Articles
Man makes it confusing
This past Monday, a gentleman called me from North Carolina (he was on our website). As I listened to him talk, I could understand his frustrations and his accurate observations concerning some of those who had been teaching him. He wondered why people are teaching that the kingdom is coming. He quoted a verse that reveals when the kingdom is to come.
He was a little confused on what the kingdom is but he was aware of Mark 9:1, where Jesus stated, “…Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste of death til they see the kingdom of God present with power.” This man knew that those who were teaching that the kingdom is near are not getting it right. Jesus said the kingdom would come in that generation yet people today are saying it’s near meaning it hasn’t come yet.
The part that this man had not made the connection with was that the kingdom and the church are both the same. Those who become Christians are added to the church and the kingdom by the Lord (Acts 2:47; Col. 1:13). With Christ being king, even Pilate realized Jesus was not a threat to Rome. Reason being that our Lord told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. If it was, then his servants would fight (Jn. 18:36). This Roman ruler knew that Christ’s kingdom was not physical.
Knowing these facts to be true, we have so many today telling us that Jesus is going to set up a physical, earthly kingdom. But why? It has to do with not handling the scriptures properly. In other words, they are twisting the scriptures to their own destruction (II Pet. 3:16). The sad part is, these false teachers have not only deceived themselves, but their followers too.
People need to stop listening to what people think the Bible teaches and open their Bibles and read exactly what it does say. The gentleman who called was happy to hear that he wasn’t wrong in his thinking. I said, man can’t go wrong when he stays with God’s word.
