven and earth as a witness today to you. Bible said in Psalms 119 verse 89, whatever is settled in heaven is settled on earth. He put me and you on earth to activate the things of heaven on earth. Now listen to me. That I set before you life and death, blessings and curses, therefore choose life. and both you and your descendants may live. Now, I'm going to shake your cage right now because I'm going to tear your religion up. It's going to go out of screaming here. Remember in Acts, Paul and Silas were in jail and the jailer was watching over them and they were praying in jail and an earthquake come and shook the place and loosed them.

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The lights went out and everything got dark and the jailer was about to kill himself because he thought Paul and Silas had escaped. Y'all know the story, right? And then the jailer looked to him and said, what must I do to be saved? What did he tell him? He said, if you'll believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, you and your family will be saved. Oh, I'm fixing to shake your cage now because I'm telling you, you have the power to change people's lives. You have the power. Listen, I'm not buying it, I'm not buying it, I'm not buying it. That you and I don't have the power to lead people to Christ. And I'm not talking about leading them to salvation. I mean speak over their lives and say, in the name of Jesus, you're saved. In the name of Jesus, you're saved. In the name of Jesus, you're saved. Listen, your children are going to follow you. What did he say? Both you and your descendants may live if you choose life. He didn't say if the children chose life. He said if granddaddy and grandma and grandpa and Uncle Percy and all them chose life, you and your children are going to get life because the seed of a righteous man is going to be blessed and delivered. Come on guys, we've been praying for 30 years and our children get saved and they don't have a choice. Because the power of the Holy Spirit, this is true or it isn't. Because I put life and death and you choose blessings or curse. You do it. God ain't going to do it. You do it. What did Joshua 1 and 8 say? He said meditate upon my word day and night. Don't let it depart from your mouth. And what will happen? And if you observe to do it, you'll have good success and you'll be prosperous. Listen, we're so in tune with the external realm, we should be in tune with the internal realm. We should be in tune so much with the spirit of who we are that the external realm doesn't even affect us anymore. Go meet at Proverbs 18, 21. Death

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and life are in your mouth. Let no corrupt thing come out of your mouth. Choose blessings and curses out of your mouth. Choose death and life out of your mouth. Death and life are in the power of your tongue, not in God's. And those that love it will eat its fruit. Think about it a minute. Corruption cannot put on in corruption. Corruption cannot put on in corruption. Is it possible that we're corrupting our lives by our mouths? Now here's where I'm fixing to go with you. When God showed me this the other night, it lit me up, man. Okay, now I'm fixing to make a statement. Now listen to me very carefully. You say, you said this, I'm saying it. There's no such thing as generational curses. A child of God cannot have a generational curse. You got all these ministries selling all these books about generational curses. Here's what they're saying. Well, your granddaddy done some wickedness with people in his life back in the past. And you get rid of that one, and then it'll take you back to your step-granddaddy on your third mama's side. She did the same thing, and you're right back into that generational thing anyway. And here's a scripture to do away with it. Nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. He said, get rid of all that mess. I've done away with genealogies. You've been born from above. You're a spirit being now. You're not walking around because your daddy done something in the past and you're paying the price for it. No. He broke all that stuff off of us because here's the thing. Here's what people's doing. Well, let me tell you, you got something hanging over you, brother, and it's been hanging over you for years. And I'm gonna pray for you and I'm gonna cast that devil out. And then next week you'll come back and say, I'm still bothering with something.

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Oh, it's your other daddy on the other side. And we're gonna cast him out. And then they'll find out something 10 years down the road that your granddaddy on your mama's side did. And then you're gonna cast that out. And after a while you'll never have any peace. What did he say? Which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in the faith. See, you and I have been delivered. We're absolutely delivered. We're absolutely whole. We're absolutely upright. We're absolutely some kind of something. And we ain't got nothing in our past because we don't have a past because we just started to live in Christ Jesus. We've been living and moving and having our way in him. And because of that, the genealogy of your past is gone. And the doctors, they got it down pat. What's your daddy die of? Oh yeah, I'm gonna treat you for that because you're gonna have it. And we bought right into the garbage. Either way, Jesus delivered or he didn't. And if he didn't, let's make this a t-shirt factory and get jobs and do something else. If the word of God don't work, let's do something different. Amen? The word of God's true. It works, man. This word works. Things have been broken off of my family because I changed my life. My children, my grandchildren, they don't even think like I used to think when I was little. Why? That thing's been broken. They're blessed and highly favored. Deeply loved. They're going to soar. They ain't going to go through all that religious garbage that's killing people and keeping them in bondage. John 3. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. Verse 2. This man came to Jesus by night. He didn't want anybody to see him going to him. And he said to him, Rabbi, we know that you're a teacher. That's what all the scribes and Jews called him, a teacher. Come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God's with him. God's got to be with you. I don't understand it, but I'm not going to go to you in the daytime because I want nobody to see me, but I'll come to you at night and talk to you about it. You got to be from God because you can't do the things you do.

