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"And Jesus Said"
[ Selected ]



We found the following while surfing the net. I feel that I should make a few comments about it, because, needless to say, many of us---perhaps most of us, have been taught to be looking for a future coming of the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, which has and is being called "the Millennium". We won't take the time and space here, but the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven are used interchangeably in the Scriptures. Again =), our desire and burden is to encourage the consideration of---we love, respect and appreciate you all! Therefore, no desire to "twist arms" or "force feed" (smile). God Bless! Have a wonderful day! ~ jerry ]

The Kingdom Is At Hand...

Jesus said, "As you go, preach, saying, 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand'". (Matthew 10:7) When Jesus sent His disciples on the limited commission, He gave them instruction as to what message they would present.

The Message Preached - This is not the first time this message was preached. John the Baptist had come preparing the way with this message. (Matthew 3:2) Jesus spoke this message when He began to preach. (Matthew 4:17) When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, it was "Thy kingdom come". (Matthew 6:10) It is no wonder that when the disciples were first sent out, they were to "preach, saying, 'the kingdom of heaven is at hand'". This was the consistent message which was coming from all those who proclaimed the words of God.

The Kingdom Is At Hand - The expression at hand means close by. It is strange that nearly two thousand years after this was spoken that one of the most popular religious doctrines is, that the kingdom has not yet been established. In essence, the doctrine says that because the Jews would not accept the rule of Christ, He had to put off the establishment of His kingdom until another more suitable time. Such doctrine places God in a very untenable position. It seems to say, that God did not know what He was doing when He made the predictions concerning the beginning of the kingdom.

The question is: why would we have any reason to believe that He could do any better the next time than He did the first time?

The Nature of the Kingdom - The problem lies, not in what God did or did not know, or in what He could or could not do. The problem lies in our failure to understand the nature of the kingdom. It is a mistake to look for a physical earthly kingdom. Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36) He would not allow the people of His day "to make Him king". (John 6:15) If Jesus wanted to be a literal king over a physical kingdom, why did He prevent it from happening? Yet, the common thought is, that Jesus will establish a literal millennial kingdom in Palestine and preside as king over it. The truth is that Jesus' kingdom is spiritual not physical. He said, "Indeed, the kingdom of God is within you". (Luke 17:21)

The Kingdom Realized - Jesus said, "Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present (margin, having come) with power". (Mark 9:1) The kingdom has already been established. Paul said, "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son". (Colossians 1:13) John said, "I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ". (Revelation 1:9) It is not possible to be in something that does not exist or is yet for the future. [ The End ]




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