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
The Last Days (Don’t put your foot in your mouth too)!
There is not just a little confusion over the Last Days. One of the reasons for this is because of what Peter said in Acts 2:14-21. What he said was not true and you will see that it was not true if you just look at Joel Chapter 2, from which he was quoting. The only thing Peter got right was the spirit being poured out.
Joel 2 is speaking about the coming of the Days of the LORD—“days of darkness and gloom, the sun an.d the moon are darkened, the stars quit shining, Yahweh utters his voice at the head of his army, numberless are they who obey his command, etc.” We are all guilty one time or another in a time of excitement of putting our foot in our mouths and this was one of Peter’s. After all, he did not know about the secret and wouldn’t know about it for a few years yet.
Believers spoke in tongues on the Day of Pentecost; they didn’t prophesy. the sun did not go black; the moon did not turn to blood and stars did n0t quit giving their light. What happened was not “what was spoken through the prophet Joel.”
The second usage of the words “in the last days” is in 2 Tim 3 where it says distressing times will come where people will be:
- lovers of themselves, implacable, slanderers, swollen with conceit,
- lovers of money, profligates, brutes, treacherous,
- boasters, arrogant, abusive, haters of good, reckless
- disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman
- lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
- holding to the outward form of godliness, but denying its power
Paul goes on to say that these folks are of corrupt minds and counterfeit faith, who oppose the truth. they are wicked people and impostors who will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and even themselves. Rather than spend time wondering who they are Paul exhorts Timothy and the rest of us “to continue in what we have learned and firmly believed, know from whom we have learned it (who did Timothy learn from? His teacher, his/our father in the Word, Paul).
I have covered this subject in great detail in my book, available at http://www.fredswolfe.com with my money back guarantee (if you don’t like it send it to me and I will send you your money back with shipping).
What do you think; do you think just because someone says something in the Bible makes it automatically true?
A Few Reviews of my New Book on Understanding the Bible.
From the minute I opened the book I felt TRUTH pouring through the pages. I was astonished at the number of scriptures I have repeated over and over in my life, and lived by that were not translated correctly – this book has changed my foundation. It is eye opening. It has made me responsible to question and reprove my core beliefs and walk in truth of the word and not to be mislead. Thank you so much Fred for this message, my only hope is that you continue in this quest and write more books on rightly dividing the word! This is a MUST READ for all Christians and all those who want to know truth!!
I just finished reading Fred’s book. It was sometimes a challenge with quoted passages that could get long before Fred explained them, but staying with it increased my biblical fortitude! Fred helps by explaining translations and errors in translations that are important to understanding intent. I am frankly stunned by the happy, “Sesame Street” rendition of Christianity that I received through life by churches that were too often focused on pleasing and increasing their flock, than on properly explaining the message of the Bible, including its dark and gritty context. I deem Fred’s book to be a very worthwhile read from front cover to final page. Do it for the sake of your soul. I intend to reread it in the future as a reference in comparison to other books and to the Bible itself.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Reviewing ‘Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth“, September 29, 2012
This review is from: Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth: A Fresh Perspective To Understanding The Bible. (Paperback)
To every Readers benefit, author Fred Wolfe has dug deep into historical linguistics; carefully examining the many descriptions, and developments in language over the centuries to present us with a remarkably transparent presentation of scripture. |
A BETTER PLACE?
How many times have you heard “they are in a better place,” concerning someone who has recently died? It is spoken with sincerity the purpose of comforting a friend, relative or possibly even a surviving spouse. It sounds good, but if you really think about it what better place is there besides right beside the survivor? If there were a better place to be why wouldn’t we all be there?
I do not believe there is any better place to be than being alive. I know the Bible doesn’t teach anything contrary to this even though most Christians think it does. Muslims evidently believe there is a better place or so many wouldn’t be killing themselves to get there. No one is any good to God or to the false god Allah, dead. The Bible describes being dead as being asleep, but one of the differences between the two, since blood is no longer being pumped to the brain, there is no dreaming.
The Bible tells is in Ecclesiastes that there is no reasoning in the grave where we all go when we die; it goes on to say in 9:10 that there is no
- work–ma’aseh–action, doing or labor
- device–chesbown–reasoning, reckoning, intelligence
- knowledge–da’ath–perception, understanding, wisdom
- wisdom–chokma–shrewdness, prudence, skill
- no lovingkindness–goodness– will be displayed there Ps 88:11
- no giving of thanks, no memory Ps 6:5
Besides, if you could see there you wouldn’t be able to see anything because there is no light, just darkness. The grave is where every person who has ever died is today, with the exception of Jesus Christ. Even Jesus was in the grave for a full 72 hours before he saw the light of day. One of the reasons so many believe contrary to what I am showing you from the Bible is, when Jesus was dying on the stake he said to one near him that they would be with him in paradise. One misplaced comma (,) makes all the difference in the world. What Jesus really said, was “I say unto you today, thou shalt be with me in Paradise.”
What he didn’t say was “I say unto you, today thou shalt be with me in Paradise,” because Jesus didn’t go anywhere that day, but to the grave, where he stayed for 3 days and 3 nights! Paradise is always on the earth and nowhere above it. It does not even exist at the present time, but when it does come into existence that individual to whom Jesus spoke those words will be there with him.
There is no better place to be than right here with the ones who love you and the ones whom you love, contrary to popular belief. God bless,
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