Mystery of the First Love Lost...ch.9.pt.3..Kingdom of Heaven

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... Jesus' Instruction ...

●How to Enter Heaven●

*Must Repent from Sin*

From the very beginning of Jesus' ministry ... His message ... regarding entrance into His Kingdom

... was based on required repentance from sin.
(Matt.3:2 ... Matt.4:17)

"And said,

Verily I say unto you,
Except ye be converted,
and
become as little children,
ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven."

-Matt.18:3

Then in Mark ... the Kingdom of Heaven and Kingdom of God become one ... as they are brought together through obedience

... believing ... with proof of that belief manifested ... and demonstrated ... by their required response of repentance ... as evidence of belief in the Gospel ... spoken/written Word of God

... which validated the desire of their heart to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.

"And saying,

The time is fulfilled,
and
the kingdom of God
is at hand: repent ye,
and
believe the gospel."

-Mark 1:15

*"Poor in spirit"*

... The "persecuted" ... are believers who suffer in various ways ... for doing what is right and good ... by following God's standards written in His Holy Word ... the Bible.
(Matt 5:3 .. Matt. 5:10)

●Not Entering●

*By Breaking God's Laws*

19

"Whosoever therefore
shall break one of
these least commandments,
and
shall teach men so,
he shall be called the least
in the kingdom of heaven:
but
whosoever shall do and
teach them, the same

shall be called great
in the kingdom of heaven.

20
For I say unto you,
That except
your righteousness
shall exceed
the righteousness
of the scribes
and Pharisees,
ye shall in no case
enter into
the kingdom of heaven."

-Matt.5:19-20

Those who break the commandments Jesus has set forth ... and teach others that His commandments do not have to be kept ... are considered to be the least in God's Kingdom.

The "righteousness" of the scribes and Pharisees was a complicated method based on various ceremonial works ... not on following God's Word by faith ... these are the manmade works we are not required to do.

The works we are called to do now are works found in the commandments of love ... which Jesus established ... and led by the Holy Spirit according to the Word of God ... works that come from the heart when God shows us a need that requires help.

For too long we have seen how the enemy of God and His Holy Word have undermined the Truth of the Gospel ... turning it into self-centered "easy believe-ism" ... that challenges the necessity of providing any help to others by:

1..transforming provision for the needy ... into something that God alone is expected to do ... a sort of "miracle" that somehow just drops out of the sky.

2..a type of "prosperity gospel" ... based on "cause and effect" ... concluding that a needy person must be under chastisement for some secret sin or God Himself would be providing everything they need ... so to help the needy would be to go against God's chastising process.

3..thinking that we have done everything required ... by paying taxes so the system of this world can take our responsibility (and inadvertently also steal the power and glory due to God for the compassionate works of His people ... causing unbelievers to put their trust in worldly systems to provide what they need instead of trusting their Creator).

*Not Man's Words or Works*

21
"Not every one that
saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth
the will of my Father
which is in heaven."

-Matt.7

We are not saved by anything we do ... but if we have been born-again it will be evidenced  by what we do ... as a result of the Holy Spirit motivating our heart as the Word of God teaches us how we are to respond to the spiritual and physical needs of others.

... for the Apostle Paul specifies:

8
"For by grace are ye saved
through faith;
and
that not of yourselves:
it is the gift of God:
9
Not of works,
lest any man should boast.

10
For we are his workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus
unto good works,
which God hath before
ordained that we

should walk in them."

(Eph.2:8-10)

We are "His workmanship" ... the "product" produced by the work of Jesus' hands ...for the purpose of doing good works.

These are specific "works" ... God created us to do ... as we follow Christ ... "walking out" our life in this world.

12
Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on me,
the works that I do
shall he do also;
and
greater works than these
shall he do;
because
I go unto my Father.

13
And whatsoever
ye shall ask in my name,
that will I do,
that the Father
may be glorified in the Son.

14
If ye shall ask any thing
in my name,
I will do it.
(Jn.14:12-14)

How is it possible to do greater works than Jesus?

When we belong to Christ ... we  will be following His example ... while expanding on the good works He did ... keeping in mind how little time He actually had to minister to the physical needs of others.

Therefore it is necessary to identify these works and consider how they have been expanded and multiplied today:

1..He preached repentance and salvation.

