The Parable of The Casting and Drawing in of the Net is another Parable that is in the same vein as the preceding mentioned Parables of Jesus. My good and highly esteemed brother above, whom I have quoted in my Preface, has given his respected opinion that half or more of Jesus' Parables indicated the advancing dissolution of the Legal Dispensation; but I would venture much farther than that with my humble opinion, that nearly all of Jesus' Parables seem to refer to this same fact - and this proposition also seems to be in accordance with the general theme of these parables, If not closely related to the same subject; and also reveals Jesus' reason and purpose for speaking in this way and manner to the multitudes of people, but later, in expounding the true meaning of these "mysteries" of the Kingdom that He had encouched in His sayings before the people; but in the private hearing of His Disciples, he explained, as in accordance with God's Will.
When God first revealed His Sovereign choice of ancient Israel (after the flesh) as a separate people that He had chosen or selected to be a separate people and a body politic and distinct from all other peoples and nations of the earth, this stood as a type of the True spiritual Kingdom of God that would finally be ushered in with the Coming Incarnation, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, the Son of God". This spiritual Kingdom, Christ sometimes referred to when He delivered His Parables before the multitudes of people that followed Him, and sometimes He was referring to the kingdom of national Israel.
It seems that the term, wnen it is called The Kingdom of heaven), nearly always referred to the then present economy as it existed under that Legal establishment - That is in accordance with the general context and analogy of faith. This kingdom was therefore denoted by Christ as the Kingdom of heaven, while The coming, (and already present) Gospel Kingdom was referred to as the Kingdom of God.
There has been considerable discussion upon the difference (if any) between these expressions, Kingdom of heaven and Kingdom of God. Because of the intended brevity of this article, I would not at present desire to enter very far into this discussion, except to mention that I think "The Kingdom of Heaven" usually means the Old Testament dimension, while the "Kingdom of God" generally refers to the New Covenant Dispensation, as a spiritual administration; but I am not yet willing by any means to "cast this opinion in concrete." Some have also pointed out that The Kingdom of heaven could represent God's Kingship and Rule over all things in His Providence as Creator. As such, we can see Him as a Providential Ruler over the former dispensation as compared with the latter, where the New Dispensation was to be primarily of a spiritual nature as He presently rules in the hearts of His people by Love and Grace; where He now writes His Law in a softened heart and understanding mind, instead of upon tables of stone to indicate the hardness of the hearts of those of the former dispensation. So they under the New Covenant thus become to Him a people, and He to them a Loving Father, and not, as under the Law, as mostly a severe lord and taskmaster. I feel It has provided the writer with more understanding of these things through the consideration of the different applications of the word heaven as it is used in the Scriptures (Jer 31:33):
"... But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the
LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they
shall be my people.
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the
LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I
will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more..." Jer 31:33-34.
"...And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children..." Isa 54:13. "...It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me..." John 6:45.
The Law Dispensation was, no doubt, considered as a heaven or sanctuary for those who were chosen by God to reside therein. That the people, (as a political body) chosen for this occupation were no doubt, considered to be the true possessors of such a kingdom, there can be no question. God in His Purpose and Counsel had chosen them sovereignly to this end. Christ's Own words in several places verify this truth, as the Legal Dispensation was not set to bring life and salvation; but to show "sin to be exceeding sinful" for those who were called by grace under that dispensation, as well as the grace dispensation, as far as the remnants of sin and condemnation yet residing in the believer's flesh. (Rom 7:13.
Though, in nearly every place, were it is clearly stated that God had, in His Sovereignty, chosen the people of ancient Israel for Himself; yet we find that the True blessing and final fulfillment of those blessings are nearly, if not always connected with these passages. In fact, it would not do any harm to so “spiritualize” these texts in harmony with the view that all that went before was (which is true) the embodiment of types and shadows pointing to the True Substance of the figures, Who of course, was Christ:
“… For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through
the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:
Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.
Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not
to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us
all,..” Rom 4:13-16.
The Legal institution was a house that was to be completely taken down, that God's children, might have free access unto the Throne of Grace through the Lord Jesus Christ:
"...For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For
finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they
continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord..." Heb 8:7-9.
Why did God not “regard” the people under that covenant? - Because this clause, ".. If ye be willing and
obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:
But if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it..."
was included in that covenant as the express embodiment of it as a condition (of obedience)
required by God when He set forth the terms and conditions of that covenant. These threatenings
of the Law, based upon its terms and conditions are vividly expressed in Deut. 31, (while they
have been fully cataloged by Moses in other places.)
