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THE KINGDOM OF GOD BY RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE OR BY DECEPTION AND FORCE? A WARNING TO THE CHURCHES TODAY!
John 6:15 ...'When Jesus therefore perceived that they would
come and take him BY FORCE, to make him a king, he DEPARTED again into a
mountain himself alone.'
There is a movement in the world today that is seeking to FORCE the kingdom of God upon the world and make Christ King over the governments and the world NOW. You see it in the protests taking place all around the world. You see it in the words that many church leaders are speaking. But let me show you why that movement is NOT of God and is in fact of the enemy, the devil.
We will begin with an important lesson. A lesson of how the kingdom of God is manifested in the world. We will begin by comparing an event that took place in Old Testament times, with an event that took place in New Testament times.
1 Kings 1:5 ...'Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.'
1 Kings 1:32-34 ...'And king David said, call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon.'
Do you see the difference between Adonijah and Solomon? Adonijah, who wasn't chosen to succeed David as king over Israel, decided to take things into HIS OWN hands and seek to take the kingdom BY FORCE, which is why he used chariots, war horses and soldiers. Things were not running according to Adonijah's OWN thinking and thus he decides to take matters into his own hands and use force to take the kingdom and become king. The fact that he uses chariots and horsemen and soldiers clearly shows this. But look at the response of king David. He could have used force in return against Adonijah. But what does he do instead? He sets Solomon on his own MULE (a type of donkey) - a symbol of PEACE, not force. Thus David would have Solomon take the throne and the kingdom by peace and NOT by force, which was the will of God.
Not only did this point to Jesus Christ and the kingdom of God, as we will see in the verses below. It is also an important lesson for all of God's professed people in the world today. A lesson of HOW the kingdom of God is to take control of the world.
Zechariah 9:9-10 ...'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak PEACE unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth.'
Matthew 21:5 ...'Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.'
Luke 19:35-38 ...'And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon the colt, and they set Jesus thereon. And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way. And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen; Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord: peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.'
Do you see the clear similarity between Solomon and Christ? How David, even in the face of Adonijah seeking to take the kingdom by force, David trusted in God and had Solomon ride his mule, which was a symbol of PEACE, rather than his horse, and taking the throne in peace, trusting in the power of God to overrule Adonijah. And how Christ, even in the face of the Pharisees and Rome seeking to take and control the kingdom by force, was seated on a young donkey, NOT a horse, riding into Jerusalem in PEACE, to establish the kingdom of God on earth by PEACE, not force.
And what is the lesson today? Due to the terrible way that world governments are run today by greed, corruption, oppression, persecution, etc., there is a movement taking place in the world today to gain control over the governments and force the kingdom of God upon the world and force Jesus to be king over the governments of the world. You see it in the protest movements, declaring Jesus as king. You see it in the words of many church leaders today. And it is something that was prophesied to happen in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, with the second beast (America) telling the people of the world to make an image of the first beast (Papal Rome) and cause (force) the world to worship it and take it's mark. Papal Rome is a church-state power with the church directing (controlling) the state power. We see this in prophetic image form in Revelation 18, with the harlot woman riding (controlling) the beast - church controlling the state power - FORCING the kingdom of God upon the world - AGAINST the will of God!
John 6:15 ...'When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone.'
Let me make sure you understand this. When Jesus perceived the people would make Him king by force, He DEPARTED from them!
Is it any different today regarding the way governments are run than back in Jesus' day? No. "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9). Governments today are actually BASED upon the way ROME ruled the world. And what was Jesus' response to the oppression, greed, lust, evil, persecution, etc., of Rome? To establish His kingdom in PEACE! Riding upon a young donkey! No force. No deception in the ruling courts. No seeking to topple governments. Just simply showing the love, righteousness and peace of God. THIS should be our response to the evil in government and the world. To show the love, righteousness and peace of Christ and let the Holy Spirit work upon the hearts and minds of people and leaders, NOT using force or deception to change the world. But trusting in the power of God alone, just like David did with Solomon and just like Jesus did.
Jesus did NOT set up His church to gain control of governments. He did NOT set up His church to rule the world for Him. He set up His church to simply be a righteous, peaceful light unto the world, to draw, NOT FORCE, but DRAW BY LOVE, the world to Christ!
Now understand this - the ONLY time Christ will use force over the world and cause the kingdom of God to finally RULE will be at His second coming:
Matthew 24:30 ...'And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.'
2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 ...'And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power.'
Revelation 19:11-16 ...'And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.'
