Our new booklet, “The Authority of the Bible,” has entered the first review cycle.
Norbert Link’s new message, “Scandals and Problems in Europe,” is on our Website and on blip.
A new German sermon, titled, “Der Mensch Prüfe Sich Aber…” [“But Let A Man Examine Himself…”], was posted on the Web.
Although the correct answer can be easily ascertained from the Scriptures, many commentaries are actually confused regarding the meaning of this passage. Paul said, in context, in 1 Corinthians 5:1-5:
“It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and such sexual immorality as is not even named among the Gentiles–that a man has his father’s wife! And you are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he who has done this deed might be taken from among you. For I indeed, as absent in body but present in spirit, have already judged (as though I were present) him who has so done this deed. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when you are gathered together, along with my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, deliver such a one to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.”
Paul wrote this letter during the annual Festival of the Seven Days of Unleavened Bread (compare verses 6-8)–at a time when Church members were abstaining from eating leavened products and were instead partaking of unleavened products. In the Bible, leaven is sometimes compared with sin and pride–which puffs up. The ritual of abstaining from leaven for seven days reminds the members that they have to continuously come out of sin–after their previous sins were forgiven by our Passover, Jesus Christ (compare verse 7). But rather than really concentrating on living righteously, the members in Corinth had become proud and not only condoned, but also perhaps even–to an extent–approved of the terrible conduct of that particular member (compare Romans 1:32).
(For more information on the meaning of the Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, please read our free booklet, “The Meaning of God’s Spring Holy Days.”)
Paul said that it was “reported” to him that the man had “his father’s wife.” Some say that he lived together and engaged in continued sexual conduct with his stepmother. However, it appears that the sexual misconduct may have involved his real mother–as Paul said that even Gentiles abhorred this kind of action. Gentiles did not necessarily abhor sexual conduct with a stepmother, but most did reject sexual involvement with one’s own mother (even though, as it is known from the times of Roman decadence, even such misconduct was practiced by some Gentiles, and especially by wicked governmental leaders.)
In this context, Paul was saying that the elders of the local Church should have disfellowshipped the person, rather than tolerating his misconduct–especially, as it had become common knowledge amongst Church members. Apparently only a few reported this occurrence to Paul, since their local leaders were unwilling to deal with the situation.
This is Satan’s world. Before God called us out of this world, we were under Satan’s rule. When someone voluntarily leaves the Church or is disfellowshipped, he becomes once again very much subject to Satan’s influences. When the Church takes such drastic action, it is for the good of the Church as well as the excommunicated member, as it is always hoped that that person will see the error of his ways, while living again in this evil world, repent and return to God, while there is time. Fortunately, in the case of the member in Corinth, he did repent and was rightly accepted back into the fold (compare 2 Corinthians 2:3-11).
Paul made the following general comment in 2 Timothy 2:24-25: “And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.”
It should be obvious that Paul was ordering the suspension or (temporary) excommunication of the sinning brother, with the hope that he might come to his senses, repent, escape the snare of the devil and his spiritual captivity to do Satan’s will, and return to the Church congregation in Corinth (as did happen in this case). Paul made this decision “in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”–that is, with His power and authority. Christ, as the living Head of the Church, inspired Paul to make this decision, and He was backing it up. Paul said that he wanted to see the “spirit” of that person “saved” in the day of Christ’s return–strongly implying that this member had received the Holy Spirit, but was in danger of losing it–and that for that purpose, the “flesh” needed to be “destroyed.”
That is, his fleshly desires and his wrong sexual misconduct with his mother (or perhaps stepmother) had to be “destroyed”–his old man with his carnal nature, which died in the watery grave at his baptism but which had been allowed to resurface, had to be killed again. As the flesh and the spirit fight against each other (compare James 4:4-5; Romans 7:25), it is critical that the flesh would lose and the spirit would win. Sometimes, in order to even begin this fight and to end it victoriously, the Church may have to take drastic measures, including suspension, excommunication or disfellowshipment, with the hope that the person repents, swallows his pride, and returns to the Body of Christ.
