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S. Michael Houdmann
Supporter
Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of God in His Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 6:33). The verse's meaning is as direct as it sounds. We are to seek the things of God as a priority over the things ...
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D W
Supporter
One must approach the interpretation and application of scripture with great care. What does that mean? It means that we mortals are incapable of "great care." It is an entirely Spiritual endeavor, with the Holy Spirit as the Captain of the ship. HE interprets and applies and shares it all with us in each circumstance and situation. What we Christians fail to understand, over and over again, is that the Book of Matthew was written to Jews and within that context the Kingdom of Heaven (Kingdom of God in Mark and Luke) is an earthly Kingdom that is "not now, not here yet." It will occur after the Tribulation, after the 2nd Coming, after Armageddon. It is a Kingdom FROM God, FROM Heaven, established on earth, that will last for 1,000 years. THEREFORE: Here was a specific admonition from Jesus. The Jewish audience in Matthew, including the whole of Matthew 6, of course, was to seek the advent of the promised Jewish Kingdom FROM God on earth. How were they to do that? They had so far managed to disregard entirely God's plan in the Abrahamic Covenant and in everything that followed! Now here they are with their last chance in their midst, their promised Jewish Messiah. Acknowledge Him! Prepare for the arrival of the Kingdom on earth! Did they do that? Some acknowledged Him as Messiah, most did not. That marvelous Kingdom, with Jesus on the Throne of David, was placed on hold. The Jews who acknowledged Jesus as Messiah 2,000 years ago died and will one day be resurrected to enter it. The Jews who recognized Him as Savior through the ministry of the Apostle Paul died and instantly entered Heaven. The Kingdom promise will be fulfilled --- but only after the events noted, above, and it will involve only those of the Nation of Israel. We do not live in a "Kingdom" today. We live in the church age as the Body of Christ. We do not "seek" a Kingdom. Our Savior seeks us through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We respond to His call, Romans 10:8-13.
Andy Mangus
My simple and brief type of an answer is this: Seeking the Kingdom of God first is to wake up in the morning with a purposeful intent to give Him recognition that He created you, that He provided another day on 'your calendar' and that He is your Heavenly Father, Lord and Savior! And, that He loves you! As Scripture tells us-- we are His precious children; and, that His love for us is beyond what we can truly comprehend is Paramount for our mental understanding. When one becomes saved from their many, many sins or transgressions, we are indwelt by God's Holy Spirit. We are, as the Bible states "one with Christ".(Galatians 3:28) But, we still live in the flesh here on this Earth which He created by His power. He has divine plans for each of us. He wants us to be a witness to others, to tell and show others what His love means to us and that His plans are the Holy, good and blessed paths He has for us because only He knows what is best for us! ------------------------------- My saying that I like to close with that is my tribute to My Lord! "To know Him is to love Him! To seek Him is to find Him! To find Him is to be with Him! To be with Him is to love and adore Him! And, To be with Him is to "dwell in the presence of The Lord God Almighty for ever and ever and ever!" AMEN! We are to love the Lord with all our strength; with all our might. We are to put our total and unwavering trust IN Him! And, IN Him alone! (Deuteronomy 6:5) My saying: "Praise God that He provided a Savior! And, His name is Jesus Christ!" ~~~Andy~~~
James Kraft
This verse has several meanings. For the Christian it means John 6:40 And this is the will of Him who sent me, that all that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life. When we trust Jesus as our savior, He imputes His righteousness to us. Seek ye first, the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you. He gives us His righteousness through the Holy Spirit when we believe on Him. Romans 4:6 Blessed are those who the lord imputes righteousness without works. To seek His righteousness is to believe on His Son. Jesus. Now we have His righteousness and do not have to depend on our own filthy rags righteousness. It is the Spirit that lives in the believer that can not sin. Jesus said, the Spirit of God is within you. When we believe on Jesus as our savior, our Spirit is made alive again. Before we believe, our flesh or our old nature is alive, and our spirit is dead. After we accept Jesus blood sacrifice for all our sin forever, our Spirit is alive and our flesh is dead. We just have no experienced it yet. But we all die because of sin in the flesh. First John 3:9 Whosoever is born of God doeth not commit sin, because His seed, (the Holly Spirit) remains in him, and HE can not sin, because He is born of God. It is the Holy Spirit who lives in the believer that can not sin and who is our righteousness before God. And this is good news. Hebrews 13:5 And be content with such things as ye have, for He hath said, I will never leave you or forsake you. So, to seek His righteousness is to believe on His Son. Jesus, Then we are declared righteous by God even though we still sin. First John 1:8 Flesh and blood can not enter the kingdom, only our soul/spirit is saved.,
