Eight Kingdoms

Michael Pearl

Description

Eight Kingdoms ...and then there was ONE. There are eight types of kingdoms spoken of in the Bible. Two of those kingdoms - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven - constitute the central message of the New Testament. If all the text that speaks directly of these two kingdoms were removed from the New Testament, there wouldn't be enough left to fill up a single page in a newspaper. Yet, the kingdom message is completely unknown by a large majority of ministers and their congregations all across this land. There has never been anything spoken so much, yet understood so little. The errors of reformed theology and Armenianism alike are rooted in a misunderstanding of the kingdoms. Most cults and many of the denominational differences today can be traced to a lack of understanding of the mystery of the kingdoms. The key to understanding the entire Bible is found in knowing the differences among the eight kingdoms, but especially these two - the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven. When you finish reading this book, you will assuredly know the difference.

Sujets

• Christianity
• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: No Greater Joy Ministries
• Date de parution: 01 juillet 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781616441227
• Langue: English

Extrait

E IGHT KINGDOMS
Kingdom of God & Kingdom of Heaven
M ICHAEL P EARL
Eight Kingdoms ®
Copyright © 2006 by Michael and Debi Pearl
ISBN-13: 978-1-892112-62-0
ISBN-10: 1-892112-62-0
First printing: July 2006 — 20,000
Visit www.NoGreaterJoy.org for information on other products produced by No Greater Joy Ministries.
Requests for information should be addressed to:
No Greater Joy Ministries Inc. 1000 Pearl Road, Pleasantville, TN 37033 USA
All scripture taken from the Authorized (King James) Holy Bible
Reprinting or online posting of our books, booklets, transcriptions of cassettes, videos, DVDs, or CDs is subject to approval.
Printed in the United States of America
Part One: Things different are not the same.
It does make a difference.
The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are not the same. You may ask, “ So what? What difference can it make?”
♦ It is the difference between having a clear understanding of the Bible as a whole, and seeing it as an assorted collection of religious writings.
♦ It is the difference between believing that Israel is still God’s covenant people, yet to inherit the earth, and believing that the Church has taken Israel’s place in some spiritual sense.
♦ It is the difference between believing that Jesus gave Peter the authority to make a final offer of the Davidic kingdom to the Jews, and believing that he gave Peter the keys to control the entrance of individuals into the body of Christ during the Church age.
♦ It is the difference between indigenous local churches on the one hand, and Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran, Church of Christ, and Landmark Baptist churches on the other.
♦ It is the difference of whether it will be unbelieving children of Israel that God casts into hell at the beginning of the Millennium or Christians.
♦ It is the difference between believing that David will be resurrected to sit on a literal throne in Jerusalem, and believing that Christ will sit on a throne in heaven.
♦ It is the difference between Christians keeping the Law of Moses or not.
♦ It is the difference between Jewish Sabbath-keeping and New Covenant rest.
♦ It’s the difference between the doctrine of security of the believer and that of losing your salvation.
♦ It is the difference between being a dispensationalist or not.
♦ It is the difference between pre-millennial and post-millennial eschatology.
♦ It is the difference between the pre-tribulation, pre-wrath, and post-tribulation and pre-wrath rapture of the church.
♦ It is the difference between a Bible that is confusing and one that makes perfect sense.
♦ It is the difference between allegorizing the Scripture and that of boldly accepting it literally.
Most of the doctrinal differences between denominations are a direct result of their failure to rightly differentiate between the eight kingdoms.
A Kingdom Book.
The Bible is not a religious book. It is a kingdom book, first, foremost and only — authored by God. It speaks of the past, telling us of a kingdom that was lost, of the present kingdoms that vie for supremacy, and of a future kingdom that physically smashes all others and is established on a newly created earth that will endure forever. The Bible reveals God’s plan of the ages, embracing history and prophecy as the unified revelation of the King building his kingdom in a manner that is entirely on schedule and successful in every way.
Eight Kingdoms.
Most evangelical preachers, teachers, and Bible students think there is just one kingdom — a spiritual kingdom — into which all believers of all ages must enter. But the Bible speaks of eight different kingdoms. They are listed in the sequence in which they are revealed in the Bible (though not necessarily named). In due course, we will examine all (leaving none out) Scripture references to them.
1. The kingdom of God is the timeless spiritual rule of God over all beings, wherever they may be — in paradise, in hell, in earth, or anywhere in any of the three heavens.
2. Satan’s kingdom is self-evident. It is the unseen evil forces and fallen angels organized into a concerted effort to thwart the purposes of God for the human race.
3. Gentile kingdoms are what you study when taking world history — Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, The Mongol Hordes, Britain, France, Germany, Spain, United States of America, etc.