"... And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify
against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their
imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware..." (ver
21)....
"....Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it
may be there for a witness against thee.
For I know thy rebellion, and thy stiff neck: behold, while I am yet alive with you this day, ye have been
rebellious against the LORD; and how much more after my death?..." Gather unto me all the elders of your
tribes, and your officers, that I may speak these words in their ears, and call heaven and earth to record
against them.
For I know that after my death ye will utterly corrupt yourselves, and turn aside from the way which I have
commanded you; and evil will befall you in the latter days; because ye will do evil in the sight of the LORD,
to provoke him to anger through the work of your hands..." (ver 26-27)
This Law stood as a witness against sinners - set to apprehend and arrest them upon violation of its terms -, and as Paul expressed in Rom 7:12-14, while the law is holy, just and good (because it was given and emanated from God); yet the people were, as Paul still felt himself to be in his flesh, "Carnal, sold under (or had really been considered as being given up in his flesh to the condemnation of) sin..." Only those who are truly born of the Spirit can experience these feelings: If you, (along with the poor publican) feel this way, then it is sure evidence that your flesh has been humbled under the mighty hand of God, so that you also with Paul do find that " To will (to perform righteousness) is always present with you (as it is with every born-again and humbled child of God,) - But how to PERFORM that which is good (righteous), you find not.."- Rom 7:17-18.) Therefore, the child of God feels their daily need of the intercession of Christ's Spirit within; because their fleshly nature cannot perform the things (of the Spirit) that the holy law requires:
"... Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the
things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual..."
The "world" that is under consideration here is pointing to that world and spirit which dominated the Law world, or the Old Economy, as compared to that Spirit of the Grace of God in Christ that was revealed under the New Dispensation. This is not to imply that this phenomenon (which brought manifest condemnation and death through the knowledge of sin) existed only under the former period; because this condition yet prevails over all sinners of the race that have not yet been spiritually manifested and brought under the terms of the New Covenant provisions in Christ. (Rom 5:14)
"...Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the
cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; And
did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual
Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. But with many of them God was not well pleased: for
they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not
lust after evil.." 1 Cor 10:1-5.
This was true historically, and it continues to be true in the experience of the saints, who are truly (spiritually) called into and within the confines of the New Jerusalem glory; Still, in harmony with our text of the casting and drawing in of the net in Jesus’ Parable - while they were all baptized under a literal or natural cloud, and passed through a literal sea of waters, that was divided by the Hand of God - Just as many merely nominal professors existed under the former covenant - there are still multitudes of mere nominals that had continued right on down to the times of Christ's Coming, As the Parable of The Tares among the Wheat, and The Separation and Dividing of the Sheep and Goats in that Parable, so the Parable of the Net runs in the same vein along with, or like the good and worthless fishes found in the net; so there was to be a separation made as to determine for God’s children the identify or genuineness of professors for qualifications to partake of the true spiritual provisions of the then approaching Kingdom of God; and in this separation, to point out (to the saints) those who were of the contrary part and who were to be manifested as the genuine:
As the Apostle Peter in his epistles declared that “The end of all things were then at hand.” -So the final destruction of the generation composing that yet-standing Dispensation was then on the clear horizon. The old “heavens and earth” of the former dispensation were now “manifestly waxing old (Heb 8:13) and - according to the words of Christ Himself, along with the holy oracles, the Prophets .. “ready to vanish”, (but not already vanished) “away”- - Though many (without seeming to consider the complete context of these Scriptures) seem to think that these passages refer to the final dissolution of the material heavens themselves, or the very literal physical cosmos - of course, which would have to include the planet earth- But those old heavens of the former dispensation finally did totally pass away with the coming of the Son of God in final judgment upon that “crooked and perverse generation” thereby manifesting the final signs that attended its dissolution, when the “heavens and earth” that was then and yet “kept in store“ now being on fire would totally perish with the “fervent heat” of this final judgment held in the Purpose of God; but in the meantime, this generation yet awaited this final judgment. - even as Christ had clearly shown to His disciples before His departure as recorded in Matt. 24 and other places;
“…And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good
fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire…”
“…Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire…” Matt 3:10-12.
