Kingdom Principles

Douglas C. Buchanan

Kingdom Principles #1

What's the first thing a farmer does when he get's up in the morning? Well, you think about it, you have a crop growing out there and you're concerned about it, you have put a lot of time and energy into it. I'll tell you when I get up in the morning one of the first things I do is, I open up the blind and I look out the window. Why do I do that? I look up at the sky, it tells the farmer a lot. Where does blessing come from? It comes down from above, and we need it.

What does a general do when he's about ready to fight a war or when he gets started in a war? What is one of the first things that he will be sure to secure? The air. The air. He that controls the air controls the war. Beloved, there is a man ascended up that is in control, are you on his side?

Well, I like to take up the subject of the Kingdom in these meetings. The Kingdom of God, and the various aspects of it. The Lord Jesus has gone up into heaven and he is there, and God is in control. Before I give a little explanation of the chart that you have in your hands, there are two portions that I would like to turn to briefly. The first is in Luke's Gospel chapter 12, by way of introduction. Luke's gospel chapter 12 verses 31 and 32. "But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added until you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom". We must start out with this premise, God wants to bless. There is a being in glory, our Creator God, who desires to bless. That was the lie of the devil in the beginning, to sow doubt in man's heart, hath God said? We can never doubt God's goodness. If we're going to be blessed here today, or any day in our lives, it will be on this basis, not of what we do, but of the goodness of God. And the enemy would many times seek to deceive us and say "no you'll find a better kingdom on different terms". Now turn over to second Peter chapter 1, verse one, "Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior Jesus Christ: Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts". Now we'll drop-down to verse 10, "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ".

Peter here speaks in a practical way of entering into the Kingdom. Sure and great promises. God has made a way for us to enter into his kingdom. The Kingdom of God in the simplest terms means the rule of God, in whatever sphere or place. The rule of God. So we on our little chart that you have, and I have a copy of up here, at the top we've got the kingdom of God. This is a time chart, showing the history over a long period of time and I think/trust most of you are familiar with this way of approaching things. I like to look at things graphically in this way, and place it in my mind. We have the course of time here starting on the left-hand side, it does not go all the way back to the beginning of creation, but it starts way back 2500 years B.C. and goes on through the history of time until the very end of time, the day of God, eternity that is coming for us and for all. In the middle we have, in the center here, the Lord Jesus and the cross, it's kind of the focal point of time. It's wonderful to think that our time dates back from Christ and they count backwards, as it were, in the calendar years and then forward from the time of our Lord Jesus. Now where are we in this time charter? Has anybody seen that yet? Where are we located in this time chart? Right here, Lassen 2000. Wonderful to think that this is 2000 years since our calendar began counting time. So we are sitting right here at this point of time, all this back here is past and all this to the right of that is what is coming yet, the Lord has purposed to bring, and the kingdom.

Now if we look back, we started back here on the very left, we started out with authority. That was the time when God gave to Noah government, or authority, for man to rule. It wasn't the first thought of God in the course of man's history, but when man/people began to multiply, it says that God looked down and the earth was filled with violence and corruption, and God destroyed the world with a flood. After that he introduced what we speak of as authority. Now I want to make a distinction in this chart that this subject is not really about the church, or the assembly, or the bride of Christ that we often focus on. We're talking now about kingdom truth, were talking about rule and authority; and that is when God first gave authority to man to rule. "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed". God gave to man the right to control and to rule where evil existed, and so capital punishment today, was given by God to man to execute and it's a right principle from God where evil reigns or where evil is carried out. So authority with the beginning of what we might think of as the Kingdom aspect of things, where there is rule necessary, you see if everybody obeyed, if everybody followed the rules, or God's thoughts, there would be no need for reigning. So that's why reigning was not the first thing that God introduced into the world. It was only introduced after failure came in.

As we go down through the history we see that God added more to that later on, He gave the law, which was a perfect rule of life, that told what the rules should be, how we should rule, and so on. He gave to Israel that place of ruling in the world, and so that began, the law began, with Moses, and we have the kings introduced in Israel at the time of Saul, David and Solomon, so I put their names on there, as they had a signifigent role in this subject of the kingdom. We know there are many pictures and examples to us there. I have written here also, the captivity, that is, that was the time when Israel had failed and God said "no I'm not going to let you rule any more, you have failed in your rule of the earth, over your people, over my people". So He took the government away from Israel and gave it to the Gentiles. That began what we can speak of as the "times of the Gentiles". That means God has entrusted to Gentile kingdoms, the rule of this world, and it's been going on that way ever since.

It's a wonderful thing to have a good government. We live here in the United States, where there is basically good government, that is there is law and order, there is control. It would be a terrible thing if there were no policemen on the streets. It would be a terrible thing if there were no judges that executed righteousness, in a measure. We complain and grumble about it a lot of times, but you go back and look at what happened down in El Salvador, or down in Peru, where there was revolutions that took place. You begin to realize we need good government, and when there is poor government, people suffer. There is a basic yearning, I believe, in everybodies heart for that good reign. So throughout all the old testament here, we see that there is much spoken of in the old testament about "the kingdom". They looked forward to a time when there would be a king that would reign in righteousness and give peace and give blessing to the people here on earth, because as they looked around they found that even the favored ones like David and Solomon, they failed. There is failure all throughout and there always has been. God had a plan during all that time.

It's written up here, "the Kingdom of God". Now the kingdom of God, really, it would extend all the way back here, because God ruled ever since the beginning of time, He has always been in control and He always will. But really the kingdom of God did not come into focus really until God sent the Lord Jesus down into this world as the King to rule. That was a man from God, sent down to this world as King to rule in righteousness, and He would have brought about peace and all that they looked forward to in the old testament, if they had received Him. But you see, there's two parts to a kingdom, there's the king, and then there's his kingdom, that is the people, and they have to be willing too, there has to be a certain amount of responsibility on their part, there has to be submission, obedience and so on. Or else how can you have a wonderful kingdom? So when God sent the Lord Jesus down, he was first of all presented as King to His people, but they rejected Him. Now what can a perfect king do, when He's presented to his people and He's rejected? Well, that's a good question, and much of the new testament is taken up with the answer of that, and God does have a plan. And I hope we'll get to speak a little as we go on through this, of that plan, what it really is, because God isn't frustrated by man's disobedience. God is sovereign and He's still in control, even though the Lord Jesus was rejected. And God always has His real perfect plan that He is going to execute, when the right time comes.

So the kingdom of God goes on until the end of time when all will be presented, when the real kingdom is going to take place. So what the people of Israel looked forward to during this whole time before our Lord Jesus came, was really, in essence, what we speak of here at this time in the future "the kingdom". Whenever you read in the old testament about "the kingdom" why it pretty much, generally speaking will always refer to this time. There may be some exceptions but this was what they were really looking forward to, they didn't know how it's going to be developed and so on, they didn't know how that the Lord Jesus was going to come down and be that king, they looked for their Messiah, yes, but they didn't know how and what form and everything. So when the Lord Jesus came and was rejected, that kingdom that he was going to set up was, as it were, postponed. And something else God had in his plan, was going to be introduced.

Now I'd like to read a scripture, go back to Daniel now at this point, and we'll read one verse out of Daniel 2. This will give us a verse to focus on, the view of the old testament, of the kingdom. Daniel chapter 2, verse 44, this is speaking about the times of the Gentiles incidentally, which began right here, and will terminate right here on our chart, at the close to the tribulation, it says "And in the days of these kings", that's the Gentile kings that were to rule for that long period of time, "shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and it shall stand forever". So this was Daniel's view of the kingdom way back here at the time of the captivity, or the return of the captivity. God gave him this revelation of "the kingdom" which is basically this time here, that we speak of as the millennium. After all these Gentile kingdoms had ruled, down at the bottom here of the chart, it says the kingdoms of men. And so all this time there are various kingdoms of men. What a lot of history has taken place in the kingdoms of men, and it goes on and it keeps going on and we're in the middle of an election year now and so there is going to be a change of government in this country, and so the process keeps going on, it's all the kingdoms of men. God gave men to rule, and they continue to rule, and they're strivings going on, who's going to be the next ruler and so on. It keeps going on. But while all this process is going on here on earth, men striving and seeking their place in this world, trying to reign, each thinking he has a better plan than his fellow man. God is up in heaven and he has a plan and you can be sure that it's going to take place.

And we want to be knowledgeable about that, we want to know what God's plan is. We want to live in harmony with what God is doing, because He is doing. He is ruling, not openly and apparently, with a man visibly present here, because when the Lord came in that way, he was rejected. And so the kingdom took on a peculiar form at that point of time, which we'll speak of as the mystery form of kingdom. And it is in mystery at this present time where we live here in this time of grace. God is still ruling, he's still in control, nothing happens by chance, and He is fulfilling His purposes in everything that happens, all the kings that get into power, He has a reason. Satan is doing his work too, at this time, it looks like he is in control a lot, and he's given a certain amount of liberty to rule and so forth, but over all of that, God is in control, the rule of God exists.

