The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God

In Acts 8:35 - 37 Philip preached Jesus to the eunuch and he made sure he drew a confession from him before he was baptized. "Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached to him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came to a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what does hinder me to be baptized? [Here is where Philip draws a confession from the eunuch!] And Philip said, If you believe with all thine heart, you may. [Here is where the eunuch answered from his own free will!] And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God." No repeat after me's here! Philip knew the correct way to draw a confession out of people so that the confession is theirs. This is what John reveals in his prophetic gospels 

beginning in 1 John 1.

1John 1:1-4, 5-2:2 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard,
which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands 
have handled, of the Word of Life; (For life was manifested, and we have seen
and bear witness, and show to you that eternal life, which was with the Father, 
and was manifest to us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we to you,
that you also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the
Father, and with His Son Christ Jesus. And these things write we to you, that
your joy may be full.

This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and declare to you, that
God is Light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If we say that we have
fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not (know) the
truth: But if we walk in Light, as He is the Light, we have fellowship one with
nother, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say
that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we
confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us sins (influence over us),
and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned,
we make Him a liar, and His Word (Christ) is not in us. My little children,
these things write I to you, that you sin not. And if any man sin, we have an
Advocate (Intercessor) with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And He is
the propitiation (satisfaction) for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for
the whole world."

As a last resort, ask something like this, "Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead? Yes, or No?" Let them make the choice or make them make the choice! When a person makes a choice between, "yes, or no," they are establishing or denying the meaning of these words [Do you believe Jesus died for your sins and that God raised Him from the dead?] as their belief.

"Repeat after me's" don't work! Reading (repeating) confessions out of a book, or from any other source, does not establish your belief because they simply are not your words. They are the words of the author. Neither Jesus, nor the disciples, ever did a "repeat after me." However Jesus was always drawing confessions from people (this was also used by Paul under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the ontological essence of Christ within him). (The Lord's prayer or more correctly "the disciples prayer", was given as a pattern, not a repeat after me prayer.)"~ Lawrence Sloma The above beginning with the introduction of, "Why don't "repeat after me's" work? Was quoted from Lawrence and good friend of mine, with editing by me. The Lord requires us taking position of His words as our own, just as He had of Israel but they failed to grasp this, because of a rebellious heart. Which we all start out with.

 

If we cannot draw out of people God's required answer then He is not at work within their heart, God is the only one who can open a persons heart to draw out the proper response to His voice. Look at Lydia in Acts 16 to see what I mean. John the Baptist is the forerunner to this administration of God's intended changing of His dispensation among all mankind. This is only part of the mystery of God and the beginning of His New Kingdom. Which is to take root in our soul, when it is restored to Him, as a free will choice, as a free moral agent, a thing that even God's angels could not do or understand. Just as Adam exercised his free will choice by eating of the forbidden fruit after hearing the voice of his flesh and following the action of woman, the very voice of that flesh. The following is a quote taken from another friend of mine, Ty Lamb.

“That little thing in your life?
You know that little innocent "pet sin" that you so enjoy? Yes, that one. You think it really isn't that big of a deal and you believe it is tolerable in the grace of Christ Jesus. You think Christ overlooks it? You sneak it in under the radar- not possible.

As little as you think it may be, it is big enough to nail Jesus to the cross and die for you. Did you know that?

Did you know that little thing you do in secret? Underneath, is a seething, slobbering, clawing spirit of rebellion that refuses to let go of you. You refuse to give it to Christ Jesus because you like it so. It feels good. It is satisfying. Do you know it is stealing God's best for you? You wonder why your life is not as good as it should be. You wonder where the power of the Holy Spirit is in your life? You wonder why things keep coming unraveled and you have anger, addiction, strife, fear and anxiety, poverty or depression.

Yep! That little thing is stealing the anointing from you. It is draining, from you, the resurrection power of God in your life. Is it worth the trade off?” ~Ty Lamb