the kingdom

Great Faith

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

When Jesus heard it, He marvelled, and said to them that followed, “Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.  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.  But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  And Jesus said unto the centurion, “Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.” And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour.
Matthew 8:10-13

Do we recognize authority when we see it?  This Gentile Roman centurion knew authority.  He was the leader of one hundred men, and if he gave a soldier an order it was followed by the action of the order.  If he told the trooper to go, he went.  If he told him to stay, he stayed.

The centurion has a servant who is near dying from some sickness.  Because he has heard that Jesus was healing many, the centurion has recognized  Jesus as One having authority.

Jesus us amazed by this man’s faith that He speak to the Jews about theirs’.  He tells the people who are there that there will be many from around the world who are not Jews who will be in His kingdom, and many of them who call themselves the children of God will have no part of His kingdom.  It is because they have not believed the Scriptures concerning the Messiah, and they refuse to hear Him unto obedience.

Because of his faith the centurion’s servant is healed, at the same hour Jesus spoke the word (Read Luke 7).  A Roman centurion exposing his faith in the One who has authority and gives with authority.

We do not need to see Jesus to believe in Him or to believe Him.  We believe we will see Him someday, but we do not know when we will see Him.  We keep hanging on to His promise that He will come again (John 14:1-3).

The “We” in the last paragraph is those of us who are followers of Jesus Christ, and we have received Him as our authority for salvation, sanctification, and glorification.  If you have not believed on Him and believed His words; why not?

Teaching and Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom

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And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.  And His fame went throughout all Syria: and they brought unto Him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and He healed them.  And there followed Him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.
Matthew 4:23-25

The Kingdom Closed Up

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But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.                             Matthew 23:13

Jesus gave many words of rebuke to the religious leaders. They were leaders who were not entering the kingdom, and they were working in preventing others from entering it.

We could ask, “How were these men preventing others from entering the kingdom?” and that is a good question.

One of the most notable ways was they were making doctrines of the traditions of men. They were really the one’s profaning the Sabbath day by not allowing healing of another member of Adam’s race; or simply by walking through a wheat field and with their hands plucking the grain, blowing the chaff away, and eating it.

I pray that I do not mess with the word of God, and make it a document of condemnation; but will rather declare and show the goodness, grace, mercy, peace, and justice of a holy, righteous and just God.

Yes! The Bible shows us our heart, our condemnation, our sentence in eternity as being the eternal fires of Hell. The Bible also shows us the way of deliverance from such an eternity.

That deliverance is through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ; the One who spoke those words of rebuke. Will you repent of your sins today, and call on the name of Jesus Christ as Your Lord and Savior?

The Kingdom of Heaven

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“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.
Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind: which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.”  Matthew 13:45-50

How This Conservative Evangelical Died…

/ Tim A. / Leave a comment

Here is some food for thought.

brandonandress's avatarOutside the Walls

This is the first of two posts that I have to preemptively tell you that my heart in this is motivated only in love and service to helping Christians (including me) more closely align in following the way of Jesus. I simply ask that if you are a Christian and one who struggles with anger when a person challenges your faith perspective, then maybe park this post until you can read it in a non-defensive, non-oppositional, and peaceful posture. These words are meant to begin a civil conversation and dialogue and then to guide us into deeper reflection and dependence on the Spirit of God in our lives.

Too many times, Christians read what I write (with the most recent example being about Christians and politics) and quickly retort, “Well, I disagree with your position,” or, “Well, that is just your opinion.” Others immediately dismiss what I have written and…

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