So, when the Lord Jesus went back to heaven after his death and resurrection; I'll ask the question—what would you do if you were in that position, and your man, the king, had been rejected? Its interesting in Luke's Gospel, let's just turned to it, in Luke 20, I think we get an answer there. This is a parable about the vineyard and the man who sends out into his vineyard to receive the goods of the vineyard and they rejected one and sent him back empty and beat another and so on and wounded him and last of all it says "he sent them his son",and notice what it says about him, verse 14 "But when the husbandman saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others. And when they heard it, they said, God forbid". Here we have, an answer from the Lord himself, and if you read in the other Gospels, they are the ones that really gave the answer, they said that this would be what he should do. He should take it away from them, that's Israel. And so, when the Lord Jesus was rejected, they said this is the heir, come let us kill him. He took away from Israel their place of blessing for a time, and let out the vineyard to others, the Gentiles. And so that's the period that we live in here, it's during this present time it's of the Gentiles that God is filling His kingdom,but it takes on a new character.

Instead of God intoducing the destruction of all the nations, as he's going to do at the beginning of the kingdom when he comes to reign, before God introduces those judgments of vengeance for the way they treated the Lord Jesus Christ, God's plan in his kingdom is to form a people for heaven during this present time that the Lord Jesus might have a people there. So we have Jesus Christ on His Father's throne. That's where he went after his rejection and he's there receiving a kingdom. A kingdom is being formed right now for him. That's the gospel that we preach, that's where we fit in, in the place of blessing, in God's kingdom. Preaching the gospel to enter in, not for a place here on earth right now, but to receive a place of blessing where the Lord Jesus has gone to, heaven. So instead of God saying, "Alright, because you rejected my son, it's all done. I'm finished with you". God raises the blessing a little higher and he says, "You won't have Him on earth, I'm going to give him a place in heaven, and not only that, I'm going to give Him a people to share that place in glory with, His people." That's the kingdom that we seek to enter into and enjoy, and we will be ushered in there at the rapture when the Lord Jesus comes and takes His kingdom there with him, that has been developing ever since the day of Pentecost, when the church was formed, and they began preaching the kingdom of God in a new way.

With that, we'd like to turn to Acts chapter 1, to see how the kingdom applies in our present time, because the kingdom of God takes on different characters during different time periods. And so it's still all the kingdom of God, but it's in a different character, and it's a different place, different way it's formed. Notice in Acts chapter 1 verse one, we'll just read a few verses here, Acts one verse one, "The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he showed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem; but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?"

And then he gives them an answer and in verse eight, He says, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." You see, they still had this concept even after the Lord Jesus had been rejected and crucified, and then He, after his resurrection, he appeared for 40 days there, and spoke to them of the kingdom of God. They say "will you restore the kingdom to Israel?" And the answer he gives is "I'm going to send down the Holy Spirit and it is going to form the kingdom here on earth". And the kingdom is going to take on a heavenly character, the people are going to be received in heaven, at the close of the time when the Lord comes, at the rapture. And then the Lord is going to receive the heavenly part of His kingdom. That's the answer he gave to them, and that's where we fit in. That's why we speak about our blessings being heavenly, and so on. We're a heavenly people. Israel in the old time, were an earthly people, and they looked for the kingdom here on earth. Well, that's been postponed, but instead of judging Israel immediately, the Lord opens up blessing for Gentiles. Then, later on, He's going to come back in judgment, and form His kingdom here on earth.

Now, one more verse in Acts chapter 14, concerning the present time, Acts 14 verse 22, says "Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God". Now that's the character of the kingdom right now. Israel didn't think of a kingdom like that, as being a people who were suffering. But beloved, our King came down and he suffered. And now He says "If you want to enter into my kingdom where I'm going in heaven, you'll have to suffer too". And so that's the character the kingdom takes now, it's by suffering, it's not an easy path, there's a path of rejection in following the Lord Jesus. To be identified with him and enter into his kingdom, we have to suffer, and that's the character that it takes now. But don't get discouraged, the reigning time is coming, the time of peace and blessing and rest is still coming, we're not going to miss out by passing a little suffering now, because when the Lord Jesus comes back again, after He takes His kingdom home, the heavenly part of it, He's going to come back and He's going to bring His people with him and they are going to reign with Him, over the earthly people on earth. And so, in the final stage when the kingdom is in manifestation and glory here, there's going to be two parts to it. The heavenly saints, and the earthly people. There will be a people here on earth living, those who have received the gospel of the kingdom, that was preached at this time, and we'll go into a little more detail on that later on, but this is just a brief outline of it.

One last scripture now, in Revelation 11, that describes this last form of the kingdom and how the Lord is going to take it. Revelation chapter 11, and of course are many many verses that could be turned to, but we're just going to read one. Revelation 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." Oh what a wonderful thing to have that before us, to know that the Lord is going to come back in power and in glory and in blessing. He is going to reign. We are now in the time of the patience, John, in the first chapter of this book, speaks about "in the patience and tribulation of the Kingdom", that is we're still here waiting until the Lord comes back to reign. It's a purpose of God to be that way, because if he had of come back immediately, he would have had to come back alone. He would have had no one with him.

And so before the Lord chose to come back to reign here on earth, he wanted to form a kingdom in heaven, he wanted to have a people in heaven and so this present time is occupied with gathering a people out of this earth, it's forming here on earth. It's going to be taken to heaven at the rapture and there will be a second little resurrection at the close of the tribulation, for the martyrs. All of those are going to enter into, and to come back with the Lord, to reign in his kingdom. And so there's two parts to the Lord's coming, there is the rapture and there is the manifestation of glory. The manifestation of glory is when he comes with his saints. Well, this is just an introduction and with this I think we will close, and tomorrow, Lord willing, we'll add to this chart, We're going to add some more features. I've tried it rather simple here, even though I know it's got a lot more lines than Jim's charts do; this is as simple as I can make it. And we'll try to get in a little deeper, Lord willing, in the next meetings. Let's just give the Lord thanks.

Kingdom Principles #2

Today we have a very similar chart to that we had yesterday, but with just a few additions on it. And we purpose to speak on those things that are added to the chart. We would like to deal with the Kingdom of God today. Yesterday we spoke in a general way of the whole time span, with the little outline of it all. Now today we'd like to focus a little more on the Kingdom in the aspect of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is a general term for the Kingdom, and I believe it includes all the other aspects in a general way. The Kingdom of God is also often seen as the moral view of it. And we'll talk a little bit about that. I would like to read some scriptures to start out with which maybe will help us get the concept of what the meaning is of the Kingdom of God. Lets opened first to Luke 17 versus 20 and 21, "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: neither shall they say, Lo here! or lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.", or the margin in my Bible says "in the midst of you". That is, the Lord Jesus was there as the perfect demonstration of the Kingdom of God, he was there, and they weren't receiving what they were seeing. Therefore, the other appearances that people looked for, because generally when they thought about the Kingdom they thought about a king on a throne, all glorious, and reigning with power, and peace and blessings flowing out from that king of great power. So they were looking for those kinds of things, but when the king came, he was born in a manger and they didn't notice him, they didn't recognize him, and they even cast him out. So the Kingdom of God is those moral qualities that God stands for, that was represented before them by the Lord Jesus, of which they were oblivious in many ways. In spite of all the miracles and power and demonstration that the Lord Jesus did, to show who he was, and the peace and blessing that he wanted to bring.

Now turn over to Romans, chapter 14, verse 17 "For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost". Again, these are moral principles, moral qualities, that God stands for. And as we enter into the kingdom of God, we begin to appreciate and enjoy these things. When a person gets saved, there is a joy in their heart that they never had before, there's a piece in their heart that they never had before, and righteousness has been met at the cross, and so their sins are put away, and there's no slurring over Gods holiness, and his righteousness is perfectly upheld. So that's the way that we enter into the kingdom today. We, even now, enjoy some of those things of God, that He stands for, the moral qualities of God. Just to use a similar expression, sometimes we talk about the good American life, and when they say that, we, I think, mean that we grow up, and we have a nice car, and a nice home, with a good job and we can go on vacation a few times a year, and we live in homes where we're protected in quite a good measure, and we don't have an enemy coming in, and taking things away from us every day and we speak of that as the good American life; the moral qualities of the life that we enjoy. That's what the Kingdom of God is like. God has a Kingdom in view, and he's going to put into effect all of these things. Well, when he came, when the Lord Jesus came, he was rejected, and so, we have here on our chart, the Kingdom of God presented, that's the first new addition that were focusing on here. Right here, when the Lord Jesus came, he presented those qualities of the Kingdom of God, and they rejected him. They opposed that, and cast him out.

Well, God knew that before hand, so midway through the ministry of our Lord on this earth, he changed the aspect of the Kingdom and begin teaching a new thing. Which we have put up here, the Kingdom of gone in mystery. Let's turn to Luke's Gospel chapter 8, for a passage. Luke's gospel chapter 8 verse 10, "And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand". And then he proceeds to give them the parable of the sower, which is a parable of the formation of the Kingdom of God. The new aspect that it was going to take on, after His rejection when they rejected the King here on earth. God is always above, and in control, and nothing thwarts his purposes of blessing. God is not stopped in his desire to bless, so then he introduces something new, the sower.

