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Topic: Outcome Of The Kingdom
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Carol Swenson
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Amen! But these parables are about the end of the age, that is, the end of the Tribulation.
Wiersbe’s explanation assumes that:
1. The true church will be raptured before the Tribulation. The true church is, as you say, Jew and Gentile, male and female, all one in Christ Jesus.
2. The ecumenical and apostate church will enter into the Tribulation with all the other unbelievers.
3. Many people, Jews and Gentiles, will come to faith in Christ during the Tribulation.
4. While the church partakes of the spiritual promises of the Abrahamic Covenant as fulfilled through Christ, Israel, and not the church, will fulfill her national destiny as a separate entity after the Tribulation and during the Millennium. Many prophecies about Israel have yet to be fulfilled:
· Regeneration (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
· Regathering (Deuteronomy 30:1-10; Isaiah 11:11-12:6; Matthew 24:31)
· Possession of the land (Ezekiel 20:42-44; 36:28-38)
· Re-establishment of the Davidic throne (2 Samuel 7:11-16; 1 Chronicles 17:10-14; Jeremiah 33:17-26)
5. At the end of the Tribulation, during the judgment of the nations, there will be three groups of people.
· The unsaved followers of the Antichrist, (the goats)
· The believers, (the sheep), who come to faith during the Tribulation and survive until the end
· And the brethren whom the sheep befriend (Matthew 25:40). The brethren are the Jews who enter the Millennium Kingdom as believers.
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becauseHElives
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Amen Aaron ![[thumbsup2]](graemlins/thumbsup2.gif)
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
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Aaron
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Truthfully, when I read the title of this page I thought of the following verse:
quote:
Isa 9:7 Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end,
Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,
To order it and establish it with judgment and justice
From that time forward, even forever.
I kind of expected the thread to be more about the culture of the kingdom opposed to the content of the kingdom.
For me, I am satisfied that there is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female... But that all who are of the kingdom will be united by the same Spirit.
Aaron
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becauseHElives
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Amen scythewieldor
Luke 17:20 And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
quote:
Thus, even though we do not see a geography that recognizes our kingdom, it is, already, set. We must live by faith and not by sight.
(Some eschatologies and theologies are the reverse. They only believe what they can observe with the natural senses.)
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Strive to enter in at the strait gate:for many, I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. ( Luke 13:24 )
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scythewieldor
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Dear friends,
I would like you to consider some things that Jesus said for the value of those things if your eschatological conditioning were not so deep.
quote:
Lu 22:24 And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest.
25 And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors.
26 But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
27 For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.
28 Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations.
29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me ;
30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
'Appoint' is present tense; 'appointed' is past tense.
The apostles were, at that time, being appointed a kingdom by the One who had, before that time, been appointed a kingdom.
quote:
John 17:10 And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
If the Father and the Son shared ALL things at this point, then, the kingdom of the Father was, also, the kingdom of Christ. Remember the charge that got Jesus crucified.
quote:
Mt 27:37 And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Thus, Jesus was declared a king by Pilate.
Remember how that charge came to be brought against Jesus.
quote:
Mr 15:9 But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release unto you the King of the Jews?
10 For he knew that the chief priests had delivered him for envy.
11 But the chief priests moved the people, that he should rather release Barabbas unto them.
12 And Pilate answered and said again unto them, What will ye then that I shall do unto him whom ye call the King of the Jews?
13 And they cried out again, Crucify him.
14 Then Pilate said unto them, Why, what evil hath he done? And they cried out the more exceedingly, Crucify him.
Thus, when Pilate recognized in a court of the law that Jesus was "King of the Jews" and presented Jesus to the chief priests as the one they called "The King of the Jews", they received him as such and said this:
quote:
John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
The promise of the kingdom of God was to Israel, the remnant of which the Kingdom of Judah was.
quote:
Ex 19:3 And Moses went up unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying, Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of Israel;
4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles’ wings, and brought you unto myself.
5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine:
6 And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
As Jesus stood before the Jews, that day, he was recognized in heaven as the only heir of the promise to Israel. The chief priest condemned Him as just that, and Pilate recognized Him in court as the King of the Jews. Thus, the chief priests put to an end to their own Kingdom of Judah which was the Kingdom of God.
