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[[File:jesusentry3.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Hosanna to the Son of David<Br>Blessed is the King of [[Israel]].<Br> [[Jesus]] was hailed as the highest son of David, heir to the throne. He was the [[Christ|anointed]] King of that [[government]] that operated by [[faith]], [[hope]] and [[charity]] through the [[perfect law of liberty]].<Ref name="Johnwy">{{Johnwy}}</Ref> <Br>He fired the [[moneychangers]], the [[porters]] of the temple, which only the king could do since the days of David. <Br>He said he would take the government away from the [[Pharisees]]<Ref name="ktaken">{{ktaken}}</Ref> because they [[One form of government|had altered its form]] which "[[Corban|made the word of God to none effect]]". That did not bear [[fruit]] and so Jesus took the [[Kingdom of God]] which was the government of God and appointed it to His [[little flock]], His [[called out]], His [[Church]].<Br> It was at hand, on earth, "Ergo: Ecclesia est Status." ("[[Church]] is placed under the power of the state".) It was simply not of the "[[World]]" of [[Rome]]. <Br>The [[early Church]] provided a [[daily ministration]] of [[social welfare]] through [[Pure Religion]] with Christians avoiding all the [[benefits]] and the [[Wages of unrighteousness]] offered by the "[[fathers]]" of the [[world]] of [[Rome]] and provide by men who call themselves [[Benefactors]] ''exercised authority one over the other''. The who look to forms of government that engage in [[covetous practices]] and the [[force]] of [[socialism]] are [[workers of iniquity]]. <Br> The [[kingdom of God]] was simply [[The Way|another way]] to govern yourselves as free souls under God rather than under [[tyrants]]. [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], and all the [[prophets]] including [[John the Baptist]], Jesus who was the [[Christ]] who appointed His Church and the [[Apostles]] preached a government operating by [[Faith]], [[Hope]], and [[Charity]] which is [[love]] by which they provided all the [[social welfare]] for those seeking the [[righteousness]] of God. <Br>If people engage in debates over private interpretation of the ''words'' of the Bible but fail to gather as Christ [[commanded]], [[care]] for one another through the [[social welfare]] that is not a [[snare|snare and trap]], which was called [[Pure Religion]], and are depending on men who "[[exercise authority]] one over the other" for their [[Social Security|security]] and [[protection]], like health, education or welfare, then they are not [[seek]]ing the [[Kingdom of God]] nor His [[righteousness]] and will forever return to the perpetual [[bondage]] as [[merchandise|human resources]] under [[tribute]] for themselves and their [[curse children|children]].from which there will be no salvation without true [[repentance]].<Br> There was no forced [[taxation]] by men who "[[exercise authority]]" in the kingdom, but only [[freewill offerings]] by people who [[love]] their neighbor as themselves. It was the [[one form of government]] that operated by [[faith]], [[hope]], and [[charity]] rather than [[force]], [[fear]], and [[fealty]] like the governments of the [[world]]. <Br> [[The Way|That other way of righteousness]]  starts with you [[repent]]ing and [[seek]]ing to be a [[doer]] of what that other king Jesus [[commanded]].]]

== The Kingdom of God at hand ==

The [[kingdom of God]] was [[The Way]] that Jesus said we should govern ourselves in the [[care]] of one another. His [[The Greatest Reset|reset]] of [[the way]] people thought at that time altered the course of history, turned the world upside down, and helped many survive and thrive the decline and fall of the [[world]] order of [[Rome]]. 

The [[masses]] today has abandoned [[the way]] of [[righteousness]] for the [[wages of unrighteousness]]. While the [[modern Church]] preached the [[doctrines of men]], [[false religion]], and not teach that way of righteousness.

The [[Kingdom of God]] at hand <Ref>[[Matthew 3]]:2 “And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
: [[Matthew 4]]:17 “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 
: [[Mark 1]]:15 “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.”</Ref> was preached by [[Baptism|John the Baptist]] and Jesus. They told their disciples to do the same.<Ref>[[Matthew 10]]:7 “And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”</Ref> 

From the beginning of the gospel we were told that the [[Kingdom of God]] was at hand, that we were supposed to [[seek]] it, that it was in our midst, and within our reach in a present tense. 

Everyone knew that a king was born. Prophets knew it, Herod knew it. Magi, angels, and shepherds knew it. <Ref>[[Matthew 2]]:2 “Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.” (also [[Luke 2]]:8, 15)</Ref> At [[Jesus]]’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, thousands of people hailed Him as the highest son of David, the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed, the righteous King. 