Now in the kingdom, as we've mentioned before under the law and so on, under authority, man sought to enter into the kingdom on his own merits, by his own righteousness, by the law and so on. Of course no one could really enter in on that basis. So God makes a new way of entering into the Kingdom. Nicodemus came to the Lord kind of on that basis. You know, he walked up to the Lord, and let's just notice what he says there, we'll read it in John. (I'm trying to abreviate the scriptures that we turn to for the sake of time.) Lets just notice how Nicodemus speaks to the Lord. John chapter 3 verse two, "The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him. Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God". You see, Nicodemus had this concept of entering in on the basis of the law, and he recognize that the Lord was a good teacher of the law, and so he walks up to the Lord and says I want to be associated with this good teacher, we can be good buddies together here, and we'll go on happily in the kingdom. The Lord stops him short, Nicodemus, nobody's going to get in the kingdom that way. You must be born again. And that's how we enter into the kingdom.

So entering into the kingdom now is on the basis of the righteousness of another. That is, it's the basis of the work of Christ on the cross. And we accept that by faith, we're born anew by the spirit of God from above, the power comes from him, and so this is the new character that the kingdom takes at this time here, and it's only seen by faith. They rejected him when he came visibly, presenting it, and so the Lord opens up a new way, it's by faith. Therefore it's in mystery, that seeing they might not see, that is people see these things outwardly, but they have no faith to lay hold of it, and therefore they don't really enter into. And so, this is the new character that the kingdom takes at this time, and God purposely does this so that he might gather a Kingdom in this world, where the Lord Jesus was rejected. This is God's way and so we'll notice tomorrow, Lord willing, when we get into this part of this time span, of the Kingdom of God in mystery, and it's also the kingdom of heaven in mystery. We'll notice that, for example, the parable of the tares and the wheat, and how when men slept, the enemy sowed tares in the wheat, and the disciples thought they should pull up the tares when they saw this and the Lord says; no, let them grow together. This is God's way of gathering a kingdom that men do not see, in the very place where the Lord Jesus was rejected. How could God get a Kingdom when they rejected his king? Well, this is the way. And that's why we preach the gospel, we preach the gospel to all, and only those who have faith enter into the kingdom, only those who trust in the Lord as their Savior, and are born of the spirit of God enter in to the kingdom.

Now the kingdom of God,I believe, really only includes the true believers, in a general way. There may be a sense that in the kingdom of God there is an outward association with the kingdom of those who profess. They may be outwardly associated with the kingdom those who profess to be the Lord's but who are not, but they are really/technically they're not in the Kingdom of God I don't believe. Now there is a distinction between the Kingdom of God and kingdom of heaven, in that sense that the kingdom of heaven does include the tares. They are in that kingdom and we'll talk about that more tomorrow, Lord willing. So we have the kingdom of God taking on this new character here at this present time, it's being formed, and this kingdom is being formed here on earth, but remember at the close, at the rapture, the true believers, those who have really entered into the Kingdom, are going to be caught up with the Lord. And then they are going to reign with Christ in the manifestation of glory in the future time. But you have to enter in now, anyone who waits until a second after the rapture, who has heard the gospel down here on Earth, will be forever shut out. We've had some of that in our gospel meetings; very solemn consideration. To enter into the kingdom you have to enter in now whiel the invitation is being proclaimed. And so, one of the parables of the kingdom of God, is the invitation to the marriagew of the Son, and the king sends out the marriage invite, and the people make excuse and so on, and they won't go in.

Let's go on to Mark nine for a verse that I passed over, something I wanted to comment on, verse one, "And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power. And after six days Jesus taketh with him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into a high mountain apart by themselves: and he was transfigured before them. And his raiment became shining, exceeding white as snow; so as no fuller on earth can white them." And so on, and it says there appeared Moses and Elias, I think you're well familiar with this portion. This was a display to the disciples, back at this time, when the Lord was here, of what the kingdom was going to be. He gave to them this preview of this time, when he would reign in righteousness, and shine in glory, and have a people around him, Moses and Elias. They were the lawgiver and the Law preacher, Moses and Elias, and they appeared there, also Peter saw them and so on.

And we too have this preview, during this time, by reading the scriptures, to know that, when we enter into the kingdom here now, there's coming the reigning time. As we mentioned before, the kingdom is (or we're) in the time of patiece now. We don't have thrones. We're now reigning yet. The apostle Paul had to exhort the Corinthians, because they were reiging ahead of time, they were trying to find their kingdom here on earth. I think that's a real practical point for us today, because you know, the good American life is, really, seeking to reign now. And it affects us as believers, we have a heart that is drawn after those things. We love the fun things of life, the pleasurable things, the times of peace and joy, but we have to be careful what things we accept in that way. Is whatever we're doing, is it with a view of reigning with Christ in glory, or is it trying to get some of the kingdom now at the expense of identification with the Lord in his rejection?

In all this time, of the day of grace, in this present time, when the heavenly part of the kingdom is being gathered in. We must enter in by faith in the Lord Jesus, the rejected one. The Scriptures says, "the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence". That is, when the Lord Jesus was here on earth, they rejected him. They robbed from him his due right, to take the kingdom then. And so it still keeps that character, the King has been rejected. And if we really want to enter into the heavenly part, and enjoy the kingdom with the Lord, we have to do it now, in this present time. Those who enter into the kingdom during the millennium, they won't enjoy this heavenly part with Christ. There will be a people here of faith, where the gospel of the kingdom is preached during this time, and there will be a people that enter in, but that's not what's being presented to us now. That gospel of the kingdom at this time, is to enter in, to share in the kingdom, in the heavenly part of it. And the only way to get in is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And the last part of that verse that I quoted, it says, and the violent take it by force. That's rather a hard scripture to lay of. And I just want to mention at this point, that at the close of these meetings I am going to hand out a little additional commentary on the kingdom of heaven. It will give some added exclamation, and I hope will encourage you to continue your meditations on this subject, as the Lord gives you opportunity. It's our intent here to give an outline of these things, and not a whole lot of detail, but to encourage each of us to lay hold of these things. And that scripture, the violent take it by force; a brother was speaking about going against the current. There's a current in this world, there's a movement in this world, it's the same movement that rejected Christ and it's in the world, and it's still prevelant to this day. And to enter into the kingdom now, you have to go against the current. If you follow the trend of the day, which is to have a good time here in this world now, you'll never enter the kingdom. No, you have to have faith, you have to see that the real time of reigning is future, and have the patience to wait, have the courage to identify and live for the Lord Jesus now, and to wait. And so that takes not only courage, but you have to go against the current, you have to use force or violence in that sense. Not violence in the bad sense, but violence in the sense of strong force against the tide.

And so, I know it's hard, and you young people feel that, as you go to school and so on, and enter into the workforce. It is difficult to really show, or let your light shine, and give witness to your faith of what the real kingdom that you are laying hold of. When we really see, that everything in this present world, in this present life is going to come to an end and be burned up, judged. What is the point then, of living for these things? But when you see that the Lord Jesus is forming a kingdom outside of this world, in heaven, and calling saints by the gospel, then when you see that, you know, that gives you the motive to separate from the world, that gives you the courage to be faithful to the Lord, and to walk for him. Because he wanted a people there. Remember, when the Lord was crucified on the cross, he said my kingdom is not of this world, if my kingdom were of this world, than would my servants fight, but now is not my kingdom from hence. His kingdom was taking on a new character, heavenly. And so that's our portion today. May the Lord help us to have that real faith, to lay hold of that, and to see our place in the kingdom now, what we expect to happen, what we believe is going to happen. And to not let temporal things now in this life, turn us aside from wholly following the Lord.

A brother spoke last night about consecration, and how Jonathan surrendered all. You know everything we have in the kingdom of God, we have by grace. Its God's goodness to give us the salvation of our souls, as well as everything else of life. And when we realize that, when that lays hold of our soul, it will really motivate us to live for the Lord. Oh, may God impress that on our hearts, and encourage us. It's not a legal thing, God wants us to have a willing heart, he wants us to follow willingly. The Lord doesn't want to have a people here in the kingdom who are sitting up there and saying, Oh I didn't really want, this wasn't really my mind, but my Mom and Dad made me go to meeting, and my Mom and Dad did this, and the preacher told me I had to do this. Is that the kind of people that's going to be up there? That's not what the kingdom of God is about. The kingdom of God is about righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. You can be a Christian, you follow the Lord today in rejection and still be happy. And you can enjoy those real qualities of the kingdom right now, even though you're surrounded by bad circumstances, the same circumstances that existed when the Lord was here on earth and rejected. And he hasn't changed those circumstances, he didn't turn around in vengence immediately, when he was rejected and say, I'm going to judge you, I'm going to cut you all off now, and I'm going to call in a people and reign. No, the kingdom is in patience, he postponed the judgments, until the future day.

