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Topic: The Acts/epistles are going on side by side
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epouraniois
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posted
quote:
Originally posted by WhiteEagle:
This whole thread is showing ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the Truth.
It has truth mixed up with error.
Christ's Kingdom is not of this earth. It's written on the hearts of those who believe.
David's Kingdom was an earthly picture of the spiritual.
I do believe that the nation of Israel will obtain all the land back in the physical. That will be a literal manifestation of prophecy.
The Kingdom of God is here on earth in the believers who walk in it, and is also in heaven to a more perfect and complete degree when we pass over in physcial death.
Back in Jesus' day many were confused about the Kingdom and as many are confused about it today.
Open your spiritual eyes to see the Kingdom of God here today. It's not just a debately topic for future.
John the Baptist declared that the Kingdom of God was :"at hand". Jesus gave us the parables of His Kingdom. So we would be able to know about it on earth.
There is the spiritual and the physical aspects of Kingdom. While you are studying the physcial don't miss what is available in the spirit for NOW.
God bless.
H;ld it now. First you say the kingdom 'is not of this earth', then you say, 'The Kingdom of God is here on earth'. Which is it? David was not looking for any spiritual kingdom that was intangilble, do you think? Didn't David look for the same kingdom as everyone else? The kingdom with the real land promised to the fathers?
The purpose of this thread is to demonstrate that each of the apostles who wrote in the NT were writing of the same happenstances, namely, that Israel was not looking as if she was going to repent, that the time was drawing to a close, that in fact, the Lord would return in their very own lifetimes if Israel would return by having an aftermindedness towards true repentance and a real longing and calling out for the name of the Lord.
The Acts and every epistle written therein call our attention to these facts. When that didn't happen, it was impossible for God to offer for them to repent again, so the Salvation of God was sent to the nations, and we now hear this. What that Salvation is was then recorded as the revealed mystery of the prison epistles, in which there is no more talk of Israel, or Abraham, or the kingdom of their fathers, but a new doctrine with it's new walk is made manifest for our acknowlwedgment, where the inheritance is no longer of this earth, but of spiritual grace and glory in the heavenlies, in the saints in light, which was never before made known.
Remember, Christ spoke in parables only after Israel fulfilled Isaiah 6. 9,and in Acts 5, no gentiles were being taught anything. Peter's usage of the key was the first time, and that only to open the door to the gentiles by Paul. As far as the kingdom being somewhere else besides where the king is gets into some other doctrine, for the kingdom of God was never inside of those pharisees that Christ was speaking at.
The Bible seems pretty straightforward to me, that Satan's kingdom will be set up first, for the kingdom does not become 'the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ' until the last trump:
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever.
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WhiteEagle
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posted
This whole thread is showing ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the Truth.
It has truth mixed up with error.
Christ's Kingdom is not of this earth. It's written on the hearts of those who believe.
David's Kingdom was an earthly picture of the spiritual.
I do believe that the nation of Israel will obtain all the land back in the physical. That will be a literal manifestation of prophecy.
The Kingdom of God is here on earth in the believers who walk in it, and is also in heaven to a more perfect and complete degree when we pass over in physcial death.
Back in Jesus' day many were confused about the Kingdom and as many are confused about it today.
Open your spiritual eyes to see the Kingdom of God here today. It's not just a debately topic for future.
John the Baptist declared that the Kingdom of God was :"at hand". Jesus gave us the parables of His Kingdom. So we would be able to know about it on earth.
There is the spiritual and the physical aspects of Kingdom. While you are studying the physcial don't miss what is available in the spirit for NOW.
God bless.
Posts: 1392 | From: Maine | Registered: Aug 2004
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edenwill
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posted
Luke 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;
The kingdom of God was taken away from fleshly Israel and given to the spiritual heirs of Abraham.
Acts 5:42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.
Yes, after all that is written came to pass then (I believe) that the Lord came again in judgement.
