“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

-          Matthew 3:1-2 (NKJV).

The most powerful force on earth is not the Holy Spirit but your MIND. The Holy Spirit is not a force is a person! The most difficult challenge face on earth by God is the attempt to change the MIND of former slaves. It was easy for God to deliver the people from slavery (oppression), the power of Pharaoh but not from their thinking. God believes that it is possible to change the minds of the people after been in the oppression/bondage for 400 years, but the people failed, they couldn’t believe. There is nothing on earth that is so powerful that God does not control. The “WILL” controls the agency of man on earth. The “WILL” is precious and dangerous! God intended to use the “will” of man on earth to fulfill His “WILL” (Matthew 6:10). The soul is the integration of three things; MIND, WILL & EMOTIONS. The mind is the center of the soul and whoever controls your soul control your life. So, Almighty God created us as free moral agents with mind that is been formed by Him and He chooses not to control our minds because He made us that way not Robots; we have choice in this matter, He wanted us to yield our wills to His “WILL” painstakingly or deliberately. Let me put it this way, God created the mind but cannot control it. We can even use it against Him, what a tragedy! That is why winning soul is a difficult task and whosoever wins souls is wise (Proverbs 11:30). 

God delivered the people in Egypt in one day just like that but He struggled with the same set of people for 40 years in the wilderness. He couldn’t change their minds. Do you know that miracle do not change the MIND. Miracle doesn’t change people. No one has ever seen any firsthand miracles like the church in the wilderness. No matter what God promises you if your mind cannot carry it you cannot have it, that’s your mentality determines what you receive. Poverty as we all know is a state of mind. Note please, the soul is the mediator between the spirit and body.  Devil is not after your spirit or body but your soul so also God is after your soul why? Because the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness are the kingdoms of the soul; this is the battle ground, God is battling with your soul so also the devil and whoever you yield your will/mind controls your life.  

Whenever a king is coming to a colony or territory there is a need for him to be heralded. His coming will be announced or proclaimed by a messenger. John the Baptist was an interesting personality you and I will need to study critically as regards the coming of the Messiah or The Anointed King. He came to the scene by announcing the coming of the King after 400 years of silence I mean total darkness on earth when heaven stopped talking or sending messages to earth either by prophets or priests. The period between the book of Malachi; the last book in the Old Testament to the Matthew the first book of the New Testament took 400 years gap, heaven disengagement from the earth, there was no operation of the Holy Spirit anywhere on earth around this period. However, around this time was when John the Baptist started his earthly ministry and his message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

John the Baptist was not like a usual, normal prophet as we known, he was not even in the Temple or Tabernacle like his father Zechariah. He was in the wilderness. Normally he wouldn’t have been considered as a high priest or prophet in his time but the word of God by pass the present priesthood; Annas and Caiaphas to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness (Luke 3:1-2). There was a change of guard. God was about doing New Thing. The Bible says, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” Matthew 3:3. And his message was “REPENT, FOR THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND”. Many people were trooping in or coming to this new Master Teacher Teaching; it was a new School of Thought, nobody has ever done things like this before. John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins even tax collectors came to be baptized.

Moreover, two things caught my attention as regards the declaration of John the Baptist; it is the word “REPENT” and “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN”.  What do these words mean? This is the whole essence of this teaching. The prefix “RE” – means “Return to original”, “to go back” and the word “PENT” – means “to think”, however, the word “RE-PENT” – means “back to highway of thinking”, “come back to original thinking”, “Change your thinking pattern”. "Make a U-Turn". Also, “THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN” – means “The influence of heaven”, “The government of heaven”. So, when we say; “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”, it means “change your thinking or come back to or return to original thinking for the influence of heaven is here”. The word “AT HAND” is an old English word, it means “IS HERE”. Change your thinking for the ruler-ship of heaven is here. Come back to original thinking because there is a different “School of Thought”. And this school of thought demands new and original way of thinking. Change your mind-set. Until a man’s mindset changes, nothing changes. If I can succeed changing your mind I will successfully changing you. This was the message that announced the coming of the King of the universe; the Lord Jesus Christ.

Moreover, when Jesus started His ministry He went through this Master Teacher School of Thought to announce His ministry and same word came out from His mouth in Matthew 4: 17 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus was not asking for an altar call as your pastors water it down to look like but in essence He was saying and asking for a change of mind, change of thought pattern and process because another government is here. The influence of heaven has arrived here on earth again, it was here before, it was lost but now back on earth, what a good news!. What Adam lost from the beginning was about to be restored therefore, there is a need of change in thinking and thought pattern. Jesus Christ was successfully changed the minds of eleven men in 3¹/₂ years; that was miracle! Change your thinking brothers because what we lost from the beginning is now back on earth although man’s thought process has been deformed by sins and there is a need for realignment in thinking or thought process not altar call.

Brothers and sisters, I announce to you again today as John the Baptist and The Lord Jesus declared to the people over 2,000 years ago that you need to change your thinking because the influence of heaven is here. When Adam messed up, God cursed the ground for man’s sake; “Curse is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life, it will produce thorns and thistles for you, ...” Genesis 3: 17-18. Little wonder it was crown of thorns they placed on His head (mind) when he was about to be crucified at the place called “the skull” (Matthew 27:29, Luke 23:33) meaning the cursed has been removed from your mind (Selah). You can now yield your will to His will. Your mind needed to be transformed and renewed, so you may be able to test and approve what God’s will is – His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:1-2).  This is the word announced by John the Baptist, this is the message preached by Jesus Christ and however, this is the same message I declare to you again today; Change your thinking for the influence of heaven is back again here on earth. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is here.”

In His Service,

Bisi  Bolarin 

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