When he descends in his second coming in manifestation and glory, let's read in second Thessalonians a little bit, chapter one and begin with the third verse, I'm going to go ahead and read several verses here, because this does give us a pretty good overview, II Thessalonians 1:3. "We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith growth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth; so that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God, for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure: which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer: seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you; 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: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power". Now this is one part of the character of the kingdom. We enter in here, at the time of the mystery, and then we're manifest with the Lord in glory, when he comes back to judge the ungodly, the unrighteous. We'll be identified with him in his judgments, so that should encourage us, that should strengthen our faith, in the difficult times when everything is against the name of Christ and you have a desire to live for Christ.

But there's the second part here, that's going to be enjoyed in this coming day. You can't talk about this time, without referring to this, because they're all connected. We enter now, but we're going to really be manifest then. And so we've read about that, when the Lord comes from heaven, he's revealed from heaven, taking vengeance on them that know not God..........{Gap in the tape}........ this is another part of the kingdom, another character that it takes, verse 10, "When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day". And so, that's another character it takes on here, in the kingdom of manifestation of glory. That the Lord, having his heavenly people that are taken with him at the rapture and come back with him at his second coming, they are going to be a part of the glory that is shared. For everything that you suffer for the Lord now in rejection at this time, I believe, there will be a recompense of glory in the coming time. That should really help us get through the tough times. It's what's put before us, this is the kingdom of God.

Now I'd like to refer to some other scriptures that refer to the connection between this time and a future time in the millennial kingdom. Let's turned to Luke chapter 19 next, this has a very helpful portion to me, to get hold of the kingdom of God. I'd like to read just a few verses here, Luke 19 verse 11, "And as they heard these things", this is the Lord Jesus, "he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come. But his citizens hated him, and sent a message after him, saying, We will not have this man to reign over us. And it came to pass, when he was returned, having received the kingdom, then he commanded these servants to be called unto him, to whom he had given the money, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading." And then it goes on and gives the rewards, according to the pounds that each had received, and their faithfulness. This scripture shows us the connection between this time, and the future time of glory, the time of suffering, the time when the pounds are entrusted to us, and then when the rewards will be given.

And we notice that it says, that when the certain man went into a far country. Now what's the far country? The far country is heaven. That's where the Lord has gone to receive his kingdom. And so the Lord Jesus is on his Father's throne, receiving a kingdom at this time. He sent the Holy Spirit down, to give the power of the gospel and he's gathering out a kingdom to those who have the faith to enter in. And then it says, the wording here is very precise, it says in verse 15, "And it came to pass, when he was returned, having received the kingdom". This is talking about this time here, the second coming of Christ, in his appearing, and his manifestation, he already has received the kingdom. Now this is totally contrary to what the jews were expecting. They were expecting the kingdom to form on earth. But now the kingdom, in its new character, is forming in heaven. And then he's going to receive that at the rapture, and also the saints that are martyred in the tribulation, I believe, are going to be included.

And there, the kingdom, the marriage of the Lamb is in heaven, and he's going to come back with his saints to be admired in them. The saints are going to be a display and a testimony of the work of Christ. They are the fruit of the travail of his soul, or a part of it anyway. And the glory is going to be displayed in them. You see, he is such a glorious King, and he didn't want to go to Heaven alone, and he prayed to have a people with him there, so they could share the place of glory. And so in the kingdom here it says, Christ returns with his heavenly saints. Christ reigns over the earthly people. During the kingdom, in the millennium, the thousand years of reign, we're not looking for the Lord to reign over us. No, we have a better place than that, beloved. We're going to be with Christ, and share, and be a display, a witness to his glory there. Now another scripture that refers to this, is in the book of Jude, it's rather interesting, this little prophecy, I wonder if this is really is the first prophecy of a prophet in the Bible. The book of Jude, verse 14, "And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh, with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him". Notice again, the Lord comes with his saints. To me this is rather interesting, because Enoch was the one who never died, he's the one who was translated, the Lord took him up alive into heaven, and I tend to believe that he's a picture of the raptured saints. They are the ones who enter into the kingdom in that character, the heavenly character, whom the Lord will bring back with him, as a display of his power and glory. So this is our place, beloved, to be associated.

I don't want these talks to be just an academic understanding of our minds, of entering into these things, but there's a real practical thing in connection with this, beloved, to be with the Lord Jesus. You know it's a wonderful thing to be associated with the Lord when he reigns, but there's a better portion for us to enjoy than that. Entering into the kingdom of God, is a moral thing of entering into the things that God enjoys with his own. It says of Adam, when he was first created, that he was alone and there was no helpmeet, and then God builded or made a woman from his side, and brought her unto him, a picture of Christ and the Church. And this is our place, to enjoy fellowship with the Lord Jesus. This is not just some academic story, or prophecy, this is the way into the heart of God. This is the way for you and I to live with God in his kingdom for all eternity, and share with his part. Is it worth a few hard years here on earth, of rejection? We know it is, we really know it is.

But sometimes our faith gets weak, and our desire is for things right now. We're living in the now generation, and everybody wants it right now. I tend to believe that Satan is particularly using that tactic to deceive souls, because he knows we're so near the time when the true Kingdom is going to be caught out his world. And so he's getting everybody super occupied with things right now, lest they lay hold of the true kingdom, lest they enter in. Don't let Satan deceive you, beloved, it's worth sharing a little with the Lord in his rebjection, entering into the kingdom in that way.

Now a verse in Revelation Chapter 20 verse four, "and I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshiped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years". Well I believe this really refers to those who are martyred in the tribulation time, but I just wanted to read this verse to show the 1000 years of reign. They also enter in, into the heavenly part, and share in the reign of Christ over the earth for a thousand years.

Now let's go back to Matthew's gospel, chapter 24, just to briefly consider the earthly part of it, verse 8, "All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come."

Again this is the character that the kingdom takes after the church is caught out, the heavenly side is with Christ in glory. There's the judgment here on earth of those who made a profession but weren't real. Then the gospel of the kingdom in it's earthly side, is going to be preached, and so we put in here the gopel of kingdom. Well, this is also the gospel of the kingdom but it's in a different character. The gospel of the kingdom that's going to be preached after the rapture, is going to be largely preached by the Jews, and to the Jews and to all nations, and to the whole world. And there's going to be kind of a repetition of what took place here, when the Lord came the first time, when he came to be received on Earth. Then it will be close to the time when the Lord really is going to set a kingdom up here on earth. And again there will be a man like Elias or Elijah, or John the Baptist. John the Baptist fulfilled that ministry, in preparing for the king to come. It speaks in Revelation about the two witnesses that are going to be slain. They're going to give witness, they're going to show the same miracles that Moses and Elijah showed in their ministry of announcing that the Lord is coming, prepare here on earth to reign.

Now we don't preach the gospel that way, we preach the gospel to enter into the kingdom because the Lord's going to take us to heaven. They won't be talking about heaven, they are going to be talking about Earth, and that's why it says he that endureth to the end. That is, he who is faithful, and believes in the Lord, prepares in heart in repentance, then when the Lord comes, he will pass the judgments, and he will enter in and then live through the earthly part of the kingdom that Christ reigns over, the earthly people. And so if you don't see this distinction between the heavenly people and the earthly people, a lot of people get confused and think the church is going to go through the tribulation and so on, when they read these verses. But when you see that/how this is the kingdom in its new character, that it's going to take here on earth, than it clarifies everything. At least it does to me.

Well, the last thing we're going to touch on, is in first Corinthians chapter 15, just to very briefly, the day of God, really it ushers into eternity. This verse probably carries us farther than any other verse in the Bible. First Corinthians chapter 15, verses 24 and 25, "Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule, and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet". This refers to the very far right here of the chart, the Son gives the kingdom to the Father. After the thousand years of reign here, when the Lord has a perfect kingdom, everything is going to be in subjection and perfection, it's going to be just like it was back in the beginning when God created man, it'll be perfect, he's going to have everything in perfection. As a man he is going to subdue everything, and there's going to be no more sin anymore, no more lawlessness, no more sorrow and pain. And then as a man, the Lord Jesus is going to give that, all the kingdom that he's reigned over and got back into control, he's going to give it all back to God. That God may be all in all. It all is going to end in perfection. People talk about the world self-destructing, the problem and there's no solution. This is the solution, it's in perfection. That's the kingdom the Lord Jesus gives back to God. Well, may the Lord help us then, as we lay hold of this, to enter into what really is our proper place, and what the Lord's proper place is for us, and before all. Let's just give Him thanks.

Kingdom Principles #3

...to take up more specifically, this morning it's very similar to the Kingdom of God in certain respects, and we'll notice here that, where yesterday we had in this present time we're living in, is also called the Kingdom of God, it's called the Kingdom of Heaven and we'd like to go into that a little more, we have also the Kingdom of the Father over here on the right on top, and then the Kingdom of the Son, identified with the millennial glory.