Thousands of Jews accepted [[Jesus]] as their king and the apostles as their servant leaders when they received the [[Baptism]] of [[Christ]] at [[Pentecost]]. They turned from the [[covetous practices]] of the [[Corban]] of the [[Pharisees]] and began to [[seek]] that [[kingdom of God]] and His [[righteousness]] through the practice of [[Pure Religion]] through [[faith]], [[hope]] and [[charity]] and the [[perfect law of liberty]]. Today the [[Modern Christian]] does no understand the [[Gospel of the kingdom]].

Today, men have created eschatologies that might lead people to believe that the [[Kingdom of Heaven]] or God is some distant event, or that it is only where you go when you die. While its jurisdiction may reach beyond the veil of life and death it was clearly for the living, not the dead,<Ref>[[Luke 20]]:38 “For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.” Luke 9:60 “Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the [[kingdom of God]].”</Ref> at hand and on the earth.
 
The state of our modern society, its similarities to the [[World|world]] of [[Rome]] at the time of [[Christ]], and the prophecy in [[2 Thessalonians]] 2:11 of the coming of a [[strong delusion]] should compel us all to reexamine the events and words of the [[Gospel of the Kingdom]], and what the [[early Church]] and the Christians were really saying and doing.

== The World of Pilate ==

: '''"Ancient texts require ancient dictionaries."'''

When Jesus told Pilate that His Kingdom was not of the “[[World|world]]” we see one of five different Greek words found in the New Testament which have all been translated into the single word “[[World|world]]”. The word was ''[[kosmos]]'', and it is defined in Strong's Concordance as an “orderly arrangement” and in Thayer's Greek Lexicon it is defined as “an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government.”<Ref>Online Bible Concordance, Winterbourne, Ontario, Canada.. See Thayers Lexicon.</Ref>
 
In the 7th century BC the term "kosmos" was used in constitutions to describe the jurisdictional "office of magistrate".<Ref> “For example, a very early constitutional inscription shows that 7th-century Drerus on Crete prohibited tenure of the office of kosmos—a local magistracy—until 10 years had elapsed since a man’s last tenure.) That is a refreshing approach and surely contains some truth. “ The Later Archaic Periods, The rise of the tyrants https://www.britannica.com/place/ancient-Greece/The-later-Archaic-periods</Ref> The word ''kosmos'' in the Greek and Roman view of the term '''Kosmos''' “... meant originally the discipline of an army, and next the ordered constitution of a state.”<Ref>John Burnet's Early Greek Philosophy: Section A: Introduction </Ref> The word came from the Greek “komizo” meaning “to care for, take care of, provide for” or “carry off what is one’s own.” ''Kosmos'' did not mean planet, inhabitable place, or age.

Jesus was not saying that His kingdom was not on the planet. It was at hand in spirit and truth. Jesus was simply telling Pontius Pilate, seated as the ruling judge of a Roman court,<Ref>John 19:13 “When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.” [[Matthew 27]]:19 “When he was set down on the judgment seat, ...”</Ref> that his Kingdom was not a part of Pilate's ''constitution, order, government or state'' and Pilate had no jurisdiction to judge Jesus nor the kingdom God had given Him.<Ref>[[Matthew 28]]:18 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.”</Ref>

Pilate, as Procurator of [[Rome]], had already agreed<Ref>John 18:37 “...Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world...”</Ref> that Jesus was the rightful “King of the [[citizen]]s of Judea,” and would proclaim it so on an official epigraph written in three languages and [[Nailing it to His cross|nailed to the cross]].

[[Image:CROSS-titulus.jpg|280px|right|thumb|Greek, Latin and Hebrew, '''THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS'''...  The [[Kingdom of God]] is from ''[[Daniel 4|generation to generation]]''. in [[Matthew 21|Matthew 21:43 Jesus said he would take it from]] those who [[Matthew 23|sat in the seat]] of [[Moses]] and give it to those who would bear [[fruit]]. He the [[appoint]]ed that kingdom to his [[called out]] ''[[little flock]]'' who connected the people in [[Tens]]. The [[kingdom of God]] is for the living, not the dead.<Ref>Matthew 22:32  I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.
: Mark 12:27  He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.
: Luke 20:38  For he is not a God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him.
: Luke 24:5  And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?</Ref> If you seek it and the [[righteousness]] of God you would need nothing from any other rulers of the [[world]].]]

