ustard eed

Vol.1 No. 3 March 2008

What Is the
What was Jesus’
TRUE
"GOOD NEWS"? GOSPEL?
What is the true Gospel that
Jesus preached? Did Paul
preach a different gospel to the
gentiles? Here, at last, is made
plain the truth about the
Kingdom of God.
WHY SHOULD there be such
perplexity - such confusion - in every
phase of life today?
It should be the function of religion to
point the way. Yet here, too, we find
only confusion of tongues - hundreds of
religious denominations and sects, in a
Babylon of disagreement.
Even in the professing Christian

I
By Brian Knowles: n the first century of our era, Jesus the Messiah –
religion of the Western world, we find
different sects and denominations
preaching a variety of different
Yeshua ha Mashiach – came, not merely to posture, but to perform certain duties GOSPELS!
for which he had been anointed by God the Father. In carrying out his divine Some designate their gospel as "The
commission, Yeshua blessed some and disappointed others. Gospel of Jesus Christ."
WHY HAVE THEY LOST THE ONLY
Among those who were at first disappointed, later encouraged, was John the TRUE GOSPEL THAT GOD SENT BY
Baptist. John, like most Jews of his day, was looking for the Messiah to come as JESUS CHRIST? WHY?
a conquering King who would deliver Israel from the oppressive boot of the
How many Gospels are there?
occupying Romans. Jesus made no attempt to accomplish this prophesied task.
Instead, he came with good news for the poor, the sick and the demonized. The Does it make any difference which
nature of Jesus’ good news is revealed in an incident fully recorded only by gospel we believe?
Luke. ÆNext page... (Continued on page 5)

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From Page 1: What Was ‘Good News’…

Jesus in the synagogue Following his 40-day period of Jews reject Jesus as Messiah. Note for example this
testing at the hands of the devil in the wilderness, Jesus statement from Trude Weiss-Rosmarin:
returned to the Galilee "in the power of the Spirit" (Luke
4:14). He taught in the local synagogues each Shabbat, and "Judaism…maintains that Jesus was not the Messiah for he
performed many miracles. As Luke’s account tells us, did not fulfill the Messianic hopes…not one of the
"Everyone praised him" (Luke 4:15). Later we’ll see why. Messianic promises was fulfilled through Jesus. He neither
established universal peace and social justice for all
Following this successful tour, Jesus returned to his mankind nor did he redeem Israel and raise the Lord’s
hometown, Nazareth, where he apparently wished to visit mountain as the top of the mountains. As far as the Jews are
his family. As was his custom, Jesus participated in the concerned, their own exile and homelessness and the
weekly synagogue services (Luke 4:16). There, he was continuation of war, poverty and injustice are conclusive
invited to read from the synagogue’s precious Isaiah scroll proof of the fact that Messiah has not yet arrived, for his
(v. 17a). coming, according to the prophetic promises, will usher in
the redemption of Israel from exile and the redemption of
Jesus rolled open the megillah (scroll) to a particular all the world from the evils of war, poverty and injustice."
passage and began reading. The words he read were, in the
minds of his listeners, the very words they one day expected Ms. Weiss-Rosmarin penned those words in 1943, during
to hear from the Davidic Messiah: the Holocaust and before Israel was reconstituted in its
historic homeland in 1948. If Messiah had been present on
"The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the the earth, the Holocaust would never have happened. Yet
Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor." Ms. Weiss-Rosmarin was wrong in saying that Jesus
fulfilled "not one of the Messianic promises…" In reality,
Jesus, in quoting these verses the way he did, was saying he fulfilled dozens of them, perhaps hundreds. The apostle
two things: 1) That he was the promised Messiah and 2) Paul, himself an observant Jew and a Pharisee, took great
That he had come at that time to destroy the work of the pains to explain to his fellow Jews in Thessalonica how
devil in people’s lives, to heal the sick, give back to the Jesus had in his suffering fulfilled specific messianic texts
blind their eyesight, make the lame walk, and so bring good (Acts 17:2-3). Earlier, in Antioch, he had spoken in a
news to the "broken" people of his day and time. To many synagogue. Just as Jesus had come with good news, so Paul
of the leaders of Judaism, Jesus’ message did not appear to said to his Jewish audience, "We tell you good news: What
be good news. It didn’t, sadly, relate to their interests. But God promised our fathers he has fulfilled for us, their
to those who were healed or delivered, it was the best news children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second
they could hear. In Jesus, they experienced redemption, Psalm, ‘You are my Son; today I have become your Father.’
deliverance and freedom from all of their ills and The fact that God raised him from the dead, never to decay,
oppressions. Jesus was, in this very Jewish sense, their is stated in these words, ‘I will give you the holy and sure
Savior. He performed in their lives a powerful redemptive blessings promised to David.’ So it is stated elsewhere:
work. They experienced the benefits of his Messiahship in ‘You will not let your Holy One see decay…’" (Acts 13:32-
concrete, personal ways. 35). Yet Jesus did not then fulfill the one role the leaders of
the Jews had hoped he would fulfill, thus their
This is why the common people praised him wherever he disappointment and rejection of Jesus as Messiah.
went (Luke 4:15).
No one could have dreamed that the Messianic commission
Where is the King? To other Jews, Jesus failed to fulfill would be fulfilled in two stages, separated by millennia of
the messianic promise. They anticipated a conquering King time. Let us now return to our text.
– one who would reestablish the prosperity of Israel as a
sovereign nation ruled by God. Indeed this was the The impact of Jesus’ reading When he had finished
prophesied role of God’s Anointed One (Mashiach). When reading from Isaiah, Jesus carefully rolled up the scroll and
Jesus did not fulfill it, many Jews of his day – especially the handed it back to the chazan (Luke 4:20). As Luke’s
leaders who had to deal with the Romans – were account says, "The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were
disappointed. The fact that Jesus did not accomplish this fastened on him" (v. 20b). They were waiting to hear his
messianic task is still, to this day, one of the major reasons commentary on the verses he’d just read.

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He made only one simple statement, "Today this scripture is pagan). The judgment of the world will be carried out
fulfilled in your hearing" (v. 21). The effect was during after the Messiah returns to fulfill the second half of
electrifying. These people knew their Scriptures. They fully his commission: "…and the day of vengeance of our God"
understood the implications of what Jesus was saying. (Isaiah 61:2b).
Clearly, he was saying that he was the Messiah. The
evidence he offered was that he was fulfilling the messianic
promises to heal, to deliver, and to set the captives of ha
Satan free. "Gracious words"? In Luke
4:22, the NIV translation
On another occasion, when John the Baptist was in prison, reads, "All spoke well of him
he sent some of his talmidim (disciples or rabbinic students) and were amazed at the
to inquire of the Lord, "Are you the one who was to come, gracious words that came
or should we look for another?" (Luke 7:20). On the basis from his lips. ‘Isn’t this
of the kind of ministry Jesus was conducting, John himself Joseph’s son?’ they asked." According to Dr. Robert
may have wondered if Jesus was truly the Messiah. What Lindsey, a noted synoptic scholar, this verse, as translated,
proof did Jesus offer John of his Messiahship? "Go back," misses the meaning of the people’s reaction to Jesus’
he told John’s disciples, "and report to John what you have preaching. The actual thought here is something like "We
seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, all know Joseph and he is a good man. How can his son get
those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead so big-headed as to think he is the Messiah himself? Maybe
are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. he has performed some miracles not far from us, but does
Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of that make him the Messiah?"
me" (Luke 7:22).
For Dr. Lindsey, the key to understanding this section is
If you were blind, deaf, or dead, the fact that Jesus "cured found in the Greek "words of grace" translated in our
many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and English versions as "gracious words" in verse 22 (NIV &
gave sight to many who were blind" was incredibly good NKJV). If we translate these words back to Hebrew,
news! But to those who were expecting the Messiah to according to Lindsey, we have divrei chesed. Wrote
come as a conquering king, he was a great disappointment; Lindsey; "This expression could easily be understood by a
thus the blessing upon those who were not offended by him Greek writer translating to Greek as ‘words of grace.’ But
to the point of falling out of faith. the word ‘chesed’ in Hebrew can also mean ‘a wicked
thing’ or a ‘disgrace.’ In Leviticus 20:17 we read, for
Judgment comes later On yet another occasion, Jesus had instance,
explained that at that time he had not come to judge the
world, "As for the person who hears my words but does not "If a man takes his sister…and they remove their clothes
keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge and see each other naked, it is a wicked thing (chesed hu)."
the world, but to save it. There is a judge for the one who
rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word Lindsey also cites Proverbs 14:34 where the text says, "sin
which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. For I did is a reproach (chesed) to any people."
not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me
commanded me what to say and how to say it. I know that In Luke 4:22, therefore, the words translated "gracious
his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just words" could also be translated "words of disgrace" or
what the Father has told me to say" (John 12:47-50). "words of apostasy."

