|
|
We need your support. Help us to continue with our work!
Click this button for |
|
We need your support. Help us to continue with our work!
Click this button for |
|
We need your support. Help us to continue with our work!
Click this button for |
|
We need your support. Help us to continue with our work!
Click this button for |
THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM (IDENTITY) WHAT IS IT?By Pastor J. A. Lovell OFTEN WE ARE ASKED and we are certain that you members of our congregation are asked just what we teach here and just what we believe. People wonder just wherein our church is different to that of others and wherein our teachings are different. We always assure such people that basically our church teachings are the same as those of all evangelical Christian groups for we believe in communion, water baptism, being born again, church government, and church doctrine just like all evangelical groups believe in. But we go further in differentiating our work from that of the average denominational group in that we proclaim with great emphasis the neglected but important gospel of the Kingdom. Just because we use the word "Kingdom" we are not to be confused with the group known as Jehovah's Witnesses. We do not wish to reflect on this group, because in the group are many fine Christian people, but we want to keep the records straight. In the main members of this group do not believe in saluting the flag or serving in our armed forces. They do not believe that Jesus Christ will return in person to this earth and take the throne of His father David and rule over this literal earthly Kingdom in person. We of course strongly teach the national message of the Bible, thus causing people to be patriotic loving their flag and saluting it, gladly serving in the armed forces, and respecting our great republic. We also believe of course, as the Bible plainly teaches, that Jesus will return in bodily personal form and will take over a literal throne ruling over a literal Kingdom here on earth, and that it will be in the not too distant future. You members may feel, particularly some of you who have been in our congregation for eleven years, that it is not necessary to spend the time in bringing a message of this nature, because you are also familiar with the teachings pertaining to the gospel of the Kingdom. Well let us put it this way - could YOU give a clear-cut well defined five or ten minute explanation, upon being asked by your friends and neighbors or religious people, members of other denominations just what the gospel of the Kingdom is? If you cannot, then you NEED this message. If you can we are dead certain that a bit of repetition will not hurt you in fact, refreshing your memory concerning these sacred things may do you good! So we repeat the message we are bringing, no doubt is familiar. But be, cause it is so pitifully neglected and unknown by the average body of religious people and because it is so very important we are bringing this address in which we are stressing the component parts of the gospel of the Kingdom. Some have asked us just why we want to be different to other churches by preaching the gospel of the Kingdom. They contend that we should only proclaim the gospel of personal salvation and NOTHING else. Well the answer is simple. In the first place we want to follow Jesus, and Jesus certainly gave His listeners a well rounded spiritual diet by touching on virtually all matters that pertain to the citizens of the Kingdom of God and their welfare. In the second place we want to follow Jesus in another way, in that we want to teach all of the Bible, for Jesus certainly taught the Old Testament as well as giving out portions of the New Testament. He quoted from the Old Testament many, many times and yet the average pastor of the usual denominational churches today never quote from the Old Testament at all. Furthermore we proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom, for the word "gospel" means good news, thus the gospel of the Kingdom is GOOD NEWS concerning the Kingdom of God on earth, the citizens of that Kingdom, laws pertaining to that Kingdom, the throne in the midst of that Kingdom, and most of all, the thrilling, glorious news of the return of the King to take over that Kingdom in the near future. Thus we are told to "SEEK YE FIRST the Kingdom of God." Now, we cannot rightly obey this Biblical adjunct unless we do put the Kingdom of God before anything else. Furthermore we are told "this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached." If this important message is to be preached then should we not get in on the ground floor obey our Lord, become a part of His program and do our part in proclaiming this mighty and important gospel? Now as we break the gospel of the Kingdom down into its component parts, let us examine these things to see how important it is that we proclaim these precious truths. The Kingdom of God is the most important thing in all the world! Do you know of anything more enduring, stable, dependable, wonderful and blessed than the Kingdom of God? Political parties come and go, religious leaders and movements come and go but the Kingdom of God abideth forever. The tragedy is that most church members are being taught that the Kingdom of God is inconsequential and insignificant, that it is either in the sky, in heaven, or in the hearts of people. What a tragedy! These vicious theological errors stem from a superficial reading of the King James translation instead of studying the original language in which the Scriptures were written. They are told that the Bible teaches "My kingdom is not of this world," when actually, in the original it states "My kingdom is not of this world order." The Lord was speaking to His disciples and pointing a finger at the old wicked order of Babylon, filled with injustices, unrighteousness, and wickedness. He declared that His Kingdom was not based on any such principles and did not pro, duce any such results. Again, church members are taught that the Bible is SUPPOSED to state "My kingdom is within you." Actually, in the original this statement is "My kingdom is in your midst." On that occasion the Lord was speaking to the wicked, god, less Pharisees. Surely He wouldn't be telling THEM that the glorious, important, everlasting Kingdom of God, composed of a throne, a race of people, divine laws land, and a King could Possibly be crammed down inside within the stomach of a wicked, pagan Pharisee! If it were to be on the inside of anyone, it would be in the heart of a born-again Spirit-filled believer, such as those who left their fishing nets and tax collecting. jobs and followed Jesus, as the disciples! No, the truth is, the Kingdom of God is literal, visible, earthly and everlasting as the following Scriptures prove: Dan. 2: 44, 45 "And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou sawest. that the stone was. cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter, and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure." Now, let us think for a few moments about God's divine laws. Our modern theologians teach their parishioners to stay away from any group that would emphasize the divine laws of God. They would have their followers treat any group that reveres, believes in and tries to obey the great national and divine laws, statutes, commandments, and judgments of God as though they were a leprous or cancerous group! Their