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John the Baptist,
the Forerunner
of Jesus
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Why
didn’t Jesus set up his kingdom at his first advent?
Jesus healing,
a foretaste
of his kingdom
on earth
Walking
to Emmaus
Why
man’s redemption precedes
kingdom blessings. |
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Is the
kingdom
to be earthly?
or heavenly?
Waiting
for
God's kingdom seemed absurd
to the worldly-wise. |
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Jesus taught that his kingdom was not of this world and would not be established until
after his suffering and death.
But zealot Jews rebelled against Rome, endeavoring to set up their kingdom prematurely.
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The Masada
The last outpost
of Jewish rebellion in 73 A.D., is the famous location where 960 Jewish zealots chose to
take their own lives rather than submit to a life of Roman slavery. |
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"The Kingdom
of God cometh not with observation"--
Yet it would be everywhere present
and powerful.
The spiritual
kingdom
is being set up first
and will be
for a time
unrecognized. |
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 "There was a man of the
Pharisees, named Nicodemus,
a ruler
of the Jews:
The same
came to Jesus
by night, and
said unto him,
‘Rabbi, we know that
thou art from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God
be with him.’"
John 3:1,2 |
Jesus healing
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*The Greek word gennao and
its derivatives, sometimes translated begotten and sometimes born, really contains
both ideas, and should be translated by either one of these two English words, according
to the sense of the passage in which it occurs. The two ideas, begetting and birth,
are always in the word, so that if the one is stated, the other is always implied, as
birth is the natural consequence of begetting, and begetting the natural antecedent to
birth.
When the active agent with
which gennao is associated is a male, it should be translated begotten; when a female,
born.
Thus in 1 John 2:29; 3:9;
4:7; 5:1,18, gennao should be begotten, because God (masculine) is the active agent.
Sometimes, however, the
translation is dependent on the nature of the act, whether masculine or feminine.
Thus used in conjunction
with ek, signifying from or out of, it should be translated born.
So in John 3:5,6, gennao
should be translated born, as indicated by the word ek--"out of water,"
"out of flesh,"
"out of spirit." |
+This same
Greek word is translated consider in Acts 15:6.
"The apostles and elders came together for to consider [know or
understand] this matter." The same word is rendered behold in Romans 11:22.
"Behold [consider, understand] therefore, the goodness and severity of
God".
Also in 1 John 3:1--
"Behold [consider, know, understand] what manner of love the Father hath
bestowed upon us." |
How can a man
be begotten
when he is old?
Repentance
is not the
new birth.
Spiritual begettal
precedes
spiritual birth. |
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Elisha and his Servant
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What is
spirit begettal?
| *The words "which is
in heaven" (verse 13) are not found in the most ancient and reliable MSS. |
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Jesus taught
about an earthly
kingdom.
The
kingdom
of God
has not yet
reigned on earth.
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Christian
allegiance.
Christ's earthly kingdom will reach the whole earth.
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"He
said therefore,
‘A certain nobleman went into a far country
to receive
for himself
a kingdom
and to return.’"
Luke 19:12
God’s
kingdom
is not yet set up
in glory and power. 
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Parable of the Publican and Sinner
"And again
I say unto you,
It is easier
for a camel
to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of
God." Matthew 19:24 |
Needles Eye Gate --
Humans could pass through easily; but large animals, such as camels, had to be unloaded
and kneel to get through. |
Jaffa Gate -- Located at the west side of Jerusalem,
the Jaffa Gate has a "needle’s eye," a small opening used as a security
entrance at night when the large gate was safely shut. |
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Christians must be
overcomers
to sit with Jesus
in His Father's throne and reign
over the nations
of earth.
Overcoming requires death in the Lord's service.
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"Now
ye are full, now ye are rich,
ye have reigned
as kings
without us:
and I would to God ye did reign,
that we also might reign with you."
I Corinthians 4:8
Paul preached that
present suffering
would be followed
by future reigning.
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true church has not yet reigned over the earth. 
The Pope crowning Charlemagne
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There
can be
no kingdom
without a king.