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"We must choose between the Garden-City of God and the wilderness-ruins of man; between Jerusalem the Garden and Babylon the Machine." -Kevin Craig
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epouraniois
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quote:
Originally posted by edenwill:
Originally posted by epouraniois:
Peter, Paul, and John, all write about the same thing, the near coming of the Lord.
They expected the Lord to come in their lifetime. Well, He didn’t return in their lifetime, so, were they mistaken?
Dear People,
I had promised to "come back" to this thread. This topic has been hard for me to understand and perhaps the quote above set that tone for me.
I would never ever consider the Apostles to have broadcast this false prophecy, rather that what they preached did come to pass.
God bless you,
William Donald
Los Angeles, California Republic
Are you saying you believe that Christ did return, and God did set up His kingdom? Surely not? I must be misunderstanding?
As for the apostles broadcasting a false message, that is impossible. The message was for the nation to repent, and by the end of Romans 10, all Israel had heard. But all Israel did not, as a nation repent, and the kingdom promised is based entirely on national repentance:
Act 3:17
And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Act 3:18
But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Act 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Act 3:20
And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you:
Act 3:21
Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Act 3:22
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Act 3:23
And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people.
Act 3:24
Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Act 3:25
Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Act 3:26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
Additionally, Jesus the Christ and Lord had set the stage for this, showing them they were fulfilling the negetive aspect of prophecy, by their rejecting Him in Ch.12 of Mathew, leading to Him speaking only in parables to the multitudes thereafter, and then this, hard after assaying the scaithing rebuke:
Mat 23:37
O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!
Mat 23:38
Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
Mat 23:39
For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.
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edenwill
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[QUOTE]Originally posted by epouraniois:
[QB]
Peter, Paul, and John, all write about the same thing, the near coming of the Lord.
They expected the Lord to come in their lifetime. Well, He didn’t return in their lifetime, so, were they mistaken?
Dear People,
I had promised to "come back" to this thread. This topic has been hard for me to understand and perhaps the quote above set that tone for me.
I would never ever consider the Apostles to have broadcast this false prophecy, rather that what they preached did come to pass.
God bless you,
William Donald
Los Angeles, California Republic
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"We must choose between the Garden-City of God and the wilderness-ruins of man; between Jerusalem the Garden and Babylon the Machine." -Kevin Craig
Posts: 10 | From: Los Angeles | Registered: Nov 2005
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epouraniois
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quote:
Not all Israel/Judah were set aside; there were many thousands who believed and entered the church through faith in Jesus.
BORN AGAIN
Luk 12:51 Suppose ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division:
If you are saying the Hebrews entered into the faith of the revelation of the mytery, then I would ask for verses, if not, then I agree, there were overcomers during the Acts period. There hope is given throughout, and deliniated well in Hebrews 11.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Act 13:34 And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.
There's is a covenant hope, a kingdom promise having to do with the land and the teaching of the nations who will need to hear.
Act 26:6 And now I stand and am judged for the hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers:
7 Unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come. For which hope's sake, king Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews.
Christ said every tree that bringeth not forth fruit is hewn down. Israel did not bear her fruit, not even after being provoked as the Scriptures prophecied. John the Baptist prophesied of them being hewn down.
Paul said save for a remnat theyld've been as Soddom and Gemorrah. God says the size of the remnant is 7,000, quoting Scripture by Paul - Rom 11:4.
Nevertheless, upon the revelation of the mystery, ALL in Asia turned away from him at the very first, writing to Timothy, saying don't be ashamed of 'my' gospel, only Luke is with 'me', &c.
Certainly though, when she took her place amidst the nations, God can and has called peoples out of every nation into the revelation of the mystery, this would include Hebrew people as well, for when she took her place amidst the nations, she became just another nation wherein she, like us, can choose to believe it, or not, this is the liberty that grace brings. Everyone can choose individually to beleive, but God only deals with Israel as a nation. He was looking for a national repentance which Satan, the god of this world hid from them their glorious gospel message.