The Prophet Malachi, in the last pages of the Old Testament Scriptures, also predicts the gathering of these respective fish(es) into the net of this impending judgment; Thus contrasting the keeping of the good, while the unacceptable fishes were to be thrown away - a comparison that represents the salvation of the elect, who were to be found caught up and drawn into the ramifications of the casting and drawing of this net, which began with the ministry of John The Baptist. And was finished at the Parousia, or the second coming of Christ in judgment upon that generation; but not as in His first coming as the Divine Savior to perform His redemptive work the Father had given Him to do in the absolute redemption of those given to Him by The Father in Eternity - by taking all their sin unto Himself. But at His second appearing in the end of the Age, He was to return with His mighty angels, such as the Roman Army with other forces, some perhaps supernatural, and some not, thereby taking that final vengeance that He before had declared would come to pass in the last days of that present generation, and thus would hail the end of the Law economy with all of its provisions.
“…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…” 2 Th 1:7-8.
"... For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled..." Luke 21:22.
"... And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountain.... " Matt 24:14- 16 and etc.
In this fiery and consuming judgment upon that nation, and during the unfolding and at the end of this judgment, some would go away into an Eternal, interminable, or never-ending, irrevocable punishment under the righteous judgment of God, which would stand forever as representative, or as a token and sign of God’s rejection of some throughout the Ages, while His spiritually manifest choice of a truly favored people as thus chosen, or of those considered righteous, or worthy by Divine Grace in Christ as worthy recipients for and of this Kingdom, as these would then go into the blessedness of Life Eternal with their Lord, to live under the full blessings of the then fully revealed Gospel Dispensation, which is a Kingdom with sure foundations, (which the former covenant did not have) as this coming Kingdom was to be built upon the merit and finished work of the Son of God Himself as the One Foundation and Chief Cornerstone, and no other foundation could ever again be laid, as God Himself had once and forever bought and brought Eternal salvation for His Elect, or for those who were chosen in His Son before the world began by the one offering of Himself as a Lamb slain from the foundation of that legal world - and also in eternity in the Mind and Purpose of the Father. Jesus had not failed in accomplishing and completing the work of eternal salvation for His people; When His redemptive work was done, He then sent His Apostles out to further finish the ministerial work that He had Himself begun with His Apostles by sending them - not to the confines of Israel only - but unto the uttermost parts of the earth. This special and exclusive commission to them as such Apostles and the layers of that ministerial foundation they absolutely completed - and that according to their own recorded testimony. Matt 24:14, Mark 13:10, 16:15, 16:28, Luke 24:47, Acts 3:20, Rom 15:19, Eph 2:20, Gal 1:8, Gal 3:8, Col 1:23, Rev 21:14-21.
After The redemptive work of the Son of God was completed and the subsequent ministerial work of the Apostles was also finished, this then hailed the end or the termination of that economy as Christ had revealed to them while upon the Mount of Olives, and when discoursing with them before the Temple at Jerusalem, and while instructing them concerning the future events that would befall that nation a few years hence.
“… And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and
then shall the end come.
When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the
holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)
Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house:
Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days!
But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor
ever shall be.
And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake
those days shall be shortened…´Matt. 24:14-22.
“…For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. "...But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall…” Mal 4:1-2.
This Kingdom of God consists of a kingdom or government which is of a spiritual nature; it is not of this world, neither is it like the kingdoms of this world; though as a visible Kingdom, composed of men, women and children, it is in the world. This Kingdom, under Christ as its Head, is distinct from all the kingdoms of the world:
“…And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and
consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever…” Dan 2:44.
The knowledge of this spiritual Kingdom of God is not truly available to anyone of mankind until they have been born of the Spirit. for unless a man is born again, he cannot even see or perceive this Kingdom, much less can he enter therein. When he realizes, or is made aware of the existence of this Kingdom, as revealed within (because this Kingdom comes not with outward observation,) as such a mere (political) kingdom that the natural Jews looked for, (and they, with all natural men still look for); but its true recipients do spontaneously find at its revelation, that this Kingdom is not outward, as may be perceived by their natural faculties:
“…And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered
them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you…”
Luke 17:20-21.