This should be the clear understanding of the passage in 1 Corinthians 5:5, but it is amazing how far off and totally wrong most commentaries are, when trying to explain it.
Notice the following comments from Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible. He first stated correctly that even the Latin fathers understood this passage to refer to the procedure of “excommunication” (except that they misunderstood the kingdom of God, wrongly believing it to be the church), but he then offered a terrible misconception of what Paul was teaching:
“Beza, and the Latin fathers, suppose that this is only an expression of excommunication. They say, that in the Scriptures there are but two kingdoms recognized – the kingdom of God, or the church, and the kingdom of the world, which is regarded as under the control of Satan; and that to exclude a man from one is to subject him to the dominion of the other. There is some foundation for this opinion; and there can be no doubt that excommunication is here intended, and that, by excommunication, the offender was in some sense placed under the control of Satan.
“It is further evident that it is here supposed that by being thus placed under him [Satan] the offender would be subject to corporal inflictions by the agency of Satan, which are here called the ‘destruction of the flesh.’ Satan is elsewhere referred to as the author of bodily diseases. Thus, in the case of Job… A similar instance is mentioned in [1 Timothy 1:20], where Paul says he had delivered Hymeneus and Alexander to ‘Satan, that they might learn not to blaspheme.’ …
“Many have supposed that by the ‘destruction of the flesh’ Paul meant only the destruction of his fleshly appetites or carnal affections; and that he supposed that this would be effected by the act of excommunication. But it is very evident from the Scriptures that the apostles were imbued with the power of inflicting diseases or bodily calamities for crimes… This was an extraordinary and miraculous power.”
As mentioned, this is a terrible misconception. It sounds as if Paul used some “voodoo” magic to “curse” others and to inflict sickness or diseases on them. This example illustrates how careful one must be when reading worldly uninspired commentaries, trying to gain from them insight and understanding of spiritual matters.
The explanations by the Jamieson, Fausset and Brown Commentary follow the same line of twisted reasoning as the previous one, except that they are much worse. Even their statement that the Corinthians had the power to excommunicate needs to be clarified in the sense that the ministry had that authority–but not all the members, and it was not done by majority vote either. But also note the additional outrageous annotations:
“Besides excommunication (of which the Corinthians themselves had the power), Paul delegates here to the Corinthian Church his own special power as an apostle, of inflicting corporeal disease or death in punishment for sin… Here it is… for the affliction of the body with disease, and even death…, so as to destroy fleshly lust…”
However, the commentary then explains correctly, but quite inconsistently, what Paul meant with the “destruction of the flesh”:
“The ‘destruction of the flesh’ answers to ‘mortify the deeds of the body’… Temporary affliction often leads to permanent salvation…”
Vincent’s Word Study comes closer to the truth, but even he allows, quite unnecessarily, for some kind of a “power” which went beyond excommunication, even though he is not willing to say what it is, and does not seem to support the ridiculous idea that Paul had and USED the power to inflict sickness and disease on others. He writes:
“To deliver… unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh. On this very obscure and much controverted passage it may be observed: 1. That it implies excommunication from the Church. 2. That it implies something more, the nature of which is not clearly known. 3. That casting the offender out of the Church involved casting him back into the heathen world, which Paul habitually conceives as under the power of Satan. 4. That Paul has in view the reformation of the offender: ‘that the spirit may be saved,’ etc. This reformation is to be through affliction, disease, pain, or loss, which also he is wont to conceive as Satan’s work… Hence in delivering him over to these he uses the phrase ‘deliver unto Satan.'”
However, no special voodoo-like curse-inflicting power of the Apostle Paul is implied here. Paul is ordering excommunication–which the local ministry in Corinth had FAILED to carry out. The goal was for the person to see that continuing to live that way might mean, continuing to wither away and be ultimately burned in the lake of fire; and realizing this, to come to his senses and repent and change and mortify his fleshly desires; and to become subject to God, so that he could be allowed to return to the Church congregation in Corinth.