However, having already appointed the twelve apostles to rule in His place (not like the gentile kings rule, but, instead, jointly) with the power of the same Holy Spirit that had been on Him without measure, His Kingdom continued. Thus, the Twelve made decrees just as a king would do.
quote:
Ac 16:4 And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Lu 2:1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree <1378> from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
Ac 17:7 Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees <1378> of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.
Not only that, these apostles knew they were ruling over the twelve tribes of Israel.
quote:
Ac 26:7 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.
Jas 1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting.
Ac 15:14 Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name.
15 And to this agree the words of the prophets; as it is written,
16 After this I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down; and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up:
17 That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
This last quote was the recognition of the fulfillment of the promise to the ten northern tribes through Amos. (In the reading of this, it should be remembered that Amos begins his book recognizing Judah as a different entity from Israel.)
quote:
Am 3:8 Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD.
9 For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth.
10 All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.
11 ¶ In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:
12 That they may possess the remnant of Edom, and of all the heathen, which are called by my name, saith the LORD that doeth this.
13 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that the plowman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed; and the mountains shall drop sweet wine, and all the hills shall melt.
14 And I will bring again the captivity of my people of Israel, and they shall build the waste cities, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and drink the wine thereof; they shall also make gardens, and eat the fruit of them.
15 And I will plant them upon their land, and they shall no more be pulled up out of their land which I have given them, saith the LORD thy God.
Thus, even though we do not see a geography that recognizes our kingdom, it is, already, set. We must live by faith and not by sight.
(Some eschatologies and theologies are the reverse. They only believe what they can observe with the natural senses.)
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Carol Swenson
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The first interpretation was from
BE LOYAL—MATTHEW by Warren W. Wiersbe.
But, the
Life Application Bible Commentary: Matthew
agrees with Michael and interprets the parables this way:
Some may discover the kingdom (13:44); some may seek earnestly and finally obtain it. In both cases, the men recognized the value of what they had found and willingly invested everything to obtain it. The kingdom of heaven is so valuable that it calls for a total investment (radical discipleship) from those who find it.
And adds:
Joy
The treasure and pearl parables tell of the joy of finding peace with God. There’s no other word to express it. Both stories involve people who very happily find the answer to their life’s hopes and dreams.
That’s what becoming a Christian is about: deepest needs met, deepest longings satisfied, deepest hurts bandaged, and a future and a hope unlike any other. It all adds up to joy!
If your faith is grim and your life bleak, let God put some of this wonderful happiness back where it should be. If you have not yet trusted in Jesus as your Lord, grab this precious pearl today.
I certainly agree with jiggyfly
quote:
that the outcome of the Kingdom of God is all things restored back to God through and in Christ.
![[clap2]](graemlins/clap2.gif)
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Michael Harrison
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"The kingdom of heaven is likened unto...."
Verily! If the Church is the Kingdom of Heaven, then this expository would be quite accurate, perhaps. But the passage states that the Kingdom of Heaven is 'likened unto', etc. Therefore it doesn't say that the Church is likened unto, nor imply by any means. The Kingdom of Heaven is one. The Kingdom of Heaven is a person. The person is Jesus Christ. He is One!
"But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you."(Mat 6:33) In this verse we read that we are to seek a person. Jesus is He. What is interesting is that it says to seek the Kingdom, and His righteousness. To the unenlightened, this sounds like two different things. However, in light of the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is a person, Jesus is He, then the second part of this sentence refers, in reinforcment, to the first, that is, renames the first part. The Kingdom and the righteousness of the Kingdom is what is stated for one to seek. The Kingdom is the Word of God, and the righteousness is of the Word of God. Jesus is the word of God (made flesh).
These passages concerning the pearl, and the net, are, in consolidation, like the Kingdom of Heaven being viewed by a camera that pans across different angles to compose a composit view. The Church is a part of it, overall, if viewed from one angle of description, but that description of the Church is nevertheless a description of the extension of the Word, who is Jesus, the very Kingdom of God.
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jiggyfly
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Colossians 1:15-20
15 Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before God made anything at all and is supreme over all creation.* 16 Christ is the one through whom God created everything in heaven and earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see—kings, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities. Everything has been created through him and for him. 17 He existed before everything else began, and he holds all creation together.
18 Christ is the head of the church, which is his body. He is the first of all who will rise from the dead,* so he is first in everything. 19 For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, 20 and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross.