But this Living Kingdom, from an individual or personal stand-point, is an apartment, or house within this present tabernacle (our temporal body, or tabernacle of clay. (2 Cor 5:1) This House, not made with hands, is indeed found by them to be a Mansion, or a glorious dwelling place that is spiritually within them and foreshadows their final Home in Heaven and Immortal Glory with Christ; for there is here a continual springing up of Living waters, or a fountain, such as a living, artesian well of water, manifesting the Eternal Life of the Son of God - springing up unto or as that Eternal Life of His, because He that came that they by Him might be a partaker of His Life and to have it more abundantly than was available for them under the former dispensation - He Who has taken up His abode with them; Who is Christ in them, The Hope of Glory; for in themselves, they are dead, and feel themselves to be powerless, or inactive to anymore derive any truly, satisfying life from the things of nature, once they have experienced the free grace that they have received in the revelation of the Kingdom of God's dear Son, Whom has translated them from out of nature's darkness into His marvelous Light that they now find shining in their renewed hearts. They can no longer rest in their former pursuit of employments, enjoyments and the pleasures of the flesh as they once did. Sin, with its consequent death is now beginning to be mortified in their members as they begin to more and more feel the constant need of an Intercessor between themselves and God; for their Life is hid (from them) and all flesh, because it truly is hidden with Christ in God; they are therefore many times in a feeling of death as to their relationship and communion with Him until He again is revealed (Gal 4:19) in them as The One Who is the same, "yesterday today and forever" (Heb 13:8.)
“…For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death.
For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me…: Rom 7:9-11.
“… For the time past of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings, banquetings, and abominable idolatries: Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you: Who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead…” 1 Pet 4:2-5.
This "strange" thing that is now happening to them is only the reviving of the motions of sin with attending death that is beginning to stir up within them a new recognition of their inherent depravity in the sight of a Holy God. (James 1:14-16.) knowing that "the soul that sinneth, shall die." They therefore fall as dead before the righteous Law, finding themselves destitute of the performance of any good in God's sight; though they at one time thought that they were able to perform "all things commanded" at their free option; but they now can no longer find a way to even begin to perform, or have a good (spiritual) thought (1 Cor 3:9-13) without the present Intercession of the Spirit of Christ - and if they persuade themselves (or most likely, have been persuaded by others) that they have done these things from their volition, (as if it was only their duty to do so) - and not as they have been wrought upon by sincere love; Still - they find that within their flesh they cannot perform - at least, as they once did, and so are often made to cry with the Apostle:
"...O! wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
Their answer can
only come through the Intercession of Christ's Spirit, when He is pleased to reply within them: " With your renewed
heart, you now serve the Law of God, after Myself in your renewed spirit or inward Man; but with the old depraved
nature of your Old Man, you must still serve the law and principle of your old depravity and its
tendency to render the consequent death that it produces, as this principle is still condemned in your
fleshly nature..." (Rom 8:12-13) But with His return and reappearing, your renewed heart now responds in relief and thanksgiving with joy to God again from this repeated revelation of Christ in His revealed Gospel, as it is delivered to poor sinners; because even if their Life is hid from their depraved faculties, it is because the Life of Christ is to be manifested spiritually, as being hidden (and also revealed with Christ in God. (Col 3:3.) In this way, "to live is Christ, and to die is gain", ( Phil 1:21) - whether the child of God is able to view it from the perspective of the experience of the earnest of their eternal inheritance while viewed during this present life, or as in the Hope of that final Immortal Glory to appear, where this now present death, or mortality shall be totally and consumately "swallowed up" of immortality in Life, even as is now done in part through these glorious experiences. (1 Cor 15:54-57, Isa 25:8, Rev 8:17, 21:4)
When these are so blessed from time to time, as they may tour the many Mansions of this glorious Kingdom, they are awed with its transcending spiritual beauty of love, joy and peace in the Holy Ghost; and especially with the Wondrous Grace that has so favored them from out of all mankind to be made partakers of these unspeakable blessings; so they sometimes ask with the curiosity of the human mind as did Judas:
"...Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?.."
Nearly every spiritually new-born child has asked this same question; and which question, intellectually speaking, forms the basis of the main Arminian objection to the free and discriminating grace of God that was manifested in Christ to undeserving creatures as we feel to be within our selves; But we are comforted when we are able to receive the import of the following words of Jesus:
"...Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him...
This is the manifestation of that bond of filial love that existed between Christ and His children before the world began: and is further revealed and explained by the same Apostle John:
"... Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins..." 1 John 4:7-10.
This Kingdom, where those taken out of the great net that now takes in peoples of all kindreds, tongues and nations and casts some away, while others from this net are kept for their value to the fisherman, (Matt 10:31) is then not entered into by the natural volition of man; but is reserved only for those who are specially chosen before in Christ to seats therein; as Jesus by His Divinity, at another time commanded the Disciples to cast into the sea with an apparent randomness as in their own apprehension of catching anything, except by their trust in Christ and His Word; for God, who is not only Omniscient, but also Omnipotent, had there provided a fish for their catching, that they might thereby be enabled to pay their taxes.