Paul had in mind the salvation of the person, so that at the time of Christ’s return, “in the day of the Lord Jesus,” he would be given the privilege to enter the Kingdom of God as a spirit member of the Family of God. Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians 5:23: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Paul ordered excommunication of the member who was openly practicing horrible sins in plain sight of the other Church members, who were also indirectly effected by that sinful conduct. The person had to learn to use the Holy Spirit to put to death the DEEDS of the BODY, so that HE would live (Romans 8:13). Even after baptism, we have to continuously “mortify” the members of our body, by putting off the old man.
In contrasting those unwilling to repent with converted Church members, Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:17-24:
“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the LIFE of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.
“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
If we do this, then God promises us the following in 2 Peter 1:10-11:
“Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
On February 20, Eric Rank will give the sermon, titled, respectively, “The Seed.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
Two new StandingWatch programs were posted on the Web, “The State of the Union Address and No Solutions…” and “Encouragement in Economic Hardship.”
A new German StandingWatch program, titled, “Wahnsinn–Der Krieg in Afghanistan” (“Insane–The War in Afghanistan”) was posted on YouTube.
A new German sermon, titled, “Die Rolle Kirchlicher Lehrer” [“The Role of Church Teachers”], was posted on the Web.
Here is the link for the video of Norbert Link’s recent message on “Passover Preparations“:
Here is the link for the video of Norbert Link’s recent sermon, “Honor Father and Mother“
At first glance, it might appear that the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John gave inconsistent times pertaining to Christ’s crucifixion. However, this is not the case. Apparent inconsistencies are explained when we realize that Matthew, Mark and Luke used the Jewish reckoning of time, while John gave the Roman reckoning.
(1) According to the JEWISH reckoning, a day of 24 hours duration begins at sunset and ends at sunset, and the (approximate) twelve hours of the daylight portion BEGIN WITH SUNRISE, while the (approximate) twelve hours of the night portion BEGIN WITH SUNSET.
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible states [in regard to Mark 15:25] that the Jews “divided the day into four general parts. The first began at sunrise. The second three hours after. The third at mid-day. The fourth three hours after, and continued till sunset.”
Likewise, in passing, Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible also informs us [in regard to Matthew 14:25] that in New Testament times, the Jews divided the night into four watches: “The first watch began at six o’clock in the evening [or sunset], and continued till nine; the second began at nine, and continued till twelve; the third began at twelve, and continued till three next morning; and the fourth began at three, and continued till six [or sunrise].”
(2) According to the ROMAN reckoning, days were counted from MIDNIGHT and from NOON, as we commonly do today. Even though we realize that according to the Hebrew calendar, days begin and end with sunset, we would today give a commonly accepted and understood time when we want to meet someone, by using the Roman reckoning. We would not say, “I’ll meet you three hours from sunrise,” but, “I’ll meet you at 9:00 a.m.” The same is true for the Apostle John’s choice of giving time.
John wrote his account considerably later than Matthew, Mark and Luke. J.H. Blunt, The Annotated Bible, points out: “John was writing long after the destruction of Jerusalem… he used the ordinary Roman method of computing the day.”
At the same time, we need to realize that John did not approve of the Roman reckoning of time; he just used it as a point of reference. He quoted Jesus in John 11:9-10 as saying: “Are there not twelve hours in the day?… but if one walks in the night, he stumbles…” This shows that Jesus accepted and taught the Jewish reckoning, dividing the day-light portion of the day (beginning with sunrise) from the night portion (beginning with sunset).
(3) Our conclusion that John used the Roman reckoning as a point of reference is not undisputed. A case in point is his statement in John 1:39: “They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour).”
Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible states: “The Jews divided their day into twelve equal parts, beginning at sunrise. If John used their mode of computation, this was about four o’clock p.m. The Romans divided time as we do, beginning at midnight. If John used their mode, it was about ten o’clock in the forenoon. It is not certain which he used.”
But as we will see, John clearly used the Roman reckoning when relating the account of Christ’s crucifixion. It would therefore be difficult to see why he would be switching back and forth between the Jewish and the Roman modes of computation.
