Anyone here understand the parable of the tares of the field which our Lord Jesus gave in Matthew 13?
Parable of The Tares of The Field
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Wheat and Tares are similar looking until matured,
The Tares must mature in order to sort them out from the wheat,
Tares will be gathered first in the harvest and then burned; a physical destruction.
The son of man planted the good seed and the tares were planted by the adversary; a spiritual harvest.
Lets hear what you have to add.
The Tares must mature in order to sort them out from the wheat,
Tares will be gathered first in the harvest and then burned; a physical destruction.
The son of man planted the good seed and the tares were planted by the adversary; a spiritual harvest.
Lets hear what you have to add.
Hi veteran,
What seems to be slightly different from 'the field is the world', is 'The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field'. I've discussed the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God in other parts of the internet, and everyone assures me there is no difference, but, I still suspect that there is a difference, because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you'.
I know this is not what you asked, but, do you have any insight on 'the kingdom of heaven'?
What seems to be slightly different from 'the field is the world', is 'The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field'. I've discussed the difference between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God in other parts of the internet, and everyone assures me there is no difference, but, I still suspect that there is a difference, because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you'.
I know this is not what you asked, but, do you have any insight on 'the kingdom of heaven'?
Jesus likens the kingdom to good seed which has been sown into the field of the world. As both the "Son of Man" and the "Seed of Abraham" (Gal. 3:16), Jesus could be seen as both the sower and the seed, the giver and the gift. Those who have identified with and are related to Jesus Christ by the presence of His life and activity within them are Christians, "sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26), "sons of the kingdom" transferred into the kingdom of the Beloved Son (Col. 1:13).
Only by His indwelling life are we His seed, sons, children, or offspring.
Only by His indwelling life are we His seed, sons, children, or offspring.
Well, for one thing, I'm not afraid to directly point to heart of the parable, about the "tares" representing the evil workers of iniquity that crept in among Israel throughout Bible history, starting in Joshua 9 and Judges 2 & 3.
Now that's a good question though, as to why our Lord likened that parable to the "kingdom of heaven". The kingdom of heaven involves the spirit in man, and that's where the heart of the battle is today, until Christ returns. If you can receive it, the kingdom of heaven has always involved this earth also, except for this present world time since Adam's fall. We're shown God's Garden of Eden on earth in Genesis 2 remember.
The parable is also covering the future resurrection time when our Lord Jesus returns to separate the goats from His sheep (Matt.25).
Now that's a good question though, as to why our Lord likened that parable to the "kingdom of heaven". The kingdom of heaven involves the spirit in man, and that's where the heart of the battle is today, until Christ returns. If you can receive it, the kingdom of heaven has always involved this earth also, except for this present world time since Adam's fall. We're shown God's Garden of Eden on earth in Genesis 2 remember.
The parable is also covering the future resurrection time when our Lord Jesus returns to separate the goats from His sheep (Matt.25).
I would think the good seed is the Gospel and the tares represent the doctrines of Demons. The kindom is inside you and it is planted like a seed and it grows (inside you). Jesus preached the kingdom of Heaven is at hand, so is He the one planting the seed? I also think that false doctrine will keep the kingdom from growing inside you, mainly because you (we) believe the lie instead of believing the truth. We all are believing a lie in some from or another otherwise we would have perfect revelation; and that doesn't happen until we see Jesus face to face. So, i guess the objective is to fight to believe more and more of the truth of God, and renounce more and more of the lie. This is growing, right?
Many people think the wheat are the ones gathered during the rapture. What they don't understand is the tares are the ones gathered and burned, the wheat remains in the field until the tares are removed.
Yes, DragonFly, you are absolutely correct. There IS a difference between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven.
The Kingdom of Heaven is the term used to encompass the "heavens" ... to express the totality of the invisible world of the spirits.
In the Kingdom of Heaven, there are two opposing kingdoms; the kingdom of light and the Kingdom of darkness (Kingdom of God and Kingdom of Satan).
This is what the narrative/parable of the Garden of Eden expressed with the two trees in the midst of the Garden.
But we should not imagine these dimensions as locations; it's not as if the Kingdom of God is a "place".
We must think of it as a "situation" ... an atmosphere.
We should imagine the invisible realities in a similar manner to when we use the word "weather" ... the weather is not a place either ... it's a condition ... a situation. This is what the Bible means when saying: "The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit".