== The Righteous Rulers ==

Everyone who accepted Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, their King was cast out of the government of the [[Pharisees]].<Ref>John 9:22 “... the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.”</Ref> The [[Pharisees]], by denouncing Christ and claiming no king but Caesar, had abandoned the [[Kingdom of God]] and had submitted to the jurisdiction of [[Rome]].<Ref>[[John 19]]:15 “But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but [[Caesar]].”</Ref> 

Centuries before, in fulfillment of Samuel's prophecy<Ref>[[1 Samuel 8]]:1...22 “... ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day...”</Ref> the Hasmonean Kings of Judea were taking the first fruits of the people, the best of their fields, making their instruments of war, and drafting their sons to fight their wars. By 78 BC the [[Pharisees]], a political party, had passed ordinances,<Ref>Salome- Alexandra (about 78 BC), that the Pharisaical party, being then in power, had carried an enactment by which the Temple [[tribute]] was to be enforced at law. Alfred Edersheim’s book ''The Temple''.</Ref> requiring the temple tax to be paid and enforced by threats of punishment by the appointed civil magistrates.<Ref>Magistrates were called “elohiym”, translated into “gods” or “God”. [See Strong's.]</Ref> 
 
{{HyrcanAristob}}

== Righteous Repentance ==

[[Baptism|John the Baptist]] offered an alternative to Herod's Kingdom of Heaven. His was a system based on faith, hope, and charity, the law of love and liberty. If you had two coats and your neighbor had none you were to share. Jesus preached that kingdom, and many chose to follow.

The “kingdom of God” was the right to be ruled by God. [[Moses]] saved the people from Egypt and Abraham led the people from Ur, and Haran, and freed them from Sodom, and Gomorrah. 

There has always been a hope that men could be ruled by virtue as free souls under God and not by other men. Jesus would bring a more complete salvation in spirit and in truth in a kingdom at hand within you. 

The [[Pharisees]] had made the “word of God to none effect” by their ordinances which forced the contributions of the people and brought them back into the [[bondage]] of [[Egypt]]. In [[Matthew 21]]<Ref>[[Matthew 21]]:43 Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the [[fruit]]s thereof.</Ref> Jesus said he was going to take the “[[Kingdom of God]]”, a present reality, away from them and it would be “given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” 

The Pharisee's [[Socialist|socialist]] systems of compelled offerings was set up by leaders who called themselves “[[Benefactors|benefactors]]”, but exercised authority one over the other,which was forbidden by Jesus in [[Luke 22]]:25, 29 :

<blockquote>''“And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called [[Benefactors|benefactors]]. But ye [shall] not [be] so...” [See also Mtt. 20:25, Mk 10:42.]''</blockquote> 

Jesus went on to say, “And I [[appoint]] unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;” The [[Corban]] of this appointed Christian [[government]] made the word of God to effect because it required that the leaders of Christ's government, His Holy Church, allow the people the liberty to choose how, when, and to whom they would contribute for the care of one another. His sacrifice and appointment of a kingdom freed the people in spirit and truth from the laws of the [[Pharisees]].<Ref>[[Colossians 2]]:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, [[Nailing it to His cross|nailing it to his cross]];”</Ref> 

The [[Corban]] of Rome and the [[Pharisees]] was no different than the bondage of Egypt. God had told the people to never return to that system of government.<Ref>Deuteronomy 17:16 “... nor cause the people to return to Egypt... Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.”</Ref> It had begun with a promise to take care of the needy of society, but it bound men under the authority of rulers. Those who professed Christ were cast out of that [[Workers of Iniquity|iniquitous]] welfare system.<Ref>John 9:22 “These [words] spake his parents, because they feared the Jews: for the Jews had agreed already, that if any man did confess that he was Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue.”</Ref>

The Bible is supposed to be a book about “[[religion]]”, yet of the five times the word religion appears in the text, there is only one place that it is used in a good and somewhat defining sense: 

<blockquote>''“[[Pure Religion|Pure religion]] and undefiled before God and the [[Father]] is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.” ([[James 1]]:27)''</blockquote> 

== Righteous Religion ==

[[Religion]] is how we take [[care]] of the needy of society. Do we [[care]] for the needs of our neighbor by faith, hope, and charity, or by force, fear, and compliance? Do we live and let live by love and liberty, or do we dictate and covet entitlements through elected rulers who call themselves benefactors, yet exercise authority by providing for our wants at the expense of our neighbor?