Act 28:23 And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.
Act 28:24 And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.
Act 28:25 And when they agreed not among themselves, they departed = DIVORCED
Act 28:28 Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.
Act 28:29 And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves.
Act 28:30 And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
Act 28:31 Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.
When God blinds a peoples, they are blind, not a care in the world that Paul was teaching the mystery, a prisoner in his own hired house. All of the prison epistles bear the mark of prison on them. That was the second time he was a prisoner for the Lord, the first time it was bonds for the hope of Israel, in Acts 28.
The first time that dreadful passage was quoted, it was the Lord, and He never spake to the multitudes again without parable afterwards. This was the third time. Each time, a mystery is revealed, it is preceeded by a dreadful quote bringing judgment upon Israel.
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epouraniois
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edenwill, I deal with figurative language by studying and comparing how God has used His words in all the places which any certain word occurs, Berean style - and asking myself when it was written, to whom is it written, the purpose given for the writing, is my name on the envelope.
I learned quickly that I needed to study grammar to be sure, and to not lean upon my own understanding. I can think of hardly anything that God has not explained somewhere. We need to lean on Him in these matters, not on commentators.
We are instructed to compare spiritual with spiritual, precept upon precept line upon line, here a little there a little. It appears that this is the way it is written as well. We are also instructed to try the things that differ.
IMO, Satan would have us take that which is literal and spiritualize it, and that which is spiritual and literalize it, keeping us well mixing up everything God has made seperate.
Figures of speech are scientific, they have the purpose to arrest our attention, or to color a normally dull statement, and they do so by breaking the rules of grammar. There are well over 200 Figures, not to mention Hebraism and idiomatic language, that is to say, an exceptable phrase having a meaning different than the words portray.
Ex, today we might say that so and so speaks out of both sides of their mouths. It is an idiom. They used them all the time in both OT and NT writings.
Lastly, I must keep a shelf handy by which I place the things I do not understand, that when God perchance reveals to me, I can say I see it right there on the shelf where I left it. I do not try to make things fit. God is telling us where all things fit. I must wait upon Him to tell me when I am ready to receive more of the knowledge of Him. Anything less and I am sure to go wrong and create my own beliefs, which is contrary to getting to know Him.
So I had to go back and look at the verse you posted, and while I agree that God did give them the land, they did not however, possess it. There were plenty of enemies in the land that they did not overcome, did not plant, did not secure from being overrun by animals and all the things God has required of them. That God both scatters and gathers, we have the words of the Lord in the last three verses of that slaying chapter of Mathew 23 speaking to this.
don't forget the mystery of Israel's blindness and the Salvation of God being sent to the nations while Israel is now in her Lo-ammi period.
"It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter" (Prov 25:2)
“And ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me WITH ALL YOUR HEART” (Jeremiah 29:13)
As the great scholar, J. B. Lightfoot, declared: "The abnegation of reason is not the evidence of faith, but the confession of despair. "
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edenwill
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quote:
Originally posted by BORN AGAIN:This has not happened yet. God will yet have unilateral mercy on the house of Israel and on the house of Judah:
Yours is a great post and I enjoy the scripture. I believe that all this is fulfilled. I want to re-read and respond more fully later after my chores if I can tonight.
quote:
Originally posted by epouraniois:This refusing to take God literally at His word is common in todays churches, but why are they doing it? Are we instructed to not take God at His word in the Bible somewhere? [/QB]
How do you deal with God's figurative language? or Do you really have a literal take on every scripture?
I'll be back.....
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"We must choose between the Garden-City of God and the wilderness-ruins of man; between Jerusalem the Garden and Babylon the Machine." -Kevin Craig
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BORN AGAIN
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Not all Israel/Judah were set aside; there were many thousands who believed and entered the church through faith in Jesus.
But the rest of Israel/Judah were set aside for the time being while God invited the Gentiles to fill in the spaces vacated by the unbelief of the majority of Israel/Judah.