So we have all four here portrayed on this chart, the kingdom of God at the top, again the general overall view of it all. And sometimes the moral view of it, the Kingdom of Heaven is the aspect of the Kingdom in its heavenly character, but also in its dispensational view or the territorial view it could also be described as perhaps. That is it's the place here on earth, because the Kingdom of Heaven only includes really this present time although it introduces us into the kingdom of the father and so on. But really the Kingdom of Heaven is a little more narrow view of the kingdom, it's only found in Matthew's Gospel, it's interesting that Matthew was the the evangelists who presented Chrisr as king. First of all as king to his people Israel, but we know that he was rejected as their king, and crucified. And so Matthew develops the sequence that follows his rejection beginning with chapter 13 of Matthew.

In Chapter 12 of Matthew, and you find that the Jews were attributing the miracles that the Lord did to beelzebub, the prince of devils. That was, as it were, the culminating sin. Upon which the Lord Jesus began to introduce something new, the kingdom of heaven. God is never frustrated by man's unbelief. He has a way, he has a purpose over all of this. And so in the Kingdom of God, the rule of God over all things at all times, He still gets what He wants in his kingdom. In the kingdom of heaven we have described in these ten similitudes here that I've listed and Lord willing look over them in a little more detail tomorrow or later today, we have viewed in these 10 similitude a picture really, what the kingdom of heaven is. And they give us different views, they're like 10 snapshots, 10 pictures of what the Kingdom of Heaven really is. Many of these parables, or similitudes, are also used to describe the Kingdom of God, because they are very similar, and identical in some aspects. But the Kingdom of Heaven then is given to us, and I'll just mention here we're going to start with the sower, which is the first of the parables in Chapter 13.

The sower, the sower is the formation, this is the Lord Jesus beginning something new. In the old testament, God was looking for something from man, and man didn't give that. Israel was the pleasant plant, that God had in his vineyard but they didn't bear fruit. So God and now starts something new, the Kingdom of Heaven was something new. It's also in mystery at this time there's scripture that in Matthew that is the kingdom of heaven is really in its full extent is only seen to faith. People in the world don't notice that the Lord Jesus, in heaven, is forming a Kingdom right now, they're oblivious to the fact of it in many ways. Yes they see the outward aspect of it, and we'll go over that, but they don't see really what's going on. Only those who have faith and lay hold of that, those that have force, the violence that lays hold of it, they're the only ones that will really enter in at the end and partake. So at the close of this time when the kingdom of heaven is ready for the Lord to come and take his own at the rapture, the children of the Kingdom will be taken up into heaven to enter into the kingdom of the father, and they'll share there, into the kingdom of the father, both of those are found here, in what we're going to take up today.

Let's then began by reading in Matthew 13 the parable of the sower Matthew's Gospel chapter 13 I think we will read this, verse three, Matthew 13:3 "and He spoke many things unto them in parables saying Behold the sower went forth to sow, and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside and the fowls came and devoured them up, some fell upon stony places where there had not much earth and forthwith they sprang up and because there they had no deepness of earth and when the sun was up they were scorched and because they had no root they withered away, and some fell among thorns and the thorns sprang up and choked them, but other fell into good ground and brought forth fruit some a hundred fold some 60 fold some 30 fold, who hath ears to hear and let him hear. And the disciples came and said unto him Why speakest Thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but to them it is not given, for whosoever hath to him shall be given and he shall have more abundance, but whosoever hath not from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables because that seeing, they see not, and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand, and in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias which saith by hearing ye shall hear and shall not understand and seeing ye shall see and shall not percieve, for the peoples heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing and their eyes they have closed lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and should understand what their heart and should be converted and I should heal them, but blessed are your eyes for they see and your ears, for they hear for varily I say unto you that many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see and have not seen them, and to hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower, when any one heareth the word of the kingdom and understandeth it not then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which receives seed by the wayside, he that received the seed into stony places the same is he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he no root in himself, but endureth for a while, for when tribulation or persecution arise because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that receives seed among the thorns is he that hear the word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word and he become a unfruitful, but he that receives seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth fruit and bringth forth some an hundred fold some 60 some 30.

The Lord instead of coming now to get something from man, He is the sower and He is giving something to us. The seed is the word of law and this is the gospel of our salvation, it's a wonderful thing that we can have a gospel meeting here every night and offer salvation to all. Offer entrance into God's kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, too. And you know, the gospel is a great thing, sometimes I think we forget what it cost the Lord to offer this to us, it cost Him to go to the cross, it cost Him to bear our sin there at the hand of a holy God and so that he could righteously bring anybody into his kingdom. This is the most magnificent this is the easiest possible way of access into something that I can imagine. God does all the work and the Lord here came down to sow that seed, to give us the gospel of salvation, to give us a way of entrance on the basis of what he would do on calvery's cross, satisfying God so that the Lord Jesus could have a people in his kingdom, and that's why we preach the gospel. But it goes out to all because God wants his house full, and the first people that He preached it to refused it, the Jews, and God's heart wasn't satisfied then, he wanted to go wider, and so he included the whole world, and he does it on a righteous basis. Nobody will be in the kingdom at the end in the father's kingdom there and be able to say that they were any better than anybody else there or that they had anything of their own that would cause them to be there. It's all of grace and so that's why in Romans, for example, it says there is no difference for all have sinned, everybody had been already reduced down to one low common denominator of a guilty sinner in the old economy, the law.

And now God gives out the invitation to all, and so one of the parables here is the marriage invite, it's a comparison to invite to a marriage because that's really what the kingdom of heaven is, and the kingdom of God too, they are a free invitation to Gods place of blessing, to heaven, to the place where God the father and God the son through the Holy Spirit want to bring people into blessing to share what God has, so the Lord Jesus is the sower and he came down and we often think of this parable of the sower as the evangelist that goes out and sows the seed. Well that's true, but the evangelist, where does he get his seed from? We get it from Christ, he brought the seed, the good seed, "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God" if we don't get that faith, if we don't get that word of God from the Lord who gave it to us we have no gospel to preach, that is, not the gospel that we preach. And so it's a wonderful thing that the Lord Jesus instead of coming and asking/requiring things or presenting a kingdom to people to attain to, to enter in on their own basis, he now gives us a righteous basis of entering into his kingdom, but you'll notice that the seed that's sown it's sown all over, the world is the is the ground, the field where it's sown and it falls on four kinds of ground, a picture of four different kinds of heart. The only one that really bears fruit, any fruit at all, is the one, that good ground that had been broken up where the seed could find root and lodging and grow up, a good and an honest heart, that's the only thing that really God requires of us is to come before him in honesty as to our condition. Sometimes people have the concept that before they go to the gospel meeting, or before they accept the Lord as a savior they have to change their life or they have to remedy some of their past problems. That's not true; what you have to do is just be honest with yourself, what your condition is and let the seed of God enter into your heart, believe what the Lord has said, accept the Lord Jesus as your savior, and that will bring the fruit, that is what gives life. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. So when we sow, or when the Lord sows the word, it's the preaching of the Gospel and our hearts respond accordingly. And not only is there the good ground, but there is the bearing much fruit and the various different things impede the seed, the plant bearing fruit. Any farmer knows that for a plant to produce good fruit there can't be weeds, there has to be the sun, there has to be the dirt that's broken up, I think that's a picture of repentance. Our brother was speaking about that, repentance, change of mind, the ground broken up, oftentimes before we can bear fruit God hast to deal with us severely in order that our own wills be set aside, and we, like the prodigal son, change our mind and decide that what God is offering is really better. God, in this kingdom, it's on a voluntary basis I might say, that is God doesn't going to force anybody there, you're not in the kingdom because you were born there, or because of your family, you get in the kingdom by faith. Everyone individually has to do this, everyone has to accept the Lord as their savior, and there are hindrances that the enemy uses. So you have the stony ground, and it doesn't bring forth fruit, it starts out and so there are many when they hear the blessing and the offering of an entrance into a kingdom, they like that, they want to partake of the goodness there, but time will tell if there has been no real repentance and a true acknowledgment of the Lord Jesus as their savior.

So this is how the kingdom is formed, now I'd lack to go on to the kingdom of the father and we'll come back, perhaps, to some of these parables. In the same chapter in Matthew let's drop down to verse 36. I'm going to suppose that most of you, that all of you, have a certain understanding. I'm not going to read everything in this chapter, but this is a discussion about the parable of the tares and wheat. And this is the Lord's explanation of it, let's just read it beginning with verse 36 then Jesus sent the multitude away and went into the house and his disciples came unto him saying declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, he that sowth the good seed is the Son of Man, the field is the world, the good seed are the children of the kingdom, but the tares are the children of the wicked one, the enemy that sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of this world, the son of man shall send forth his Angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth, then shall the righteous shine forth as the son in the kingdom of their father, who hath ears to hear let him hear.

