Jesus said: My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
There is soon coming the day when the false Christ will arise and his followers, being convinced he is the Christ, will follow his teaching to fight those who oppose his government/leadership. They will do this willingly because of weak knowledge of the word and because their hope will be established in him by signs and what temporal/material provisions are given them; their stomachs and the cry of their children will be such that whatever armor of God covered them will be stripped off, cast aside, for a mess of pottage.
Let him who has ears .....Hear
"By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will function. Daniel 11:32
This from Chambers:
Whenever Jesus talked about His kingdom the disciples misinterpreted what He said to mean a material kingdom to be established on this earth; but Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world: if My kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews. And again He said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation . . . for lo! the kingdom of God is within you. The only way in which we can be saved from the lure of the wrong roads to the kingdom is by doing what our Master tells us, viz., Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. If we do not watch and pray we shall be led into temptation before we know where we are. Howbeit when the Son of man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth? said Jesus. He will find faith in individual men and women, but the general organised form of the Christian Church has slipped almost wholesale on to wrong roads to the kingdom.
This also from Chambers that caught my eye:
(a) The Material Road of Deliverance ( Matthew 4:1-4 ) If Thou art the Son of God, command that these stones become bread (Matthew 4:3 ). This temptation is profoundly human. If we could only find some means of curing everybody of disease, of feeding them and putting them on a good social basis what a marvelous thing it would be. That is the way we are being told that the kingdom of God is to be established on this earth. We do not need any more of this talk about the Atonement, and the shedding of blood; what is needed to-day is to spend ourselves for others. That is the lure of the wrong road to the kingdom, and we cannot keep out of it if we forget to watch and pray. Watch with me, said Jesus; mine is the only road to the kingdom. We have to continue with Him in His temptations. Command that these stones become bread satisfy Your own needs and the needs of men and You will get the kingship of men. Was Satan right? Read John 6:15, When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take Him by force to make Him a king . . . Why? He had just fed five thousand of them ! Yes, but we read that Jesus departed again into a mountain Himself alone; He would not be king at that price.
Just alitle more from Chambers:
(c) The Mental Road of Dominion ( Matthew 4:8-10 ) This is the temptation to compromiseEvil is in the world, compromise with it, work with it judiciously. All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me. This temptation is the most subtle of all. Dont be so strait-laced; we have passed the day when we believe in a personal devil. May God forgive us, I am afraid we are past that stage. Will the Church that bows down and compromises succeed? Of course it will. It is the very thing that the natural man wants, but it is the lure of a wrong road to the kingdom. Beware of putting anything sweet and winsome in front of the One Who suffered in Gethsemane .
Chambers, O. 1996, c1958. If ye shall ask. Marshall, Morgan & Scott: Hants UK
Temptation = Solicitation
Orm
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