These Gentiles presumably were from all tribal segments of the globe, including tribes from Japheth and Shem and Ham who had not come through Isaac, all were eligible to participate as Gentiles or ethnae.
true, or not?
God bless, ![[Cross]](graemlins/cross.gif) BORN AGAIN
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epouraniois
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Rom 9:6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. 8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed.
Gal 4. 28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise. 29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now. 30 Nevertheless what saith the Scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman. 31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.
Those gentiles during the Acts period were not just any ol nation, but of a specific seedline. It had been as such since Genesis 3:15.
Gal 4:5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
6 And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. 7 Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.
So during the Acts, God was still working with Israel using the children of promise, but at the end of Acts, when Israel divorces God and is set aside, we are given to understand that the point is then sufficient to have passed the Salvation to the nations that they/we will hear Him.
Salvation was not sent to the nations until the Holy Spirit declares it in Acts 28, and that after all Israel had heard and turned away as a nation by their leaders.
It is not until this point that God sends an apostle to the whole world, and this apostle gives what we are to acknolwdge as that which completes the word of God, as well as the instructions that this word of truth must be cut straight, not just any place, but cut in such a way as to lead to the truth by allowing God to direct the paths rather than leaning upon our own understanding.
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BORN AGAIN
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epouraniois writes quote:
During the Acts period, the nations (being of Isaac)...{bold by BORN AGAIN}
nations being of Isaac?
I think the house of Israel is called Isaac in the Bible, but not the house of Judah, plus what about the Japhethites?
Amos 7:9
And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword.
{the above refers only to the 10-tribed northern kingdom of Israel)
Amos 7:16
Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: You sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac.
The above again only refers to the 10-tribed northern kingdom of Israel, and does not refer to the house of Judah.
the nations or ethnae or Gentiles I know about are mostly descended from Japheth, are they not?
God bless, BORN AGAIN
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epouraniois
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It is true they have owned some of the land, but the inhabiting of all the land from the Euphrates to the Nile has yet to be fulfilled.
Additionally, the study shows the teachings of that age, whereby each of the Acts period writers spake of the then eminent return of the Christ for Israel's 'at hand' kingdom.
What was revealed to the apostle after that completely sweeps all of it away, never again to preach the soon coming of the Lord and their bearing witness to it. Now is it preached the appearing of the church with Christ when He appears in glory.
During the Acts period, the nations (being of Isaac) had no hope or calling of their own as does the church which is His body. The gentiles during that time period had for their hope, Israel's hope. They were graphed into Israel. They were made partakers of Israel's things, whereas the present church body has a seperate hope and calling into the heavenly places with Christ.
Israel shall inherit the land, albeit now in resurrection.
Why would anybody want to spiritualize the land. Abraham couldn't spiritualize the land, he walked and measured the length and the breadth of it.
This refusing to take God literally at His word is common in todays churches, but why are they doing it? Are we instructed to not take God at His word in the Bible somewhere?
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BORN AGAIN
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Brother edenwill writes quote:
The land promises (spiritualised) are now in the kingdom of God which has no boundaries ("for all the earth [is] mine" Exodus 19:5), "the kingdom of God is within you".
By the blood of the Saviour and through Him only are we to be saved. No man can be saved through his ethnicity, or his being a descendant of Abraham.
The Bible says that first the northern house of Israel would be mixed in among the nations, but then first a transaction has to take place of 30 pieces of silver before the house of Judah is mixed in among the nations.
And when the house of Israel and the house of Judah are mixed among the nations, the day will come when the house of Israel and the house of Judah will come up out of their graves while they are mixed among the nations, and will go to the land of Israel.
This has not happened yet. God will yet have unilateral mercy on the house of Israel and on the house of Judah:
1. Ezekiel 37:12
Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
2. Ezekiel 37:13
And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves.
Ezekiel 6:9
And they that escape of you shall remember me among the nations whither they shall be carried captives ...