Jack Gutknecht
Matthew 5:13-15 Salt and Light 5:13 “You are the salt 1 of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, 2 how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 5:15 People 3 do not light a lamp and put it under a basket 4 but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 1 sn Salt was used as seasoning or fertilizer (BDAG 41 s.v. ἅλας a), or as a preservative. If salt ceased to be useful, it was thrown away. With this illustration Jesus warned about a disciple who ceased to follow him. 2 sn The difficulty of this saying is understanding how salt could lose its flavor since its chemical properties cannot change. It is thus often assumed that Jesus was referring to chemically impure salt, perhaps a natural salt which, when exposed to the elements, had all the genuine salt leached out, leaving only the sediment or impurities behind. Others have suggested that the background of the saying is the use of salt blocks by Arab bakers to line the floor of their ovens; under the intense heat these blocks would eventually crystallize and undergo a change in chemical composition, finally being thrown out as unserviceable. A saying in the Talmud (b. Bekhorot 8b) attributed to R. Joshua ben Chananja (ca. A.d. 90), when asked the question “When salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again?” is said to have replied, “By salting it with the afterbirth of a mule.” He was then asked, “Then does the mule (being sterile) bear young?” to which he replied: “Can salt lose its flavor?” The point appears to be that both are impossible. The saying, while admittedly late, suggests that culturally the loss of flavor by salt was regarded as an impossibility. Genuine salt can never lose its flavor. In this case the saying by Jesus here may be similar to Matt 19:24, where it is likewise impossible for the camel to go through the eye of a sewing needle. 3 tn Grk “Nor do they light.” The plural in Greek is indefinite, referring to people in general. 4 tn Or “a bowl”; this refers to any container for dry material of about eight liters (two gallons) capacity. It could be translated “basket, box, bowl” (L&N 6.151). Men may glorify God, that is, give to Him the worship and reverence which are His due (Matthew 5:16, and generally in the Synoptic Gospels and in some other passages of the New Testament). --Walter R. Betteridge Matthew 5:16 Not a Glare, But a Glow “Let your life so shine (Matt. 5:16). It is not a glare but a glow; and we are simply to let the light shine. God prefers stars to comets. The figure is a candle, not a firecracker.” Vance Havner, Leadership, IV, 4, 1986 Reformation Days At the beginning of the Reformation, Martin of Basle, Switzerland, came to the knowledge of the truth. He accepted Jesus as his Savior. Afraid to let his friends know that he no longer believed the many falsehoods taught by his formal church, he wrote these words on a leaf of parchment. “O merciful Christ, I know that I can be saved only by the merit of Thy blood. Holy Jesus, I love Thee.” Removing a stone from the wall of his chamber, he hid behind the stone these beautiful words. The parchment was discovered more than a hundred years later. About the same time, Martin Luther of Wittenberg, Germany, also found the truth in Christ. Boldly he confessed, “My Lord has confessed me before men: I will not shrink from confessing my Lord before princes and kings!” We all know what followed. Everybody has heard what Martin Luther accomplished by his public confession of Christ. On the contrary, no one knows of Martin of Basle. If your life is to bear fruit, we cannot hide behind a stone in the wall our love for Jesus (Rom. 10:9, 10)
Daniel Veler
Here is the definition of the kingdom. Romans 14: 17 For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 18 For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. What Christ was telling us was the kingdom is within us. It is what we receive when we come to Christ. Luke 17: The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: 21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! Or, lo there! For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. When we come into the kingdom of God we receive the fruits of his Holy Spirit within us. If someone who has not received the kingdom of God before death. He will not receive it after they die. The same thing applies to eternal life. It is written in John chapter 17 the true definition of eternal life. That definition tells us those who possess it are brought into a personal relationship with the Father and his son. Now one of the Apostles asked him, “how will you make yourself known unto us but not onto the world?” Christ told him those that love me and keep my commands will be loved by my Father. And my Father and I will come and abide in you. So once again if you do not possess eternal life before death you will not receive it after you die.
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