It's always difficult to express "the evidence of things unseen" which is the bedrock of our faith. This is why Jesus always used parables to express the invisible realities of our existence.
Yeah, but wasn't the barely harvest before the wheat? Maybe the wheat and the tares go thru the tribulation together? Not sure.
Hi veteran and MT,
I can't have been paying attention when I wrote, 'because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you' - because I know that's not what He said! He said, 'The kingdom of God is within you'.
It is this distinction between the kingdom within and the kingdom without, that I was seeking to make. Obviously, there is an overlap, because it could be argued that we are all 'in the kingdom of heaven', whether some have the kingdom of God within, or not.
Matthew uses 'kingdom of heaven' more than 'kingdom of God', and the very fact that two terms are used seems to indicate they differ.
I would like to say this is a great way to understand the kingdom of heaven, although I would add that the kingdom of heaven is also experienced in a concrete way by those who discern it. Separately, I see the kingdom of God as being more substantial than... 'weather'.
I can't have been paying attention when I wrote, 'because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you' - because I know that's not what He said! He said, 'The kingdom of God is within you'.
It is this distinction between the kingdom within and the kingdom without, that I was seeking to make. Obviously, there is an overlap, because it could be argued that we are all 'in the kingdom of heaven', whether some have the kingdom of God within, or not.
Matthew uses 'kingdom of heaven' more than 'kingdom of God', and the very fact that two terms are used seems to indicate they differ.
I would like to say this is a great way to understand the kingdom of heaven, although I would add that the kingdom of heaven is also experienced in a concrete way by those who discern it. Separately, I see the kingdom of God as being more substantial than... 'weather'.
Hi veteran and MT,
I can't have been paying attention when I wrote, 'because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you' - because I know that's not what He said! He said, 'The kingdom of God is within you'.
It is this distinction between the kingdom within and the kingdom without, that I was seeking to make. Obviously, there is an overlap, because it could be argued that we are all 'in the kingdom of heaven', whether some have the kingdom of God within, or not.
Matthew uses 'kingdom of heaven' more than 'kingdom of God', and the very fact that two terms are used seems to indicate they differ.
I would like to say this is a great way to understand the kingdom of heaven, although I would add that the kingdom of heaven is also experienced in a concrete way by those who discern it. Separately, I see the kingdom of God as being more substantial than... 'weather'.
Hi! 'DragonFly'
Yes, I would wholeheartedly with you saying, "I see the kingdom of God as being more substantial than ... 'weather'."
I was simply trying to conceptualize it for you; admittedly a poor illustration I gave to represent it.
Romans 14:17 tells us precisely what the Kingdom of God is: "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost".
Righteousness, peace and joy are intangible properties. Therefore, the Kingdom of God must be thought of in terms of the transient; similar to how we express 'condition', 'atmosphere', or 'situation'.
"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).
Now, the question might arise: What does it mean when the Bible says "the kingdom of God is within"?
Well, this same question could be re-phrased as: "How can we tell if an individual is in the invisible kingdom of God?"
The answer is: he shows the properties of it in his life; peace, joy and righteousness.
And, an individual can only possess the properties of the Kingdom of God in his life if he has surrendered to the authority of that kingdom --- God.
In the same way, an individual whose heart and mind is centered on the kingdom of darkness also shows the properties of that condition/situation in his life ... despair, guilt, etc ...
About the parable of the tares:
The key to understanding the parable of the tares of the field is found in the earlier parable at Matt 13:19 which expresses the term, "word of the kingdom".
The word is the agent of God's eternal thoughts and purposes for man. This is why Jesus said: "I have given them the words which thou gavest me, and they have received them", (John 17:8). His words are "spirit and life", (John 6:63).
They place man into the Kingdom of God through the renewing of his mind.
They are spirit because they give wisdom, knowledge and insight in the kingdom of heaven, (unseen world), and cause men to be harmonious, charitable and godly. All who hunger and thirst for righteousness will accept His words in similar manner to how a prepared soil receives seed.
The "word of the Kingdom" of heaven has gone forth "conquering and to conquer", (Rev 6:2). It will be preached throughout the whole world, and then the end, (the result), will be seen, (Matt 24:14).
The Word of God is comparable with natural seed in that it has life and power in itself. For men, this life is light, for it causes the laws of God function in him,
As it says: "The life was the light of men", (1John 1:4).
If there is life there is spirit; because life is sustained by the spirit. If the spirit departs, death follows. Death is anti-godly and destructive; it causes lawlessness and darkness.