Zechariah 10:9
And I will sow them among the people: and they shall remember me in far countries; and they shall live with their children, and turn again.
Ezekiel 16:60
Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with you in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant.
Romans 11:26
And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.
Brother endwill, these are unilaterall unconditional promises of the LORD to Jacob-Israel.
Hosea 3:5
Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
Daniel 10:14
Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days: for yet the vision is for many days.
It is not spiritual, it will be an actual, physical coming up out of their graves while the house of Israel and the house of Judah are among the nations:
Zechariah 11
7And I will feed the flock of slaughter, even you, O poor of the flock. And I took unto me two staves; the one I called Beauty, and the other I called Bands; and I fed the flock.
10And I took my staff, even Beauty {northern Israel}, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people.
11And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the word of the LORD.
12And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. {the transaction of Judas with the chief priests, betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver}
13And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.
14 Then I cut asunder mine other staff, even Bands {the house of Judah in 170, after the 30 pieces of silver transaction), that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
The LORD God of Israel will yet do good unilaterally to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah:
Hebrews 8
8For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:
Hebrews 8:12
For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
God bless, BORN AGAIN
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edenwill
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I kind off follow what you are saying....it's late and I'm tired. But you mention that the land promises to Abraham are unfulfilled? What about the children of Israel being given "The Promised Land"? That promise was fulfilled. See Joshua chapter one.
Joshua 21:43 And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
And the viability of the old covenant jews? They are gone! The adultress was put to death! "....the adulteress shall surely be put to death." Lev 20:10
Flesh Israel is long gone.
The land promises (spiritualised) are now in the kingdom of God which has no boundaries ("for all the earth [is] mine" Exodus 19:5), "the kingdom of God is within you".
By the blood of the Saviour and through Him only are we to be saved. No man can be saved through his ethnicity, or his being a descendant of Abraham.
Mat 3:9 And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to [our] father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.
Mat 3:10 And NOW also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Mat 3:12...he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.
That's history. The adultress (judah) was put to death. The old covenant was gone with the destruction of the Temple A.D. 70.
The land covenant with Abraham was with the condition that "Every man child among you shall be circumcised". Genesis 17:7-10
Galations 5:6 For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.
Deu 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
We have inheirited the reality of the land promise in the kingdom of God. the shadow land promises were given to and then lost by the flesh seed of Abraham.
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"We must choose between the Garden-City of God and the wilderness-ruins of man; between Jerusalem the Garden and Babylon the Machine." -Kevin Craig
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epouraniois
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The Acts and the epistles are going on side by side. They tell the same story. What is the story they speak? Some go forth spreading the good news to Judea, some are spreading the same good news to the lands where Israel have been dispersed, but the good news is the same, what is it?
Acts 3; Peter has told them OT prophesy has been fulfilled, that now, all sin can be blotted out, that it is the time of refreshing, and they can expect the return and full presence of the Lord. That is good news indeed!
Imagine a people, trained for centuries, to expect the arrival of Messiah, and when He came, they murdered Him, fulfilling prophesy, and when Pentecost stood before them, the apostles and the tabernacle, full by the Holy Spirit, Peter tells them ‘this is that’. This is that spoken of by the prophet Joel. What Joel wrote about, is happening to them now. You should take the 7 minutes and read Joel real quick. Those who speak of the Pentecostal event will never understand Pentecost if they do not understand Joel. Meanwhile, Christ risen, had been expounding [Luke 24-Acts1] all things regards to Himself in the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms. More than that, Christ had ‘opened their understanding’. It was now time for the knowledge of the Lord to cover the earth as the water covered the sea.
We shall see that all of the Acts are focused upon one thing only; the eminent return of Christ, to sit on the throne of His father David, the King of Israel [Luke 1]. What is the command? It is the same command prepared by John the Baptist and the Christ. The command is, Repent, and be converted. Have a change of heart; that sins may be blotted out, the Lord is prepared to now return. This is what they had been trained for, to minister to the nations, to take the kingdom to the world. But first, they needed to healed, as they were spiritually crippled. Peter, Paul, and John, all write about the same thing, the near coming of the Lord.
