Hi Gallenwalsh,
The whole audio/transcript of 'What Is The Gospel of The Kingdom' is a very good read on this subject, here is an excerpt.
http://forums.bible-truths.com/index.php/topic,6142.0.html -----------
WHAT IS THE KINGDOM LIKE ?
But I want to clear up this thing with the kingdom of God is ‘like.’
It’s like a king… it’s like a laborer… it’s like a treasure… it’s like leaven… it’s like a fishnet cast into the sea. What is all that? What are all those parables saying the kingdom of God is? What is all of this it’s like, it’s like, it’s like, etc.? It’s like there are many called, but few chosen! That is what every parable is. That’s what the parables are or some form of that. Who would have ever thought.
You have the mustard seed.
It’s something that is very small and grows into something very strong.
1Cor. 1:26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.
The nobodies - the nothings - the mustard seeds. That’s what God calls us. But they grow.
Christ is the King who is gone into a far nation. To do what? What does the parable say, what is He going to get there? A kingdom!
Where is Christ now? He is in heaven. But what is He doing on the earth? He’s getting Himself a kingdom. It started with the Apostles - the few. He said to ‘you’ it’s given to understand, you are the few. But to ‘them’ - the many, it is not given, but to the few. Many called - a lot of seeds scattered around, but only some seeds fall on the good ground, the few.
If you cast the net into the sea and you pull in all these fish. But you throw a lot of them away, because only a few are the good ones that you save. That’s what the parable are all about... all of them. God choosing out the few for His kingdom. The kingdom of God is like this, it’s like that, it’s like, it’s like… it’s like US and what God is doing through us.
Rev 5:10 And You made US kings and priests to our God, and WE will reign over the earth.
WE are the kingdom! You are going to have to do a little rethinking in your minds here maybe. We are the kingdom.
Rev 2:26 And he who overcomes (that’s us) and keeps My works (that should be us) to the end, to him (that’s us) I will give power over the nations.
This kingdom is going to rule over the nations.
Rev 2:27 And he (that’s us) will rule them…
Remember the us and the them “to you it is given” (Luke 8:10). That’s us, but not to them. The us, the we, are going to rule over the nations, over them.
Rev 3:21 To him (that’s us) who overcomes ( I hope that is all of us, because if you don‘t overcome then you won't be, it‘s just as simple as that) I will grant to sit with Me in My throne,
The throne is over a kingdom and the King of a kingdom… the throne.
1Thes. 4:17 Then we (that’s us - the kingdom) who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them ( in this case it’s those that were asleep in the earth) in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we (that’s us) shall always be with the Lord.
Jude 1:14 "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints,
That’s us, that’s the kingdom. The kingdom of what? The Kingdom of the heavens.
There is the one seed - Christ. But if you are IN Christ you are Abraham’s seed, multiple seed. But in Christ we are ONE.
Mat 24:31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect (that’s us) from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
Then He comes back and that’s His army. He gathers them and He comes back with them and He rules the nations with a rod of iron…US the kingdom of the heavens.
Rev 19:14 And the armies in heaven (that‘s us on white horses), clothed in fine linen…
Fine linen that‘s righteousness - your doing what is right, which far exceeds the Scribes and the Pharisees or you shall in no wise inherit what? The kingdom of the heavens. So they‘ve got white linen on, because these people are righteous, they do what is right.
Rev 19:16 On His vesture and on His thigh He has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords.
You know who the King is, that’s Christ. Who are the kings? The kings are the heavens. We are the heavens. Here is a portion of God’s kingdom made up of heavens. God’s Spirit is dwelling in you - God dwells in heaven, but in plural, heavens. God dwells in the heavens of His kingdom. We are the heavens of His kingdom.
“King of kings, Lord of lords.” Who is Lord? Jesus Christ. Who are the lords, plural? We are the lords.
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM?
So we are the kingdom! We are the kingdom of God. We are the temples - the heavens in which God’s Spirit dwells. We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar special people to God and through this kingdom, with Christ as the King, all the families of the earth are going to be blessed.
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mercy, peace and love
Kat