God lives and gives life by means of His Word. The words coming from God exist independently and seek to unite with man's spirit; just like the seed sends its roots into the fertile soil.
In those who hear and believe, it works and accomplishes God's purpose and prospers in the things for which He sent it, (Is 55:11).
The sower in the first instance is Jesus, (Heb 2:3).
In addition, a comparison between verses 38 and 19 show that the field in which Jesus sows is anything but fertile.
It is not speaking about the "world", as in verse 37 of the parable of the weeds among the wheat.
In this parable of the parable of the tares of the field, it is speaking about the inner man of the heart, (verse 19).
The illustration of natural seed sown in a natural field is a picture of the Word of God which the inner man either accepts in faith or rejects.
The parable shows that the failure of the crop is not due to the quality of the seed, nor to the skill of the sower, but only to the lack of receptivity of the soil. Jesus' message was a good message, generously given.
This puts an obligation on those who in our days go out in his name to preach the word. Is it "the word of the Kingdom" which is being preached? Or, is it some other seed which is not the gospel of the kingdom?
Has the good seed been blended with the weedy seeds of error and false teaching?
When the good seed is sown, when the doctrine of the Kingdom of God is preached as Jesus preached it, the fruits depend wholly on the quality of the soil in which it falls.
Matthew13:4 and 13:19
This parable of Jesus is intended to help us perceive what happens to a person who hears the message of the Kingdom of heaven but does not understand it. He reads Jesus' words but is unable to transpose them to the unseen world. Paul remarked about such people as being "foolish men and slow of heart"; "The unspiritual man does not receive what belongs to the spirit of God, for it is folly to him, and he is not able to understand it because it is spiritually discerned", (1Cor 2:14).
When explaining the parable of the wheat and tares, the Lord said: "The good seed means the sons of the Kingdom of God". The seed produces sons who fulfill the plan of God. In them, the Word becomes flesh. By means of these sons who carry out His will, God goes on to save the world, "for the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God", (Romans 8:19). They carry out the will of God and lead creation to fulfillment.
Paul wrote: "My little children, with whom I am again in travail until Christ be formed in you", (Gal 4:19). In the first instance the seed is the Word; later those who are conformed to the image of the Son are themselves called the seed. The word becomes flesh in all who receive it and hold it in perseverance.
Concerning the sowing of the Word, the Lord said to his Father: "have given them the words Thou hast given Me", (John 17:8), and He told His disciples to abide in His words, for the Word which is sown will accomplish that which God purposes and prosper in the thing for which He sent it, (Is 55:11).
Where the bible says that God gives growth to the seed, no mysterious process is indicated. The seed is good, it has spirit and life. The growth is contained in the germinative force.
The seed does not bear fruit immediately. Here, nature also teaches us. First there is the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. The word causes a gradual change in man, and finally the purpose, the full fruit, is reached.
The Word of God causes a change of thinking, a new birth or inner renewal which shows itself outwardly, in the visible world, by a spiritual walk of life: by the love of God, by friendliness, by mercifulness and by peace, righteousness and joy. The apostle said of this good word: "The word is sure", (2Tim 2:11.
We should especially note that the seed is sown in the field of a world which Jesus has bought with His life; the whole of mankind. It is therefore "His field" and His co-workers are committed to proclaim the words of God. Once the gospel of the Kingdom has been proclaimed throughout the world, the end will come, that is the fun fruit will be reaped, (Matt 24.14).
The parable of the wheat and tares does not speak of bad soil --- but of bad seed.
When the children of God are not watchful, evil ideas and thoughts enter. They do not check that which is sown in their heart and fail to compare it with that which the Lord said and taught. Their faculties are untrained to distinguish between good from evil.
Even under the Old Covenant, it was unlawful in the natural world to saw two kinds of seed in one field, (Lev 19:19). This image is clear: no dissenting views are to be allowed. Each seed has its own nature; its own principle and origin. The seed of the true gospel possesses the force to cause man to bear much fruit. This gospel is the spiritual maturity which God, the husbandman, is looking forward.
Every doctrine which diverges from this purpose is inspired by the evil one; for he alone propagates the principle of lawlessness and compels disfigured people.The sound doctrine is a word which heals man; it fills him with the Holy Spirit and leads to spiritual maturity.