J.H. Blunt, The Annotated Bible, concurs, stating regarding John 1:39: “‘… for it was about the tenth hour.’ They had been walking for four or five hours in the early morning, and it was now what the Jews would have called the fourth hour, but what… John calls the tenth, because he uses the Roman method of reckoning the time of day, a method exactly similar to our own… Jesus doubtless halted thus early in the day that there might be time for Simon Peter to be sought out by his brother and brought to Him.”
(4) Focusing on the time of Christ’s crucifixion, according to Jewish reckoning, Christ was crucified at the third hour. As mentioned, the accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke use the Jewish reckoning of time. Mark 15:25 says: “Now it was the third hour, and they crucified Him.” His crucifixion began to take place on the third hour or three hours after sunrise, on a Wednesday morning. According to Roman reckoning and our designation of time today, this would have been Wednesday morning at 9:00 a.m.
Mark 15:33 informs us: “Now when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour” (compare also Luke 23:44 and Matthew 27:45). This darkness occurred, according to our modern reckoning of time, at midday–about noon or 12:00 p.m.– that is, six hours after sunrise. It lasted until the ninth hour, or 3:00 p.m. (that is, nine hours from sunrise according to the Jewish reckoning, or three hours from noon according to the Roman reckoning).
Adam Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible confirms this:
“The darkness began at the sixth hour, about our twelve o’clock at noon, and lasted till the ninth hour, which answered to our three o’clock in the afternoon.”
(5) Confusion might set in when considering a passage in John, which also talks about the “sixth hour” on the crucifixion day of Wednesday, but relates to events PRIOR to the actual crucifixion. We read in John 19:14-16:
“Now it was the Preparation Day of the Passover [i.e., of the First Day of Unleavened Bread, an annual Holy Day, which fell that year on a Thursday, beginning Wednesday evening, at sunset], and about the SIXTH hour. And he [Pilate] said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, away with Him! Crucify Him!’ Pilate said to them, ‘Shall I crucify your King?’ The chief priests answered, ‘We have no king but Caesar!’ So he delivered Him to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus and led Him away.”
It is obvious that this conversation took place BEFORE Christ’s actual crucifixion, but still wrote that it occurred on the “sixth hour.”
Some commentaries state that John simply made a “mistake” in numbers or that he did not mean to be “accurate.” Others suggest that a copying scribe incorrectly wrote “sixth hour” instead of “third hour.” But as mentioned, John was using the Roman reckoning of time, not the Hebrew reckoning, as is also confirmed by Scofield Reference Notes. This means that this event (in John 19:14-16) occurred about six hours past midnight–the time around SUNRISE. The Nelson Study Bible states regarding the reference in John 19:14: “The sixth hour was 6 A.M. according to the Roman system of time.”
(6) Jesus died on the NINTH HOUR according to the HEBREW or Jewish calendar (compare Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:33-37; Luke 23:44-46); that is, about 3:00 p.m. He was buried just before sunset on Wednesday late afternoon, so that His body “should not remain on the cross on the [annual] Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day)… Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had yet been laid. So there they laid Jesus, because of the Jews’ Preparation Day, for the tomb was nearby” (John 19: 31, 41-42; compare also Luke 23:50-54, stating in verse 54 that the “[annual] Sabbath [of the First Day of Unleavened Bread] drew near”).
Since Jesus said that He would be in the grave for three days and three nights, or for seventy-two hours (Matthew 12:40), He left the grave on Saturday evening, just before sunset.
For more information on the exact timing of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection, please read our free booklet, “Jesus Christ–A Great Mystery.”
Lead Writer: Norbert Link
As a child of God, how well do we represent our Father? How do those around us view our actions?
When we are going about our daily activities, do we let our light shine in such a way that we mirror what God has revealed to us? When others see the way that we act in various situations, is it the way a true Christian would act?
God has taught and aided us through many devices. He has revealed His Way, The Truth, and given us all that we need to be a “good child” and not a child of the world. He has and will continue to do His part perfectly.
Our job can be seen in 1 John 3:10, which states: “In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” It is incumbent upon us to practice righteousness and to love our brethren, so that when society observes us, they catch a glimpse of our Father in the reflection.
