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The Daily Word of Righteousness
The Gospel of the Kingdom, #3
He told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field." (Matthew 13:31—NIV)
All of Jesus' parables have to do with the internal kingdom. "The Kingdom of God is like a seed," and so forth.
When the Lord has enough saints who have Christ formed in them and dwelling in them, He shall appear with them. The appearing of Christ and His saints is the coming of the internal and external Kingdom of God to the earth.
The external kingdom is the manifestation and product of the internal kingdom. The Kingdom of God will have an external, approachable form. That form is the new Jerusalem, the eternal dwelling place of God.
The name of the holy city will be written on the victorious saints because they are the new Jerusalem come to earth.
The new Jerusalem is the house of God, mentioned in John 14:2. In the house of God there are many rooms. Each saint is to become a room, a living stone, in the house of God. Jesus went to the cross, and then to Heaven to sprinkle His blood before the Mercy Seat that a place might be prepared for us in the eternal dwelling place of God, the new Jerusalem.
Through the ministries and gifts of the Holy Spirit we are being made the house of God, the new Jerusalem.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit. (Ephesians 2:22—NIV)
John the Baptist, the Lord, and the Apostles all preached the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, the coming of the Kingdom of God to the earth.
For two thousand years the Christian churches have preached the gospel of going to Heaven when we die.
Since the gospel of going to Heaven when we die is a tradition of such long standing, why should we present such a challenge at the beginning of the twenty-first century?
The reason is, the gospel we choose to believe directly affects our approach to the Christian life.
If we believe in the gospel of going to Heaven when we die, and then add to this the unscriptural concept that we go to Heaven by grace whether or not we live a godly life, there to dwell in a mansion in Paradise doing nothing of significance for eternity, and then add to this unscriptural travesty a "pre-tribulation rapture" to relieve us of the need for preparing ourselves for the evil day, we have a formula for moral disaster. The plan of God to develop people who practice righteousness, love mercy, and walk humbly with God, is completely destroyed.
As far as I can see, this interpretation of the New Testament must have been developed by Satan himself. It leads us directly away from the Kingdom of God, the rule of God in the earth.
I know well that many fine Christians have come from and still are coming from churches where the gospel of going to Heaven is preached. This is because people and pastors still have common sense and preach godly living even though moral transformation is not demanded by the gospel of going to Heaven.
To be continued.