Error also has its process of development. Men who do not abide in the truth, mature into lawlessness and perdition. Jesus spoke of "the sons of the evil one".
In 1Tim. 5:24 it says: "The sins of men are conspicuous, pointing to judgment, but the sins of others appear later". Some kinds of evil are easy to spot; murder, drunkenness, impurity; but errors are normally preached by respectable, decent people who are guided by pious, ancestral religious spirits. These people are usually serious and sincere, yet full of lies, for they do not preach the gospel of the Kingdom of heaven, or they deny the reality of God's purpose with man. They are incapable of visualizing man a spiritually mature man of God.
In their development truth and error appear like the legs of the letter V: initially they are close together. It is hardly noticeable that a certain brother follows or preaches a divergent, unscriptural doctrine. At first one has fellowship with him, but gradually the distance increases, as the legs of the letter V diverge from each other, never to meet again. In this way it is fulfilled: "will put enmity between your seed and her seed" ... between the seed of the evil one (falsehood) and the seed of the woman, Jesus Christ (truth).
It's understandable that the slaves take fright when they see dangerous weeds appear throughout the field of wheat. The servants are of the opinion that this has not happened by accident. The field was too pure and the master too conscientious for this to have happened. They go to the householder and ask him: "Sir, did you not saw good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?" They then show him the weeds they have pulled out here and there.
The answer is: "The seed was good, of the best quality of wheat, but an enemy has done this".
The farmer had a fierce adversary, and he knew this. An evil man was envious of his property and prosperity. When the slaves were asleep, he went through the field in the moonlight and sowed large handfuls of his seed, the darnel. When he had done this, he sneaked away, his heart full of malicious pleasure and hellish glee. This is what evil can do in a man; it makes him purposely damage and destroy his fellow-man's property or sow stubborn weeds in the field of his competitor.
When the wheat appears, the enemy has already done his evil work. Even in the days of Paul the principle of lawlessness was already at work, (2Thess 2:7), and John recorded that in his day many antichrists had come, (1John 2:18). They too began to grow. Church history proves that from the very beginning the vision of the unseen world started to disappear. The church of Ephesus received the warning: "Remember then from what (height) you have fallen", (Rev 2:5). Jesus Himself had predicted that the time would come in which all would fall asleep, the wise as well as the foolish maidens. Because the people were 'asleep', meaning that they had no insight into the spiritual world and therefore no discernment between good and evil, the enemy could do his evil work.
When at Patmos John saw the final result of the false doctrines in Great Babylon, the mother of spiritual harlots and the abominations of the earth, he was as amazed as the farmer's slaves. In Revelations 17:6 it says that the apostle marveled greatly. How could it happen that this mystery never came to light? The children of God must have lived in Egyptian darkness never to have discovered the mystery of iniquity. This was because they lacked knowledge of the spiritual world and the Kingdom of heaven. By the working of the Holy Spirit the church of the endtime is again allowed to use the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. She discloses clearly and distinctly the subtle tricks of the evil one which he played during all those years.
Not surprisingly, some may ask why they were unable to recognize the weeds and pull them out. The answer simply is: they did not know what real wheat actually looks like. They knew the stalk and perhaps the ear, but the full grain in the ear, the most distinct mark of real wheat, had not yet been revealed.
If we want to be trained in discerning good from evil, we first have to know good.
Jesus drew our attention to the fact that this was going to be possible only in the end-time, at the days of the harvest. Errors can only be recognized when the light is shed upon them in the fullness of time. The world, Christianity and the apostate church are now preparing for this final stage.
Our days are totally different from bygone centuries. Everywhere the past is disregarded. Most of our methods, customs and insights are totally detached from past centuries. Our young people are not interested in the horse and buggy days, the years of the quill and the tallow candle. Ours is the dispensation of the atom and the IPhone. When the modern false teachers and prophets knock on our doors of our hearts in these days, we will get no help from the ancestral teachings and commentaries written centuries previous. 'fathers'. These old writings and teachings have no defense against the devices of the apostate church.
It is not only the wheat which ripens, the weeds do so too. Opposite truth we find error. Error, too, develops to a final stage in all who adhere to it.
In this context, I have to mention a dangerous error.
There are many who, under the influence of certain doctrines, teach that there is nothing to keep the Lord from returning. "The Lord might come tonight", they say. This error disregards the process of spiritual development ... the metamorphosis of the born again Christian. While the faithful church of Jesust is actively engaged in this process, there are others who base their expectation on a sudden change to come about apart from the believers. To express it in the images of this parable: they think that the farmer will suddenly and unexpectedly put the sickle in plants that just show above the surface.
