New Testament Kingdom Passages
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It is worth taking at least a little time to see from the scriptures how often Christ and the apostles talked about the kingdom of God. Here are just a few passages. Also, notice how often the message of the kingdom is accompanied by healings:
“And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of theKINGDOM, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people” (Matt. 4:23).
“And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the KINGDOM, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people” (Matt. 9:35).
“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD; And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel” (Mark 1:14-15).
“And He said unto them, I must preach the KINGDOM OF GOD to other cities also: for therefore am I sent” (Luke 4:43).
“And it came to pass afterward, that He went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the KINGDOM OF GOD: and the twelve were with Him” (Luke 8:1).
“Then He called His twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and tocure diseases. And He sent them to preach theKINGDOM OF GOD, and to heal the sick” (Luke 9:1-2).
“And they departed, and went through the towns, preaching the gospel, and healing every where” (Luke 9:6).
“And the people, when they knew it, followed Him: and He received them, and spoke unto them of theKINGDOM OF GOD, and healed them that had need ofhealing” (Luke 9:11).
“Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go you and preach the KINGDOM OF GOD” (Luke 9:60).
“After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them…into every city and place, whither He Himself would come…heal the sick that are therein, and say unto them, The KINGDOM OF GOD is come nigh unto you” (Luke 10:1, 9).
“To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to theKINGDOM OF GOD” (Acts 1:3).
Mystery Of The Ages
So far our focus has been on Mr. Armstrong’s constant theme in co-worker letters of how the gospel was the KINGDOM OF GOD. You saw that he never added anything else to what was always an unwavering description. He repeated these references because he wanted God’s people, as well as all those who were contributing to the Work (many thousands of co-workers), to never lose this focus.
Obviously, Mr. Armstrong spoke in many other places about the kingdom. The reader is certainly aware that the final, largest and defining work of his life was the book MYSTERY OF THE AGES, already cited briefly. Time and again in this book he referenced not only the gospel of the kingdom of God, but also more of the history about the raging controversy surrounding what the Bible said was the true gospel. Here are just six more quotes from the book. Read each carefully to gain the fuller picture of what Mr. Armstrong explains:
“On this point the entire world of traditional Christianity has been deceived. Here is a most important truth: Satan sitting on earth’s throne tried to kill the Christ child. He then tried to tempt and disqualify Jesus just before the Christ started his earthly ministry (Matthew 4 ALL). Satan caused the martyrdom of most of the apostles. He caused intensive persecution against the Church. He caused a violent controversy to flare up in the early months and years of the Church disputing whether the gospel to be proclaimed was the gospel OF Christ, or man’s gospel ABOUT Christ. Satan caused the latter to win out, and in less than 20 years a false and counterfeit gospel ABOUT Christ was being proclaimed by all but the persecuted FEW who loyally remained as the small and persecuted true original Church of God.”
pp. 129-130
“[Jesus] came also with a message from God called the gospel. The word gospel means good news. And actually, his gospel—the message sent by him from God—was the good news of the kingdom of God. And the kingdom of God, as we shall see, is to be the restoration of the government of God over the earth and the ousting of Satan from that throne.
“Prior to the begettal and birth of Jesus, God had said to his mother-to-be, Mary, by his angel: ‘And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of hisKINGDOM there shall be no end’ (Luke 1:31-33). His gospel was the good news of that kingdom—the kingdom of God.
“Now another vital prophecy. In Isaiah 9:6-7: ‘For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.’ Notice the government would be on his shoulder. Jesus is going to be King over all the earth. And one of the purposes of his coming was to announce that kingdom. Jesus’ gospel was not only good news—it was an announcement or good news proclamation of the coming kingdom of God. What a tragedy that a ‘traditional Christianity’ has forsaken and lost that vital and glorious gospel message and substituted their own gospel about the person of Christ.”