Now my purpose in reading this right now in a preliminary way, is to show the entrance into the kingdom of their father, the last verse there that we read. Then shall the righteous shine, and so you have during this time of the formation of the kingdom of heaven here on earth. The kingdom of heaven began when the Lord Jesus went back to heaven, and started forming his kingdom. That's when it began, and it will go on until he takes the wheat, which are the true believers into his barn which is when they will enter into heaven, I believe, at the time of the rapture. Now I believe there is a sense that the kingdom of heaven will go on during the following time of the tribulation, it's impossible to describe all these things on the chart. There will be the judgment of the tares following the gathering in of the wheat. It's very interesting to notice the order of events in this parable of the tares and wheat. The first thing that happens is at the close of the time. First of all God or the Lord lets the tares and wheat grow together and that's what we see happening today, we see the kingdom of heaven as a mixture of good and bad and that's what it really is. There are professors and there are those that are real, our brother has been speaking about that in connection with the church, the same thing. Here though it's in connection with the kingdom. The tares are those that make a profession of knowing the King. They recognize the Lord Jesus in heaven as King, in a certain nominal way, but if they do not have the Holy Spirit like the five virgins who had no oil in their lamps. If those who profess to know the Lord don't have the Holy Spirit, then they won't be taken in the barn at at the time of the gathering in of the wheat.

So first of all, at the close we notice that the tares are gathered in bundles to burn. They're just gathered together in bundles, it doesn't say they're burned. They're only gathered together in bundles. And then the bundles are left there, right there where they are. That's the old fashion way or the old-time way of harvesting wheat. They gathered the wheat with a sickle, and they gathered them in bundles, perhaps tied those bundles, and laid them out on the ground to finish the drying process. You can't take wet wheat into the barn, it will get hot and maybe moldy and even catch fire. So the bundles are left there in the field to burn, that is the tares. The Angels do this work, and then the wheat is gathered into the barn. So I believe that the wheat gathered into the barn corresponds to the rapture, when the Lord comes. The bundles of tares are still out there in the field, and the judgment of them will follow afterwords. When it says here in verse 42 "and shall cast them into a furnace of fire, there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth".

I believe this judgment is a distinct judgment from other judgments that will take place when the Lord Jesus comes from heaven. There is this judgment particularly of the false profession of the kingdom. So then after the bundles are burned, let me get this straight here, in verse 42, there's the bundles that are burned, and in verse 43 "then shall the righteous shine". It's interesting that it takes place then when the Lord comes back from heaven. I believe that we/he will have the judgment seat of Christ in that timespan there, and in connection with; it isn't mentioned in connection with the kingdom, but still it's when the bride of Christ makes herself ready, and then after the bundles are burned, the righteous shine in the kingdom of their Father. And that's what we look forward to, to being associated with the father. The kingdom of the Father, I believe, is a heavenly thing. I believe in some ways it's identified with the heavenly side here, the kingdom of the Son. You can't diverse these terms always from one another, the Lord knows, but we tried to just put it in a graphic picture here, to identify when it is and how, and the heavenly part versus the earthly part.

Now another Scripture we might refer to about the kingdom of the Father is in Matthew 26 verse 29, "but I say unto you that I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom". This is an interesting verse that the Lord gave at the time he instituted His supper, the Last Supper, the remembrance of the Lord, and he was about to depart out of this world. The Lord at this time was about to go back to his Father's throne. I'd like to turn back to a verse in Psalm 110, that I think gives us this perspective, just put your finger there, we're going to come back to Matthew 26. Notice what it says in the 110th Psalm, verse one, "the Lord said unto my Lord sit Thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool". That's the position that the Lord occupies right now, right now the Lord Jesus is sitting on His Father's throne. He is there in glory, sitting there, waiting to receive his kingdom and he is waiting in patience. Now the Lord Jesus in Matthew 26, just before he was to leave, he tells them that he's not going to drink of the fruit of the vine until he drank it new with them in the kingdom, and that would be at this time here, when the Lord received his kingdom. It's a wonderful thing to see this this dedication of the Lord to us. The Lord, I believe, was saying "I'm not going to enter into the joy of my kingdom, even though I'm going away up there in heaven. (He's taking a vow, like the vow of the Nazariteship, here for a time.) He saying "I'm not to enter into my joy of the kingdom, untill I have you with me". To me this is so touching, I think this is the cure to worldliness. This is the cure to keeping us separated from the Lord.

Here He has done so much to gather us into his kingdom. And he goes away into a place where he can't be crucified, where he can't be rejected, in a higher sphere, in heaven, to have a kingdom there, and instead of bringing judgment upon this world immediately after he was rejected, he says "I'm going to first of all have a people there with me in glory". So he does back to heaven and he says "now I'm not going to enter into my joy, not going to drink of the fruit of the vine". That is, wine is a picture of joy and entering into it. So we, brethren have the opportunity to respond in kind. To be a people that's willing to share his rejection, willing not to have a thrown now, willing to pass the time of suffering, all through this time here, while the kingdom is being formed, we're waiting in patience, just like the Lord, we should be. May the Lord help us then, to lay hold of this and to to respond to the Lord in kind, to not take anything out of this world unless we can really honestly take it in fellowship with him, and for his service, for the service of the king, for his good and blessing. That's the entrance then, into the kingdom of the father. The Lord then, when he receives his kingdom there, then he's going to, together with his bride, enter into the joy. And by His grace, I'll be there, will you?

Now the kingdom of the son, briefly, back to Matthew 13, I just want to touch briefly on that, even though we've really spoken on ii yesterday, but in Matthew 13, notice verse 41, I believe we already read it, verse 41, "the Son of Man shall send forth His angels and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity". So you have here, at the beginning of this time the Lord gathering out all things that offend. I believe that's the burning of the tares and so forth. It's described in some of the others, there's a mustard seed that grew into a great tree, and that tree is not God's mind of his kingdom. Another verse in Luke 22, let's turn to quickly, in connection in the kingdom of the son, we'll read beginning with verse 24, "there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest, and he said unto them the kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors, 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. 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. Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations, and I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my father hath appointed unto me. That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel".

The Lord answers this this striving, this question about striving to be the greatest, because really, in the old economy of the law, that's what they sought to do, they all tried the hardest to be the best, but the Lord is saying, now in the kingdom it's not that way. That's totally opposed to it, it's the other way around, whoever serves the most, is going to end up being the greatest in the kingdom. That's a real lesson for us, you know. It's so common for us, when we get into a place of leadership, to think that the people should serve us, but real leadership is serving others more faithfully. So the Lord is the perfect example of that, he gave all, he served the greatest, and there's going to be no equal there with him in the kingdom. But He gives us the opportunity, if you want to strive, this is what you ought to strive for. The way to true greatness is being little, serving much, serving the best, and so then, that's connected with the kingdom of the son.

This is the time when true service will receive its proper recompense, and its the good time to have it, because it'll go on and on and on. Whereas any praise of men now, it may stop at the day, or it may go on on for a week or so, and then it is finished, but it'll be worthwhile entering in truly in the kingdom at that time. And so the Lord mentions two things I want to point to here in verse 30, "that ye may eat at my table in my kingdom". Fellowship with the Lord at His table is even a better thing than receiving rewards. When Mephibosheth was at the kings table, he was content to let Ziba have all. He wasn't occupied with material things, he wasn't occupied with praise, he wasn't occupied with rewards, he had the king. Oh beloved, may our hearts lay hold of this. Our King, the Lord Jesus, His glory, being there with him in his glory, that's the best thing. But he also says in the last part of the verse, "and sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel". And so during this time of the kingdom and the millennial reign of Christ, there will be those thrones, there will be reigning. And we have here, I put the parable of the talents there, at this place, because, I believe, that parable describes to us how to take the things of this time of our life, how we use what's entrusted to us now, the talents that have been entrusted to us, if we take those talents that have been entrusted to us, and use them for the King, then he's going to give us back the same amount, at this time, to reign over 10 cities, five cities, or however many. That's Lukes gospels view. In Matthew it's enter into the joy of the Lord. So there is the recompense, and we don't want to make little of that. That is much to be valued and esteemed. There will be nothing done for Christ that won't receive its reward. We must be content to wait during this time, until the Lord comes back, and it will it be well worth it. So there are those two little aspects, I think, the Lord brings before us in connection with the kingdom of the son. Well, our time is up, and, Lord willing, tomorrow we will go through briefly, these parables, the ten parables of the the kingdom of heaven and to finish our topic. I believe that that's all for now, so let's just thank the Lord.

Kingdom Principles #4

I would like to continue with the thoughts in Matthew 13 today. You have another chart, and I would encourage you to take all these charts home with you, and share them with others, that you feel like might benefit from them, as the Lord directs. This chart that you have today is just a list of the parables in the kingdom of heaven, that fit on this chart here that we still have on the wall. All of them are in here, there's ten listed down below and the two up above, making twelve. There are ten similitudes of the kingdom of heaven, and we're going to speak mostly of those today, in brief. We trust this is just an outline to get you started, to give a perspective, a groundwork, that our thoughts might be formed according to the scriptures. To know God's plan for this time that we're living in, we're in the kingdom of heaven right now. It's being performed here on earth. And these twelve parables that are listed on this chart, give us the character that the kingdom of heaven takes. You really have to look at all of them together, and then put them all together in your mind, to get the concept, really, of what the kingdom of heaven is. We'd like to try to go through them quite quickly really.