For this reason these people have become the enemies of God's plan and purpose. They say that, after Revelation, Chapter 4, John's visions are of no interest to the church any longer, as at that stage she has been taken up in the rapture. This rejects the process of development contained in Revelation 22:11: "Let the evildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous still do right, and the holy still be holy".
The Lord was aware of the expectation that He might return suddenly, without anything being in the way. He said: "Take heed that you are not led astray, for many will come in my name, saying. "I am he!" and, "The time is at hand! "Do not go after them", (Luke 21:8). Paul refuted this error, which in his days was preached among the faithful by means of sermons, epistles and even spiritual manifestations, with these words: "Let no one deceive you in any (pious) way (even by prophecies such as: The Lord's return is at hand); for that day will not come unless the rebellion will come first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed", (2Thess 2:3). This verse mentions the revelation of the man of lawlessness. It is in agreement with our parable: the weeds reveal themselves and ripen, just as the wheat.
Those who wrongly teach that nothing is in the way of the Lord's return have hermetically closed the door to the Kingdom of heaven. They pay attention to the national restoration of Abraham's natural offspring rather than to the spiritual development of the church of Jesus Christ.
At harvest time the wheat and the weeds not only ripen, they also show their true shape and can easily be separated from one another. Throughout the centuries the good (the children of the Kingdom) and the evil (the children of the evil one) lived next to each other in the churches. For a long time there even was only one church which contained all Christians. This lasted for a thousand years.
The parable says that the weeds are bound in bundles. In church history this binding together is not an unfamiliar sight. Each time the religious world accepted an error, people grouped together around it. A few of these groups organized themselves around errors such as universal reconciliation, infant baptism, predestination, the Eucharist, the seventh day Sabbath, the book of Mormon, the writings of the Jehovah's Witnesses and others. In many cases, scriptural truth was the central theme, but next to it many errors were maintained. People do not always disengage themselves from the historical churches but remain united with them by means of false doctrines.
I am not at all saying that these groups are nothing but bundles of weeds. I'm only saying that they give us an idea how the bundles will be formed when harvest time arrives. In our days we also see that the bundles are being bound together in the larger sheaves of ecumenism. These bundles may have a 'modernistic' appearance but there also are those which show an orthodox or 'scriptural' front.
The faithful church, however, will finally be bundled together in this one sheaf: the acceptance and experience of the doctrine of the Kingdom of heaven, This is the gospel of Jesus Christ as it was preached by the apostles, the message Paul preached among the Gentiles. Now for the first time since the apostolic era the full truth is preached again, and not only this, people also experience its power. The gospel of the Kingdom of heaven will have to be preached throughout the world before the end comes, that is, before its full fruits will be manifested, (Matt 24:14). And the farmer waits till the precious fruit of the earth is ripe, before He gives the sign for the harvest.
The bible is a spiritual book and he who discovers this truth is lead into the kingdom of heaven; the world of spirits where he has his walk and struggle and triumph. While this means that a Christian lives in two worlds, the first world he seeks is the unseen Kingdom of God. The faithful church will detach themselves from errors which keep them tied to the earth; they will choose the high road in the heavenly places which takes them to the throne of God.
Let me point out once more that the weeds are gathered first.
This means that the idea that the coming of the Lord and the rapture of the church are the first events to look forward to is unscriptural. This error draws the attention away from what will really take place: the apostasy which has to come 'first', and the man of lawlessness who will be revealed, that is, that 'first' the weeds will be bundled together in a visible way (2Thess 2:3).
The counterpart of the bundling of the weeds in the assembly of antichrist is the gathering of the good wheat in the faithful assembly of Jesus Christ which in the endtime will be without spot or wrinkle. The 'barn' is an image of this church. It will be quite distinct from all other religious gatherings. Its members will be kept by the Lord to be changed in a point of time at the coming of the Lord, and to put on immortality.
This barn is often wrongly called the 'heavenly' barn, meaning that the faithful church is supposed to be taken to a distant place called heaven. This view is incorrect. While still on earth the true believers have already been given a place in the heavenlies and already form the heavenly or spiritual Body of Christ there. In the endtime this Body will also be visibly revealed on earth in its full purity. It would be better therefore to speak of a spiritual barn in which spiritual people are gathered together.
