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only rejected it, they crucified Him!
But Jesus hewed straight to the
line! He told Nicodemus about THE
KINGDOM OF Goo. He told him sorne
things you need to UNDERSTAND!
Notice! "Jesus answered and said
unto him, Verily, verily,
1
say unto
thee, Except a man be born again, he
cannot see the kingdom of God"
(John 3:3). Yes, notice! The King–
dom of God is something that CAN be
seen, but only by those who have
been "born again." It is something
others
cannot see!
Request our free
booklet
Just What Do You Mean–
Born Again?
But what about the CHURCH? Can
carnal people SEE A CHURCH? Of
course! But they
cannot
see the King–
dom of God! So SAID JEsus! Then, if
you believe Jesus, the CHURCH can–
not be the Kingdom of God!
Notice further: "Jesus answered,
Verily, verily,
1
say unto thee, Except
a man be born of water and of the
Spirit, he cannot enter into the king–
dom of God" (verse 5). The Kingdom
of God is something that
can be en–
tered
into--BUT, only those "born of
water and of the Spirit" can enter
into it!
He said, "Verily, verily,
1
say unto
thee, Except a man be born of water
and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God. That which is
born of the flesh /S FLESH; and that
which is born of the Spirit /S SPIRIT"
(John 3:5-6).
Notice further! In the resurrection
chapter of the Bible, we read: "Now
this 1 say, brethren, that flesh and
blood cannot inherit the kingdom of
God; neither doth corruption inherit
incorruption" (I Cor. 15:50). The
Kingdom of God is something no hu–
man, of flesh and blood, can enter or
inherit!
In Hearts of Pharlsees?
Let's take a good look at this. First
realize, if the Bible does say the
Kingdom of God is found in men's
minds or hearts, it is contradicted by
all the other scriptures
1
am giving
you in this article. If the Bible does
contradict itself, you can't believe it
anyway-so then it still would prove
nothing.
First,
to whom
is Jesus speaking?
Read it!
"And when he was demanded of
the Pharisees, when the kingdom of
42
God should come, he answered them
and said, The kingdom of God
cometh not with observation: Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there!
for, behold, the kingdom of God is
within you" (Luke 17:20-21).
He was · speaking to the uncon–
verted, carnal, hypocritical, lying
Pharisees. Notice, "He answered
them
and said...."
1t
was the Phari–
sees who asked Him the question.
Were they in the CHURCH? No, nev–
er! If one thinks the Kingdom was
"within" the Pharisees-was THE
CHURCH
within
the Pharisees? Such
an assumption is rather ridiculous,
now, isn't it?
Notice again precisely WHAT JE–
sus SAJD. Remember the CHURCH
had not yet been set up. Jesus did not
say, "The Kingdom of God shall be
set up in your hearts." He said
none
of the things people interpret
into
this verse. He said to the Pharisees
that "the Kingdom of God IS"-pres–
ent tense, NOW! Whatever He was
saying the Kingdom of God is, He
made it present tense, not future.
Luke
wrote
these words, original–
ly, in the
Greek
language. The Greek
words he wrote were translated into
the English words "within you." But,
if you have a Bible with tbe marginal
references, you will notice that this is
alternately rendered
"in the midst of
you"
or
"among you."
The
context
indicates that this indeed is the better
translation. If your Bible is a Moffatt
translation, you will notice that the
translation recognized that Jesus was
talking of His
reign
or
rule,
at the
head of
government.
This is the Moffatt translation of
the same verse: "He answered them,
'The Reign of God is not coming as
you hope to catch sight of it; no one
will say, "Here it is" or "There it is,"
for the Reign of Goo IS NOW IN
YOUR MIDST.'"
The Revised Standard translation
renders it: " ... the kingdom of God
is in the midst of you." All these
translations render it
present tense.
Jesus was not talking about a
church soon to be organized. He was
not talking about sentiments in the
mind or heart, He was talking about
His REIGN as the Messiah! The Phar–
isees were not asking Him about a
church. They knew nothing of any
New Testament Church soon to be
started. They were not asking about
a pretty sentiment. They knew, from
the prophecies of Daniel, Isaiah, Jer–
emiah and others, that their Messiah
was to come.
The Two Fateful Alternatives
This world trouble began in 1914,
with World War
l.
There was a re–
cessfrom l918untill939. Wearein
a second recess now- although we
have been in what we call "the COLD
WAR. " But now at last we have nu–
clear energy. We have hydrogen
bombs stockpiled in such power and
volume that they could blast all hu–
man life off this planet severa! times
over. There are two other destructive
weapons today in existence, either of
which could erase humanity from the
earth.
Today world-famous scientists say
only a super world government can
prevent world cosmocide.
Y
et MEN
cannot and
wi/1 not
get together to
form such a world-ruling govern–
ment.
It 's time we face the hard, cold,
realistic FACT. Humanity has two al–
ternatives: Either there
is
an almigh–
ty, all-powerful Goo who is about to
step in and set up THE KINGDOM OF
Goo to rule all nations with super–
natural and supranational FORCE to
bring us PEACE--or else all human
life would be obliterated (Matt.
24:22).
lf the deceived religionists who
think the CHURCH is the Kingdom of
God were right, and there is not go–
ing to be any supernatural and all–
powerful WORLD GOVERNMENT,
which is the Kingdom of God, then
humanity is utterly without HOPE.
All human life is in danger of extinc–
tion.
But notice what Jesus Christ
said!
Can you BELIEVE JESUS CHRIST?
Where is your trust- in the Word
of God or in paganized, empty, de–
ceiving teachings falsely labeled
"Christianity"-inherited as "Chris–
tian tradition"-which say the
CHURCH is the Kingdom of God, or
that the Kingdom is merely a mean–
ingless, frothy and ethereal senti–
ment "set up in our hearts"? It's
about time you come to know
who
are the false prophets, and WHO is
speaking the true Word of God faith–
fully! o
(To Be Continued)
The PLAIN TRUTH May 1979