misinformed spiritual leaders would have their members think that the law of God has been DONE AWAY WITH! You might as well try to do away with the sun, or with the air that you breathe, as to do away with the eternal laws of God! What was done away was the law c o n t a i n e d in ORDINANCES these, of course were nailed to the Cross. Jesus, by giving His blood redeemed Israel, saved mankind reconciled the Adamic race, provided for our healing and made possible the elimination of the law contained in ordinances, that is, the law of ritual dealing with the offering of the blood of goats doves and bullocks as a type of the offering Christ would make on the Cross. Surely we all agree that this phase of the law (the law being divided into two great phases, the ecclesiastical and the national) was fulfilled in Christ's death and therefore done away with. However we are not to make the pitiful mistake of thinking that the national laws of the Bible dealing with murder, adultery, diet, military matters, and the soil, were done away with. The truth is Jesus plainly told His hearers that "I am not come to DESTROY the law." Would you like to see the land revitalized and made fertile again? Then put back into operation the divine law of the Lord which calls for the land remaining idle one year out of seven. Would you like to see interest abolished which you have been paying on your automobile, your home and appliances plus the money you have borrowed at the bank? Then be an advocate of the divine law of the Lord which abolishes interest and cancels debts periodically. Would you like to see the evils of integration done away with? Then advocate the practicing of the divine law of the Lord which calls for the segregation of the races, and certainly not the intermarriage of the races. David, a man after God's own heart, did not despise the law of the Lord. Instead, throughout the Psalms he declared that the law of the Lord was perfect, eternal, spiritual, good and unchangeable a part of which we find in the following Psalm: 119: 97-104: 0 how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me, How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to -my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Race. How pitiful it is to talk with the average so-called Bible student and church member only to find that he has become the victim of the greatest religious hoax that has ever been perpetrated upon humanity namely the error that the Jew represents Israel, and that he is God's chosen, covenant people. It would not be so bad if this were just a harmless hoax but the tragedy is, it has done untold harm in the minds of thinking people, causing them to play up to a race of murderers and moneychangers, who have done great harm in America and Britain, in Jesus' day, and throughout history. There is not one place in the Bible where we are told that the Jew is God's chosen people. The word "Jew" isn't mentioned in the Bible until 11 Kings, 16th chapter, 6th verse. This means, then, of course, that Abraham, who is called a Hebrew in the Scriptures, was not a Jew and was never called a Jew. Isaac was not a Jew; Jacob was not a Jew; his twelve sons were not Jews; Moses was not a Jew; David was not a Jew; Jesus was not a Jew, rather was a Judean, and His father was God; even Paul was not a Jew, but was a Benjamite. The Scriptures were not written by Jews but by Israelites instead. The Israelites, now the Anglo-Saxons and those of European descent, are the covenant chosen people of God the elect race with whom God made the covenants. Throne. In the following Scriptures, we find a covenant God made with David. It is an unconditional immutable unchangeable covenant. Please read its provisions carefully: 11 Sam. 7:12-16: And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes. of the children of men: But my mercy shall not depart from him, as I took from Saul, whom I put away before thee.. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established forever. Having read the preceding verses carefully, you learned that this promise rests solidly upon God's own oath, character, and almighty power, and deals with the perpetuity of three things: the literal throne on which David sat and on which Solomon would sit, the literal kingdom over which David had ruled and a literal dynasty of kings coming from David's loins and remaining intact until Jesus, the greater Son of David, would come to take over that Kingdom and throne. God said before the terms of this covenant would fail, the sun would be blacked out and the water of the ocean would be dried up. In other words. He reminded David that as long as there was a sun, moon stars, and oceans, just that long there would be the terms of this great covenant God made with David in effect, which meant there would always be a Kingdom of God on earth, the throne of the Lord in the midst of that Kingdom and someone from the loins of David sitting on that throne ruling and reigning over the literal Kingdom of God on earth. That Kingdom of God which was begun at Sinai, 1491 B. C., is still in the earth today. Queen Elizabeth 11 is of the House of David and is sitting on the throne of the Lord, which Jesus, when it is removed to Zion, will soon take over! King. The greatest thing about the gospel is that it tells about the return of the King to take over the Kingdom of God here on this earth! Without this hope and promise all else would be in vain! The terrible thing is religious minded people have missed the point entirely regarding the first coming of our Lord to this earth. They feel that He came only and altogether to save mankind. True, His death on the Cross resulted in the salvation of mankind, but that wasn't the ONLY or the MAIN purpose for which He came. Upon speaking to His interrogators on one occasion, He declared, upon being asked if He were a King that for this purpose came I into the world. He then knew He was to be a King, and that was the main purpose of His coming into this world. Isaiah knew of His Kingship and told us, "Behold, a king shall reign," and again the great prophet Isaiah reminds us that the government shall be upon his shoulders. The common people who heard Jesus so gladly and who loved Him threw palm leaves across His path way when He rode the foal of an ass triumphantly into Jerusalem just before His death and they cried Hosanna! to the king in the highest. They knew He was a King. We are now passing through one of the darkest hours in the history of the world. We have many needs, but the one great need of this hour is the return of our King bringing order out of chaos, to take over the throne of David which is the throne of the Lord, and to rule in might, power, justice and righteousness throughout His domain. Do you want righteousness to prevail? Do you want peace in the earth? Do you want segregation of the races to prevail? Do you want permanent prosperity? Do you want interest to be abolished and debts to be canceled? Then, for heaven's sake, with all your heart, soul, money, time, strength and mind help proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom! Sermon for September 17th, 2000 #10782 New Christian Crusade Church
(504) 279-8583 NCCC weekly sermons on the internet. A new sermon every Sunday. At: cdlreport.com Or at Dove@inreach.com
|
|
New Christian Crusade Church You may call us Monday, Wednesday or Friday at 601-749-8565 Last modified: Wednesday, 17 October 2007 |