On February 13, Kalon Mitchell and Michael Link will give split sermons, titled, respectively, “Fear” and “Honor.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
A new StandingWatch program was posted on the Web. It is titled, “The State of the Union Address and No Solutions…”
In the program, Norbert Link points out that we do NOT experience a recovery of the U.S. economy. Sales of homes are down; unemployment is up; and the economic activity in 2009 showed the sharpest drop since 1946. USA Today commented: “The U.S. is broke.” Hope in U.S. leadership is at an all-time low, as the national and international reactions to the President’s State of the Union address demonstrated. Two quarters of Americans believe that their federal government is not working. The Telegraph wrote: “Barack Obama gets an F for world leadership.” Nobody seems to present workable solutions. Aren’t there any?
A German sermon, titled, “Ehre Vater und Mutter” [“Honor Father and Mother”], was posted on the Web.
A German sermon, titled, “Das Neue Jerusalem” [“The New Jerusalem”], was posted on the Web.
In the context of this verse, the account shows that Jesus was reacting to the rejection of His teaching by the Pharisees (compare verse 14). In Luke 16:13, Jesus concluded a parable with this admonition, “‘…You cannot serve God and mammon’”—a statement that challenged the Pharisaical practices!
Continuing in Luke 16:15-16:
“And He said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.
“‘The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.’”
Now specifically, in the first part of Luke 16:16, Jesus states, “‘The law and the prophets were until John.’” His comment is about how God was represented to men—especially, to those of Israel, and even more directly to the House of Judah. However, the Jews of that time were not even following the law of God or paying attention to what the prophets of God taught. Jesus continued His teaching with another parable, and note the poignant indictment of this lesson:
“‘But he said to him, “If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead”’” (Luke 16:31).
That indeed proved to be the case, for Jesus Christ did rise from the dead, and, still, many of the Jews rejected Him—neither did they repent and turn to God. The proof of this is borne out in the way that the religious Jewish hierarchy fought against the disciples of Jesus who preached of His resurrection (compare Acts 5:22-42 regarding the original Apostles; Acts 7 regarding Stephen; and Acts 13:13-52 regarding the Apostle Paul).
In another account, the story of Jesus restoring life to Lazarus swept throughout the population. Even in the face of a multitude of witnesses to this remarkable miracle, the Pharisees (a dominant religious and political party in Palestine) tried to squelch the truth of the matter!
The people reacted quite differently to this raising of Lazarus from the dead:
“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! ‘ “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!” ‘The King of Israel!’ Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold, your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.’ His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness. For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign” (John 12:12-18)
Note the bitter jealously with which the Pharisees reacted to this event.
“The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, ‘You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!’” (John 12:19).
Because of their intransigent attitude, Jesus rebuked those who withstood His preaching of the Gospel:
“‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in’” (Matthew 23:13).
On the one hand, we see that there was a great resistance to what was being preached since the time of John the Baptist, but we also find that many began to turn to God and to believe the message of both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ:
“‘For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him’” (Matthew 21:32).
Also, John himself testified against those who tried to falsely respond to his preaching:
“Then Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan went out to him and were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, ‘Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance…’” (Matthew 3:5-7).
Following His healing of a leper, Jesus warned the man to discreetly appear before the priest along with an appropriate offering; but this isn’t what he did:
“However, he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the matter, so that Jesus could no longer openly enter the city, but was outside in deserted places; and they came to Him from every direction” (Mark 1:45).
After another miraculous event in which Jesus fed a large number of people, notice what followed:
“Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone” (John 6:15).
Even following His resurrection, His own closest disciples anticipated the immediate establishment of God’s Kingdom: “…they asked Him, saying, ‘Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?’” (Acts 1:6).
So we see that while the entrenched religious factions of the time fought against what both John the Baptist and Jesus Christ preached—that is, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (compare Matthew 3:1-2; 4:17)—many people were “pressing into it.” Some did it for purely political or chauvinistic reasons, and their intentions did not find fulfillment. Others heard the message and understood that they had to “bear fruits worthy of repentance.” That kind of approach was magnified surrounding the events of the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit was given. The apostles preached the same message as that of John the Baptist and Jesus Christ—one that pointed to the future establishment of God’s Kingdom on the earth.