Jesus does NOT become King of kings to RULE OVER THIS WORLD until He returns at the second coming. ONLY at the second coming does this take place, NOT BEFORE!
And the only reason this world will be taken by force for the kingdom of God at the second coming is because everyone will have made their decision for life or death, obedience to God or disobedience. God's true church will have put on her righteous garments and thus it will be time for Jesus to return and destroy the kingdoms of this world and fill this world with the kingdom of God after the 1000 year millennium rest. BUT NOTICE: God does NOT force the kingdoms of this world to be ruled by Christ and His law. He simply wipes them all out and replaces them with His kingdom AFTER the second coming. ALSO NOTICE: We do NOT do this work. God does this work. Our part now is simply to submit our hearts and minds to Christ and let His love, peace and righteousness shine out through our lives as a living witness to the world around us (Matthew 5:16), to DRAW them to Christ, NOT force them. THAT IS IT!
So anyone who seeks to establish Jesus as king over the governments of the world now and force Christianity upon the world now is going against the will of God and is part of the fallen churches of Babylon, and antichrist beast system of Revelation 13, which will receive the plagues of God and be forever lost! The kingdom of God at this time BEFORE the return of Jesus rules in PEACE and RIGHTEOUSNESS in the hearts and minds of man, NOT in deception and force. Papal Rome (the first beast of Revelation 13), which ruled the world in the dark ages, sought to FORCE the kingdom of God upon the world, well, her false version of the kingdom of God. And what did that end in? The persecution and killing of tens of millions of people who simply wanted to live according to their own conscience!
Revelation 13 tells us that another power - the second beast, which is America (SEE HERE), is going to give power and life back to Papal Rome by creating an image of Papal Rome (image of the beast - church ruling the state) - FORCING the world to submit to their faulty version of the kingdom of God. Causing the world to take the mark of Papal Rome - her false Sunday sabbath law and her false trinity god. And all this chaos in the world is feeding right into the hands of the call to 'return the countries back to their Christian roots' - ROMAN CATHOLIC 'Christian' roots - and end up forcing a false gospel and false kingdom of God upon the world.
Jesus told us that we cannot say, "oh look, there is the kingdom of God" because "the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). You cannot force the kingdom of God onto someone. You cannot force anyone to submit themselves to the kingdom of God, because the kingdom of God is the love, righteousness, peace, faith and trust of God received into the heart and mind, which has been subdued by the LOVE and Spirit of God, NOT by force or deception.
Romans 14:17 ...'For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but RIGHTEOUSNESS, and PEACE, and joy in the Holy Ghost.'
Hebrews 12:14 ...'Follow PEACE with all men, and HOLINESS, without which no man shall see the Lord.'
But just as Satan sought to steal the throne of heaven from Jesus, and as Adonijah sought to steal the throne from Solomon, the fallen churches of the world are seeking to steal the throne of God's kingdom on earth from Jesus by putting THEMSELVES in the seat of power. Because those who truly are led by the gospel of Jesus allow Christ to rule the throne of their hearts and minds and THAT IS IT. They do not seek position or power in this world. They do not seek to force Jesus upon the world. They are simply living examples of Christ and the gospel, through PEACE and RIGHTEOUSNESS. And if we are persecuted because of it, then so be it! Jesus told us that in this life the godly would receive persecution:
2 Timothy 3:12 ...'Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.'
Matthew 5:10-12 ...'Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.'
John 15:19-20 ...'If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.'
Who was it that persecuted Jesus? God's own professed people!! The SAME will happen in the last days. 'THEY' - God's own professed church, will persecute the TRUE saints of God, when we don't submit to THEIR false version of Christ ruling over the world and THEIR false version of God's law, like Sunday sabbath keeping and the false trinity god. But did you notice any Bible verse that says we are to flee persecution? No, because it is to refine us as gold. Did you notice any Bible verse that says we are to rise up and fight against persecution? No. We are simply called 'BLESSED.' Blessed for suffering with and for Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour! Continuing to submit to and live in the PEACE and RIGHTEOUSNESS of God.
What we DO need to flee from is this form of 'Christianity' in the world that makes up it's own ways and laws, like Sunday keeping, which is NOT God's holy day. Flee from the form of 'Christianity' which is lukewarm. Flee from the form of 'Christianity' that has no victory over sin. And definitely flee from the form of 'Christianity' that seeks to force the kingdom of God and rule of Christ upon the world. Flee from them! And go to Jesus. Learn of JESUS and follow HIM alone!