The final judgment of the world is reserved for the end time. In the NIV, the first words in verse 22 are translated "All
It did not occur in the first century of our era. God, in his spoke well of him…" Dr. Lindsey believed that this
mercy, has created an interim period during which the world rendering also misses the intended meaning. The Greek
is being given an opportunity to hear the good news about word translated "spoke well" is martureo. In Greek this
Jesus the Messiah, to respond to it with repentance, and to normally has the meaning of "testifying in favor" of
experience in the present the "powers of the world to come" someone. But when you translated it back into Hebrew, it
(Hebrews 6:5) – that is, healing, deliverance and means exactly the opposite – to testify against. An example
empowerment from God (Acts 1:8). is found in I Kings 21:10: "to bear witness against him…"

God is not a respecter of persons. When he comes to judge Dr. Lindsey therefore believed that the meaning of Luke
the world, all of us will be judged by the same moral 4:22 could actually be "And all of them spoke critically of
standard, whether Jew or gentile (circumcised, Noachide or

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him and were astonished at the words of apostasy coming days. Now Jesus could deliver people from the destructive
out of his mouth." works of the devil. Now he could set the captives free, give
sight to the blind, heal the lame, and deliver people from the
This then would better explain the reaction of the satanic strongholds in their lives. All they had to do was
synagogue members at the end of this story: "So all those in believe that he was who he was. They merely had to accept
the synagogue were, when they heard these things, were him as God’s Anointed.
filled with wrath, and rose up and thrust Him out of the city;
and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city But, as in the days of Elijah and Elisha, only a tiny minority
was built, that they might throw him down over the cliff" in his home synagogue – mainly his own mother, brothers
(Luke 4:28-29 NKJV). and sisters (Acts 1:14) – really grasped just Who was in
their midst. The rest saw him as an impostor, a fake, and an
Of course, between verses 22 and 26, Jesus said other things egomaniac with a Messiah complex. To them, he was just
that could have been viewed as provocative. Though he had "Joseph’s kid." Consequently, the unbelievers became his
performed miracles throughout the Galilee, Jesus was not enemies and cut themselves off from the blessings he had
appreciated for who and what he was by his own people. been willing to freely give them.
Though he had grown up in the synagogue in Nazareth,
familiarity with him and his family had bred contempt. To When God does send a true servant, it is vital that we
perform his messianic work of healing and deliverance, he recognize him for what he is. Jesus, Elijah and Elisha were
had to be accepted as God’s Anointed, but "…no prophet is all rejected by those who could have been most helped.
accepted in his own country" (Luke 4:24b). Where there is a Jesus still has good news for the world, but who will accept
climate of doubt, skepticism and unbelief, miraculous works it? God’s Messiah is still there to heal, to deliver, and to
are stifled (cf. Matthew 13:58 & 17:20). So it was in bless. Who will truly believe that He is God’s Anointed One
Nazareth. and that He will return to complete his divine commission?
This time, there will be no doubt about who and what he is!
Jesus had come to his own village with good news. He told As Jesus said to the apostle John, "Behold, I come as a
them, in effect, "I’ve got good news! I am the Davidic thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes
Messiah – the prophesied Anointed One of God. I’m here to with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully
heal, to deliver from all forms of bondage, and to do a exposed" (Revelation 16:15). Jesus was here speaking of
redemptive work! I am here to undo the work of the devil in spiritual readiness. His words to John echo his earlier
people’s lives!" Had they believed him, they could have message to all of his disciples (Matthew 24:36-51).
gotten in on it. Jesus could have done many mighty works
among them. Yet they resisted him, viewing him instead as King Jesus, the conquering Messiah of God, must find his
a blasphemer. servants acting like they were his servants when he returns!
We must be found carrying forward the same good news
In Luke 4:25,26, Jesus is recorded as using the example of Jesus preached. We must be filled with belief and
the widow of Zarephath, near Sidon, who because of her confidence in our Lord. We have been collectively
acceptance of God’s prophet, Elijah, was the sole recipient commissioned to continue preaching the same good news
of God’s gracious gifts (I Kings 17:17 ff.). Many other Jesus preached. And when we do, the same Jesus will
widows apparently rejected God’s servant, and were perform the same kind of miracles of healing and
therefore passed over for God’s blessing (Luke 4:26). deliverance to back it up. He told his first apostles, "As you
go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’
Jesus, as was his custom, used a second example ("two or Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have
three witnesses"), that of Naaman the Syrian. Naaman lived leprosy, drive out demons" (Matthew 10:7-8. Note also
in the time of Elijah’s successor, Elisha. Of all the lepers in Luke 9:1-6).
the land at the time, only Naaman was made clean through
Elisha because he alone accepted him as God’s prophet (II The sovereign rule of God – the Kingdom of God – is
Kings 5). breaking out wherever people will accept Jesus as their
Savior, the Anointed One of God. To the degree that people
The lessons of this story Luke’s account of Jesus’ believe and claim the promises of God, they are reaping the
experience among his own brethren in a synagogue in blessings of the kingdom. God hasn’t changed. He will heal
which he had grown up contains many lessons for us today. and deliver today as He did in Jesus’ day – so long as we
For one thing, it helps us to understand the nature of the accept those He has sent as his servants. The original
"Gospel" or good news Jesus brought. Jesus’ good news apostles operated in the power of the Spirit of God. As Paul
was that he was God’s Messiah. He had just defeated the wrote to the Corinthians, "My message and my preaching
devil in a face-to-face confrontation lasting 40 agonizing were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a
demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might
4
not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power" (I use the name of Jesus, and when his anointing of our work
Corinthians 2:4-5). in his name kicks in, people will be healed, demons will be
cast out, and in some cases, the dead may be raised. This is
The power of God’s Spirit is still available to the Church the work of the advancing kingdom of God. It is a
today (Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:20) – but we have to be redemptive, healing work. It is a restorative work. It is a
willing to access it. The Church, as the Body of Christ, still work of setting back in place the divine order of things.
has good news for a dying, darkened world, but we have to Like our Lord, we must be "about our Father’s business."
get out there and preach it. We have to believe that when we