“His human birth was the arrival of the ‘second Adam.’ He had come 1) to qualify, where the first Adam failed, to replace the former archangel Lucifer on the THRONE OF THE EARTH, ruling with the GOVERNMENT OF GOD. He had come 2) to announce the future establishment of the KINGDOM OF GOD and teach that prophetic good news (gospel) to his chosen future apostles. He had come 3) to take on himself, as our direct Creator, the penalty for our sins by his death on the cross—that we might share in that world. And he had come 4) to be resurrected from the dead by God, making possible ETERNAL GOD-LIFE for the people of God and after his Second Coming for all who are willing, of all humanity, who have ever lived on this earth. And he had come 5) to establish GOD’S CHURCH, to be trained to rule under him.”
Ibid., pp. 209-211, 215
“We read of it in Mark 1 ALL. Mark chapter 1: ‘The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ the Son of God...Jesus came into Galilee, preaching [proclaiming, teaching] the gospel of the KINGDOM OF GOD, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel’ (Mark 1:1,14-15).
“And, from Matthew, ‘And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom’ (Matt. 4:23).
“This prophetic message (gospel) of the KINGDOM OF GOD will be explained in detail in Chapter 7. It was the GOOD NEWS of the future establishment on earth of the GOVERNMENT OF GOD, restored and administered by the divineGOD FAMILY—the KINGDOM OF GOD, to replace the present evil world of Satan.
“Jesus’ proclaiming of this amazing future NEWS—combined with his miracles of healing, turning water into wine and others, caused great excitement. [Author’s note: Notice that miracles, obviously including healings, are separate from the gospel.] Immense crowds followed him and his disciples. He was teaching his disciples to become the future apostles, while he preached this message to the public.”
Ibid., pp. 222-223
“Satan is a great COUNTERFEITER! He appears as ‘an angel of light’ (II Cor. 11:13-15). And he has his counterfeitCHURCHES! His ministers are deceived by him into believing they are ‘ministers of righteousness’ and of Christ (II Cor. 11:15; Matt. 24:5).
“‘But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him...For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works’ (II Cor. 11:3-4, 13-15).
“Notice these deceived but false churches believe they are the true church, and their ministers ‘are transformed as the ministers of righteousness’—in other words, appear to be the true ministers of Jesus Christ. And indeed, many of them may be entirely sincere, being themselves deceived. Yet they have neither known nor preached Jesus’ true Gospel of THE KINGDOM OF GOD (Matt. 24:14). Nor do they comprehend what is written in this book about the CHURCH OF GOD!” [Author’s note: What a powerful message in this paragraph for those who will heed.]
Ibid., pp. 250-251
“For that training—that spiritual development of God’s CHARACTER, God has given his Church a DUALresponsibility:
“1) ‘Go ye into all the world’ and proclaim the GOOD NEWS—announcement—of the coming kingdom of God.
“2) ‘Feed my sheep.’ [Author’s note: There is no third commission! The Ezekiel Warning is part of the First Commission at the end of the age.]
“But in FEEDING the ‘sheep,’ developing in them God’s spiritual CHARACTER, God has given them THEIR PART in supporting, backing up, the great commission: ‘Go ye into all the world.’
“This first and great commission was given to the apostles. To a lesser extent evangelists were used in carrying forth the message. Other leaders—ordained ministers—were stationary, yet even the local pastor of a church may hold evangelistic services in his area—not the ‘soul-saving crusade’ type, but lectures ANNOUNCING andPROCLAIMING as a witness the coming KINGDOM OF GOD (the true gospel)!
“This ENTIRE GREAT COMMISSION—proclaiming the GOOD NEWS of the coming kingdom, and ‘feeding the sheep’—is a COMBINED administration and function of the Church.”
Ibid., pp. 265-266
“It seems that today all churches have lost the gospel of Jesus Christ. They preach primarily their gospel ABOUT Jesus Christ.
“Jesus Christ came preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Yet few preach about the kingdom of God today, for they have lost all knowledge of what it is! But does any, except God’s true Church, proclaim the true gospel of the kingdom of God today?
“A prominent evangelist said to a worldwide radio audience that the gospel of the kingdom of God is not for us today. Some denominations proclaim a ‘gospel of grace’, some what they call a ‘gospel of salvation’; most a gospel about Christ; some a social gospel; some the ‘Science of Mind’ or ‘Religious Science.’” [Author’s note: Take note of the reference to the “social gospel” for later.]
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