4. The Jewish kingdom (Israel) began when the sons of Jacob left Egypt and crossed the Red Sea under Moses, and the kingdom was discontinued when Rome destroyed them in the first century A. D. It was reconstituted in 1948 and continues today in the land of Israel.
5. The kingdom of heaven is the kingdom that God intends for this earth. It is as physical and earthly as is any kingdom discussed in world history. And when it comes to power, it will replace all existing earthly kingdoms, for it will rule over and occupy every inch of their domains. As we will show from Scripture, it is not heaven ruling heaven; it is heaven ruling the earth (part of the heavens) through men.
6. Antichrist’s kingdom appears during the seven years immediately preceding the second coming of Christ. He is Satan’s counterfeit christ with a counterfeit kingdom which will be destroyed with the brightness of Christ’s coming.
7. Christ’s kingdom is the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven with Christ as the visible head. It will be revealed during his coming earthly reign. When the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God come together at the beginning of the Millennium, it will be called interchangeably the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of his dear Son, his kingdom , and the kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
8. The Father’s kingdom is the all-encompassing kingdom of the Living God, in which the full unfolding and final manifestation of the mystery concerning the kingdoms is completed. The kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God will have become Christ’s kingdom at his coming. And when Christ turns the kingdoms over to the Father, all that remains throughout eternity and after all things have become one, is the Father’s kingdom.
Seven aspects of the kingdom.
The kingdoms and their differences are widely discussed in the Scriptures, but it is The New Testament that reveals the seven aspects of the kingdom. These phrases are taken directly from the Bible text.
1. Children of the kingdom
2. Gospel of the kingdom
3. Parables of the kingdom
4. Word of the kingdom
5. Mysteries of the kingdom
6. Keys of the kingdom
7. Heirs of the kingdom.
If you cannot readily differentiate between the items in the two above lists, you doubtless find many other passages in the Bible troubling and difficult to reconcile. This may have forced you to ignore all the details and to allegorize the text in order for it to make any sense at all. Be patient, for in due course, all these points will be examined in the illuminating Scriptures.
Why there is so little understanding of the kingdoms?
The kingdom theme of the Bible is little known, owing to the fact that its objective message has been smothered by the subjective embrace of religion. God announced a coming worldwide kingdom, so Religion enthusiastically came forward with its own proposal. Judaism wanted a little kingdom between Egypt and Syria with secure borders and a return to their former glory. The Church said, “No! it must be a spiritual kingdom that ends in heavenly places.” But then, through a misguided view of the kingdom and a lust for power, the Church started competing with the kingdoms of this world and became a political power. Today, the Vatican sends out ambassadors of state and dispenses salvation in its rituals. On the other end of the institutional spectrum, Independent Baptist Churches enthrone an independent pastor in an office that encourages him to assume independent control of the local congregation — all in the name of a kingdom chain of command — a form of apostolic succession similar to that of the Catholics and their popes.
As the influence of the Early Church grew, it fell prey to the lust for kingdom power. In the name of God, it pushed aside states and kings. What started out as a “kingdom within” — a kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy — soon added Clergy control, institutionalization, national recognition, special buildings of worship, liturgical worship, and, eventually, control of civil government. As our Lord warned, his little seed in the hands of men grew to be a great tree, covering the whole earth, filled with birds (devils) and leaven (false doctrine).
Just as the history of the world is the bloody chronicle of kingdoms struggling for supremacy, so the history of Christianity has been a sad and sometimes bloody chronicle of sects competing for recognition as the only legitimate heir of the Kingdom of God. The Dark Ages were kept dark with threats of excommunication, torture chambers, burnings at the stake, and murderous crusades, all done in the name of establishing God’s kingdom on the earth. Evangelism was administered with the “holy” sword, under the “Christian” flag, with the blessings of the “successors” of Saint Peter, and commanded from Rome, the purported seat of “God’s kingdom” upon the earth. In a few cases, the reformers didn’t do much better. They, too, shed blood and coerced men into “the faith”.
But, that is in the past. Today, the wary civil powers keep the denominations from killing each other, and we are all much more civil-ized , even if not Christ-ianized. Nonetheless, each of the large denominations, and many of the smaller ones, still stridently claim that their organization holds the “keys to the kingdom”, that they are the true successors of the kingdom of God on the earth. In contrast, but no less accurate, the late 20th century evangelicals came to believe that the kingdom of God is just a big family of fellowship and good-will, encompassing all Christians everywhere, singing as they happily travel the road t