From Page 1: What is the TRUE On the authority of Jesus Christ, it is WITH WHOM did this message -
GOSPEL? necessary to believe THAT PRECISE, this Gospel - originate? Peter said:
IDENTICAL GOSPEL in order to be "The word which GOD sent."
Listen to the answer of the eternal saved! And to BELIEVE the true
God, as inspired in Paul's letter to the TO WHOM did God send it? Peter
Gospel, we must first come to KNOW
Galatians - the first chapter, the eighth said "unto the children of Israel."
what it is!
verse: Although now, 10 years later, this
Now with whom, and from where, and same Gospel was being opened up to
"But though we, or an angel from to whom, did the true Gospel gentiles of ALL nations, originally it
heaven, preach any other gospel unto originate? With Christ? No, not with was sent to the CHILDREN OF
you than that which we have Christ! ISRAEL, and it was sent by GOD the
preached unto you, let him be FATHER. It did not originate with
accursed." The message sent from heaven
Jesus Christ, nor with Peter, nor with
And it is made a double curse! For the God the Father had promised to send the apostle Paul. It was sent by God
next verse says, "So say I now again, a messenger into this world from the Father of Jesus Christ!
If any man preach any other gospel heaven, bearing a message from HIM
BY WHOM was it sent? Who was
unto you than that ye have received, - God the FATHER!
the divine Messenger who brought
let him be accursed." God had promised that in Malachi 3:1: and preached the message? Peter
WHY, then, has the world lost sight of "Behold, I will send my messenger, said "by Jesus Christ." Jesus Christ
that Gospel? WHY do people believe and he shall prepare the way before was the divine MESSENGER. Malachi
different gospels today? me [and that messenger, as explained called Him the Messenger of the
in Mark 1:2, was John the Baptist, COVENANT.
This is an astounding, incredible preparing the way before Jesus
situation! It ought to shake you out of That message, then, is the NEW
Christ]: and the LORD, whom ye
passive indifference. YOUR eternity is covenant message, for Moses was
seek, shall suddenly come to his
at stake! This is not an the mediator of the old covenant, and
temple, EVEN THE MESSENGER OF
inconsequential, unimportant matter! Jesus Christ of the NEW, as affirmed
THE COVENANT, whom ye delight
by many scriptures. This message,
Jesus Christ said it is necessary to in."
then, is the NEW TESTAMENT
BELIEVE THE GOSPEL to be saved! The very first sermon by which God GOSPEL.
Yet the many - the hundreds of had the Gospel preached to gentiles,
millions today do not know what that Now, WHERE was it first
when Peter was sent to the house of
Gospel is! preached? To what geographical
the gentile Cornelius, recorded in the
location shall we look for its
Again, His parting commission to His 10th chapter of the book of Acts, gives
beginning? Peter said it "began from
apostles, being sent out as His us very explicit directions for locating
Galilee." Yes, GALILEE, then, is the
ministers to build His Church, was the one and only TRUE GOSPEL.
place where it was first preached. Not
this: "Go ye into all the world, and Open your own Bible! I want you to Jerusalem! Galilee!
preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15). They read this with your own eyes! This is
were to preach THE GOSPEL. WHEN did Jesus begin to preach
what the inspired Peter said, as
this particular Gospel in Galilee?
Jesus then said, "He that BELIEVETH recorded in Acts 10:36-37: "The word
Peter said "after the baptism which
and is baptized shall be saved; but he which GOD sent unto the children of
John preached." The true GOSPEL of
that believeth not shall be damned" Israel, preaching peace by Jesus
the NEW covenant, then, did not
(verse 16). Christ: (he is Lord of all:) That word, I
begin with John the Baptist. It began
say, ye know, which was published
Notice! Jesus said, "He that after John had completed his
throughout all Judaea, and began
BELIEVETH." Believeth what? Why, baptismal ministry.
from Galilee, after the baptism which
BELIEVETH that which they John preached." Now these very definite directions
PREACHED, of course - THE lead us directly to the first chapter of
GOSPEL! Not a gospel. Not any Which Gospel did Jesus preach?
Mark. The first verse tells us this is the
gospel. THE Gospel! Notice carefully these points: record of the BEGINNING of the
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Gospel of Jesus Christ. Then it relates The Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT to SALVATION, saying the Gospel of
the baptizing ministry of John, man's gospel ABOUT the PERSON of the KINGDOM is a gospel for some
preaching, NOT the Gospel, but "the Christ. future age yet to come.
baptism of repentance," which
It is CHRIST'S Gospel - the Gospel But as the apostle Paul said to the
prepares the way for the GOSPEL
Jesus PREACHED - the Gospel GOD Thessalonians, I would not have you
that the living God sent by Jesus
SENT by Him, and therefore it is also to be IGNORANT of the very Gospel
Christ (verse 4).
called, in Scripture, the Gospel of that alone can bring us eternal life!
And then we come to verses 14 and God. The Gospel of God is God's
There was a definite TIME for the
15: "Now after that John was put in Gospel - His message - His good
beginning of the Gospel - since John.
prison" - there is the exact TIME for news that He sent by Jesus.
The law and the prophets were UNTIL
the beginning of the preaching of the
Also the Gospel of Jesus Christ is John. Since John's special
TRUE GOSPEL - "JESUS" - there is
Christ's Gospel - the Gospel Christ preparatory ministry, the KINGDOM
the divine Messenger BY whom God
brought from God - the Gospel He OF God is preached.
sent it - "came into GALILEE" - THE
proclaimed.
PRECISE GEOGRAPHICAL There was a definite TIME for this true
LOCATION. We hear a great deal today of the New Testament Gospel to begin. And
gospel of MEN about the PERSON of after John was put in prison, Jesus
So we now have the TIME, the
Jesus Christ - confining the message came into Galilee, saying, "The TIME
Israelites residing there TO WHOM
solely to the things ABOUT Jesus. As is fulfilled," and preaching the Gospel.
God sent the message, the PLACE
a result, millions believe on Christ who
and the MESSENGER - so whatever And so now, WHAT is that Gospel?
do not BELIEVE CHRIST! But Jesus'
we find Jesus preaching here IS THE
Gospel IS HIS MESSAGE! The English word gospel comes from
ONE AND ONLY TRUE GOSPEL.
the word godspel, and means GOOD
And yet it was not only His, but His
And what do we read? "Jesus came NEWS. Daily, we read the NEWS of
FATHER'S who sent Him, as He
into Galilee, PREACHING THE world happenings - mostly BAD news!
Himself said. In John 12:49-50, Jesus
GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF We live in a troubled, chaotic world.
said:
GOD, And saying, The time is fulfilled, And the very BEST news you can
and the KINGDOM OF GOD is at "I have not spoken of myself; but the hear in this day, or any other, is the
hand: REPENT YE, and BELIEVE Father which sent me, HE gave me a GOOD NEWS of the KINGDOM OF
THE GOSPEL." commandment, what I should say, GOD.
and what I should speak. And I know
Notice, Jesus said, "Believe THE But what is a KINGDOM? Primarily, it
that HIS commandment is life
GOSPEL"! is a GOVERNMENT - a NATION and
everlasting: whatsoever I speak
the GOVERNMENT that rules it. And
WHAT Gospel? The one He was therefore, even as the Father said
especially in this biblical sense, there
proclaiming - "the gospel of the unto me, so I speak."
is the DUAL sense of the NATION,
kingdom of God."
Yes, the Father SENT Jesus bearing including all its subjects or citizens,
But, one may ask, don't we need to a message, which is the good news of and the GOVERNMENT by which it is
believe on Jesus? Of course. Other THE KINGDOM OF GOD. Jesus is ruled. Again in BIBLE usage, a
scriptures teach that. But at this God's Spokesman - the WORD that kingdom is often a family from a single
particular time Jesus said we must was made flesh and lived, and taught, parent grown into a NATION.
believe Him - believe what He said - on this earth! In John 14:24 Jesus
Four things are necessary to
believe the Gospel of the Kingdom of said, "The word which ye hear is NOT
constitute a KINGDOM: 1) the
God! MINE, but the Father's which sent
TERRITORY, with its specific location
me."
Some believed on Jesus, but did not and definite boundary lines, with 2) a
believe Jesus - did not believe what And, descriptive of the religion of the KING or supreme ruler or governing
He SAID (John 7:31, 8:30-31, 46). Old Testament and the GOSPEL of agent, ruling over 3) SUBJECTS or
the NEW, it is written in Luke 16:16, citizens within that territorial
What about the Gospel of Jesus
"The law and the prophets were jurisdiction, with 4) LAWS and a form
Christ?
UNTIL JOHN: since that time the of GOVERNMENT.
But if the one and only TRUE Gospel KINGDOM OF GOD is preached."
If we leave out any one of these vital
is the Gospel of the Kingdom of God,
What is the Kingdom of God? requisites, we do not have, and
what about the Gospel of Jesus
cannot BELIEVE, the true GOSPEL
Christ? Is that a false gospel? And yet there are some in this modern
for this time.
day of religious confusion who believe
Not at all. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
the Gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD We must know whether the Kingdom
is the Gospel He brought as God's
is not for this age - this New of God is here NOW, or coming later;
Messenger - the Gospel He
Testament time of grace. They reject whether its territory is THE EARTH, or
proclaimed is the Gospel of the
and therefore do not BELIEVE the up in heaven; whether it is a literal
Kingdom of God.
true Gospel as Jesus commanded kingdom of human mortals, or a
and thereby reject the very conditions
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kingdom of immortals; whether it is God is REPRODUCING HIMSELF! the basic spiritual law and way of life
literal or figurative, real or unreal. God created man in GOD'S IMAGE, of the KINGDOM OF GOD - the WAY
so that man may become to peace of mind, to world peace, to
And on many of these things, a great
impregnated, BEGOTTEN and, by a happiness, prosperity and JOY - the
many people are ALL MIXED up!
resurrection, be BORN as an WAY to eternal life.
But now what about the Gospel of immortal, SPIRIT-COMPOSED
Kingdom of God to be preached
GRACE - the Gospel of SALVATION? person in the KINGDOM OF GOD.
TODAY
Born into the Kingdom The apostle Paul made very plain to
Yes, JESUS proclaimed and taught
the Corinthians that while mortal flesh
Notice, when Nicodemus came to the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF
and blood cannot inherit, or enter into,
Jesus secretly, as recorded in John GOD. But did He command His
the Kingdom of God, that through the
the third chapter, Jesus said to him: ministers, in BUILDING HIS
resurrection of those BEGOTTEN BY
"Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except CHURCH, to preach this same
THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD during
a man be BORN AGAIN, he cannot Gospel? Quickly let us notice the
this mortal life, this MORTAL then
see the KINGDOM OF GOD" (verse Scriptures.
puts on IMMORTALITY, and we, like
3).
the very God Himself, become Luke 9:1-2: "Then he called his twelve
Jesus was proclaiming the KINGDOM IMMORTAL, INCORRUPTIBLE, disciples together... And he sent them
OF GOD - explaining a most actually, literally, BORN of God's Spirit to PREACH THE KINGDOM OF
important phase of it. INTO the very God FAMILY. GOD."
As Paul wrote to the church at Corinth Conditions of entering Luke 10:1-2,9: "After these things the
in I Corinthians 15:50, flesh and blood Lord appointed other seventy also,
Now, HOW may we enter into that
- that is, a mortal human - cannot and sent them two and two before his
glorious KINGDOM?
enter INto the Kingdom of God. face into every city and place, whither
Jesus came preaching the Gospel of he himself would come.
The Church, then, cannot be the the Kingdom of God, and saying
Kingdom of God, for it is composed of "Therefore said he unto them... heal
"REPENT" and "BELIEVE THE
flesh-and-blood mortals. It is not, the sick that are therein, and say unto
GOSPEL."
either, an ethereal something "set up them, The KINGDOM OF GOD is
in the hearts of men." Just TWO things we do - REPENT come nigh unto you."
and BELIEVE. We must BELIEVE the
Jesus went on to show Nicodemus In Jesus' prayer, so commonly called
Gospel, and that means also believing
that we who are born of the flesh ARE the "Lord's Prayer," He prayed, "THY
on JESUS CHRIST, the KING of the
flesh - just mortal flesh and blood. We KINGDOM COME" - then it wasn't
Kingdom of God, and coming KING of
were BORN that way - HUMAN - here yet, and it isn't here yet, today -
kings over all the families of the earth.
MORTAL. but He taught us to pray for it to
It means believing in Him as personal
COME, for His KINGDOM and that
But it is possible for us to be BORN SAVIOR, as High Priest now and as
ALONE shall bring PEACE and
AGAIN - next time, not as a mortal coming KING.
HAPPINESS to this sin-sick, war-
flesh-and-blood baby, but born of the
But to repent is to completely weary earth! "Thy kingdom COME.
SPIRIT. Then we shall be spirit - CHANGE THE MIND in respect to THY WILL BE DONE in earth, as it is
composed of spirit! SIN, and "sin is the transgression of in heaven" (Matt. 6:10). The
Now in the fourth chapter of John we the LAW" (I John 3:4) - the law of FATHER'S WILL.
read that God is a SPIRIT (verse 24). GOD by which God RULES the
What Gospel did the early evangelists
The Kingdom of GOD is composed of Kingdom.
preach, in first sending out the FAITH
those BORN of GOD. And as I have
It means a total, complete CHANGE ONCE DELIVERED? How did the
explained previously, God is not a OF MIND AND OF LIFE. It means we early Church carry out the
single person, but the Hebrew word REPENT of transgressing the rule, the commission?
for God, Elohim, portrays God as a
will, the laws, of GOD. What did Jesus
FAMILY of persons - a single family, Notice PHILIP preaching at Samaria!
say to the young man who asked Him
or kingdom, but composed of MORE Acts 8:12: "But when they BELIEVED
HOW to inherit eternal life? He said,
than one person. Philip preaching the things concerning
"IF thou wilt enter into life, KEEP THE
THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and the
We have the mineral kingdom, the COMMANDMENTS" (Matt. 19:17).
name of Jesus Christ, they were
plant kingdom, the animal kingdom. He went on to show that He referred baptized, both men and women."
The Bible reveals an angel kingdom,
to the TEN COMMANDMENTS, God's Philip preached the things concerning
created by God and composed of great SPIRITUAL LAW, summing up, THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
spirit, not matter. in principle, the WHOLE duty of
Paul? Acts 20:25, 21: "I have gone
And then, high above all, is the very righteous living.
preaching THE KINGDOM OF GOD...
CREATING Kingdom - the God It is a WAY OF LIFE, and a way Testifying both to the Jews, and also
Kingdom, or, in other words, THE
contrary to human nature and to the to the Greeks, repentance toward
KINGDOM OF GOD! ways and customs of this world! It is
7
God, and FAITH toward our Lord him, Preaching THE KINGDOM OF ALL THE WORLD for a witness" - for
Jesus Christ." GOD, and teaching those things a WITNESS - "unto ALL NATIONS;
which concern the Lord Jesus Christ." and then shall the END come" - the
And notice the Gospel Paul preached
end of this AGE.
to GENTILES, after he had turned And, lastly, WHAT GOSPEL did Jesus
completely away from the Jews. say should be preached TODAY?
By Herbert W. Armstrong, (1892-1986)
Acts 28:30-31: "And Paul dwelt two Matthew 24:14, speaking of the
whole years in his own hired house, PRESENT: "And this GOSPEL OF reprint from Good News
and received all that came in unto THE KINGDOM shall be preached in

