July 5
THE MYSTERY OF THE KINGDOM
-Matthew 13:10,11 states, … And the disciples came, and said unto Him, Why do You speak 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 …
According to Dr. E. W. Bullinger:
-"The term “the Kingdom of heaven”, occurs only in Matthew, where we find it thirty-two times. Matthew
was divinely guided to retain the figure of speech literally ( “heaven” ), so as to be keeping with the special
character, design, and scope of his gospel. But in the parallel passages in the other gospels we find, instead, the expression
“the Kingdom of God”. In other words, the term “ the Kingdom of heaven” tells us where it is from,
and the term “the Kingdom of God” tells us Who this Kingdom has for its Ruler." ( Dr. E. W. Bullinger )
According to Ray Prinzing:
-"Paul taught very clearly that "the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and
joy in the Holy Spirit." [Romans 14:17]. Meat and drink pertain to natural, earthly things. Righteousness, peace, and joy
are spiritual, heavenly qualities. Righteousness does not spring out of carnal flesh, for such is corruptible. But righteousness
can be made manifest in the sphere of our mortal flesh as an expression of HIS INNER DWELLING, for He is our righteousness."
( Whispers Of The Mysteries, Ray Prinzing )
-Luke 17:20,21 states, … And when Jesus was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should
come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God comes not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there!
For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you … This is probably one of the most beautiful statements that Jesus ever
made. Unfortunately, many people do not understand what Jesus was actually saying. Most people think that the Kingdom of God
is a planet that they are going to “fly away to” one day. They always speak of it as though it is something off
in the future, not realizing that it is WITHIN THEM. It is even more shocking that Jesus spoke these words to the PHARISEES.
Have you ever stopped and thought about that? Jesus told the PHARISEES that the Kingdom of God was WITHIN THEM. WOW! How could
that be true?
According to J. Preston Eby:
-"The Pharisees were treating as future what was already present. The Kingdom of God was right there within
them if they could have understood it. "But," someone objects, "surely the Kingdom of God was not within those carnal,
hateful, legalistic, Christ-rejecting Pharisees!" Some say that the correct translation should be: For the kingdom of God
is "in your midst," or "among you," meaning that the Kingdom was present in their midst in the person of Jesus,
"among" them but not "within" them. It cannot be denied—the Kingdom was indeed present among them in the very life of
the Son of God, the King of glory! But that is not the meaning of this passage. The clearest meaning of the Greek can
always be ascertained by usage. The way a word is used reveals its true meaning—the meaning that the Holy
Spirit of inspiration puts upon it, not the meaning our English translators give it. It is a thing of wonder—the Holy
Spirit has faithfully, powerfully, wisely and indisputably recorded for us the precise meaning of the word here translated
"within". The Greek word is "ENTOS" meaning simply, according to Strong's Concordance, "inside; within". The word is used
in only one other place in the New Testament, in Matthew 23:26. It is the Lord Jesus Himself that uses the word on both occasions,
and notice what He says. "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup
and platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within
("entos") the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also." No one can argue that "ENTOS" means
"in the midst" or "among" in this place—it clearly means "within". "Within" is contrasted with the "outside" of the
cup and platter and plainly speaks of the pollution within the hearts of men, not in their midst or among
them. The evil in men is not something apart from them or outside of them but something rooted deeply in the inward nature.
The question follows—how could Jesus say to the same Pharisees that both corruption was within them and the Kingdom
of God was within them! It sounds like an obvious contradiction. But it isn't. Paul spoke of a dual reality within man when
he said, "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: but I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my (spiritual) mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members" (Rom. 7:22-23).
Little wonder that in desperation he cried out, "O wretched man that I am!" It is really very simple. The carnal, soulish
heart of man is the seat of all uncleanness, just as the deeper spirit of man is the root of all godliness. So it is not surprising
that the Pharisees failed to discover the presence of the Kingdom within them, for they were not walking after the spirit,
but after the flesh." ( The Kingdom Of God, J. Preston Eby ) -THE KINGDOM IS WITHIN YOU-!
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