They expected the Lord to come in their lifetime. Well, He didn’t return in their lifetime, so, were they mistaken? Or, was it conditional upon Israel’s change of heart? Did the apostles have a ground for the claim? The command was to go out and preach this good news to all the world so all Israel would know this good news and accept their King as their King.
In Acts 3, Peter says ‘Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have, give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk’, and the man did. Now, there were none but Israelites present. This was a demonstration of the continuance of what Christ had been doing all along; bringing in the kingdom for the hope of Israel. Peter says; ‘Ye men of Israel, why marvel ye at this? or why look ye so earnestly on us, as though by our own power or holiness we had made this man to walk? The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go’. But those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;’ Therefore say thou unto them, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye unto me, saith the LORD of hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. Be ye not as your fathers, unto whom the former prophets have cried, saying, Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Turn ye now from your evil ways, and from your evil doings: but they did not hear, nor hearken unto me, saith the LORD. (Zec 1:3-4)
Romans:
The early church was expecting Israel to turn and be refreshed, and the soon return of Christ:
‘And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light’. (Rom 13:11-12) Christ is the morning star in Revelation. He is the light of the world, He is the One who is going to bring in the new day. Paul writes; ‘And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly’. (Rom 16:20) ‘Quickly’ the Greek says, because the possibility of the Lord’s was so near.
Corinthians:
‘Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1Co 1:7) They were waiting for it.
‘Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’. (1Co 1:8) He was going to keep them safe and blameless till He come.
‘Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness’, (1Co 4:5) Paul is telling them to stop judging each other, Christ is coming and He shall judge.
‘But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not;’ (1Co 7:29-30) These were acting as if Christ wasn’t coming at any time, but Paul is telling them He can come at any day!
‘Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come’. (1Co 10:11) Literally, the end of the age has arrived Paul tells them.
‘If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema Maranatha’. (1Co 16:22) Two Aramaic words, Anathema: let him be accursed; Maranatha: the Lord is coming! The inference is that He is coming now, not many centuries later, but now!
Thessalonians:
‘For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come'. (1Th 1:9-10) They are waiting for the eminent return of the Lord from Heaven.
'For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep'. (1Th 4:15) Paul says ‘we’, he includes himself as he is comforting those who were concerned for their loved ones who had past away. There would be no comfort to tell them that in centuries ahead He is coming, no, He is coming now, and you’re going to have your loved ones given to you again, because they are sleeping, and those who are alive are going to be changed. That is the message Paul is delivering here. That was the comfort, a present comfort for people who were living at that time.
‘And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ’: (2Th 1:8) Rest with us, Paul says, when? He tells them when, ‘when the Lord’ ‘shall be revealed from heaven…’ This is the comfort for their times of trouble, as they were being persecuted from within and without, from both Jews and Gentiles.
Romans:
‘For yet, a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry’. (Heb 10:37) As there was also much trouble and persecution surrounding all the churches, the same was here, but He shall come and will not tarry. There was no idea that the Lord shouldn’t come for thousands of years while He works out His tremendous purpose for His Heavenly people, no, He is coming now, the message states.
Peter:
‘But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore sober, and watch’ (1Pe 4:7) The end of the age is near, therefore ‘watch’, of course they were to watch for Him to come personally, for the time had drawn near.
James:
‘Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord’. (Jam 5:7) ‘Be ye also patient; establish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh’. (Jam 5:8) Establish your faith, the return is eminent!
John:
'Little children, it is the last time (hour): and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time'. (1Jo 2:18) The Greek is more emphatic, he says it is the last hour, and they could see people possessed with devils. One woman, possessed with the spirit of 'Python' followed Paul around, (I think we find simular activities in churches today as well), even stating Paul was a minister of the most High God, whereby they knew it was the last hour. The prophetical stage was set for Christ’s soon return.
