Exploring Faith and Spirituality

God Expects Us to Grow!

The Bible is food for the newborn child of God; and, it is food for the more mature believer!  The newborn feeds on the milk of the Word.  The more mature believer feeds on the meat of the Word!  If we fail to grow, we may expect to “go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken! (Isa. 28:13)

If we read eighty-five verses each day, we can read the entire Bible in a year!  If we do this, and add precept to precept, line to line, here a little, there a little, we will gain knowledge and understanding! (Isa. 28:9-11)

Jesus said the gospel of the kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world prior to His return. (Mt. 24:14)  Do you know what He was referring to?  It wasn’t the gospel unto salvation!  Yet, that is what you will probably hear preached!

What is the gospel of the kingdom?  It is the gospel Jesus preached!  In Matthew 4:23, we read: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”  The same is repeated in Matthew 9:35!

The student of the Bible will notice that Jesus never prayed for a miracle!  He performed miracles by the authority He had from the Father!  He called this “the finger of God.” (Lk. 11:20)

Wouldn’t you like to perform miracles without praying for them?  Many of God’s children will!  Evidently, this is what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 25!  He said, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”

All of these “virgins” were born again children of God; but only half of them had the authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom!

At midnight, the return of Jesus was heralded!  That was the command to light their lamps and begin performing miracles.  When the foolish virgins saw what the wise were doing, they begged for the same authority!  They were told the authority couldn’t be shared!  It had to be bought! (Mt. 25:9)

This takes us to another “precept”!  We find it in Acts 14:22!  Paul said “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God!”  He wasn’t speaking about the way unto salvation; for, he said if we confess, with our mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved! (Ro. 10:9)  There’s no tribulation in that!  We don’t buy salvation!  It is the free gift of God!

In Jesus’ parable, the children of God, who had prepared, were allowed to enter the place of the marriage!  Those who had failed to prepare, were sent away!  Those still living at the time of the great tribulation will face the temptation under the reign of the antichrist! (Rev. 20:4-6)  The identification of the antichrist will not become known until the saints typified by the five wise virgins are removed!  This is what Paul was referring to in Second Thessalonians, 2:7; when he said a hindering power had to be removed before the wicked one could become known!

The saints typified by the five foolish virgins did obtain the power to preach the gospel of the kingdom; and, will probably perform miracles throughout the first half of the period of tribulation.  Although the antichrist will be trying to dominate the world, the great revival will thwart his attempts! (Rev. 12:16-17)

If we are to be instruments for the glory of God, we must commit to the study of, and obedience to, the Word of God!

Forward• The Bible is food for the newborn child of God; and, it is food for the more mature believer!  The newborn feeds on the milk of the Word.  The more mature believer feeds on the meat of the Word!  If we fail to grow, we may expect to “go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken! (Isa. 28:13)
If we read eighty-five verses each day, we can read the entire Bible in a year!  If we do this, and add precept to precept, line to line, here a little, there a little, we will gain knowledge and understanding! (Isa. 28:9-11)
Jesus said the gospel of the kingdom would be preached throughout the whole world prior to His return. (Mt. 24:14)  Do you know what He was referring to?  It wasn’t the gospel unto salvation!  Yet, that is what you will probably hear preached!
What is the gospel of the kingdom?  It is the gospel Jesus preached!  In Matthew 4:23, we read: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”  The same is repeated in Matthew 9:35!
The student of the Bible will notice that Jesus never prayed for a miracle!  He performed miracles by the authority He had from the Father!  He called this “the finger of God.” (Lk. 11:20)
Wouldn’t you like to perform miracles without praying for them?  Many of God’s children will!  Evidently, this is what Jesus was referring to in Matthew 25!  He said, “Then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom.”
All of these “virgins” were born again children of God; but only half of them had the authority to preach the gospel of the kingdom!
At midnight, the return of Jesus was heralded!  That was the command to light their lamps and begin performing miracles.  When the foolish virgins saw what the wise were doing, they begged for the same authority!  They were told the authority couldn’t be shared!  It had to be bought! (Mt. 25:9)
This takes us to another “precept”!  We find it in Acts 14:22!  Paul said “we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God!”  He wasn’t speaking about the way unto salvation; for, he said if we confess, with our mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in our heart that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved! (Ro. 10:9)  There’s no tribulation in that!  We don’t buy salvation!  It is the free gift of God!
In Jesus’ parable, the children of God, who had prepared, were allowed to enter the place of the marriage!  Those who had failed to prepare, were sent away!  Those still living at the time of the great tribulation will face the temptation under the reign of the antichrist! (Rev. 20:4-6)  The identification of the antichrist will not become known until the saints typified by the five wise virgins are removed!  This is what Paul was referring to in Second Thessalonians, 2:7; when he said a hindering power had to be removed before the wicked one could become known!
The saints typified by the five foolish virgins did obtain the power to preach the gospel of the kingdom; and, will probably perform miracles throughout the first half of the period of tribulation.  Although the antichrist will be trying to dominate the world, the great revival will thwart his attempts! (Rev. 12:16-17)
If we are to be instruments for the glory of God, we must commit to the study of, and obedience to, the Word