A Tale of
53:2-3). In context, the Psalmist is
speaking of Israel (verse 6), but the
principle is universal.

Two AGES
The apostle John, writing to the
Church generally, says, “If we claim to
be without sin, we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us…If we claim we have
not sinned, we make him [God] out to be
a liar and his word has no place in our
In his letter to the Christian assemblies in Galatia, the apostle Paul lives” (I John 1:8-10).
uses an interesting expression: “Grace and peace to you from God our Father and So ours in an age in which “all
the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present have sinned”: it is therefore an evil
evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory for ever and time. The effects of evil are
ever. Amen” (Galatians 1:2, NIV). The wording of this verse gives rise to several omnipresent. The Biblical writers have
natural questions: used a variety of images to describe
Why did the Galatian believers need to be rescued from an “age”? the present evil age: more on that
How can an age be called “evil”? later.
What was behind Paul’s use of this language? Jesus himself referred on
occasion to the two ages as understood
Word Meanings by Judaism. In his teaching about
The word “age” here – translated “world” in the KJV -- comes from the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit he
Greek word aion. The basic meaning is “time” or “age.” “Age” is therefore a said, “Anyone who speaks a word against
more appropriate translation than “world.” In Paul’s usage here, it means a the Son of Man will be forgiven, but
specific segment of time as contrasted with another segment. This is indicated anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit
by the use of the word “present.” will not be forgiven, either in this age or
Why does Paul call the present age “evil”? The word “evil” is translated in the age to come” (Matthew 12:32).
from the Greek poneros. The word has a range of meanings, depending upon In another place, Jesus is
usage. For example, in the physical sense, it can mean “in poor condition, sick.” talking about the reward those who
Or it can mean “painful, virulent or serious” as in Revelation 16:2. Other have left loved ones to follow him. He
meanings are “bad,” “spoiled” or “worthless” (cf. Matthew 7:17 ff.). It can refer says, “I tell you the truth, no one who has
to a wicked or evil-intentioned person – an evil-doer (Matthew 5:45). In left home or brothers or sisters or mother
Galatians 1:2, Paul seems to be using the word in an ethical sense: “wicked,” or or father or children or fields for me and
“evil.” New Testament scholar James D.G. Dunn explains the language here: the gospel will fail to receive a hundred
“So too ‘the present evil age’ presupposes the Jewish apocalyptic schema which times as much in this present age
saw world history as divided into two ages, the present age and the world to (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children
come, and the present age as one dominated by evil, in contrast to the glories of and fields – and with them persecutions)
the future age” (The Epistle to the Galatians, p. 36). and in the age to come, eternal life”
To the extent that we are caught up in the spirit of the times, we are (Mark 10:29-30). Here we see the age
sucked into the darkness – into the evil. As Dunn points out: “Paul certainly to come associated with eternal life.
had no doubts that the present age was marked by corruptibility, superficiality, On another occasion, Jesus is
folly, and blindness…or that humankind as heirs of Adam were caught under answering a question from the
the reign of sin and death (Romans v.12-21; I Cor. xv.20-2).” Sadducees, who did not believe there
Ours is an age in which “all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” would be a resurrection. They tried to
(Romans 3:23). In our time: “God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see trick him by asking a hypothetical
if there are any who understand, any who seek God. Everyone has turned away, they question about whose wife a woman
have together become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalm who had had multiple marriages would
8
be in the resurrection (Luke 20:27-33). Jesus’ reply again reflects his belief in This age is an age of darkness
the “two age” model: “Jesus replied, ‘The people of this age marry and are given in in which sin and death reign supreme
marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in that age and in the over the human realm. The antidote to
resurrection of the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no the toxin of sin is divine grace, freely
longer die, or they are like the angels. They are God’s children, since they are the offered and gratefully received. The
children of the resurrection” (Luke 20:34-36). age to come will be an age of spiritual
Now Jesus explains how some will come to have eternal life – through a light, a Messianic age in which the
resurrection. wisdom of this sorry world will
vaporize and God’s Torah (Instruction)
Two Ages in Paul’s Writings will usher forth from Zion.
We have already seen that Paul refers to the present age as “evil” (Galatians For those of us who have been
1:4). For Paul, this is the age of mortality and physical death (I Corinthians called, this is our day of salvation. It is
15:20-22). It is “in Adam” that our mortality is assured. As the unknown writer a time to preach the good news that
of Hebrews wrote: “It is appointed unto men once to die...” (Hebrews 9:27a). Yet, the condition of darkness and death
after this death, there is another time – another “age” in which judgment will will not last forever. God has sent his
occur (vs.27b). Anointed One into the darkness to
In Paul’s view, the vaunted wisdom of this age – even at its zenith – is bring it light. He is light, life and
mere foolishness in contrast to the wisdom of God: “Where is the wise man? freedom for a world in bondage to sin.
Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish The age to come will be the Messianic
the wisdom of the world?” (I Corinthians 1:20). The world’s “wisdom” often leads Age, the time of the Second Adam (I
away from God instead of toward Him. Even today, our children may enter our Corinthians 15:45). Jesus is a “life-
“great” universities as Christians and graduate as atheists or agnostics. A few giving Spirit.” When his redemptive
verses later, Paul returns to the idea of this world’s relative foolishness: work is done: “…then the saying that is
“We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the written will come true: ‘Death has been
wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. No, we swallowed up in victory. Where, O death,
speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for is our victory? Where, O death, is your
our glory before the world began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if sting?’” (I Corinthians 15:54-55).
they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (I Corinthians 2:6-8). At some point, this present evil age
Ours is an age of folly when it comes to the things of God. It takes will come to an end and a new age will
humility to grasp such spiritual wisdom. Spiritually speaking, the world dawn. Life, as it unfolds on this planet, is
languishes in a state of blindness (II Corinthians 4:4). The light of the Gospel is truly “a tale of two ages.”
unable to penetrate the darkness that characterizes the age.
Written by Brian Knowles
This is the age of the “first Adam.” It is a time that is experiencing the
“reign of death” as a result of sin: “…so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also
grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Gems…
Lord” (Romans 5:21). Because all have sinned (Romans 3:23), all are subject to
the “wages of sin” which is death (Romans 6:23). In this age, sin reigns by Be ye fishers of men. You catch them
consigning all of us to eternal damnation. The natural state of mankind in this and He’ll clean them.
age is “dead in sins” (Ephesians 2:5). In the age to come, the grace of God will
kick in and those who have accepted Christ in this time will be resurrected to
eternal life. It will be the age of the “Second Adam” – the one who never sinned. I am only one. But still, am one. I
cannot do everything but I can do
Two Ages in Jewish Literature
Jesus and Paul’s model of the two ages is also found and confirmed throughout something. And because I cannot do
Jewish literature. Two apocalyptic works feature it: 4 Ezra and 2 Baruch. Both everything, I will not refuse to do the
of these works were written following the destruction of Jerusalem by the something that I can do –Edward
Romans in 70 AD, but the thinking reflected in them is the natural outworking Everett Hale
of a long tradition that may have its beginnings in the book of Daniel (Chapters
II & VII). In the Qumran documents, we find references to the present age as
“the time of wickedness” (CD VI:10, 14; XII:23; XV:7 etc.). We read of battles
between “the sons of darkness” and the “sons of light.” If you want to work for the kingdom
Paul certainly shared the view that the world exists in a state of of God, and to bring it, and enter into
darkness: Romans 13:12; Ephesians 5:8, 1l; 6:12; Colossians 1:13.
it, there is just one condition to be first
The apostle Peter viewed Christians as “a people” separated out of the
darkness of this age and introduced to spiritual light: “But you are a chosen people, accepted. You must enter into it as
a royal priesthood, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him children, or not at all—John Ruskin
who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (I Peter 2:9).