We have to remain within the parameters of the parable He gave there in Matt.13. At Matt.13:36 His disciples in private then asked Him to 'explain'... the meaning. And He did. What follows at Matt.13:36 is our Lord Jesus' explanation. And boy is it very, very deep, which is why it's so hard for many to understand.
The deepness of meaning it's about are the "workers of iniquity", i.e., the "mystery of iniquity", those of Jude 1:4 which were ordained "of old" to the condemnation against Christ.
Since Sunday School we are trained that anyone can come to Christ Jesus, believe on Him, and be saved, which is VERY TRUE per God's Word. So it's difficult for us to think about some men put on this earth for this present world being 'ordained' by our Heavenly Father to purposefully work against His Christ. With today's political correctness ideas pushed on many unsuspecting brethren, even talking about this matter may seem taboo. Yet there it is in God's Holy Writ in Matt.13, and by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself directly.
Once one starts minding what The LORD Himself, and His Apostles, taught about this present world time being about spiritual battle, the "emnity" between the serpent's followers and the seed of the Woman (Gen.3), then what our Lord Jesus was teaching with the parable of the tares ought to be a reminder of all that. Even more, it should serve as a reminder to us, His Church, to not get wrapped up in the things of this world, nor with trusting the things of this world and the workings that the tares do. Our Lord Jesus wanted us to know about them. And understanding a whole lot of God's Word and this present world to its depth will depend upon understanding our Lord's explanation of this parable.
Hi veteran and MT,
I can't have been paying attention when I wrote, 'because the Lord stated 'the kingdom of heaven is within you' - because I know that's not what He said! He said, 'The kingdom of God is within you'.
It is this distinction between the kingdom within and the kingdom without, that I was seeking to make. Obviously, there is an overlap, because it could be argued that we are all 'in the kingdom of heaven', whether some have the kingdom of God within, or not.
Matthew uses 'kingdom of heaven' more than 'kingdom of God', and the very fact that two terms are used seems to indicate they differ.
I would like to say this is a great way to understand the kingdom of heaven, although I would add that the kingdom of heaven is also experienced in a concrete way by those who discern it. Separately, I see the kingdom of God as being more substantial than... 'weather'.
I grasp the difference with the word 'dimensions'. And there's only two of them, this earthly one, and the Heavenly one where our Heavenly Father and His Son now are.
Both "kingdom of heaven" and "kingdom of God" (per the KJV Bible), are sometimes used interchangeably, even in the Book of Matthew (compare Mark 1:15 with Matthew 12:28 and 21:31). Both can represent a literal 'place', and literal times. Many only interpret "kingdom of God" to mean after Christ has reigned for the "thousand years" of Rev.20 and then having delivered up the Kingdom to The Father per Paul in 1 Cor.15. That works too.
I will have to look at that whenever I come across it.
To me, the importance of the kingdom of God within the believer cannot be emphasised enough. It is what marks us out as His.
To Whom it may concern, The sheep and goat judgment has zero do to with a resurrection. It is a judgment of the survivors on earth after Armageddon and who will be allowed to enter the millennium.
You know, this distinction presented itself to me before... It was about the time that I started being dealt with about my own ideas and that not all of what I held to be necessary doctrine was really necessary... I had to learn to eliminate the ideas that didn't really sustain my relationship with God, because they were not helping me produce Godly fruit...
I think this is an example where one scripture in God's Word can reveal more than one mystery to us if God so wills.
Understanding the parable of the tares is not going to be understood by everyone. Just as not everyone understands Scripture that reveals when Satan first rebelled against God, when it was, how he did it, and who all were involved. Some don't want to learn about that either. But neither topic is in conflict with God's Plan of Salvation through His Son, and for those given, it is for them to make their Faith stronger for what work in Christ they are called and chosen for. Like Paul said about Satan, that "...we are not ignorant of his devices."(2 Cor.2:11).
Both ideas are very Biblical, one that Christ's death on the cross began His spiritual Kingdom right then, here and now, but we must never forget that He promised us a lot more than just a spiritual Kingdom within the believer.
Might want to read Rev.22:14-15 again brother. Also, Matthew 8, Matthew 22, and Matthew 25 about the "outer darkness".Also what Paul said in Acts 24:15 about his hope of a resurrection of BOTH, the just AND the unjust. After that, then the John 5:28-29 Scripture from our Lord Jesus ought to make more sense.
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