A Kingdom not of this World (John 18:28-40)

(33) Then Pilate went back into his headquarters and called for Jesus to be brought to him. “Are you the king of the Jews?” he asked him. (34) Jesus replied, “Is this your own question, or did others tell you about me?” (35) “Am I a Jew?” Pilate retorted. “Your own people and their leading priests brought you to me for trial. Why? What have you done?” (36) Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not an earthly kingdom. If it were, my followers would fight to keep me from being handed over to

the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” (37) Pilate said, “So you are a king?”Jesus responded, “You say I am a king. Actually, I was born and came into the world to testify to the truth. All who love the truth recognize that what I say is true.” (38) “What is truth?” Pilate asked. Then he went out again to the people and told them, “He is not guilty of any crime.
John 18:28-40 – NLT

1.Our Kingdom is not of this world–

• it is a spiritual kingdom in the hearts of those who follow Jesus.
• it is more than just a following a new way of life.
• It is the kingdom of God at war with the kingdom of this world and the god of this age Satan

2. Declaring war on the devils kingdom.

(4) Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. 
2 Corinthians 4:4 – NLT

(4) You adulterers!  Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
James 4:4 – NLT

(4) For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.
1 John 5:4 – NLT

(2) Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Romans 12:2a NLT

What sets these two kingdoms apart?

3. The king of truth vs the Father of lies–

(44) For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 
John 8:44 – NLT

4 . A strategy for spiritual warfare.

(4)  We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. (5) We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. 
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 – NLT

We are called to destroy lies and faulty human reasoning with God’s Word not to destroy people.

1. Make sure your allegiance is to one king only.-
2. Make sure you are trained for battle-
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   1. (27) I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified.
      1 Corinthians 9:27 – NLT
   2. living out God’s word in our lives through faith and obedience takes conscious effort and gives power to our prayers.
3. Use the sword of the spirit to set the captives free-
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