G.o.t. Kingdom?

Living according to the letter of the law denies the real fact that the Christian has died in Christ–has died to sin and has died to the law.  Paul is not blowing smoke when he says that we have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20; Colossians 2:20), and our life is hid with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3), having been made alive with Christ. (Ephesians 2:5)  And if we are raised with Christ, we are now to seek the things that are above (Colossians 3:1), not being pre-occupied with religious observances (Colossians 2:20) which can not save or perfect us, but that merely teach about spiritual truths.  We are buried and raised with Christ in baptism (Colossians 2:12), and through baptism into Christ’s death (Romans 6:4) we are dead to the law (Romans 7:4) and have been unshackled from the law. (Romans 7:6) 

The difference between God’s people the Israelites and God’s people the Christians is in their baptism.  The Israelites were baptized unto Moses as their lawgiver in the cloud and in the sea (1 Corinthians 10:2) at the Red Sea crossing. And their inheritance in the land was bound up in their obedience to the law of Moses.  (Deuteronomy 6:17-18)  We are baptized into Christ as our lawgiver, and the Adamic man is destroyed so the the Mosaic law has no more jurisdiction over us, only the spiritual law of God.  The law has dominion over a man as long as he lives, (Romans 7:1) and no longer.  So anything that puts a Christian under the law of Moses is anti-Christ and anathema.

The word baptist is used to designate denominational organizations, affiliations, associations, hospitals, individual churches, and Christian believers. But baptist is not an organization or a hierarchy or a name that goes on a sign. Baptist is a belief. It is a belief that people who have become believers in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord ought to be immersed in water as a sign of what happened to them by the grace of God. We do not baptize ourselves, just as we can not save ourselves. We do not baptize unbelievers, no matter how innocent.

Baptist is also an epithet. The first to have the name of Baptist was John the Baptist. He baptized our Lord Jesus Christ and was the first martyr of the New Testament. Many of the Christian martyrs for the last 2000 years had similar convictions to baptists of today concerning the proper application of baptism. The first Christians who were killed by other Christians were anabaptists, or rebaptizers, in North Africa. They had insisted that the Christians who turned in their brethren to the Romans not be restored to fellowship until they were baptized by ministers who were not traitors of the faith. That was in the second and third century, and there were baptists in every century that have offered up their lives for the Lord, and over the issue of baptism.

Who is a baptist? I am!

There is no “worship” that is acceptable to God that does not remind Him of His Son. Baptism qualifies by showing the Lord’s death, burial, and resurrection.

With new last-days scenarios being introduced practically every week, I wanted to throw out my two cents.

The Lord spoke of the “days being shortened” in his Olivet discourse referring, of course, to the days of tribulation. (Matthew 24:22; Mark 13:20)  And the ones for whom the days will be shortened are “the elect”.  But according to the prevailing view, the church will be raptured before the tribulation. (The pre-tribulational view)  So, if the elect is to be understood as the church, how might the days of tribulation be shortened?  The church must be present for part of the tribulation period in order for Jesus’ statement to be meaningful. 

And how will the days be shortened?  There is an explicit time period given multiple times in the Bible for the End Times.  The 70th week of Daniel is a seven-year period, at the middle of which the anti-Christ will be revealed and will persecute the people of God. The anti-Christ will be given 42 months during which time he will be ruler over the people on the earth. (Revelation 13:5)  And the anti-Christ’s time begins at the midway point of the last seven years before the second coming of Christ to rule and reign with His saints. (Daniel 9:27)  So this is referring to the second 3-1/2 years of the tribulation period. 

Then there is the matter of the “woman clothed with the sun” of Revelation 12, who is protected in the wilderness for 1260 days.  Who does the woman represent?  Is she the remnant of the Jews, or is she the church, or a portion of it?  We must begin with the man-child who is brought forth in Revelation 12:5.  This sounds like an apt description of Christ Jesus.  But that would make the woman be Mary, and she never was hidden in the wilderness for 1260 days.  Or it could be Israel, since Jesus was born to that nation.  But, who else is told that he will rule the nations with a rod of iron?  Revelation 2:26-27 promises this to the overcomers.  So I believe that the man-child is a company of overcoming Christians who are raptured to God’s throne at the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation period, and that the woman is the remnant End Times church which will go through the bulk of the rest of the tribulation. 

This escape is not the rapture foretold in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, which comes later.  No, this event–occurring at the time when Satan and his angels are cast down to the earth–is the Escape of Luke 21:36, of which we will need to be watchful and prayerful in order to be counted worthy.  It is the Escape promised to the church of Philadelphia. (Revelation 3:10)  So who out of the church would be left behind?  There are many Christians who do not have much treasure stored up in heaven, but they think they are rich.  (Revelation 3:16-19)  They will be given extra time to store up heavenly rewards and maybe even be martyred for the name of their Savior. 

The parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-12) supports this view of the mid-tribulation escape, by the fact that the bridegroom comes at midnight (Matthew 25:6), and that some are taken and some are left (Matthew 25:10). In another passage about the tribulation, there is a description of two working in a field, with one taken, and one left. (Matthew 24:37-44; Mark 13:14-19; Luke 17:26-36; Luke 21:20-24) Comparing between the gospels will lead the careful student to conclude that the timing of this separation coincides with the time that the Jewish residents of Jerusalem are fleeing to the mountains in a mad rush because the anti-Christ has desecrated the temple and turned his sights on them. The timing of this abomination of desolation is (you guessed it) the midpoint of the seven-year tribulation.

But, for their sake the days shall be shortened. How?  Soon after the abomination of desolation occurs in Jerusalem, the first four trumpet judgments will come upon the earth from the sky.  Hail and fire mixed with blood burning up a third of the tress and grass, a great burning mountain falling into the sea, and a great burning star poisoning the rivers and springs lead to a catastrophic change in the rotation of the earth, causing the day to lose one-third of its time, and the night also. (Revelation 8:12)  Then the earth would rotate in a 16-17 hour period, but the month and the year would still keep their former lengths of time.  It would take 42 days from new moon to new moon, making a 42-day lunar month. 

And with there still being 12 months in a year, we can now calculate how long the woman must wait in the wilderness until the rapture of all the Christians who are alive and remain until the seventh trumpet. (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52)  If the days are shortened to 16.75 hours soon after the 3-1/2 year point, then 1260 days will be 30 months into the last 42 months, meaning that there will be one year for God to pour out the bowl judgments upon the followers of anti-Christ after the Christians are raptured, and the dead in Christ are resurrected.  Could this be the meaning of the phrase “the year of recompenses for the controversy of Zion”? (Isaiah 34:8)

I hope this all makes sense, and prompts the reader to make spiritual preparation to be ready for whatever comes, whether it be determining in his heart to be the overcomer, being master of his fleshly lusts, or developing prayer habits to be able to survive the long night.  Just know that the Lord will provide for His own, for those who call to Him out of a contrite heart.

John 3:3-5 says that there is only one way to enter the Kingdom of God. It is necessary,  according to the Lord Jesus, to be born from above by the Holy Spirit in order to enter — or even see — the Kingdom of God. He emphasized the absolute truth of His statement saying, “Amen, amen” or “Truly, truly.” He went on to tell how to be born again — by believing in the Son of God. The structure of Jesus’ statement asserts the necessity of believing in Jesus to enter God’s Kingdom, but says nothing of the sufficiency of it.

Is believing enough? It depends. In John 3:15-18, Jesus does say that believing in Him is sufficient to escape the condemnation of everlasting fire. But He does not say that believing in Him is necessary to escape the lake of fire, which should be of great comfort to anyone who has lost an infant. We must consider the possibility that — as most Christians assume — entering God’s Kingdom is equivalent to the escaping condemnation in the lake of fire; and that the two concepts are two sides of the same coin – that you can’t have one without the other. If that were true, then it would be impossible for children having died before being able to understand and believe the gospel to enter the Kingdom of God, and therefore they would be destined for the lake of fire.

The scriptural argument against this assumption is: Paul wrote that no one can call Jesus “Lord” without the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3) But Jesus said that not everyone who addresses Him as “Lord, Lord” will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. (Matthew 7:21) Isn’t this a contradiction? Also the New and Old Testament both state that whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. (Joel 2:32; Romans 10:13)

Is it possible to be saved and not be in the Kingdom of God? The Bible says so. But how can this be? Here is the secret to understanding all the mysteries of the Bible: Salvation in eternity is not the same thing as entrance into the Millennial Kingdom. At some point in the future, Jesus Christ will return to this earth to set up His Kingdom which will last 1000 years, which will be followed by eternity. This distinction is either downplayed, or even the denied outright, in most churches.

The Bible seems to describe no less than two salvations. When a certain jailer asks Paul  the apostle “What must I do to be saved?” Paul replies, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:30-31) Sounds easy! But when asked if many or few will be saved, Jesus tells his disciples to “strive to enter in at the narrow gate, many seek it, but few find it.” (Luke 13:24) So, is it “believe”, or “strive”? Do you have to strive, (agonize, struggle, wrestle, labor) in order to believe? Or do you have to believe in order to strive? It seems that the latter is more likely, and agrees more with the gospel of grace. You must first believe in the Son of God to be saved, and having become a child of God, and having access to the Father, you are enabled and empowered to strive toward the goal of entrance into the Millennial Kingdom.