Yesterday we spoke about the sower, and the Lord Jesus being the sower. It's the formation of the kingdom, the good seed, the Gospel. I didn't mention yesterday in speaking of the sower about the four kinds of ground that it falls on. The first is the byways that the good seed fell on, and it says the enemy came and caught up the seed. That's the work of the enemy, Satan, the devil. The second place that the seed fell was on the stony ground, and it had no deepness of the earth, and it sprang up, the seed did, and then it was withered because the root couldn't go down. That's a picture of our stony hearts, our flesh, the hardness of our heart. That's the second enemy that prevents the good seed from being fruitful. First it's the devil, and then it's the stony heart, our heart. Then the third place it may fall is among the thorns. That is a picture of the world, so we have these three enemies that we face, and that prevent fruitfulness for God in the kingdom. The good ground is the repentant heart that we often pray, for in preaching the Gospel.

Let's go on then with the next parable, we skipped over the first part of it, but let's read it in Matthew 13 beginning with verse 24 I'm going to read through a few of these parables, we'll be able to read them all. Matthew 13 and verse 24, "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said into them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."

This is not the church, this is the kingdom of heaven. The church is included in the kingdom of heaven, it's under the umbrella of the kingdom of heaven, but it is a distinct thing. The church is seen here in this parable of the pearl, and also of the treasure hid, that is the church, that is true value the Lord sees in his beloved here on earth, the genuine souls that are born again, they're really in the kingdom, in the full sense of the word. So we noticed here that God purposefully allows this mixture to go on together that was begun by the enemy. And this is the way we see the kingdom of heaven today, it's a great mixture of both wheat and tares, good seed and the results of bad seed. It's all together, growing together in the field, the world, the kingdom of heaven. And God has a purpose in allowing this. The enemy did the work, but remember, God is over, and even controlling, that. He even controls how much the enemy can do and he only lets the tares be sown for a particular purpose. For one thing, I have enjoyed, it disguises the true intent of God here on earth. So that those enemies do not rob Christ of his kingdom. The kingdom is in mystery during this time, remember, and only by faith do we lay hold of really what's going on here. Only by faith can we understand and enter into the goodness of the kingdom. But there is a lot of profession, there's a lot of people that are in the kingdom for the benefits they might receive in this present life, but they're kind of like/one of the three things can make them unfruitful either Satan, the world, or the flesh. It becomes manifest very often, you can't live the Christian life without having the true born-again life that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. You have to be born again to be a real child of the kingdom. How much profession there is today. Well the Lord lets them go on until the end.

One other thought in connection with the tares. Remember, this is the time of grace, and God purposefully does not bring his judgments upon the world at this time, even in the separating of the tares and the wheat, until the end, and then he separates the tares from the wheat. So it will be at the close of this time of the kingdom of heaven, that God providentially with angels, will separate, and only the wheat will be gathered into the barn, and the tares will be burned. That's so God in grace can continue saving souls until his house is filled, as we'll learn later on in the marriage invite. So that is the parable of the tares and the wheat.

Let's go on now, and drop down to the next one with the mustard seed and the leaven. I'll read beginning with verse 31, " Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, the kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air, come and lodge in the brahcnes thereof. Another parable spake he unto them; the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." These two parables, these two likenesses, kind of go along with wheat and tares. All three of these parables, the wheat and tares, the mustard seed, the leaven, give us a picture of the outward view that the kingdom of heaven takes here as seen by men. This is what is openly apparent as to the kingdom of heaven. Everybody can see it in this character, as wheat and tares growing together, they can see it. You don't have to have much faith to discern that. Also it's like the little grain of mustard seed, now mustard seed is an herb that is not intended to grow up into a great big thing. It has its value in being a small plant, and the leaves are used for herbs or whatever. But the kingdom of heaven is put into the hands of men. The systems of men, in religion, have made Christendom, the kingdom of heaven, a great thing. They like to make it popular, they like to make a big thing of it, they like big campaigns and so on, they like to make it popular. So it's an influence here in the world, they like the moral majority to influence the rest, and so on. That is man making the kingdom of heaven like a great tree, so that the birds of the air can also lodge in that. The birds of the air picture wicked spirits, that also lodged and used the kingdom of heaven for their own purposes, evil purposes. And so under the umbrella of christendom you have even evil spirits and evil cults, that take and operate under the name of Christ. Terrible. And then a similar thing in the leaven, except that in the leaven it's the doctrinal evil that works behind, or underneath. Bad teaching corrupts, and this is fostered, this is carried out in the kingdom of heaven. This isn't God's intent, this isn't God's side of what the kingdom should be. This is what man has taken and made it, and so all kinds of evil doctrines have been propagated through Christendom, the Christian profession, the kingdom of heaven and it is corrupting the whole here on earth. But God still has something precious in that. There's still something that he sees, and the next three describe that. So in the parable of the wheat and tares, the mustard seed, and leaven, we have a picture of what the kingdom is like before men here on earth, which everybody sees.

Now we'll go on and read the next three parables, the hid treasure, the pearl, and the net cast in the sea; let's read then, dropping down in our chapter to verse 44, "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when the man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchantman, 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."

Now these three parables, and likenesses, of the kingdom of heaven, show us God's view. This is what God sees in the kingdom, what he gets from the kingdom, the genuine, the valueable, that which is important. And so, in the hid treasure there is a man who sees this treasure hidden in the field. He values that treasure, no one else sees the treasure, you see this world doesn't see what God sees in the kingdom, God sees a special chosen people that he loves, and that will serve for his purposes, they serve to take to heaven to be with Christ, the bride of Christ, ( Well, I've jumped over into church truth here, but they go along parallel.) the chosen ones. That will go along with the outline brother Jim has been giving us about the church, and the great house, and so on. There is a similarity between the great house and the kingdom of heaven, but remember, a kingdom is where a person reigns, and where there are subjects to the reign. Today in the church, in the assembly, it isn't reigning that's the thought, it's a family, it's a husband with his wife, it's an assembly and you don't reign over an assembly. But the assembly is included in the kingdom of heaven. So that treasure there, is really the church, it's the chosen ones, it is God's chosen people, that are still in this mixture of good and bad in the field. Only God sees it.

I want to tell you a story, you may have heard it before, but it'll illustrate, a lilttle bit, the point of why the Lord Jesus buys the whole field, the whole world. Down in Peru, maybe 30 or 40 years ago, up in the mountains there is a mining town called Cerro de Pasco. It was founded by the British many years ago, and gold and silver were found in abundance in that city. Mining has been going on for over 100 years in that town, much wealth. There's a big open pit there now, it has grown, it's several miles across. And it's grown to the point where they had to start tearing down the old village, the original village that men built out of adobe bricks. One day there was a man in that town, who was tearing down a building, an adobe building. And he took his pick ax, or whatever, and he hit that adobe wall in one place, and WOW! Out of the center of that wall started tumbling out gold coins, that had been hid in that wall years before. A passerby heard the tinkling of the gold and walked over to see what it was. And the two people got in a fight over whose that gold was. While they were squabbling over it, the authorities found out about it, and they claimed the gold, and neither one of the two got the gold. They would have been better off to hide it wouldn't they? Until the right time.

You see, that's why the Lord Jesus buys the whole world. That's why when the Lord Jesus died on the cross he settled the whole sin question, and he's going to take the whole world, but first of all he going to take the treasure, that's his people. And so this world doesn't see that treasure, if they did they would do the same thing they did to Christ when he was still here on earth.

Likewise in the pearl, a very similar thought, the man who sees something valuable, and sells all that he has, and that's what the Lord Jesus did in calvary's cross. He gave everything he had as a man here on earth to purchase us. That's the value that Christ puts on his people. The value that God has for you and me if we're one of his beloved, one of his redeemed ones, of great value. We need to remember that, we are a chosen people, Christ loved the church and gave himself for it.

Then we have the last of this trio, the net. And the net that we read about was cast in the sea, it gathers all kinds. Now I believe this parable compares to the wheat and tares. Only the wheat and tares shows man's side or the enemy's side of the story, but the net tells us God's side of the story of the mixture. Why does God allow the mixture, what is he going to get out of this mixture of good fish and bad fish. This kind of a net, or a dragnet, as it's sometimes called, is a net that against all different kinds of fish and that's the picture of the preaching of the gospel that goes out and gathers many different kinds, all nations, its to all that we preach the Gospel. We don't just preach the gospel to the ones we think are the chosen ones. No, we don't know who they are, we preach to all. God's grace is to all, but God doesn't really have in view the blessing. He's only interested in a certain part of the whole and so when he preach the gospel, we are occupied with those that really gets saved. We take care of those, we bring them into the assembly, and seek to shepherd and lead them on, but we leave the rest. It says, it's very precise, the language here, they left the bad fish. It doesn't say that the fisherman cast them away, no that was the work of God through the angels. So when we preach the gospel, we are particularly occupied with gathering in souls for God, into his kingdom, and we leave the rest be where they are. Many make a profession, we don't go out and speak evil against them, we don't go out to expose all the bad there is in the kingdom of heaven. God will judge that in a future time. Now it's the time to be occupied with the gathering in of the good, and may God help us to be more fervent in gathering in of all kinds of fish. It's to all nations, but we're occupied with the good; the good are gathered by the fishermen, into the vessels. The angels take care of the other part.