Here is what Peter preached to those in Jerusalem as the Church of God became established:
“‘But those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began’” (Acts 3:18-21).
In spite of opposition or even the ill-founded desires of those who sought God’s Kingdom for materialistic and selfish reasons, access is only possible through the door that God has opened—a door which no one can open on their own or shut (compare Revelation 3:7-8). Jesus reveals this important key:
“Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, ‘If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free’” (John 8:31-32).
And this:
“Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture’” (John 10:7-9).
The lesson for Christians is to make certain that we legitimately seek God’s Kingdom according to the instructions left for us. We have this warning from Jesus:
“‘Not everyone who says to Me, “Lord, Lord,” shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 7:21-23).
Today, many, in a sense, are still “pressing into” the Kingdom of God, but as the statement from Matthew 7 reveals, they are going about it the wrong way! They have yet to repent of their sins against God, and they have to OBEY God!
Notice what we said in a previous Q&A: “Christ also refers to the fact in Matthew 11:12 that some would try to ‘press into’ the Kingdom of heaven in the wrong way–thinking that they do not have to keep God’s law anymore (compare Luke 16:16-17).”
Please also note what was written in our booklet, “The Gospel of the Kingdom of God,” on page 24:
“Consider now this passage in Luke 16:16: ‘The law and the prophets were until John. Since that time the Kingdom of God has been preached, and everyone is pressing into it.’ Until the prophet John came, only the Old Testament scriptures—the law and the prophets—were known. In Luke 24:44, the entire Old Testament is summarized as the ‘Law of Moses, and the Prophets, and the Psalms.’ The Kingdom of God had already been preached in the Old Testament, but not with such magnitude and clarity as Christ came to preach. NOW was the real possibility to enter it—since Christ had already qualified as King of that Kingdom, so that He could, with authority, proclaim the Kingdom of God as a future certainty for mankind. NOW it had become NEAR.
“And because of Christ’s preaching, many responded by trying to get into the Kingdom. But unless they were called, they would still not know HOW. Remember, Christ told us in Luke 13:24 that many would TRY to enter it, but would not be able to. Christ warned those of His time, as well as us today, that not everyone who would just say ‘Lord, Lord’ to Christ, would enter the Kingdom of God, but only the person ‘who does the will of My Father in heaven.’ (Matt. 7:21)
“This same thought is expressed in Luke 16:16: Everyone wants to desperately enter the Kingdom of God. But what does Christ tell us in verse 17: ‘And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.’ In other words, if you want to enter into eternal life, keep the commandments. Only those who do the will of the Father, which is, to keep the commandments of God, will enter the Kingdom of God. And now Christ continues to give us an example of such a commandment to be kept, in verse 18: ‘Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced from her husband commits adultery.’
“’You shall not commit adultery’ is one of the commandments that we are to keep. And divorcing someone for any other than Biblical reasons and then marrying again, is a violation of the law against adultery. In order to enter the Kingdom of God, in order to be part of the Kingdom of God, we must keep God’s Law. It is the SAME Law, as we are told in Luke 16:16, that had already been preached up until the time of John the Baptist. It is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for the Law to fail.”
Also consider the truth that Paul wrote about, when he stated: “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption” (1 Corinthians 15:50). As he explains throughout this chapter, physical must be changed to spiritual, and that can only be accomplished through our belief in and obedience to our Savior, Jesus Christ!
Finally, let us be reminded of exactly who will inherit the Kingdom of God–those who are truly able to be “pressing into it”:
“Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5).
Lead Writer: Dave Harris
On February 6, 2010, Norbert Link will give two messages, discussing Passover Preparations and “Honoring Father and Mother.”
The services can be heard at www.cognetservices.org (12:30 pm Pacific Time; 1:30 pm Mountain Time; 2:30 pm Central Time; 3:30 pm Eastern Time). Just click on Connect to Live Stream.