Philippians 2:5-11
5 Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. 6 Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. 7 He made himself nothing;* he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form.* 8 And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal’s death on a cross. 9 Because of this, God raised him up to the heights of heaven and gave him a name that is above every other name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Ephesians 2:14715
14 For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. 15 By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles. His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups.
Good post Carol, and I think we agree at least to some degree. I think it is plain to see that the outcome of the Kingdom of God is all things restored back to God through and in Christ. It is a restoration process because the scriptures tell us that all things were created in, through and by Christ and now all things are being reconciled back to God through Christ and His death on the cross. Once again Christ will have the preeminence in all things, and I believe that the outcome or result of God's plan will be this reality realized by everyone and all things.
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Michael Harrison
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Carol, i am so sorry. I digress!
[QUOTE]A well-known Gospel song perpetuates the interpretation that this pearl is Jesus Christ and His salvation. But the same objections apply to this interpretation as applied to the previous parable. The sinner does not find Christ; Christ finds the sinner. No sinner is able to pay for salvation, even though he sells all that he has.
[/QUOTE
Jesus is the Pearl of Great Price. He is the treasure that one doesn't find unless he pays the cost. Grace is free, but salvation costs you all that you are, and all that you have. That is the price of the Pearl, and the meaning of the expression. One cannot realize the Pearl without that kind of investment. As this verse so aptly confirms:
"So likewise, whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple." (Luk 14:33)
This does not literally mean take what you have and get rid of it. It means to put it all on the alter and let Him deal with it. That means to hold nothing back. When you have this commitment, you realize the value of the Pearl of Great Price, and you will not until then. At this point you have started your walk with God. (And one thinks he/she already had!) You may be saved, but you haven't began to walk with God until this point. You are not a desciple yet! All that it takes is the faith of a grain of mustard!
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scythewieldor
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Dear friend,
Paul calls the stuff about Israel a mystery.
quote:
Ro 11:25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
That mystery was so deep that, to interpret the second half of that scripture, the translators had to forget their Greek language (both, definitions and grammar) in order to render something that made sense to their carnal minds.
To understand the mission of Jesus, you must accept the prophets declaration that Israel and Judah were two separate peoples, each of which had been married to God. God divorced Israel and married her sister Judah. God promised to marry Israel, again. Judah killed her Husband. Jesus was resurrected in order to fulfill His promise to Israel.
Jeremiah 3 & 31, Hosea 1 & 2, Is 11, 8:14, Amos, Zechariah (especially, 11:14), Ezekiel 16, 23, 37, all, make it clear that God was doing something that included the ten northern tribes of Israel which had not been finished by the time Jesus was crucified.
It is important, as you read those passages, that you make a time line. With such a tool, you will recognize that Isaiah, Amos, and Hosea spoke a long time before the Babylonian captivity AND the exile of Israel. Jeremiah, Daniel, and Ezekiel spoke after Israel went into exile and just before and/or for some time into the Babylonian captivity. Zechariah spoke after the end of the Babylonian captivity.
Very many of the prophecies to Israel (as distinct from Judah) were the things to which the New Testament writers were referring when they said stuff like "It is written" in relationship to the people who were coming from the gentiles to the name of Jesus.
For instance, there is Paul's reference to "Osee".
quote:
Ro 9:22 What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23 And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,
24 Even us, whom he hath called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 ¶ As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved.
26 And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.
In this passage, Paul speaks of vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy. The vessels are governments like Pharaoh's (which is referred to in the context of this passage in verse 17), Judah's, and the one to which he refers by citing "Osee".
When you go to Hosea and read the context of the passage cited by Paul, you find that Israel and Judah are separate governments, AND, that Israel is the vessel of mercy the promises to which are being applied to those coming from among the gentiles.
Paul wrote this. (Of course, you know.)
quote:
Ro 9:3 For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh:
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 ¶ Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
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.
The statement that they are not all Israel which are of Israel tells us that there is another house of Israel besides Paul's kinsmen, the Jews. In other words, the Jews were Israelites, but they were not all of the Israelites to which God had made promises.
Verse Eight of the passage, above, makes it clear that Abraham's seed is the children through Isaac (which got divided into two houses by Jacob) which believe the promises- even if they have forgotten they were Israelites while they lived among the gentiles.
Thus, the "Abraham's seed" of Gal. 3:29 can and should be taken as literally as it is in John 8:33 & 37.