In the same way, The possibility of a position in this Kingdom is not left to Lady Luck, Dame Fortune, or any fortuitous circumstance of chance; because with God all things are possible, though the things that are impossible with man, are yet possible with God, as Christ instructed and taught His Disciples by the example of the naturally selfish Rich Young Ruler, whom Jesus beholding, loved - (no doubt with the Eternal love that He had for this young man as an object of His grace, even before the world began, or the sons of God shouted with joy.) Jesus therefore loved this man, and having loved His Own, He loves them unto the end; because His Love toward His Own is a constant and unchanging Love, and not like the transient and inconsistent love of human kind. Though this young man showed that he still had his trust in his own righteousness and good works of the Law as a requirement to enter into eternal Life, because he asked of Jesus, what good thing must he do in order to inherit eternal life. His answer was found when He was tried by the words and Wisdom of Jesus; who directed the young ruler to the books of the Law, or Ten Commanments.
The love of some for their possessions does not cease easily; but is is only brought about through "much prayer and fasting" because the young man then perhaps wondered why he had never given away more from the abundance of his great material possessions unto the poor and needy. The man thus found to his surprise, astonishment and consequent sorrow, at the rebuke of Christ, that he perhaps was not after all qualified to inherit eternal life by any act of his own, but too, that he now is made in all probability to wonder and question if perhaps he has actually kept any of God's righteous Law. He wonders, probably for the first time, in his good conscience, (that was alive to his own supposed righteousness without a true knowledge of the Law as it stands as a judge to apprehend sinners) - if he had ever really kept any of the commandments of God - at least from a true and unselfish motive - since Christ has divested this youth's hope and trust in his own righteousness for salvation, or to gain eternal life by a work, or works that the young man might perform; which is that required by the first commandment, and that which stems from it, (that a child must love the Lord their God with all their heart, and mind and soul, and secondly, they must love their neighbor as themselves.) This no fallen sinner in Adam can begin to do without the manifest grace of God through Christ in his soul; but in Christ and His mercy upon sinners, all these things are possible- though sometimes we must suffer through much tribulation, and sorrow of the flesh as this young man probably did; because it is easier for a camel to literally go through the eye of a needle, than for one who is rich in their own estimation of their ability through nature to keep the tenents of the Law in the sight of God, than for such an one to spiritually and practically enter into the peace, love, joy and rest found only in the truly spiritual Kingdom of God. Every child that is left to themselves to exalt themselves (in this way) - which all are prone to do - shall finally through mercy, be abased, and likewise, every child of God that is brought into humbleness through the consequent abasement will be exalted; but not again to the state that they were before this experience; but to an exaltation in the revelation and mercy of God as it is in Jesus, when they discover that Christ Jesus has kept all of God's righteous Law both for them and in them, and has thereby made the Law honorable, while securing Eternal Life for them: Rom 8:3-4, Isa 42:21.
The entrance into this Kingdom of God is not "up for graps" (as is popularly taught thoughout Christendom and in the establishments of fleshly man's religion in general) - as though through the
superior efforts made by some over others to gain access, they shall thereby find, and thus enter in The righteous way into this kingdom; but this is is not so easy as the moderns teach, for the way that leads to life also still has its problems; The way is yet strait (difficult) and narrow as Christ taught. Though, many still seek to enter, but like the unbelieving Jews, are not able, because like the Jews, they seek not the way as by faith in Jesus, but by the deeds and performances of the Law of works. Though none that seeks after this manner shall be able to enter at there first attempts in nature, they may be given faith, like Sarah, to believe the promises of God in Christ, and even eventually end up as real, true and sincere "strivers", and thus through such tribulation finally enter into the peace of this Kingdom, where a spiritual rest yet remains
for the people of God; though at one time they could not enter in because of their impediment of
unbelief, not being able to trust Christ for not only some, but for all things as a Consummate and
faithful God. Through such tribulation and labor many of those who are called by divine Grace to
this kingdom are appointed to much hard and sometimes even severe labor and sufferings of
body and mind, yet they are infinitely rewarded by One, Whose reward is with Him, to give to every
one of these, (not according as their work has been), but to give their reward according as it shall
be in His graciousness to them as a blessing of being called to this glory. All that shall reside
within this Kingdom are denoted by Christ as holy, and thus chosen and called to the blessedness
of this Kingdom: The entrance into this Kingdom is not based upon, or conditioned upon the
restriction that man by nature supposedly has an inherent "right" to it ; or further founded upon
that premise and proposition, that because mankind, being a creation of God, (naturally) made
"after God's likeness, and in His image", he therefore intrinsically possesses these inherent