9
 "So shall it be at the end of the world [Greek: "consummation of the age"]: the
angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked from among the just,
The Kingdom "And shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth" (Matthew 13:47-50).

Parables The Parable of the Sower also shows a

division will be made between the
"children of the wicked one" and the
"children of the Kingdom." When His
disciples came to Him privately,
Jesus described what His following His delivery of this lengthy
Kingdom was like by parable after parable, they asked:
parable. He showed His disciples
the universality of His coming "Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
Kingdom, showed how it would
finally fill the whole earth, just like "He answered and said unto them, He that sows the good seed is the Son of man;
the figurative stone mentioned in
Daniel 2:34, 35.
"The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares
are the children of the wicked one.
He said, "The kingdom of heaven is
like unto leaven, which a woman
"The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and
took, and hid in three measures of
the reapers are the angels.
meal until the whole was leavened"
(Matthew 13:33). That the Kingdom
permeates the whole "lump" in this "As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end
parable shows the global nature of of this world.
God's coming Kingdom.
"The Son of man shall send forth His angels, and they shall gather out of His
In showing the priceless value of kingdom all the things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
the way into the Kingdom, Jesus
said, "Again, the kingdom of heaven "And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
is like unto treasure hid in a field; teeth" (Matthew 13:36-42).
the which when a man has found,
he hides, and for joy thereof goes From the joy of first receiving the knowledge of the Kingdom (as in the treasure in
and sells all that he has, and buys the field or the pearl of great price), Jesus progresses through the fact of rejection
that field" (Matthew 13:44). by some, of separation in the judgment and of punishment for those who will not
repent and "enter into the joy" of their Lord. (Continued next page…)
In the parable that follows, Jesus
mentioned the "pearl of great price," Jesus' message was a mixture of "good news and bad news," in a sense. He very
which again illustrates the value of strongly warned of the penalties for rejection, as well as spoke of the joys,
the Kingdom. happiness and rewards for acceptance of His message.

To show that there is judgment Because Jesus knew many people supposed He would immediately set up His
coming; that a separation will occur Kingdom, he spoke the Parable of the Nobleman who "…went into a far country to
between "the children of the receive for himself the kingdom, and to return."
Kingdom" and the ones that are to
be "cast into outer darkness," He In this lengthy parable (Luke 19:12-27), Jesus showed the rewards for overcoming.
said: Ten men were given one pound (a unit of money) apiece. Only three of the 10 ever
return; one gained tenfold, another fivefold, and the third kept his pound wrapped in
"Again, the kingdom of heaven is a napkin.
like unto a net, that was cast into
the sea, and gathered of every kind: The first one received from his master "authority over ten cities." The second
received "authority over five cities." And the pound was stripped away from the third
"which, when it was full, they threw because he did nothing with it. It was given to the one with 10.
it ashore and sat down and
gathered the good into vessels, but No mention is made of the other seven. Are they included in the statement, "But
cast the bad away. those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither,
and slay them before me" (Luke 19:27)?

10
In this parable Jesus shows how to our "own several abilities." Thus, one who does not have as much natural talent
entrance into the Kingdom and or ability is not required to produce as much. One who has much natural talent and
receiving the rewards over and ability is required to produce more. Each one begins equal in the amount of money
above salvation (for both the first given, but different people overcome in different degrees and are rewarded
and the second man enter into the accordingly.
kingdom, but with different
responsibilities) is a lifelong In these and other parables, Jesus is illustrating the governmental aspects of His
process. As in the Parable of the Kingdom. He was showing it is to be global in effect; it has to do with rulership; and
Talents (another denomination of when His Kingdom is finally set up there will be judgment against those who have
money), Jesus shows people being rejected it.
rewarded according to what they do
with what they have. Each is given Many scriptures emphasize the universality of God's coming world rule and the
a reward proportionate to the potential of humankind to inherit that Kingdom (see Revelation 2:26, 3:21). But
degree of his overcoming, his these scriptures do not cancel out the many scriptures already cited (and there are
increase. God judges us according dozens more) concerning the message about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Is God’s Kingdom Inside You?

But Jesus went back to heaven.
The King was gone. Now what?

During His three and a half years

Is God’s Kingdom inside each Christian? Jesus said it is, didn’t He? of ministering on earth, Jesus’
commission was to preach about the
Jesus told the Pharisees, “And when He was demanded of the Pharisees, Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43). Why did
when the Kingdom of God should come, He answered them and said, The He need to preach about it if it was
Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, already among the people?
lo there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you,” Luke 17:20-21.
Recall that Bible prophecy often
James Strong’s first translation of the Greek word for within, entos [G1787] has a future fulfillment. The message of
is inside. But entos is derived from en [G1722] which Dr. Strong identifies first as the gospels is that the King will return,
“A primary preposition denoting (fixed) position (in place, time or state).” It is this not as an infant in a manger, but in
translation that many modern versions use to describe Jesus’ words. great power and glory (Matthew 25:31-
34). He will be the King over all earthly
The Contemporary English Version states, “God’s Kingdom is here with kings, and the Lord over all earthly
you.” The International Standard Version and The Bible in Basic English both lords (Revelation 19:11-16).
say, “the Kingdom of God is among you.” Several others state, “the Kingdom of
God is in your midst” (Darby, LITV, MKJV, RSV). And the popular NIV, although At that time, the future fulfillment of
it uses the preposition within, includes a footnote stating, ‘or among’. the Kingdom of God will take place,
and it won’t only be the Jews who will
Bible prophecy is often dual, having a historical fulfillment, and future be released from centuries of tyranny
fulfillment. We see the historical prophecy of God’s Kingdom when John the Satan’s despots laid on them. The
Baptist cried out, Repent ye, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand Matthew 3:2. entire world will be released from
This was great news to the Jewish people who had been burdened by Roman Satan’s control.
law. But John did not say it is here; simply that it was at hand.
Until that time, what must we be
John called it the Kingdom of heaven, realizing it was not an earthly doing? Jesus commanded His
Kingdom, as Jesus later said, My Kingdom is not of this world John 18:36. He disciples, and Christians today, Go ye
also realized the King would not be an earthly king, but would be sent from into all the world, and preach the
heaven. While John preached about the Kingdom of Heaven, the King was still gospel to every creature, Mark 16:15.
in the wings, waiting to be revealed to the public. The gospel? What gospel? The gospel
is the good news of the coming
When the time came for His entrance on stage, Jesus was able to state, the Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43, 22:18).
Kingdom of God is within you. /by Leslie A. Turvey

Was Jesus inside the Pharisees He was talking with? They knew He wasn’t: Do what you can to further God’s
He was standing there with them. He was, as shown above, in their midst. It was Kingdom, and support those who are
His way of saying, I am the King you’ve been waiting for. doing what you can’t. author Unknown

11
 The Simplicity of the Christian Message
The point and purpose of Christianity has been buried under a mass of theological
tradition. There is general agreement only about the ethical demands of the present
Christian life: a Christian must love and serve his neighbor. But almost nothing at all is
known of the ultimate purpose and goal which Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, intended for
those who follow Him. Contemporary religion, which claims the name of Christ,
has abandoned the purpose of the faith which is clearly spelled out by Jesus in His Gospel
message -- the Gospel about the Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43, etc.).

In the purpose of the faith proclaimed by Jesus lies the very reason for our existence as
individuals. The key to our personal future and that of humanity at large is found in
Jesus' Gospel Message about the Kingdom of God. This is simply the Message of the
Good News that God, in the person of His Son and Agent, Christ, the promised Messiah, intends to establish just government
and universal peace on earth and to grant immortality to those who love Him. The future of the earth, and of the whole
universe, is related to the future of the individual believer in this way: The Kingdom which will be established on earth when
Jesus returns to the earth will be administered by those to whom God grants immortality.

The scheme implied by the Good News of the Kingdom is the very opposite of complex. The mind of a child is required to
grasp it. Jesus said: "Unless you reorient your life and become like little children, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of
God."

To understand the Christian message, words must be taken as any child would take them -- in their natural and normal sense.
The Kingdom of God, about which Jesus spoke constantly, is thus a real Kingdom, a divine government on earth, to be
administered by Christ and the Saints, with a renewed Jerusalem as its capital. Luke 19:11 should be taken as a key to the
whole New Testament: "Because Jesus was near to Jerusalem, they thought that the Kingdom of God was going to appear
immediately." This verse gives us the clue to the meaning of the principal theme of all that Jesus taught. He was expecting to
establish the Kingdom as a worldwide rule on earth.

Much of what goes by the name of theology is no more than an exercise in the evasion of the plain meaning of words, an
excuse for unbelief. The churches have abandoned hope in the Kingdom which Jesus promised would be inaugurated at His
return. It is obvious that the Kingdom has not yet been established. It will be manifested on earth at the (second) Coming of
the Messiah in glory. For this Christians are to pray: "Thy Kingdom come!"