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Carol Swenson
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Be Loyal-Matthew
The Outcome of the Kingdom (Matt. 13:44-50)
At the close of this age, God will have three peoples: the Jews (the hidden treasure), the church (the pearl), and the saved Gentile nations who will enter into the kingdom (the dragnet).
The hidden treasure (v. 44).
The common interpretation of this parable is that the sinner finds Christ and gives up all that he possesses to gain Him and be saved. But this interpretation presents several problems. To begin with, Jesus Christ is not a hidden treasure. He is perhaps the best-known Person of history. In the second place, the sinner cannot “find Christ” for he is blind and stubborn (Rom. 3:10ff). It is the Saviour who finds the lost sinner (Luke 19:10). And no sinner could ever purchase salvation! Please note that the man in the parable did not purchase the treasure; he purchased the whole field. “The field is the world” (Matt. 13:38). Must the lost sinner purchase the world to gain Christ? Does he hide Him again?
Once again, Old Testament symbolism assists us in our interpretation. The treasure is the nation of Israel (Ex. 19:5; Ps. 135:4). That nation was placed in the world to bring glory to God, but it failed. It became a nation hidden, a treasure not being invested to produce dividends for God. Jesus Christ gave His all to purchase the whole world in order to save the nation (John 11:51). On the cross, Jesus died for the whole world; but in a special way, He died for Israel (Isa. 53:8). The nation suffered judgment and seeming destruction, but in God’s sight it is “hidden” and will be revealed again in glory.
There is, then, a future for Israel. Politically, the nation was reborn on May 14, 1948. But the nation is far from what it ought to be spiritually. God sees Israel as His treasure, and one day He will establish her in her glorious kingdom.
The pearl of great price (vv. 45-46).
A well-known Gospel song perpetuates the interpretation that this pearl is Jesus Christ and His salvation. But the same objections apply to this interpretation as applied to the previous parable. The sinner does not find Christ; Christ finds the sinner. No sinner is able to pay for salvation, even though he sells all that he has.
The pearl represents the church. The Bible makes a distinction between Jews, Gentiles, and the church (1 Cor. 10:32). Today, the church, the body of Christ, is composed of believing Jews and Gentiles (Eph. 2:11ff). Unlike most other gems, the pearl is a unity—it cannot be carved like a diamond or emerald. The church is a unity (Eph. 4:4-6), even though the professing church on earth is divided. Like a pearl, the church is the product of suffering. Christ died for the church (Eph. 5:25) and His suffering on the cross made possible her birth.
A pearl grows gradually, and the church grows gradually as the Spirit convicts and converts sinners. No one can see the making of the pearl, for it is hidden in the shell of the oyster under the waters. No one can see the growth of His church in the world. The church is among the nations today (waters in the Bible represent nations, Dan. 7:1-3; Rev. 13:1; 17:15) and one day will be revealed in its beauty.
So, in spite of Satan’s subtle working in this world, Christ is forming His church. He sold all that He had to purchase His church, and nothing Satan can do will cause Him to fail. There is but one church, a pearl of great price, though there are many local churches. Not everyone who is a member of a local church belongs to the one church, the body of Christ. It is only through repentance and faith in Christ that we become a part of His church. Of course, all true believers ought to identify with a local assembly where they can worship and serve.
The net (vv. 47-50).
The preaching of the Gospel in the world does not convert the world. It is like a huge dragnet that gathers all kinds of fish, some good and some bad. The professing church today has in it both true and false believers (the Parable of the Tares) and good and bad. At the end of the age, God will separate the true believers from the false and the good from the bad. When Jesus Christ returns to earth, to fight the battle of Armageddon (Rev. 19:11ff), He will separate believers and unbelievers already on the earth. These are living people who are not a part of the church (which was already in heaven) or Israel. These Gentiles will be dealt with in righteousness: The saved will enter into the kingdom, but the unsaved will be cast into the furnace of fire. The same idea is found in the “sheep and goats” parable (Matt. 25:31ff).
Twice in this series of parables Jesus used the phrase “the end of the world” (Matt. 13:39, 49). He was not referring to the end of this “Church Age,” because the truth about the church was not shared with the disciples until later (Matt. 16:18). The “age” He referred to is the Jewish age at the close of the great Tribulation described in Matthew 24:1-31 and Revelation 6-19. We must be careful not to “read into” these passages in Matthew the truths later given through Paul and the other apostles.
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