"rights" to a “heavenly” kingdom - beyond that of common Providence - as the carnal Jews thus
boasted and demanded the recognition of their rights to a Messianic Kingdom founded upon that
view that only the natural mind can conceive of - and as such legal heirs to a kingdom, such as
only the depraved nature of the flesh can dictate to their natural mind - while still supposing that
they possessed such a free-will in their nature that gave them free, and even obligated "rights" to
the blessings and knowledge of the these eternal blessings based upon a fleshly or genealogical
inheritance; But really, this Kingdom, by free grace alone has been reserved for those who where
before appointed by the Father in His Eternal Counsel, as the spiritual heirs of these eternal
realities of God; which were not revealed in other ages, as they were are now made known to the
heirs of salvation at the revelation and appearance of their Savior, who has abolished death, and
brought His Own Life and Immortality to light in them through the Gospel. Though each individual
heir to this Kingdom may not be called to any extraordinary place or office in the gospel Kingdom,
yet the principle and the fact of their individual election to their vocation and station therein
remains the same as was illustrated by our Lord in dealing with the fleshly ambition and pride of
His disciples:
"... And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at
my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel..."
"...But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
And they said unto him, We can. And Jesus said unto them, Ye shall indeed drink of the cup that I drink
of; and with the baptism that I am baptized withal shall ye be baptized: But to sit on my right hand and on
my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared..."
Paul, who was then known as Saul of Tarsus, was also Sovereignly chosen and called to be an Apostle as
recorded by His arrest while upon the Road to Damascus; who declared that God called him by
Divine Grace, though, he at that very time was in the continuing progress with his campaign of
persecution and murder of the saints, the infinite Grace and mercy of God in Christ was suddenly
revealed in him and he was there shown, (though such a wretch who was breathing out slaughter
upon the righteous) - even in the name of God and the Law. Here Christ was "revealed in this man
with exceeding and abundant mercy" as being called to be not only a saint, but with this, called to
the eminency of the Apostolic office. No wonder this Apostle was made to exclaim - not only from
the depths of divine inspiration- but also in harmony with his own personal experience:
"... O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his
judgments, and his ways past finding out!..."
Paul, as having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, now received mercy in
time to partake of the Glory of this Kingdom under consideration, and with this to also suffer for
bearing the name and testimony of Christ:
"...But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the
Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will show him how great things he must suffer for my
name's sake..."
David clearly describes the condition of the saints under the Old Economy, and as the then
present relationship of worship and the covenant of grace stood between God and His children
who suffered under the terms of that economy, as compared with the liberty and blessedness of
the mercy of God which was to be revealed in Christ as Savior and Deliverer from the
consequences of the sin found in and upon His people:
"...The God of Israel said, the Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruleth over men must be just, ruling in
the fear of God. And he shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without
clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain. Although my house be not
so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is
all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow…”
But the sons of Belial shall be all of them as thorns thrust away, because they cannot be taken with hands: But the man that shall touch them must be fenced with iron and the staff of a spear; and they shall be utterly burned with fire in the same place..." 2 Sam 23:3-7.
The blessed security of this New Kingdom is founded upon the immutable or unchangeable promises of God in Christ. Every weapon that is devised and formed against this Kingdom with the intent of destroying or even hindering or impeding its progress shall utterly fail. Under the provisions of this truly heavenly kingdom the saints prosper and though they occasionally shall fall, they shall become stronger and stronger in their trust in their Savior:
“…The righteous also shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and
stronger…” Job 17:9.
Because, through Christ’s imputed righteousness they shall hold upon their way; for there is no other Way; and to whom shall they go, but to He Who has the words of Eternal Life? They, In hope of that eternal life, Who God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began they press on for the mark of the prize of their high calling in Christ, forgetting the things gone in the past, and not considering themselves to have attained unto the resurrection of the dead as having reached a plateau where they may then settle upon the lees of their past accomplishments; but they still press on by faith in and of Him that has called them to grace and glory where they are further lead in their experience to know Him and the power of His daily resurrection within them; so from time to time they are blessed to feel and say through the communion of Christ’s Spirit with joy and comfort when they are made to partake of His sufferings and consolation:
“… I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. Psa 73:23.
Submitted In that blessed Hope,
OAB