The Parousia - a different look at End Times

Read this book if you want to see what the overwhelming majority of respected theologians believed about biblical end times for over 1800 years! All of this dispensarionalist/futurism/left behind nonsense is not based in scripture. Fabulous read!!

http://www.preteristarchive.com/Books/1878_russell_parousia.html

Matthew 6 - Look at the Birds!

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Matthew 6:25-26

Jesus tells us not to worry about food, drink, clothing, and worldly provisions. As long as we look to Him, trusting Him implicitly, we will have the peace that passes all understanding. With His righteousness, all the money and things of this world needed to do what He has called us to do here on earth will be provided! That is very good news!

This takes practice for those of us who are used to being in control. It has taken me years for the Lord to get me to trust Him in the area of finances and provision. But He has come through for me every time. He's told me on so many occasions to look at the birds! They neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns and yet He feeds them - every day!

If the Heavenly Father feeds and cares for the birds, then He will certainly care for me. And He will care for you, too!

These are wonderful truths!

Matthew 6 - Forgiveness & the Lord's Prayer

And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. Matthew 6:5

Jesus instructed His disciples to look to the spiritual truths behind the Mosaic, Levitical laws, particularly the ones regarding oaths, prayers, and fasting. During their day, many of the religious Jews made great spectacles of their alms givings, prayers, and fasting. They sounded the trumpet, so to speak, announcing to all their good works, thinking that their conduct made them righteous before God.

But we know that all of man's righteousness is filth before a holy God. There has to be a righteousness that comes from a place other than man's deeds. This is where Jesus Christ, the Savior, comes in.

Regarding prayer, the pattern most of us in denominational circles were taught was the Lord's Prayer, as found in this chapter of Matthew. Here, Jesus specially lays out a format for praying to the Heavenly Father, but did you realize that this is an Old Testament pattern that was necessary and important BEFORE the cross?

Now, after the cross, there is a New Covenant; those of us who are IN HIM, are born again, new creations with God's spirit living inside of us. If the gospel of Grace which Paul preached is true, and it is, then it cannot also be true that we must first forgive before being forgiven by the Father. No, we are already forgiven IN CHRIST, for every sin committed, whether it be past, present, or future.

Under the Old Covenant, it is was important for Israel to be in a state of forgiveness toward their brethren - having a soft, pliable heart - so that when the New Covenant was instituted, they would receive Jesus as Messiah and enter into the Kingdom of God.

Selah! Think about it!

Matthew 5 - Murder & Adultery

Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matthew 5:17-18

Jesus teaches His disciples that He came to fulfill all the law and the prophets, and that they were to look to those laws with spiritual eyes; there are spiritual truths behind the natural requirements of the law that cause all men to be sinners.  

For example, He tells them that hatred of the heart is the same as murder AND that to lust with the eyes is the same as adultery. This was not understood by the religious rulers of Jesus' day and it isn't understood by many sitting in the pews of our modern churches.

Just as Paul explained in the book of Romans, the law is a shadow of Jesus the Savior, and it fulfills its purpose by revealing the sin nature in all of us. When confronted by the righteous, inflexible law, all of us come to see that we are sinners in need of a savior.

But once we receive the savior, Jesus Christ, we become born again, children of God, partakers of the divine nature. That is very good news, indeed!

Matthew 5 - the Beatitudes

And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:1-3.

After Jesus selects His first disciples, He lays out a blueprint for the individual who will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. Referred to as the Beatitudes, we find this teaching in Matthew 5. 

As the multitudes followed Him and as His fame became great in all of Israel, Jesus left a wake of healed and delivered people behind Him. At this point, He went up to a high mountain and taught his disciples about the Kingdom.

Who will receive this wonderful Kingdom? It won't be those who believe they are righteous because of their law-keeping and their good deeds. No, it will be those who receive righteousness God's way - by and from Jesus Christ, His son - by His grace through our faith.

Those who are poor in spirit, who mourn and long within their hearts for something more than what religion offers, who hunger and thirsts for God, who desire mercy and peace from Him are the ones who seek after this Kingdom and receive it. Persecution from the religious sect will come, but great blessings will be the reward.

All of us who are IN Christ Jesus can attest that we have been that man at some point! And when we come to Him and get born again, we become rich in spirit, our mourning ceases, our thirst and hunger are quenched and satisfied! We are children of God, filled with His Spirit, becoming partakers of His divine nature. What could be better than that?!

Matthew 4 - Fishers of Men

And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. Matthew 4:18-20.

After Jesus was tested in the wilderness, He began His ministry. When John the Baptist was placed in prison, Jesus left His home town and went to Capernaum where He began warning people to repent for the Kingdom of heaven was at hand, i.e. that it was very close.

His first disciples chosen were four fishermen, Peter and Andrew, who were brothers, and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We see from the prophecy in Ezekiel 47 that God prophesied that, in His kingdom, a large number of fish would swim in the river of life and that fishermen would line the banks, ready to bring in a haul. We know this a picture of the great harvest of souls upon the earth as the Gospel has gone forth for the past two thousand years!

Another signpost that Messiah has come!

Matthew 4 - Jesus' Baptism & Temptation

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Matthew 3:16-17

Jesus was baptized by John the Baptism as a public proclamation that He was the perfect, sinless, sacrifice for man's sins. After His sacrifice on the cross, there would be no more need to offer up bulls, sheep, and goats, and therefore the Mosaic, Levitical sacrificial system would be satisfied and become obsolete. His perfect, flawless, sinless God-blood would be the final blood offering the Father required.

Upon His baptism, an anointing came from heaven, where He was baptized with the Holy Spirit and declared by God to be His son, with whom He is well pleased. Essentially, the Father was declaring and proclaiming Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Jesus was then led into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan. The purpose of His temptation was to prove His authenticity as Messiah. He satisfied the temptation of His flesh, soul, and spirit and emerged victorious, even after fasting 40 days and nights. He quoted the Word of God, believed it, and stood firm on it, thereby showing us, His body, how to likewise stand firm against the wiles of the devil!