A LEGACY OF ERROR, Part I
What is it you want to be remembered for? What do you want your legacy to be? Do you want to be remembered like Hymenaeus and Philetus? (2Ti 2:17) Or Ananias and Sapphira? (Acts 5:1) Of course not, right? Better yet, do you want to get to the Judgment Seat of Christ only to find out that what you believed your entire Christian life and taught others as well, was wrong? No, you don’t want that either. But, this is in fact the legacy a great many Christians will leave, including some of the most notable names there are.
Jesus taught his disciples to pray in Mt 6:10 ‘Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’
This prayer has gone unanswered to this day. The Kingdom has not come and God’s will is not being done on earth as it is in heaven, yet most Christians behave, act and teach as if it it is here already. There are many reasons for this, but one of the most obvious is the division of Bibles into the Old and New Testament, or Old and New Covenants. Since to Old Covenant is still in place, there can’t be a new one, yet.
Heb 8:8-12
8 For finding fault with them, He says,
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
When I WILL effect a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
10 “For this is the covenant that I WILL make with the house of Israel
After those days (THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE), says the Lord:
I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them upon their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For all shall know Me,
From the least to the greatest of them.
12 “For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
And I will remember their sins no more.”
NASB
All these “I WILL’s” are future and they are with Israel and Judah, not the Church of the Body of Christ. Now let’s look at Hebrews 8:13: When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear. NASB Becoming, growing and ready are active, ongoing; they are not something of the past.
Just like capitalization and punctuation are not “written in stone,” neither is how the Word of God is divided. The Book of Acts should serve as the Fulcrum between the Hebrew Prophets and the Christian Prophets. Jesus verily preached the the Kingdom was at hand, because he didn’t know about the Secret God kept hidden from the Hebrew Prophets (Ro. 16:25, Eph. 3:3).
placement of the gospels of Mt, Mk, Lk and Jn in the New Testament, when they should have been placed in the Old.
Here are some examples of what Jesus did not know about the coming kingdom::
Matt 16:28
“Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who shall not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.”
Matt 26:64
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Mark 14:61-62
But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? 62 And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Even though Jesus, the monogenetic Son of God, said these things, all the people to whom he said it, died, without them seeing what he said they would see. How can this be? How can you not have questions about it?
Preterists believe and teach that it did come to pass, just as Jesus said it would, but that Jesus’ return in the clouds was spiritual, not physical (hence no one really saw it). They also believe that all the prophecies in the Book of Revelation came to pass around 70 A.D. with the destruction of the temple; that that book is merely historical. I’ve only met one person who believed that and they are currently teaching it in England. Preterists also believe that the 1,000 year reign of Christ is not literal, but means a very long time. If that were the case, which it is not, then we very well could be living in the kingdom of God.
Everyone who says and believes that they are “kingdom” builders or that what it is they do, is for the “kingdom,” is in error. Jesus is not currently the king in the kingdom of God, because the kingdom does not yet exist. Jesus is currently our Lord, kurios, the owner of a thing, Master. We are also Jesus’s brothers and sisters.
Rom 8:16-17
The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:
17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.
KJV
Don’t think or believe for a minute that we are living in the kingdom of God and that our Lord Jesus, the coming and future king, has anything to do with the mess the world is in today. Laying the condition of this age at the feet of Jesus, is not something I would want to be a part of; nor should you.
(In Part II we will be looking at “If you believe_____________then you must also believe__________.)
Part III of the Kingdoms (What on Earth will we be doing?)
As I have said before Christ will set up his Kingdom soon after the battle of Armageddon. “He will rule his Kingdom with the help of those who were faithful to God in their first life. Ruling with Christ is part of the believer’s reward and should (now) “anchor” each believer to righteousness in his day-to-day living. Believers who have been faithful to God and Christ will receive a greater reward, including greater authority to help Christ rule:*”
Isa 1:26
“Then I will restore your judges as at the first,
And your counselors as at the beginning;
After that you will be called the city of righteousness,
A faithful city.”
NASU
Isa 32:1
Behold, a king will (not currently) reign righteously
And princes will rule justly.
NASU
Christ will appoint Judges, Counselors and Princes to help him out. Judges will act as Governors, to judge and make decisions when controversy arises. Counselors will be like Advisors and Consultants. A prince is a ruler, a chieftain, an official or a captain.
Jer 3:15-19
“Then I will give you shepherds after My own heart, who will feed you on knowledge and understanding; who will feed you, not livestock
16 “It shall be in those days when you are multiplied and increased in the land,” declares the Lord, “they will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they miss it, nor will it be made again. 17 “At that time they will call Jerusalem ‘The Throne of the Lord,’ and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk anymore after the stubbornness of their evil heart. 18 “In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north to the land that I gave your fathers as an inheritance.
“Not every believer will have the same standing in the future Kingdom. Those who endure now and remain faithful and obedient in the Christian walk will reign over the nations with the Messiah!
2 Tim 2:12-14
If we endure, we will also reign with Him;
If we deny Him, He also will deny us;
13 If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.
Do you remember in Part II that I showed how we can either be the least or the greatest in the Kingdom? If we are not faithful, we will still be allowed into the Kingdom, because Christ is faithful, but we will end up in the least category rather than the greatest. Most of us will probably not see 100 years in perfect health let alone 1,000! Is it not in our best interest to be faithful to God and Christ and the rightly divided Word of God?