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Look at verse 3. And Jesus answered and said to him, Moses, surely I say to you, unless one is born... Now, again, it's not in the original text. The translation said born from above. He cannot understand or see the kingdom of God. Now watch this now. He told Nicodemus, he said, unless you're born again, brother, born from above, you cannot see the kingdom of God. He didn't say one thing about going to heaven. Or he didn't say anything about going to hell. He said, unless you're born from above, brother. Now watch this. Watch verse 4. Watch verse 4. Watch this. Nicodemus said to him... See, Nicodemus jumped right back in the flesh. How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? How am I going to get back in there? Think about it a minute. How am I going to get back in there? I'm six foot two. Ain't possible. That was a crazy statement, wasn't it? But that's all he knew. That's like the church. Now watch verse 5. Jesus said, most surely I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. He's not talking about the water breaking here in a woman and him being birthed out of that water. What he's talking about is baptism. You and I, and I'm talking about with water. He's talking about being baptized into Christ. Are you with me? Symbolic of that is being baptized into water. But he's telling me and you that we got to be born of water and born of the Spirit. How can you be born of water? The water is the washing of the word that cleans our lives. So me and you are born of the water. As we begin to read the word, the word begins to bring cleansing into our lives. That word washes me and you with the word of God, which is the washing of the water. I believe it's in Ephesians 4, verse 26.

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It's the washing of the word that cleanses us and makes us whole and lets us realize who we are because of the new birth. And now we can enter into the kingdom of God. So he was telling Nicodemus, hey, buddy, you don't understand. It isn't about you entering back into the second time. You ain't never been born but once. Because I don't even know what you're talking about with that physical birth. Because now you're a new creation and the old birth has passed away. He didn't tell him to be born again. He said, tell him to be born from above the first time. Are you in this building? Look at verse 6. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, brother, but that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. And I'm not going to talk about the flesh part of you. I'm going to talk only about the spirit part of you because the spirit part of you is the only thing that matters to me. Now watch verse 7. Do not marvel that I say to you, you must be born from above. Again is not there again. It's above. You and I, flesh and blood, cannot inherit the kingdom of God. We must be born from above to enter into the kingdom of God. We must be born from above to understand the kingdom of God. So it's all about a spiritual realm that you and I are living in now. We're not a physical being trying to be spiritual. We're spiritual beings overtaking the physical realm. Your spirit's got more power than your flesh is able to even think about. But we've got to understand we're spiritual beings. Now watch this.

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I want you to go with me to John chapter 3 verse 9. Nicodemus answered and said to him, How can these things be, brother? Verse 10. Jesus answered and said to him, You're a teacher of Israel and you don't know these things? You're teaching other people and you don't know nothing? You don't even know what I'm talking about and you're teaching other people how to be right? Lord help you. Verse 11. A lot of people could use that scripture. Most assuredly I say to you, We speak what we know and testify what we've seen. and you do not receive our witness. In other words, most people are just preaching what they know and testifying of what they've seen. You don't receive our witness. Now look at verse 12. If I told you earthly things and you don't believe, how in the world are you ever going to believe if I tell you heavenly things? What did Jesus say? He said, I've got things to tell you, but you're not ready for them. What did Paul tell the Corinthians? I've got things to tell you, but you're not ready for them. Paul said, I knew a man 12 years ago, in the body, out of the body, I'm not real sure. He knew that man 12 years ago, but that ain't the same man that Paul is now. Paul said, I've got a revelation, not of heaven. I went to the third heaven. What did happen, guys? He entered into another dimension of life.

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He didn't go up and fly up there in the heaven into the third rim. He got another dimension of life. He stepped into a greater dimension. And when he come out, he had revelation that they weren't ready to hear. And so because of that, you and I have revelation that's ahead of time. That's why Paul said, I was one of the ones that saw Jesus when he come back after the resurrection. There's no way Paul could have been there. But Paul understood that he was there because he understood who Christ was. And Paul said in Philippians 3 and 10, I'm progressively determined to know him and the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering conformable even unto death. Paul understood that the resurrection was the execution of a new creation. Jesus was not stepping out of a tomb. He was giving birth in a womb for a creation. He didn't come back to change us. He come back to be us. Come on, man. He didn't come to change us. He come to manifest himself in us. And now we're walking around as him. And Paul said, I knew him as a man born out of time. I was not destined for this time. I was destined for this time. And I lived in this time even though I was back here in this time. Because you know, tell me now, because I knew that man 12 years ago. That's why you can't understand people that miss the mark a lot because what they're saying is not what they're doing, because what they're saying is not what they're doing, because what they're doing hasn't been changed by how they're thinking. If you think religious, you're always going to be religious and you can't get out of it. But Jesus come to destroy religion.

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Listen to me. Jesus didn't come to form a religious system. He come to form a government and a kingdom. And that's me and you. Amen. Second Corinthians 5. Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we've known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him thus no longer. Now look at the next verse that all of y'all like. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, they're a new creation and all things have passed away and all things have become new. We knew Jesus in the flesh at one time. You were known in the flesh. You don't even know anybody according to the flesh anymore because you don't understand the new creation. If you did, you wouldn't see anybody in the wrong. Wow. Thank you so much for joining us today at Power in the Word. All of us here at Harvest Fellowship Church want you to know that God is not mad with you, but he loves you so very much. And he has a plan for your life. Please feel free to contact us here at Harvest Fellowship Church at our website, HarvestFellowshipChurch.net. So until next week, please remember, there's power in the word.

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