In answer to the very reasonable question as to what His followers might expect to receive in the Coming Age of the Kingdom,
Jesus promised the disciples positions of rulership with Him in the coming Kingdom (Mat. 19:28; Luke 22:28). This promise
was extended to the whole church (1 Cor. 6:2; 2 Tim. 2:12; Rev. 5:10; 3:21; 2:26; 20:1-4). It was the natural confirmation
and clarification of the promise made to Abraham, the Father of the faithful, that he would one day possess the world (Rom.
4:13).

The Kingdom will have Jerusalem as its capital, as foreseen by all the O.T. prophets, and it will be established by a spectacular
divine intervention (Ps. 2), when the process of universal disarmament (Isa. 2) leading to total world peace will begin. The
vision of the world at peace under the government of the Messiah is read annually at Christmas, but few believe it. They have
been persuaded that the promises of universal divine government do not mean what they say. (See, for example, Isaiah 9:6-7;
11:1-9; Zechariah 14:9; Micah 4:7.)

The reason for this is twofold. People have been taught from childhood that the reward of Christianity offered in the Bible is
to depart to a realm "beyond the skies" as a disembodied soul/spirit. Such a notion is completely without foundation in the
12
Scriptures and must be banished from the thinking process before any progress in understanding the New Testament can be
made. The dead according to the Bible are at present all dead, not alive in another place! They are waiting to be resurrected
from the dead! They will then inherit the earth, i.e. the Kingdom of God on earth (Matt. 5:5; Rev. 5:10).

Secondly, it has not been realized that the "everlasting life" promised by the NT properly means "the Life of the Coming
Age." This is a well-known expression used by Jesus and His contemporaries; the restoration of this definition of the goal of
Christianity allows us to understand that the object of the Christian life is not to disappear at the moment of death to another
world: It is to participate through a future resurrection from the dead in the Future Age, the Age of the establishment on earth
of the Kingdom of God. It is everywhere taught in Scripture that the faithful dead are now "sleeping," unconscious in the
grave, awaiting the resurrection to occur at the Coming of Jesus (Dan. 12:2; John 5:28, 29). All the faithful will then share
with Christ in the promised Kingdom.

In the light of this simple scheme, the New Testament can be read with complete understanding, for the facts noted here
represent the presupposition held by the NT writers. The challenge to the reader is one of belief. Jesus' first recorded utterance
in Mark's Gospel is a command to repent (i.e. reorient one's mind and life) and believe the Good News about the Kingdom!
(Mark 1:15) It was when potential converts believed the Good News (Gospel) Message about the Kingdom of God and the
name of Jesus Christ that they were baptized into the faith (Acts 8:12). This is the process by which we are to be initiated into
the faith.

The Gospel of the Kingdom thus confronts each of us as individuals at the moment he receives the proclamation of it by Jesus
or the New Testament Evangelists. Thereafter, his response to the Divine Message is all-important for salvation:

A warning about the danger of ignoring the invitation to the Kingdom of God was given by Jesus: "When anyone hears the
message about the Kingdom (Mat. 13:19) and does not understand it, the devil comes and snatches away the Message which
was sown in his heart so that he may not believe and be saved" (Luke 8:12). by Anthony Buzzard

My Mind to me a Kingdom Is
Some have too much, yet still do crave;
My mind to me a kingdom is, I little have, and seek no more.
Such present joys therein I find, They are but poor, tho much they have,
That it excels all other bliss And I am rich with little store:
That earth affords or grows by kind: They poor, I rich; they beg, I give;
Tho much I want which most would have, They lack, I leave; they pine, I live.
Yet still my mind forbids to crave. My wealth is health and perfect ease;
My conscience clear, my chief defense;
Content to live, this is my stay; I neither seek by bribes to please,
I seek no more than may suffice; Nor by deceit to breed offense:
I press to bear no haughty sway; Thus do I live; thus will I die;
Look, what I lack my mind supplies: Would all did so as well as I!
Lo, thus I triumph like a king, by Edward Dyer, d. 1607
Content with that my mind doth bring.

All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; and third, it is accepted as
self-evident and was always believed to be the thing to do.
by Arthur Schopenhauer

13
Commentary:

A Gospel Without a Future

An identifiable malaise has struck the theological the consequent murder of Jesus’ Gospel of the apocalytic
enterprise. It has to do with the content of the Gospel itself. Kingdom texts, evangelicals who cannot espouse the
From the Jesus Seminar to evangelical tracts a common "scholars’" technique of denying the sacred documents
failure to define Jesus by his Kingdom message is evident. arrive at a similar result by a different method. They decide
Theology at all levels continues to express its unease over to define the Gospel of salvation on a carefully worked
the eschatological, Jewish Jesus who preached a Gospel selective basis. By setting together certain isolated texts,
about a coming Kingdom and judgment. mostly from the letters of Paul, or from one of Peter’s
sermons in Acts (2:22-29), they ignore the massive quantity
Members of the much-publicized "Jesus Seminar" have of Gospel-data provided by the accounts of the life and
determined by vote that most of what Jesus is reported to teaching of Jesus. Thus Paul is made to appear the real
have said in the Gospels never actually passed from his lips. author of the Gospel and the significance of Jesus is reduced
Rather, his over-enthusiastic biographers attributed to him to his death and resurrection. Jesus came, says a popular
their own ideas and turned him into the bearer of Good evangelist in a widely distributed tract, "to do three days
News about the coming Kingdom. The real Jesus of history work — to die, to be buried and to be raised." But this is
— so these scholars say — should be thought of in the obviously not true. It is a serious misrepresentation of the
category of wisdom-teacher, a figure much too calm and Savior’s own sense of his purpose. He declared in Luke
collected to have said anything alarmist or apocalyptic. 4:43 that he had come to "preach the Gospel about the
Kingdom of God: that is the reason why I was
Evangelicals pride themselves on their firm grasp of the commissioned." It was even possible for Jesus to say, before
essentials of the Gospel of Jesus. But an examination of the crucifixion, that he had "completed the work" which the
their writings shows that to a man they steer away from the Father had assigned him (John 17:4). This work was the
awkward fact that Jesus preached as Gospel much more transmission of the Father’s Gospel-Word to the disciples
than a message about his death and resurrection. The who were now charged to preserve and pass it on to others
statistics look like this: There are 25 chapters of Gospel (John 17:6, 8, 20).
preaching (Matt. 3-15; Mark 1-7; Luke 4-8), during which
Jesus and the Apostles take the Gospel to the public, in It ought not to be possible to claim the Great Commission
which not a single word is said of the death and resurrection as one’s marching orders and then to propagate a Gospel
of Jesus. shorn of its most fundamental element — the Kingdom of
God. But this appears to be what evangelicals have done.
The Gospel, on this evidence, stands at that stage without No sooner have they read Matthew 28:19, 20, the Great
the inclusion of any fact about the sacrificial death and Commission, than they leap to their favorite verses in
subsequent resurrection of Jesus. The case can be made Romans and Galatians, forgetting that Paul in his letters
even more impressively if we add that throughout Jesus’ assumes a lot of Gospel information already held by his
entire historical ministry the disciples, even when told, did audience, for whom he was not presenting the Gospel for
not understand what was entailed in the death and the first time.
resurrection of Jesus (see Luke 18:31-34). It follows then
that the Gospel was at first a message about the coming A much sounder procedure would be to consult Luke’s
Kingdom of God (97% of the Synoptic Kingdom texts account of what Message Paul brought to the unconverted
plainly have to do with the inauguration of the Kingdom at world — and here the testimony is more than clear. Paul,
the Parousia) and not about the death and resurrection of faithfully carrying out the mandate of the Great
Jesus. These latter facts were added, after they happened, to Commission to take the very Kingdom Gospel-words of
the existing substratum of the Kingdom Gospel. Thus in Jesus to all nations, proceeded to enter the synagogue and
Acts 8:12 the content of the Gospel put to the convert was continually speak out boldly, "reasoning, arguing and
"the Kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ." persuading about the Kingdom of God" (Acts 19:8).
Summarizing his life’s work for the Ephesian elders Paul
While the Jesus Seminar tames the eschatological, recalled that he had everywhere urged repentance and faith
Kingdom-oriented Jesus by the use of the critical axe and in the Lord Jesus (Acts 20:21). He then supplied a concise
14
definition of what this means. It was a solemn testifying to Jesus perceived it. Luke records from the lips of Jesus that
the "Gospel of the grace of God," in other words "the the Gospel concerns the Kingdom of God. It is this Message
proclamation of the Kingdom" (Acts 20:24, 25). which summarizes the Son’s preaching career (Luke 4:43;
16:16; cp. Acts 8:12; 28:23, 31). The "Roman Road," which
In an effort to impress upon the world forever the nature of falls for the trap of thinking that Paul’s Gospel message can
Paul’s Gospel work, Luke leaves us with a final portrait of be gleaned from a few verses in the epistles, should be
Paul and his typical preaching of salvation. Paul "solemnly scrapped and replaced by "the Jesus’ method" of
testified about the Kingdom of God and tried to persuade evangelism, the announcement of the very Hebrew-based
them about Jesus," using the text of the Hebrew Bible, Gospel of the Kingdom coming. This, of course, will
"from dawn till dusk" (Acts 28:23). The very same involve a much overdue rediscovery of the Hebrew prophets
Kingdom Gospel of salvation was then taken to the Gentiles of Israel, for whose hope Paul, the Christian, was on trial
where Paul expected better results. We leave him in Rome (Acts 24:14; 26:6-8).
"heralding the Kingdom of God and teaching concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered" (Acts God’s Gospel is the Gospel of the Kingdom (Mark 1:14,
28:31). 15). Condensed, shorthand references to "the Gospel" need
to be related always to the "parent" definition of the Gospel
Paul, then, did not just rehearse a few of his own sayings provided by the early chapters of the synoptic Gospels. But
from the epistles in order to convey the saving Message. He that is an area of Scripture which evangelicals and the Jesus
deliberately imitated the Gospel preaching of the historical Seminar dismiss, the latter by critical excision and the
Jesus in fulfillment of the Great Commission. In fact, just as former by an uncanny avoidance of the plain, simple and
Jesus had "welcomed the people and begun speaking about obvious.
the Kingdom of God" (Luke 9:11), Paul "welcomed all who
came to him and heralded the Gospel of the Kingdom" It seems most odd to raise the banner of the Great
(Acts 28:30, 31). The same cannot be said of modern Commission in Matthew 28:19, 20 where Jesus says
evangelists who have dropped the phrase "Gospel of the "Preach my Gospel" to everyone, Jew and Gentile, and then
Kingdom" from their vocabularies. to skip the beginning of the teaching of Jesus entirely and
take a gospel from individual verses in Paul, neglecting the
There is a very great danger that major elements of the critically important Gospel definition provided by Paul (in
Gospel can be eliminated if we rely on condensed Acts 20:25). If the Christian church is serious about
statements from Paul’s epistles. The method is flawed and following Jesus and teaching everything he commanded, it
the Gospel is distorted. Elements of the Gospel which do would be common sense and sound theological method to
not fit into the "received" account of the Gospel ("what we turn over one page from Matthew 28:19, 20 and seek out the
have always preached") are quietly ignored and discarded. very first command of Jesus: "Repent and believe God’s
Gospel about the Kingdom" — a message which at that
As if to anticipate the catastrophic loss of Jesus’ own stage contained not a word about the death and resurrection
Gospel Matthew, when he uses the noun "Gospel" of Jesus, added later.
(evangellion), always qualifies and defines it as the "Gospel
about the Kingdom" (Matt. 4:23; 9:35; 24:14). In a verse Let Jesus’ Gospel of the Kingdom be "A." Let the sacrificial
designed before all others to lay out the quintessential death and resurrection be "B." What business do
Gospel, Mark records that Jesus urged the public to "Repent evangelicals have substituting a part for the whole,
and believe the Gospel of the Kingdom" (Mark 1:14, 15). separating "A" from "B" instead of adding "B" to "A" (as in
This is a programmatic summary of the Christian faith as Acts 8:12), and then starting with "A"?/Anthony Buzzard

