Which Kingdom is it?

There are some that are teaching out there that there is a difference between the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God. There is also a new, popular book that was just released by Michael Pearl called "Eight Kingdoms" that teach that both kingdoms are different. We believe they are one and the same. Christ came to preach one gospel, about one kingdom, with one way and one salvation. He is also not the author of confusion.

Matthew is the only book in the Bible that wrote "kingdom of heaven" while the other books used "kingdom of God." Some believe that Matthew was afraid to offend the Jews by writing "God" since to them, it was a very sacred word and was easily offensive to use. However, Matthew did use "kingdom of God" several times in the book, so the real reason is unknown.

There is a lot more about this subject, but here are verses that prove these two kingdoms that Jesus spoke of are one and the same. Here is a list of verses that are written about the same instances, but from different books in the Bible. Hopefully, showing these comparisons between those verses will help us understand better what Jesus was speaking of.

See which kingdom they refer in each verse-


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Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
   
Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

VS.

Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.


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Matthew 5:3, 10 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

VS


Luke 6:20, 22 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

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Matthew 8:11 And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven.

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Luke 13:28 There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you thrust out.

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Matthew 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

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Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

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Matthew 13:31 Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field.

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Mark 4:30-31 And he said, Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed.

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Matthew 13:33 Another parable spake he unto them; The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened

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Luke 13:20-21 And again he said, Whereunto shall I liken the kingdom of God?  It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.

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Matthew 19:14 But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.

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Mark 10:14 But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God.

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Matthew 25:14 For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

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Luke 19:11-13 They thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants.

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Matt 19:14 "But Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven. "

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Mark 10:14 "But when Jesus saw it, he was much displeased, and said unto them, Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. "

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Matt 18:3 "And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. "

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Mark 10:15 "Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. "

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Matt 13:10,11 "And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given."

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Mark 4:11 "And he said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God: but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables"

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Jesus even spoke of both in the same sentence, and treated both instances as the same thing-


"Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 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." Matt 19:23, 24

He even says "and again I say unto you" as to repeat what he had just said even though he referred it as the kingdom of heaven the first time.

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The Real Marriage Supper of the Lamb

Most of us have heard about the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Upon hearing that, we may imagine fine linen, guests in fine array in a grand dinner party. Perhaps there will be a long buffet aisle filled with delicious food for us to eat. That is what I used to think of before I learned more about the marriage supper of the Lamb.

 Note: This is not the marriage supper of the lamb.

Some are taught that after the "secret rapture" before the 7 year tribulation, the saints will be enjoying a grand marriage supper while the rest of the saints are below getting saved during tribulation. I've heard sermons saying that Moses and Elijah will even have to leave the marriage supper and go below to witness unto those left behind. What blasphemy. What a joke! That is nowhere in the Bible!

And why would God have a marriage supper without ALL of His bride? Why have it with half of his bride? That's not a complete wedding.

Come and read Revelation 19 with us,

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.

And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.

And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.
 
And I saw an angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto the supper of the great God;

That ye may eat the flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of them that sit on them, and the flesh of all men, both free and bond, both small and great.

And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army.

And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

And the remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the fowls were filled with their flesh." Rev 19:7-9, 17-21

 This is a wonderful and a more clearer explanation of the marriage supper of the lamb. Unfortunately, it is not referring to an upscale dinner party with delicious food for us, but that the fowls shall feast on the flesh of the wicked! Jesus will return at His coming and destroy the wicked below who want to make war with Him. He will destroy them and the birds and the fowls will feast on their flesh.

And when all this occurs, He will also be a bridegroom receiving His complete bride at His coming. We shall be raised out of our sleep, we shall be transformed into a new spiritual body, and we shall be caught up in the air to be with Him and there we shall always be with Him. We are together as a bride, meeting our bridegroom in the air to be with Him forever. That makes more sense doesn't it?

After looking at the above passage at Revelation 19, now let us look at Matthew 24, verse 33-37,

"Whosoever shall seek to save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life shall preserve it.

I tell you, in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.

Two women shall be grinding together; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left.

And they answered and said unto him, Where, Lord? And he said unto them, Wheresoever the body is, thither will the eagles be gathered together." Luke 17:33-37

Whosoever is left behind at His coming at the last trump, and whoever is not those caught up in the air as His bride, shall be left behind for destruction. The fowls and the eagles shall gather together as the like manner that we see birds circle and feast upon dead bodies and carcasses.

We also see this in Isaiah 34. The chapter speaks of His great and awesome day that is coming, and it also says:


"Come near, ye nations, to hear; and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein; the world, and all things that come forth of it. For the indignation of the LORD is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath utterly destroyed them, he hath delivered them to the slaughter. Their slain also shall be cast out, and their stink shall come up out of their carcases, and the mountains shall be melted with their blood. " (v1-3)

And there is more!

"And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." Isaiah 66:24


"And the carcases of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth; and none shall fray them away. " Jeremiah 7:33


"Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them." Jeremiah 9:22

We can find a hundred of these verses speaking and describing the same fate of the wicked throughout the Bible. If you want to search for more, we recommend downloading E-sword.net (button is on the right side of our webpage) and search for fowls, carcases, and so forth.


We hope this has helped you have a better understanding of the fate of the wicked and what the Marriage Supper of the Lamb really is.

The Thief on the Cross

In the last article, we explained what Paul truly meant when he said he would rather be absent from the body and present with the Lord, and if you haven't read it, check it out by CLICKING HERE. 