And what if you don’t strive? There is no guarantee of Kingdom entrance for the believer, only of escaping the punishment of the lake of fire. What will the believer that does not enter the Kingdom do for the duration of the thousand-year reign of Christ? Search the scriptures! Matthew records it as darkness. “Many are the called, but few are the chosen.” (Matthew 20:16)

You ask, what must I do to enter the Kingdom, then? I can’t tell you. If I did, it would immediately become legalism. Read your Bible, every word. Abide in Jesus and his words and let them abide in you. (John 15:7) Walk in the spirit. (Galatians 5:16) Forgive others and confess your sins regularly. (Matthew 6:14-15; 1 John 1:9) Love, practice mercy, obey God and His word. (Zechariah 7:9) The good thing is, even the smallest act of kindness done in the Lord’s name will be repaid in His Kingdom. (Matthew 10:42) So be confident that your good works will abide and be assured that you are saved eternally no matter what, if you have trusted Christ as savior.

The Oprah Show has been exposing many people who are interested in God and spirituality to a false gospel of “you can have your desires” through her promotion and partnership with New Age gurus and writers.

Marianne Williamson is teaching “A Course in Miracles” on Oprah’s XM channel, which teaches New Age ideas with Christian terminology. The textbook for the course even purports to have been dictated by Jesus himself. But the textbook used is not the Holy Bible.

Many of Oprah’s guests are from the same school of New Thought as Marianne Williamson. Rhonda Byrne, the writer of The Secret: The Law of Attraction, is a frequent guest of Oprah. She advises people in her book how to use thought to get the things you desire to come to you.

“Yes, You can!” — Barack Obama

There is a theology common to Oprah’s favorite spiritual authors. They believe in the false doctrine of monism–that God is everything, and everything is God, but that this world is an illusion caused by our unawareness of that fact.  So, they believe that we are all part of God in essence; and as God, we can create our own reality by what we believe. But if this world is not real and if we are God, then there is no good and evil, and sin is not a problem, and there is no need for a Savior, just an enlightened master to teach us more “truth”.

But, these assertions are false. God is real, and His creation is real as well. God is at once separate and intimately involved in creation. There is good, and there is evil. Sin separates us from God. We can not approach God with our sin. We need a Savior–Jesus Christ, son of God, come in the flesh. He lived a sinless life, gave that life as a ransom to reconcile us back to God.

The danger in A Course in Miracles and other such teachings is that it uses the latent power of the soul, psychic energy, to effect change. And there is a supernatural power there in the soul. But using it is illegitimate without the direction of the Holy Spirit. Christians need to depend on the power of God, not the power of our soul.

I believe that these teachings will be used in the near future by deceived people to focus peoples’ minds in concert toward the accomplishing of political ends, possibly bringing the anti-Christ to power.

For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.  But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;  and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. (1 Corinthians 1:26-29)

Many Christians may leave the theaters perplexed as to the biblical basis for the latest Veggie Tales film. Sure, there are some Christian idea’s dispersed throughout, but we are used to funny vegetable dipictions of popular Bible characters. For example, Little Joe retells the story of Joseph. There is a Veggie version of Moses, Esther, Jonah, and David and Goliath. But the Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything
doesn’t seems to have a clear parallel to any Bible story. Or does it?

We have a Prince and a Princess, three ne’er-do-wells, a benevolent King, and an evil villain. Watching the movie in the theater, I began drawing parallels to the last days scenario portrayed in the book of the Revelation, and the epistles of Paul.

The show is about an Evil guy named Robert who is intent on taking over his brother’s kingdom because he is incensed that his brother is wasting the family’s vast riches on the poor, the widows, and the orphans. In Evil Robert’s attempt to steal the throne, he captures the rightful heirs to the kingdom and tries to coerce them into giving him information about when the King will be returning, so he can blow up his ship and seize the throne.

Satan’s strategy seems to be similar. He is trying to take as many heirs of God’s kingdom out of the way as he can through temptations and spiritual warfare. And I am sure that Satan would like to know when the Lord Jesus Christ will be returning at His Second Coming so he could try to set some kind of ambush for Him.

Near the end of the movie, the King returns in brightness and glory and destroys his evil brother’s ship. (Revelation 19:11-21; 2 Thessalonians 2:8-9) But, Evil Robert sinks into the abyss, (Revelation 20:1-3) not to be seen again until after the three Overcomers are recognized for their service (Revelation 20:4) and are sent back to their home, 400 years in the future. (Sure, it’s not quite a thousand years, but hey!) The Evil Robert makes a second attack, but is defeated again, with Evil Robert seeming disappearing into who-knows-where… maybe analogous to the Lake of Fire. (Revelation 20:7-10)

This movie is about the Gospel of the Kingdom, and the character traits of those who will be counted worthy to inherit that age. (Matthew 5-7) It is about the Second Coming of Christ, and the Kingdom of God, the Millennial Reign of Christ. It also depicts the Judgment Seat of Christ with perfect timing.

It is an excellent movie to teach children about the coming Kingdom of Heaven.

The Christian life should be one of seeking the Kingdom of God before anything else. (Matthew 6:33)