"To
him that overcometh
will I grant
to sit with me
in my throne,
even as I also overcame,
and am set down with my Father
in his throne." Revelation 3:21
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A spurious passage of Scripture:
*In this verse the words
"But the rest of the
dead lived not
again until the thousand years were
finished"
are spurious. They are not
found in the oldest
and most reliable Greek MSS, the Sinaitic,
Vatican Nos. 1209 and 1160, nor the Syriac MS.
We must remember that many
passages found in the modern
copies are additions which do
not properly belong to the Bible.
Since commanded not to add
to the Word of God, it is our
duty to repudiate such additions
as soon as their spurious
character is established.
The words indicated probably
crept
into the text by accident, in the fifth
century; for no MS of earlier date
(either Greek or Syriac) contains
this clause. It was probably at first
merely a marginal comment made by
a reader, expressive of his thought
upon the text, and copied into the body
of the text by some subsequent transcriber
who failed to distinguish between the text
and the comment.
However, the repudiation of
this clause
is not essential to the "Plan" as herein
set forth; for the rest of the dead--the
world at large--will not live again in
the full sense, in the perfect sense that
Adam lived before he sinned and came
under the sentence "dying thou shalt die."
Perfect life without weakness
or dying is
the only sense in which God recognizes the
word life. From his standpoint all the world
has already lost life, is dying, and might now
be more properly described as dead than
as alive. 2 Corinthians 5:14; Matthew 8:22
The word
resurrection (Greek, anastasis)
signifies raising up. As related to man, it signifies
raising up man to that condition from which he
fell, to full perfection of manhood--the thing lost
through Adam.
The perfection
from which our race fell is the perfection
to which they will gradually rise, during the Millennial
age of restitution or resurrection (raising up).
The Millennial age is not
only the age of
trial, but also the age of blessing, and through
resurrection or restitution to life all that
was lost is to be restored to all who, when
they know and have opportunity, gladly obey.
The process of resurrection
will be a gradual
one, requiring the entire age for its full
accomplishment; though the mere awakening
to a measure of life and consciousness, as at
present enjoyed, will of course be a momentary
work. Consequently it will not be until the thousand
years are finished that the race will have fully
attained the complete measure of life lost in Adam.
And since anything short of
perfect life is a
condition of partial death, it follows that,
although the above words are no part of the
inspired record, it would be strictly true to
say that the rest of the dead will not live again
(will not regain the fullness of life lost) until the
thousand years of restitution and blessing are
complete.
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What does
"resurrection"
mean?
"Marvel not at this:
for the hour
is coming, in the which all that are
in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth;
"They that have done
good, unto the resurrection
of life; and they that have done
evil unto the resurrection
of judgment (Greek "krisis")."
John 5:28,29
The kingdom work of Jesus
and the Church
Who
are the "Ancient Worthies"?
Abraham
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Jewish
hope --
Believing that God’s Kingdom would be established in
Jerusalem and all nations would come to the "house of the God of Jacob," Jewish
tombs thickly cover the slopes of Olivet, giving evidence to the Jewish faith in
God’s promises of a kingdom and the resurrection of the dead.
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Moslem
hope --
When Messiah comes,
he will enter Jerusalem through the Golden Gate; hence, the resurrection and judgment will
begin from here.
Those who cannot walk the line of justice will fall into the Valley of Death below.
Moslem tombs surround the Golden Gate, waiting for the Messiah.
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Christian
hope --
A Christian
cemetery lies in the Kidron Valley between the Jewish cemetery (on Mt. Olivet to the east)
and the Moslem cemetery (on Mt. Moriah to the west).
When Christ returns, he will judge the world in righteousness.
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How
will the
two phases
of the kingdom
operate?
Moses
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When
mankind stands holy
and righteous
at the end
of the 1,000 years, the kingdom
will be returned
to God.
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The
earthly seed and the heavenly seed of Abraham’s promise
The
earthly (human) and heavenly (spiritual) resurrection |
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sermon shows that Israel was yet to receive their earthly promise. 