Mixing Religion And Patriotism

The early Christians abhorred and attacked this mixture of the religious and the patriotic. They detested any State religion
that forced back God’s rule; they loathed all religiosity influenced by the politics of the moment, and fought against any
veneration of the existing power structure. This included any political system with a religious emphasis. These were to be
regarded as the inheritance of Babylon, the works of sin and demonism. They were nothing short of the devil’s state and the
service of Satan. It was therefore inevitable that in return the state would accuse these people of high treason, of being the
enemies of civilization.

Source: “The Early Christian” edited by Eberhard Arnold

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 The Kingdom of God

101
At this stage in my life, I am no longer trying to solve the world’s knottiest theological problems. I’ll leave that to younger,
more confident people who truly believe they can accomplish what theologians have not been able to achieve for the last two
millennia. These days I’m into basics.

Of course I realize that one man’s basics are another man’s heresy. The point is; I have to work out my own salvation
with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12). I am accountable to the Lord for what I believe, conclude, teach and practice. When I
stand before the judgment seat of God, I’ll be alone. I won’t be able to take “the Eichmann clause” – i.e. “I was only following
orders.” I’ll be utterly on my own; hence the fear and trembling.

My Bible tells me that the first thing I ought to be doing is seeking the kingdom of God and God’s righteousness –
whatever that means (Matthew 6:33). Dr. Roy Blizzard and David Bivin, teachers in whom I have confidence, write “the
concept of ‘kingdom’ is perhaps the most important spiritual concept in the New Testament.’ If it’s that important, and if the
Lord said I ought to be seeking it first, I’d better learn what it means. (Understanding the Difficult Words of Jesus by David
Bivin and Roy Blizzard, p. 64.)

“Kingdom” in Jesus’ Usage

As the same authors also write, “In English or Greek, ‘kingdom’ is never verbal. It is something static, something to do with
territory” (ibid.) That’s what I long believed. I was always taught that there were four prerequisites for a kingdom: a king,
subjects, laws and territory. Since Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” I believed that the absence of territory meant
that the kingdom was exclusively future. Only when Messiah takes over the kingdoms of this world will the kingdom be here
on earth. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Kingdom is both now and future.

Bivin and Blizzard continue to explain: “…in Hebrew, ‘kingdom’ is active, it is action. It is God ruling in the lives of
men. Those who are ruled by God are the Kingdom of God” (ibid.).

They continue: “’Kingdom’ is also the demonstration of God’s rule through miracles, signs, and wonders. Wherever
the power of God is demonstrated, there is His ‘Kingdom.’ ‘Kingdom’ as the demonstration of God’s power is echoed every
week in the Sabbath prayers in the synagogue: ‘Your sons saw Your Kingdom as You split the Red Sea before Moses.’ How
can one see God’s Kingdom? It is only possible when ‘kingdom’ is correctly understood as something which is verbal and not
static. We see God’s Kingdom when we see him in action. In the same way, people saw the Kingdom when they saw Jesus
in action. This is what Jesus meant when he said: ‘But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the Kingdom of
God has come upon you’ (Luke 11:20)”(ibid.).

To place the Kingdom of God exclusively in the future is to miss utterly the point of many of Jesus’ teachings. It is a
fundamental theological error. Jesus used the term “kingdom” to describe those who followed him. Jesus taught His talmidim
(disciples) to demonstrate the kingdom wherever they ministered. He instructed, “Whenever you enter a town and you are
accepted…heal the sick of that town and tell them, ‘The Kingdom of God is here!’ (Luke 10:8-9).”

Bivin and Blizzard continue to explain: “It is necessary to paraphrase the disciples’ proclamation (just three words in
Hebrew) in order to maintain its force in English: ‘You have seen God in action. Through us God is now ruling here. Satan
has been defeated. The miracles you have just witnessed are proof of it.’ The disciples words were verified by the miracles
God performed” (ibid. pp. 54-65).

When we understand the Kingdom of God as something that is manifested in the present as well as in the future,
many of the teachings of Jesus are cast in a different light. His “kingdom parables,” of which there are many, must be viewed
in the light of Hebraic, rather than English or Greek, usage. After all, Jesus was a Jew who spoke Hebrew to his disciples.
And while there is a futuristic element to the Kingdom, the main thrust concerns the present. For the Church, the Kingdom is
now. That’s why the author of Hebrews could talk about the Church experiencing in the present the “powers of the coming
age” now (Hebrews 6:5).

That’s also why Paul could write, “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with
a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (I Corinthians
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2:4). Paul didn’t just throw words at people; he demonstrated the reality of the Kingdom of God by doing the same things
Jesus did when he preached the Gospel. That’s why it was sometimes called “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God.” When the
Gospel, truly preached, breaks into the darkness of this world it sets up a power encounter with opposing spiritual forces. The
Gospel is the antidote to the spiritual poison that is sickening this “present evil world.” Satan doesn’t appreciate the
administration of that “medicine.” He fights back. When a soul is won for the Kingdom of God, it is lost to his kingdom. Paul
puts it vividly when he writes of the Church, “For he [God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into
the kingdom of the Son he loves” (Colossians 1:13).

We are now subjects of that divine Kingdom. That’s why we can be called “ambassadors for Christ” (II Corinthians
5:20). We represent his Kingdom in the midst of the present darkness. We go forth into a world overcome by spiritual
sickness armed with his message, his power, and his love. We are part of the God’s “kingdom of light” (Colossians 1:12). As
the “light of the world” we find ourselves engaging the forces of darkness. It is these “power encounters” that result in
miraculous healings, deliverances and even occasional resurrections. As kingdom subjects, we are helping our King, Jesus
Christ, redeem the world. We are his assistants in preaching the Gospel, healing the sick and evicting the demons that have
established strongholds in people’s lives. We are light, driving back the darkness that engulfs this world.

To preach the true Gospel is to set up a clash of kingdoms. It is to lift the veil of deception that Satan has cast over
the world (Revelation 12:9). It is to say to a hopeless world, lost in sin, “There is hope. God is here for you. God loves you.
God wishes to make you whole, and to heal all of the damage that Satan has done. God has no desire that anyone should
ultimately perish or that any should remain sick. He has made a way to save you and that way is Jesus Christ. Accept him,
and your life will turn around. Accept and obey him and you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repent of your old way of life
and turn to a new one – a godly one.”

In turning to God, we may discover that we were more entangled in the Satanic web than we had realized. Like a fly
trying to escape the deadly grip of a spider’s web, we may realize that we need access to supernatural power to break free.
Such power is available in the form of God’s Holy Spirit. When we seek to obey God, God grants us his Spirit as
empowerment to do so (Acts 5:32). The early Church was filled with such power (Acts 1:8). The modern Church is a mixed
bag. Because we have not understood the nature of the Kingdom of God, we have not always had access to the power that
manifests it. We have preached a powerless Gospel. Instead of operating in Kingdom power, we have pushed the Kingdom
far into the future. It is time that the Church came to understand the truth about the Kingdom of God./by Brian Knowles

Sharing the Good News!