It is just too much to think, that all of these personally taught by Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit, and wrote the NT could have been mistaken. But, that’s what many today are asked to believe, that somehow the Jewish people became a ‘spiritual Israel’ when Christ did not return. But that isn’t anywhere written in the Bible. They would have us believe that the signs which followed the apostles, and those who met them and believed, that all those who were filled by the Holy Spirit was not just for their time, but is available for all time, for us today. The Bible clearly states the purpose of the Apostles, with signs following, and the end of that period. So, what is the explanation, for He hasn’t come.
The key is found in the Acts 3. He was waiting on the repentance and the turning of Israel. Every one of the apostles taught repentance, taught them about Christ, taught about the forgiveness of sins, and His eminent return. For something like 35 years the Lord held back judgment on His people, and further than that, He used Peter to make certain all His people in Jerusalem and in the land received the good news, then thru Paul, He saw to it that the same people, the Jewish dispersion, all, received the good news. Paul goes to the Jew first, he goes to the synagogues so the Jew outside the land gets the message.
At the end of the Acts, Paul is in Rome, and the first thing he does is get the Jews together at the synagogue. Not until all the Jews in the land, and outside the land had heard the good news, this offer of mercy, and the tremendous promise of Christ’s return, and they had rejected it, did the sentence fall.
So, in the last epistle written during the period of the Acts, Romans, the question is asked, ‘does not all Israel know’, and the answer is, Yes they have:
‘But I say, Did not Israel know?’ (Rom 10:19) ‘But I say, Have they not heard?
Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world’. (Rom 10:18) Paul told the Jews who were apposing him, in Acts 13, ‘It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you’, that they were the key to this problem, and they had to decide whether they were going to turn, or whether they were not.
It’s not just a matter of history that they did not turn, and they have been laid aside, it is Biblical. God is now doing some new things. In the epistles of Paul following the Acts, we learn of God’s great secret. The only coming they knew, back in Corinthians, was the any day coming of Christ. It’s the hope of Israel. Even as late as Acts 26, Paul is telling Agrippa that he stands for the ‘hope of the promise made of God unto our fathers’, 'unto which promise our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come'. They were waiting for their hope. When he gets to Rome, he says he is their for the hope of Israel, so I don’t see how people today can claim what is clearly given to Israel, whether it be signs, or gifts, or to be priests, or live in that heavenly city and be the bride.
No, we have no claim on what is quoted from Acts 26, it is the hope of their forefathers, the hope of the twelve tribes of Israel and their coming into their kingdom in their resurrected bodies. Every single act of the apostles, every single sign that followed were for specific goals, and that specific goal is not in effect today.
The promises were made to Abraham, the promises in the seed and in the land. You can spiritualize the seed, but you can’t spiritualize the land you know? It is from the Mediterranean to the Euphrates. If we can’t spiritualize that away, then we cannot claim privilege to anything that occurred to a specific people for specific God given purposes for themselves today! I tell you, it is not the Holy Spirit that is coming to people’s church and causing people to babble, no, God is not the author of confusion. Paul did not convert people by babbling in tongues they could not understand. When we read of the Holy Spirit entering someone, we find every one can hear them speaking clearly, in their very own dialect even.
Acts 28 makes everything all so clear, they can’t see, they can’t understand, and they can’t hear. God didn’t close them off so they couldn't see and hear and understand; God desired that they should hear, and turn to Him. No, God didn’t close them until they persistently rejected Him, and they all had heard the good news; and now they are blind for a time, while God’s great outworking for His people of heaven are being filled. Acts finds them hardened in their hearts, so God has not yet written His law in their hearts, but He shall, He shall.
Are there verses detailing then, the hope of your calling? the calling to all those beholden to the one hope and the one calling of the present dispensation of the grace of God?
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