Monday, March 10, 2014

The Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:25-33, 34 Therefore I say to you, Take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I tell you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so cloth the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall He not much more cloth you, O you of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. (parallel passages Luke 10:41, 12:11, 22-34, 16:13; Philippians 4:6-7, 1Peter 5:7)

Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof. 

Matthew 12:22-24, 25-29, 30-32, 33-37, 38-45, 46-50 Then was brought to Him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and He healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spoke and saw. All the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, This fellow does not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils.

Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God* is come to you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.

He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathers not with Me scatters abroad. Wherefore I say to you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men: but the blasphemy of the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven men. Whosoever speaks a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaks against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. (parallel passage Mark 3:20-30, Luke 11:14-23, 12:10; * Daniel 2:44-45, 7, Psalm 2:1-9, 1Corinthians 15:22-26, John 3:3-8)

Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by its fruit. O generation of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be justified, and by your words you shall be condemned. From here on when a parallel passage is in any of the synoptic gospels that follows these quoted I will not repeat it, I will just show it unless the wording is greatly different.

Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from You. But He answered them with, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here. The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here. When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, it walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none. Then it says, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when it is come, it finds it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goes it, and takes with itself seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also to this wicked generation.

While He yet spoke to the people, behold, His mother and His brothers stand without, desiring to speak with Him. Then one said to Him, Behold, Your mother and Your brothers stand without, desiring to speak with You. He said to him that told him, Who is My mother? and who are My brothers? And He stretched forth His hand toward His disciples, and said, Behold My mother and my brothers! For whosoever shall do the will of My Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother.         

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