Some have the idea that all you We came into the world without commandments and teach men to do
have to do to save the lost is build a anything, and we will leave the world so, he will be the least in the kingdom
building or put out a sign and the lost without anything, yet we can build up of heaven. But who ever will do and
will flock in to be saved. But that is treasures in heaven that can never be teach them, that same person will be
not how it happens. taken away. called great in the kingdom of heaven.

Christians are called to share their Psalm 51:13 I will teach Mark 16:15-16 Go into all the world
faith in hope with others, becoming transgressors your ways, and sinners and preach the gospel to every
disciples, and in turn bringing in will be converted to you. creature. He that believes and is
others to a relationship with the Lord. baptized will be saved, but he that
We are all called to serve in sharing Ezekiel 3:18-19; 33:8-9 When I say does not believe will be damned.
our faith to the world as ambassadors, to the wicked, you will surely die and
and as lights to a dark world, in all we you do not warn him, or speak to John 15:2-5 Every branch in me that
say and do. Each of us can expect to warn the wicked to change his way to beareth not fruit he taketh away: and
be rewarded according to our works save his life; the wicked will die in his every branch that beareth fruit, he
here, now in this life. iniquity, but his blood I will require at purgeth it, that it may bring forth
your hand. But if you warn the more fruit.... Abide in me, and I in
Read the parable of the talents in wicked, and he does not turn from his you. As the branch cannot bear fruit
Luke 19:11-26. wicked way, he will die in his iniquity, of itself, except it abide in the vine; no
and you will have delivered your soul. more can ye, except ye abide in me. I
We need a sense of urgency in our am the vine, ye are the branches: He
lives, for we now live in the last days. Matthew 5:17-19 (Jesus said) that abideth in me, and I in him, the
Whoever will break the least of the same bringeth forth much fruit: for
17
without me ye can do nothing. ye not know that they which minister of his way will save a soul from death,
about holy things live of the things of and hide a multitude of sins.
John 15:6 If a man abide not in me, the temple? and they which wait at the
he is cast forth as a branch, and is altar are partakers with the altar? Read the parable in Luke 12:42
withered; and men gather them, and Even so hath the Lord ordained that regarding who is a wise and faithful
cast them into the fire, and they are they which preach the gospel should steward.
burned. live of the gospel. But I have used
none of these things: neither have I We are also instructed in l Peter 3:15
Romans 10:14-15 How then will they written these things, that it should be and 4:11 to always be ready to give
call on him that they have not so done unto me: for it were better for answer, and let it be from the oracles
believed? And how will they believe in me to die, than that any man should of God.
him whom they have not heard of? make my glorying void. For though I
And how will they hear without a preach the gospel, I have nothing to We all can share the Good News in
preacher? And how will they preach glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; some way, be it in personal contacts,
unless they are sent? As it is written, yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not mailing out pamphlets, via the
How beautiful are the feet of them that the gospel! For if I do this thing internet, or other ways. What way
preach the gospel of peace, and bring willingly, I have a reward: but if would you feel most comfortable
glad tidings of good things! against my will, a dispensation of the with? Do it!
gospel is committed unto me. What is
1 Corithians 9:7-18 Who goeth a my reward then? Verily that, when I Remember that the church (the body
warfare any time at his own charges? preach the gospel, I may make the of believers) has many tasks, but only
who planteth a vineyard, and eateth gospel of Christ without charge, that I one mission.
not of the fruit thereof? or who abuse not my power in the gospel.
feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the Matthew 28: 19-20 Go therefore and
milk of the flock? 1 Corinthians 15:58 Therefore make disciples of all the nations,
Say I these things as a man? or saith beloved brethren be steadfast, baptizing them in the name of the
not the law the same also? For it is unmovable, always alive in the work Father and of the Son and of the Holy
written in the law of Moses, Thou of the Lord, for your labor is not in Spirit, teaching them to observe all
shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox vain. things that I have commanded you;
that treadeth out the corn. Doth God and lo, I am with you always, even to
take care for oxen? Or saith he it 2 Timothy 4:2-5 Preach the word, be the end of the age. Amen.
altogether for our sakes? For our urgent in good season, in bad season;
sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he chasten, reprimand, urge with While doing it, let us not forget the
that ploweth should plow in hope; and longsuffering and doctrine ... be following insightful admonition from
that he that thresheth in hope should watchful in all things, endure apostle Paul:
be partaker of his hope. afflictions, doing the work of an
If we have sown unto you spiritual Evangelist, making full evidence of
Colossians 4:5-6 Walk in wisdom
your ministry.
toward them that are without,
things, is it a great thing if we shall
redeeming the time. Let your speech
reap your carnal things? James 5:19-20 Brethren if any of you be always with grace, seasoned with
If others be partakers of this power err from the truth, and someone salt, that ye may know how ye ought
over you, are not we rather? converts him, let him know, that he to answer every man.
Nevertheless we have not used this which converts the sinner from the err
power; but suffer all things, lest we
should hinder the gospel of Christ. Do

That’s Not My Job!

This is a story about four people; Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry with
that, because it was Everybody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it but Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn’t
do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done. Anonymous

18
 THE GREATEST CAREER OPPORTUNITY OF ALL TIME —

FOR YOU!

Stop and listen!

We have some spectacularly good news for you and your family. Some time in the future, Jesus of Nazareth is going to
become the world’s first successful super-ruler. He will totally reorganize human society, and produce the peace on earth
which we all want.

Under Jesus’ government, there will be no more wars, no more famine; no more murder, rape or theft; no more alcoholism
and depression; no more divorce, and no more poverty.

Does this sound too good to be true? God, the Creator of all things, has personally promised that a Golden Age for all
mankind will come. He has been promising it since He first placed man on our earth. The arrival of that era of glorious peace
and prosperity is guaranteed.

What you have just been told is the heart of the Christian Gospel. Very probably you have not heard it before.

Nearly 2,000 years ago, Jesus came to announce the dramatically important good news concerning the future divine
government on earth. He is coming back to take up His office as world super-ruler — and He is now recruiting men and
women to assist Him in the administration of His coming Kingdom. He wants you to be a ruler in that Kingdom.

What a tragedy if you were to allow this greatest of all career opportunities to pass you by. You can so easily neglect the
information you have just been given. But don’t do it. Do yourself and your family a favor. Check up on the facts. We might
just have given you the greatest piece of Truth you have ever heard!

There was a time when we did not know that Jesus wants to train men and women now for positions in the world government
of the coming New Age on earth. When we found out, our lives were radically changed. We want to share with you what we
have discovered about the Christian Gospel — the Good News about God’s coming world government.

If you will contact us at the address below, we will point you to the source of our information. You will then be able to find
out for yourself that what we have been saying is true.

Don’t delay. Don’t brush us aside. Remember, God wants you to help administer a world government with His Son Jesus,
when He comes back.

There could be no greater honor. It is high time for you to be preparing, with God’s help, for that position of responsibility.
Your training will entail tests and trials to ensure that your character and integrity are beyond suspicion. God does not intend
to allow corrupt rulership to continue anywhere on earth once His Son comes into office.

Act now! Find out more about the Christian Good News. Peace is coming. And you can help to bring it about.

If you do not wish God’s Kingdom, don’t pray for it. But If you do, you must do more than pray for it; you must work
for it. –John Ruskin

19
From the Publisher:
Dear friends:
Who Are We?

This is the third issue of the Mustard Seed Newsletter, The Mustard Seed Newsletter is published free by The
bringing with it the most urgent subject of the time, the Mustard Seed Evangelistic Association –an affiliated
Good News of Jesus the Christ. association that has committed itself to the publishing of the
Gospel that Jesus Christ preached and as recorded for us
Perhaps this is not the first time you have heard about in the Holy Scriptures. This goal is to be within the
some “good news” talked about, maybe you have heard framework of the Commission set forth to His believers and
it dozens or possibly hundreds of times. But what really followers to "go and make disciples of all nations ...
is it? Do you have a say over it—would you care to teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you"
know? (Matthew 28:19-20). It is our hope that the Mustard Seed
and its future publications will become a resource and
With the myriads of competing religions, vehicle for our readers to come to know and understand
denominations and churches out there trying to show and true meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ—the
you what this ‘good news’ is all about, it would be Kingdom of God. You are invited to join us in this exciting
utterly confusing and discouraging, let alone grasp the and marvelous work!
REAL message—the true and lasting good behind the
tidings that it brings!

We hope that the theme for this month’s issue, written

by seasoned writers within the churches of God
community, will provide you fresh insight and urgency
on this subject.

The Holy Scriptures enjoins all of us to search as the

Bereans did (Acts 17:11) and prove all things and to "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and
hold fast to that which is good (I Thes. 5:21). sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is
grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of
It is our earnest prayer that through the essays offered the air come and nest in its branches."
here, you will find the help and understanding you Matthew 13:31-32
need. And may our God give us not only the courage to
heed its many challenges but to also find ways of doing For your question and/or comment, email us at
mseedwork@yahoo.com/ Raul deAsis Hipe/Publisher

it, thereby fulfilling the Commission in our circle of

influence and opportunity! For your questions and
additional materials, please feel free to communicate
with us—there is no cost or follow-up.

Sincerely,

Raul deAsis Hipe

I will stand my watch

And set myself on the rampart,
And watch to see what He will say to me,
And what I will answer when I am reproved.
Then the LORD answered me and said:
“Write the vision
And make it plain on tablets,
That he may run who reads it.” Habakkuk 2:1-2
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