He taught unbelievers how to enter the Kingdom of God

... and continued to teach them how to be servants of God.

2..He cast out demons.

He exposed the evil entities behind abnormal and wicked behavior ... making us aware of the unseen spiritual battle ... going on in this world ... in which we will be engaged ... when we follow His Word ... Way ... Truth ... and Life.

3..He healed the sick.

Our Father made salvation a heart issue ... providing the Holy Spirit to infuse compassion into hearts of His people ... for those who suffer with illness and physical afflictions.

The "greater works" we will do today ... involve more than preaching His message of the Kingdom and casting out demons

... so after salvation and spiritual warfare ... we are called to heal the sick

... which also now includes ministering to others in a way that helps them avoid becoming sick in the first place by maintaining good health

... in addition to successfully helping them recover from illness using God's safe and effective provisions

... a process that can avoid the sorcery found in modern "medicine" today ... while ... in addition to healing without side effects ... provides spiritual growth and development of their own ministry ... as they share what our Father is teaching them ... through their own health challenges.

4..He fed the hungry.

"Feeding the hungry" ... "Hungry"can represent any need a person may have that is required ... in order to survive

... but goes much further by helping to completely restore and rebuild an afflicted person's life ... so they are able to provide for themselves again ... following the example of the Good Samaritan ... actually doing unto others as one would want done for self ... if one happened to be in the other person's shoes.

[Much more information regarding this topic can be found here in previous posts.]

●Kingdom of Heaven Now●

7
"And as ye go, preach, saying,
The kingdom of heaven
is at hand."

-Matt.10

(Matt.3:2..4:17..Mrk.1:15..Lk.21:31)

Now is the day of salvation ... now is the time to enter God's spiritual Kingdom ... so you are ready to enter His physical Kingdom.

*Least are Greatest*

11

"Verily I say unto you,
Among them that are
born of women
there hath not risen
a greater than
John the Baptist:
notwithstanding
he that is least
in the kingdom of heaven
is greater than he."
-Matt.11:11

●Warfare over Kingdom●

"And from the days
of John the Baptist
until now
the kingdom of heaven
suffereth violence,
and the violent
take it by force."
-Matt.11:12

When preaching the Kingdom of God ... it is not honest to withhold or carelessly omit the fact that one must be willing to give up sin ... self-centeredness ... and worldliness.

When entering the Kingdom of God ... we must understand that it will be a life of striving to grow spiritually and constant spiritual warfare ... until our time here is over.

This life is a test of our love for Christ and others ... to determine the genuiness of our desire to love and follow Christ.

●Kingdom Mysteries●
11
"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.

Not everyone is going to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven.

God does not "cast pearls before swine."  He does not reveal His mysteries to those who scorn Truth.

12
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.

To know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven ... one must first ... build a foundation comprised of the Word of God

... and after the foundation is constructed ... then God will provide abundantly more.

However ... if one does not invest the time and effort in the Word of God to build a good basic spiritual foundation ... Our Father will not provide any more knowledge

... in fact ... because someone did not care enough to initially build the required foundation ... God will take away what little knowledge the person did acquire.

Perhaps this explains why some more recent believers have a greater knowledge and understanding of the Scriptures ... than others who have been believers for many years.

It all depends on consistently making the study of God's Holy Word our priority in life ... with the help of the Holy Spirit ... investing large portions of time in spiritually digesting ... what is provided in His Word.

13
Therefore speak I
to them in parables:
because
they seeing see not;
and hearing they hear not,
neither do they understand.

God's Word is His gift to us ... and if we fail to appreciate what He has given ... He will not let us open it to discover the riches inside ... but will actually hide the riches in parables ... so we are not even able to realize what we have lost.  

14

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 perceive:
15
For this people's 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
with their heart,
and
should be converted,
and
I should heal them.
16
But
blessed are your eyes,
for they see:
and your ears,
for they hear.

17
For verily 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.

-Matt.13:11-17

18

"Hear ye therefore
the parable of the sower":

"Parable of the Seed"

... Click link here ...

Continued ... Part 4

* * * * *

To receive eternal life

with Jesus Christ:

▪ Scroll to the top

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▪ click on the gift

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▪ and follow the

   directions with

   a sincere heart.

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