We will address the second of the two most popular verses that many use to debate that once we die, we shall immediately be with the Lord. This one is the famous verse spoken by Jesus Christ while He was on the cross. A thief crucified next to him had repented and asked Jesus with a prickle in his heart,  "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Luke 23:42

 

Firstly, We want to make sure our readers don't miss this. The thief asked for Jesus to remember him when Jesus comes into His kingdom. This doesn't occur until the second coming of Christ when He comes to receive His heavenly kingdom upon earth and the saints (us) shall reign with him for a thousand years. We also have several articles about this with many scriptures from the Bible. CLICK HERE if you would like to read more about this.

Going back to our point,

Jesus then turns to the thief in love and compassion and says:

"Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise ”(v43)

Let us remind everyone of the rule of the Bible. The Bible never contradicts itself. Keeping that in mind, let us understand all truth for there can only be one.

Why would Jesus tell the thief on the cross that he would be with Him today when Jesus told Mary after His resurrection that He had not yet ascended unto the Father yet? "Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father.." John 20:17

Why would Jesus tell the thief that he would be in Paradise with Him TODAY, and then tell Mary a completely otherwise story that Jesus had not yet ascended to His father yet three whole days later? That'd be a pretty cruel lie if it were what we thought it really was. But it wasn't.

Our Bible is the English translation of the original Hebrew and Greek text. It is the written Word of God in English, but the punctuations aren't infallible. It's amazing how one tiny comma can make a sentence mean an entirely different thing. With that in mind, let us remove the comma and take another look at the verse again,

Assuredly I say to you today you will be with Me in Paradise

Now try this,

Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.

Now we can see what a difference placing a simple comma can be!

When we die, we are asleep in the graves awaiting the coming of Christ. He promises us this, "I will come again and receive you to myself.." John 14:3  We are not received unto Him before then, but at His coming.

The dead are asleep in their graves and are unaware of everything below. All shall die even the righteous and the wicked, (Ecclesiastes 9:2,3). For the wages of sin is death, and since Adam sinned, all have sinned because of him and all shall die. Jesus shall come again and redeem us from our graves, and then death is swallowed up in victory at His coming.


"So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory." 1 Corinthians 15:54

Read all of 1 Corinthians 15 for a detailed description of how the dead in Christ shall be brought out of their graves at His coming, and then they shall receive incorruption and immortality. They are mortal first before they are immortal and this doesn't occur until the last trump on the last day. That is the blessed hope we look for, that Jesus shall come to receive us, and  there we shall ever be with the Lord.

Job speaks of the wicked in chapter 21 and says, "Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb." (v32)  And Job being a righteous man knowing his fate said,

"As the waters fail from the sea, and the flood decayeth and drieth up: So man lieth down, and riseth not: till the heavens be no more, they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep. O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come." Job 14:11-14 

Job is asleep in the graves and waiting there for his change to come where he will be raised immortal and incorruptible. Job knew he would have to wait until the heavens be no more, after the wrath is past which aligns with 2 Peter 3:10, "But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up."

Job is waiting for the Day of the Lord. So is the thief on the cross. So is the dead in Christ. We see that the wicked do not live again until the thousand years are passed, this is the resurrection unto damnation ( John 5:29, Rev 20:5)


Are our loved ones looking down from heaven at all the things we do and waiting for us there? It is a beautiful thought, but it is not truth. Our loved ones are actually very blessed because they do not know about all the things going on earth at the moment. The beautiful thing is that they won't have to miss us or experience the pain of longing to be with us again. At their last moment of awareness, they saw our faces. At their next moment they shall see us there with them and Jesus will be calling us all together unto Him. What an extraordinary moment it shall be!

We prayerfully urge our readers to continue studying about this and learning more about this. Please take a second glance at all these verses about the grave and about the resurrection, and try looking at it this way. See if it makes more sense and see if it matches all the other verses. If it be truth, it shall.

Christ's Kingdom on Earth

Note: We are not associated with any affiliations, nor religion, nor labels. We are not Jehovah's Witness, Seventh Day Adventists, or anything else but those who desire truth and seek it through God's Word and His Spirit. Our teachings may not be like the majority of Christian churches, but it is from the Bible. We believe the Bible is the final authority, even above doctrine and teachings of men.

We are showing what God's Word says about His Kingdom which is yet to come, so feel free to open your Bible and check each verse to verify it. We quote from the King James Bible.

The thief on the cross hung next to Jesus and with a prickle in his heart, he pleaded to Jesus "And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom." Luke 23:42

The thief asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus entered His kingdom that He shall inherit from the Father.

Daniel wrote, "I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed." Daniel 7:13, 14

We see that Jesus shall be given his Kingdom when He comes at His second coming. Where shall this kingdom be?

"And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever." Revelation 11:15

Jesus will be King over every kingdom in this world. He shall reign on this earth as the true and perfect King. 


More verses to ponder:

"Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." Matthew 6:10

We pray for His kingdom to come to earth, and for His will to be done on earth just as it is done in heaven.


"The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity" Matthew 13:41

Jesus will send His angels to cast the wicked out of His kingdom. If it were in heaven in the skies, what would the wicked be doing there? Jesus is casting the wicked out of His earthly kingdom.


We await for Jesus to return and he promises that  “I will come again and receive you to Myself” (John 14:3)

We shall be redeemed from death and the graves. At the last trump at the last day, those in Christ shall be transformed into an immortal and incorruptible being (read 1 Corinthians 15) Then at that moment we shall be caught up in the clouds to be with the Lord at last, and so we shall always be with Him in His kingdom.

And we shall inherit the kingdom with Jesus forevermore,

"Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom."  Daniel 7:22


"And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him." Daniel 7:27

What exciting and incredible things we have to look forward to!