When most of us were children, a question we were commonly asked was, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Well, now that we are “grown up” we need to ask ourselves what we want to be in the Kingdom of God and Heaven.
*excerpt taken from The Christians Hope, The Anchor Of The Soul, John W. Schoenheit
Part II of the Kingdom of God and Heaven (What will you be doing in the Millennial Kingdom?)
What we do for 1,000 years in the Millennial Kingdom depends entirely upon us; it depends on what we believe now and what we teach others. Remember Matthew 5:19? He who breaks the least commandment and teaches other to do so will be the least in the kingdom. He who does the commandments and teaches others to do so will be the greatest. What do you want to be, the least or the greatest?
There are commandments in Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Thessalonians. Two of these commandments are in
1 Corinthians 14;37-39:
If any man think himself to be a prophet, or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things that I write unto you are the commandments of the Lord (Jesus).
38 But if any man be ignorant, let him be ignorant.
39 Wherefore, brethren, covet to prophesy, and forbid not to speak with tongues.
KJV
Has anyone taught you to do either one of these? Has anyone taught you “not” to do either one of these?
2 Thess 3:6-7
Brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ we command you to stay away from any believer who refuses to work and does not follow the teaching we gave you.
NCV
Bet you didn’t know this was a commandment.
1 Tim 1:1-5
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope;
2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
5 Now the end of the commandment is the love of God out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
KJV
No other doctrine than what? Than the doctrine Paul received from the Lord Jesus, My, Paul’s, doctrine 2 Tim 3:10; Sound doctrine, 1 Tim 1:10; 2 Tim 4:10; Tit 1:9, 2:1; Good doctrine 1 Tim 4:6, 13, 16;
1 Tim 4:11-13
Command and teach these things. 12 Do not let anyone treat you as if you are unimportant because you are young. Instead, be an example to the believers with your words, your actions, your love, your faith, and your pure life.
NCV
1 Tim 6:14
That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ:
KJV
The apostle Paul wrote everything applicable to the Church of God, the born again believer. Jesus called him a wise “masterbuilder” and commissioned him to lay a foundation for the us, the Church of the Body of Christ, of which Christ is the chief corner stone. Everything we build (our works) is to be built upon this foundation. This foundation did not exist in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John.
1 Cor 3:10
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.
KJV
Eph 2:19-20
Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and (Christian) prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
KJV
Jesus, during his earthly ministry, lived under the Law of Moses, which he fulfilled. The 4 Gospels are in no way representatives of the New Testament because the Testator of the new Testament was still alive. We are not under the Law of Moses, but under the grace of God in Christ Jesus, our ascended Lord and Messiah.
Heb 9:16-17
For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
KJV
Believers who build their life’s work upon something in the Gospels or the rest of the Old Testament, that is not in alignment with the Pauline Epistles, could very well find themselves suffering loss at the judgment Seat of Christ, while others are being rewarded for what they did build upon the foundation that Paul laid. They could also find themselves in position’s of least importance in the Kingdom of God.
1 Cor 3:14-15
If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
15 If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.
KJV
I have been told by a few believers that they would rather stake what they do in the Millennial Kingdom on 2,000 years of church traditions than on a couple of hundred years of a new perspective of understanding the Bible.
As you can see, the true New Testament begins with Romans. What foundation are you building upon? Are you willing to have your work burnt to ashes because you trust more in Church Traditions than in the Gospel of God and Christ as revealed to the apostle Paul?
IS THIS A RISK THAT YOU ARE WILLING TO TAKE?
Part I of the Kingdom of God and of Heaven
@ChristineCane posted a very interesting and challenging Tweet yesterday the 16th of September. (Her reputation precedes her in the Church as one of the most dynamic women dedicated to helping and empowering women to be all they can be for Christ). Here is the Tweet:
‘There’s no question: God is building His Kingdom on earth. The question you need to ask is, “How has He called me to help Him?”‘
The Kingdom of God, also known as the Kingdom of Heaven, is the Millennial Kingdom, when we (the born again believers since the Day of Pentecost). will reign with Christ Jesus, the King of kings, for 1,000 years. This is when the King from Heaven, the Lord Jesus, establishes his kingdom upon the earth in Jerusalem. This will not be accomplished until after the Battle of Armageddon. This is the theme Jesus preached about during his earthly ministry, but as yet has not come to fruition. 2 of Jesus’ disciples once posed a similar request:
Mark 10:35-37
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
36 And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you?
37 They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory.
KJV
Then, when they didn’t get the answer they wanted, they brought their mother to propose it for them!
Matt 20:20-21
Then came to him the mother of Zebedee’s children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.
21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the left, in thy kingdom.
KJV
Then we have several Scriptures concerning who will be the greatest and who will be the least in the Kingdom:
Matt 5:19
Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Matt 18:1-4
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?
2 And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them,
3 And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
KJV
KJV
Matt 8:11
And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.
KJV
Jesus believed this kingdom was imminent in Mark 1:15, saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. Where are Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob? Are they with us? Are we sitting down with them?
Is there still no question that “God is building His Kingdom on earth, now?”
For more on this subject see: http://thelivingtruthfellowship.org/jtltf/bible-teachings/articles-by-topc/administrations/41-in-the-kingdom-now
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