Well, God is going to, at the end of this time, because I believe this last parable in this chapter is really a view for us of what's going to happen here at the close of this time of the kingdom of heaven when the Lord comes. When the Lord comes the good are going to be taken up into heaven with, or by, the Lord Jesus, and they're going to dwell in the kingdom of the Father with Son, in the kingdom of the Son too, then to return back in the millenial glory. So that is the net cast into the sea.

Now I'd like to keep on, and we're going to touch briefly on the last five, at least four of the last five, over in Chapter 18, verse 23, I'm not going to read the whole parable, we have here "the debtors". There was a man who owned the King 10,000 talents, and he went and asked the King and said, Give me time and I'll pay. And the King forgave him the 10,000 talent debt that he owed, out of the goodness of heart. This same man later went out, when somebody owed him a mere hundred pence. And this man would not forgive his fellowman a debt of a hundred pence, which is a minor debt in comparison to what he owed. So when the king, the Lord, called this debtor up that wouldn't forgive, and he delivers him over to the tormentors because he had not properly appreciated grace. What this debtor did, well, first of all let's back, everybody in the kingdom of heaven is there because of the goodness of God that forgives us as sinners. That's the only basis on which you ever get into the kingdom of heaven. Everybody in the kingdom of heaven is there because the king is kind and forgiving and lets us in on the basis of Christ. We have no claims of our own in entering into the kingdom of heaven. But this man, perhaps seemed to think that he had some abilities and he didn't properly appreciate grace. What he did, when he refused to forgive his fellowman is, he undermined or distroyed the basis on which he had entered into the kingdom, and that's a terrible thing to do. We get into the kingdom on the basis of God's grace through Christ, and then if we turn around and forget what grace is, and act on the principle of law, and demand from our fellowmen something, then we destroy the very basis of our being in the kingdom of heaven, and that's a serious thing. May God give us then, to properly understand our position in the kingdom of heaven as forgiven sinners. Oh,we've been forgiven much. The 10,000 talents was a debt that, probably that men could probably neverr earn in his whole lifetime, and we could never pay. We are where we are, because of God's grace, and that alone beloved. This, the understanding of this, helps us to forgive one another. Look back to calvary's cross and see how much you've been forgiven, and you will have no difficulty forgiving your fellowman, anything, everything. This is what the parable of the debtor teaches us, forgiveness.

Now we'll go on to the 20th chapter, the kingdom of heaven is like a householder, verse one, here we have the hired laborers. This householder man went out in the market place, and he looked and there were people unemployed there. And so a group comes along, and he says, Go out and work in my vineyard, and they made contract that day, and he agreed to pay them one penny, that was a normal wage at that time, I believe. So they made a contract, an agreement, with this householder, and they agreed to work. The house -holder goes out a little later in the day, and he finds other people there that aren't employed, and he says, well go work in my vineyard too, and I'll pay you what's just, and so they went out. And he went again, a little late yet, and there were still more people unemployed, and he told them he'd pay them too, and so on. And last of all, there was one group that only worked one hour. Then at the end of the day, he calls up all these laborers and began to settle the account, and to pay. And he pays, he starts with the last ones, and he pays them one penny, the same amount that the first group had agreed to. Well, that was far more than they deserved to receive. Well, when it came to the time of paying the first group, they saw that he was a good man, gracious man and he had given more than the last group deserved to get, so they thought that they might get, or should get, even more yet, because they had worked the whole day. But remember, they had agreed for a penny a day.

That first group is a picture of the principle of law. This do and thou shall live. I deserve, I've done this, I've worked for this, and I get this amount. That's law. The rest of them are a picture of the principal of grace, and they are a picture of the right way we get into the kingdom of heaven. We get into the kingdom of heaven just because God is so good to give us an entrance, and a payment, and so many things. Just like the forgiven debtors. We are all there because of grace, and let's maintain this basis of grace as the motive of our service. Oh beloved, I believe this is a much higher motive of service than the principal of law, that is, we do something for the Lord and then the Lord will reward us. I know there is the judgment seat of Christ, and that at the end of the the kingdom of heaven, there are the talents, where there are the rewards, but in this gospel it just says they enter in to the joy of the Lord, which I believe, elevates them to a higher ground than Luke's gospel, where they reign over so many cities according to their faithfulness.

The rewards. There is a better basis of dealing with God than deserts, or rewards. And that is God's grace. May God help us to lay hold of this principle of grace, and serve well because we know he always gives more than we deserve, and to serve because it's God's goodness that gives us anything that we have. I believe that if this lays hold of our soul, we will be the most faithful in service to the Lord.

Now we'll pass over to the 22nd chapter, we have the marriage invite, again, we won't read this, but I take it for granted that with the most there is an understanding of the story. This is the marriage that the king makes for his son, it's a likeness to the kingdom of heaven, because really, in the kingdom of heaven we are going to the marriage of Christ in glory. We're a people invited, and a marriage is one thing that you only go to by invitation, even to this day. It's a wonderful thing to be invited to a marriage. And when you go to a marriage, and at this kind of a marrage, the family provides everything. And in this case, they even provide the wedding garment. Now that custom has not carried on to this day in this country, but in this story when the king made the marriage for his son, he also provided a wedding garment. It's a picture again of grace. God gives us everything to enter into his kingdom, the marriage of his son, everything is provided. The invite does not cost anything, we preach the gospel freely to all, you don't have to bring anything, there are no prerequisites. In fact, the first group that received the invitation, they refused, and they sent a message afterward of abuse and so on. There's much dispensational teaching there.

The first group that were invited, and had refused, are a picture of the jew, who had the first opportunity when the kingdom of heaven was preached, in the early time of the kingdom. Then God goes out to the Gentiles, and receives all. And the invite goes out to everybody, good and bad, there's no prerequisites, to those who are invited. I don't know how many people have really had a marriage invite here. I know when we had a marriage in our family, we had to be a little bit selective of who we invited, because of our limitations, because we had to provide a meal for everybody. But God isn't that way, he's rich. He's rich enough to invite every body, but because the invite is on this basis of the grace of the person, people make an excuse. Grace is despised in this day, I believe, because the pride of our hearts likes to do things, and earn them, and have some contribution to it. We naturally revert back to the principle of law in our own nature. And so the gospel invitation that goes out is often refused because it's by grace. And this story illustrates that, this parable.

In Matthew 25, we have the two last ones on here, on our chart, and I'm not going to comment too much on the last one, the parable of the talents, I think we commented on it a little the other day, but we will go over the other one here, in brief, "the ten virgins". Matthew 25, verse 1, "Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto 10 virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. And five of them were five wise, and five were foolish. They that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. While the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you: but go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. Afterward came also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open to us. But he answered and said, Verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch therefore; for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the son of man cometh."

The kingdom of heaven is characterized by those who are waiting for the bridegroom. They are waiting for this time, to go in. The whole purpose of this age is the end of it, when we'll be caught up to meet the bridegroom, to meet the Lord Jesus when he comes. And so it's characterized by watching. It's so important to have the coming of the Lord in view as a Christian, as a subject in the kingdom of heaven. This is the whole principle of our life in entering into the kingdom, is that we enter in, acknowledging that our King is in heaven, and that he is coming back sometime soon to take us there. We don't enter into the kingdom to have a good time here on earth; No, that's contrary. We enter into the kingdom because of where the kingdom is going to take us, it's the kingdom of heaven, it's not the kingdom here on earth. Even though it's formed here on earth, our destiny is heaven. And so the hope of the Lord's return has two effects on us, it ought to have two effects on us. It keeps us occupied with our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and his coming, and it also ought to keep us from slumbering and sleeping, becoming worldly at this time, becoming occupied with things of this life. Because we enter into the kingdom for when the kingdom is going to be manifested, and it's not right now, it's in a coming day.

So this last one here of the ten virgins, teaches us about watching and waiting for the Lord to come. And it also teaches us that we don't enter into the kingdom because of our faithfulness, they all slumbered and slept. Those in the kingdom, by and large, lost this whole view of what we were like, or what our purpose in being in God's kingdom is.

The last parable of the talents, is the means of introduction into heaven, and how the reward is given, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord, to the faith of ones, according to how they had used what was entrusted to them here on earth. Everything that is entrusted to us in this time of the kingdom of heaven here on earth, is only loaned to us for a time. We're going to have to give it all up, everything temporal, and everything of our talents, our abilities, our money, and everything, is only loaned to us for the use of the King, that is it should be used. If we use what we have for the King, the King will give us the same amount back again at the coming day, when he comes to reign. That's the talents. May the Lord bless these comments. It has really helped me in getting a perspective of what my position here is on earth, waiting in the kingdom of heaven, and in the kingdom of God and all. May the Lord make it a blessing to you. Again I encourage you to take these charts, and follow-up as the Lord may give you opportunity. Let's just thank the Lord together.

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Kingdom Principles

Table of Contents

Kingdom Principles #1

Kingdom Principles #2

Kingdom Principles #3

Kingdom Principles #4