This gate is
traditionally
the location
where Stephen
was stoned
while giving his
sermon of Acts 7. |
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Stephen’s
Gate --
On the east side of
Jerusalem is Stephen’s Gate, also called "The Lion’s Gate" because of
the carvings of lions in the stones above.
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The Church’s completion
must precede
Israel’s receiving
the promise.
Tombs of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
in Hebron
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Israel’s prominence
in the earthly kingdom
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Ezekiel 47:1-12 identifies this
gate as the one through which flows the river of waters of life. |
Golden
Gate --
The sole eastern gate of the Temple area
is kept permanently closed until Messiah comes.
When Jerusalem was rebuilt by Suleiman the Magnificent in 1538-41 A.D., he had the gate
sealed in the hope of postponing the "day of judgment" and the end of the world.
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Israel's promises
will be fulfilled
in Messiah's
earthly kingdom.
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The Law will
go forth from Zion,
and the Word
of the Lord
from Jerusalem.
"Beautiful
for situation,
the joy of the
whole earth,
is mount Zion,
on the sides of the north, the city of the great King."
Psalms 48:2
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"In that day
shall this song
be sung in the
land of Judah;
We have a strong city; salvation will God appoint for walls and bulwarks."Open ye the gates, that the
righteous nation which keepeth the truth may enter in.
"Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee because he trusteth in thee."
Isaiah 26:1-3
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"Walk ye about Zion and go round about her: tell the towers thereof.
Mark ye well her
bulwarks, consider her palaces: that ye may tell it to the generation following.
For this God is
our God for ever and ever: he will be our guide even unto death."
Psalms 48:12-14 |
Walls --
The present walls
(much of which are on the site of earlier walls) were built by Suleiman II about 1540 A.D.The walls extend for
2-1/2 miles, with an average height of
38 feet.
Some of the stones from the
wall of the temple enclosure at Jerusalem still exist.
They measure 30 feet long, 8
feet wide and 3-1/2 feet high, weighing over 80 tons.
Josephus tells of 60-foot long
stones in the temple of Solomon. |
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"Break forth into joy, sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord
hath comforted his people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem." "Behold, I create Jerusalem a
rejoicing, and her people a joy."
"Rejoice ye with
Jerusalem and be glad with her,...that ye may be delighted with the abundance of her
glory; for saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory
of the Gentiles like a flowing stream."
"At that time they shall
call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall be gathered unto it."
"And many people shall
go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain [kingdom] of the Lord, to the house
of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for
out of Zion [the spiritual phase] shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from
Jerusalem" |
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--the
earthly phase.
Isaiah 52:9; 65:18; 66:10-12; Jeremiah 3:17; Isaiah 2:3 |
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Israel,
literal
and symbolic
Samaria
"...plant them
upon their land..."
The Law Covenant,
typical of the
New Covenant |
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Israel will be
a firstfruits
among the nations.
"What then?
Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and
the rest were blinded."
Romans 11:7 |
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"And they
also,
if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able
to graft them in again. "For
if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert
grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall
these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive
tree?" Romans 11:23,24 |
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God knew
Israel would reject the Messiah
and lose the chief blessing. Israel was temporarily
cast off from
God’s favor.
Israel’s blindness will be removed
by the Deliverer. 
"Who shall ascend
into the hill
of the LORD?"
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Holyland Hotel Model of Jerusalem
One of the most detailed models of ancient city, this was designed by a team of
historians, archaeologists and builders to make the model painstakingly accurate. Made
from Jerusalem’s famed orange-pink stone, it portrays the city as it would have been
in Herodian times.
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Tyropean Valley
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The Temple
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Herod's Three Towers
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The Most Holy,
in the sacred
precincts
of the Temple.
Entire consecration to God
will be essential
in the earthly kingdom. 
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The iron rule
will grant no liberty
to do wrong.
None will live
at the expense
of others.
Laws
of righteousness and equity
will be firmly enforced.
Jehovah
will be king;
Christ will be his vicegerent.
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"For he must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet."
"And when all things
shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him that put
all things under him,
that God may be all in all."
I Corinthians 15:25,28
Perfect man
will be capable
of obeying
God’s perfect law.
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