Current prophetic models imply Paul made mistakes about the “the day of the Lord.” They say that, on that day, deceased Christian will rise to leave their graves empty. Living Christians will receive glorified bodies and fly to join them. Paul thought he and/or his contemporaries would live to see…
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A reader who embraces much of inmillennialism asked for help. He has difficulty with the “rapture” passage. I am being challenged on 1 Thess 4:13–5:11 and the teaching of the rapture. In part this seems to be referring to a future event from our time, but I am having trouble…
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“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). This verse causes some readers to doubt inmillennialism.…
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The New Testament gives a surprising report of Roman centurions. It mentions six, each a “commander of 100 men in the Roman army.” They all had a positive connection to the kingdom of heaven. Matt 8:5–13 presents the New Testament’s first centurion. His perception of the kingdom caused Jesus to…
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Please don’t allow a little word to intimidate you. Syllogism may sound scary, but it is our friend. It is “a formal argument consisting of a major and a minor premise and a conclusion.” For example, “every virtue is laudable; kindness is a virtue; therefore kindness is laudable.” This post…
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My mom used to make butter from fresh cow’s milk. She poured it into a churn and agitated it with a wooden plunger. This caused the milk solids to separate from the liquid. She then skimmed the butter off the top and pressed it into a mold. When the butter…
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Jesus did not preach a theoretical kingdom. Centuries earlier Daniel declared God would set up his kingdom in the days of the Roman kings. It would consume all other kingdoms (Dan 2:44). In the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5:1–7:29) Jesus shows the tangible nature of that kingdom. The context…
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We Christians would do well to remember an important aspect of the gospel. In the New Testament, the kingdom of heaven was at the core of the “good news.” As we have seen, John the Baptist preached this message. He proclaimed, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at…
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“Matthew . . . is the Gospel of the King and His kingdom.” We have seen this in our previous posts on Matthew. For example, the “little horn” king (Herod) opposed the King (Matt 2). And, John the Baptist preached the gospel of the kingdom (Matt 3:1). In Matthew 4,…
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Preaching the kingdom of heaven was central to the early church’s ministry. This was true from the start of the gospel. God chose John the Baptist to prepare the way for Christ. His first and primary message was about the kingdom. He said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at…