For centuries Israel had maintained a system of government dependent solely on “[[freewill offerings]]” and a sense of community and brotherhood. That simple precept of God had kept the nation strong and free. When the “voice of the people” cried out for a benefactor who could exercise authority God called that prayer a rejection of Him. Despite the warnings by God in 1st Samuel, Chapter 8, the people elected to have a form of government that changed the face and nature of their society.

Jesus Christ was king, but a different kind of king. His [[apostles]] were ambassadors and [[titular]] princes of a government but they did not exercise authority over the people.

Under the kings of Israel, the power to fire the porters of the government temple treasury was the right of every king.<Ref>1 Chr. 9:22 “All these [which were] chosen to be porters in the gates [were] two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by their genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their set office.” </Ref>  That is exactly what Jesus was doing with His string whip in the temple. He was not merely tipping over tables, but he was firing the corrupt administrators in the government temple.<Ref> [[5132]] trapeza AV-table 13, bank 1, meat 1; 15 1) a table. 
: [[Trapeza]] is the Greek word for ''bank'' and is translated bank in [[Luke 19]]:23. </Ref> The [[moneychangers]] were officials holding a government commissioned position in the ''national treasury''.<Ref>[[John 8]]:20 “These words spake Jesus in the treasury, as he taught in the temple: and no man laid hands on him; for his hour was not yet come.” The word treasury is gazofulakion gazophulakion 1) “a repository of treasure, especially of public treasure, a treasury”</Ref> 

Those who had been in charge of God’s kingdom on earth were going the wrong way and Jesus as high priest and king was saying repent, turn around. He wasn’t going to force change but He was appointing an alternative government that allowed people a right to choose God's way. 

<blockquote>''“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” ([[Luke 12]]:32)''</blockquote>  

Once the people received the baptism under the authority of the Anointed Kingship of Jesus<Ref>[[Acts 17]]:7 “… and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, [one] Jesus.”</Ref> they were no longer eligible to apply for the [[benefits]] of the government of the [[Pharisees]] established under the [[baptism]] and authority of [[Herod]]. They were also no longer subject to the duties and obligations imposed by [[Pharisees]] and even [[Rome]]. Through the baptism of Christ the people were freed from those handwritten ordinances of the Sanhedrin<Ref>Colossians 2:14 “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us...”</Ref> as well as the decrees of the former corrupt kings of that nation who had returned them to the [[Bondage|bondage]] of Egypt. 

Citizens of Judea who followed the ways of Jesus were set free from [[Rome]] itself because Christ was a King, a recognition sealed in His own blood.<Ref>Luke 23:38 “And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, 'THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.'”</Ref> His Ambassadors<Ref>Apostolov, or apostle is a “a delegate, messenger, one sent forth with orders” "[[Apostles|apostle]]" meant "ambassador," or "emmissary”.</Ref> may make no treaty with Rome nor its gods.

Understanding the difference between the nature of the government that God intended for men and the governments often instituted by men from Babylon to Egypt, from Rome to modern governments is essential in understanding the elements of that Gospel of the Kingdom and the [[elements]] of the [[world]].<Ref>Galatians 4:3 “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the [[Elements|elements]] of the world [“... arrangement or constitution, order, government”]:”</Ref>

Many people today believe they are Christian and assume they are following Christ, but are in fact no closer to Christ than the Pharisees were to God. No one is Christian because they say they are, or say they believe Jesus was the Christ and the son of God. The adversary believes that much. We are brothers in Christ because we do what He said:

<blockquote>''“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” ([[Matthew 7]]:21-22, Luke 6:46, & Luke 13:25)''</blockquote> 

Saul was the first elected king when the people “rejected” God. When he forced the people to contribute to his government Samuel called it foolishness and prophesied that his kingdom would fall.<Ref>[[1 Samuel 13]]:12, 14 “... And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done [[foolish]]ly ...”</Ref> When David numbered the young men for a draft to support the army it was called a sin, from which he later repented.<Ref>[[2 Samuel 24]]:10 “...David’s heart smote him after that he had numbered the people. And David said unto the LORD, I have sinned greatly ...”</Ref> When the kings set up a central government treasury, formed a standing professional army, and began to pass laws that returned the people to the bondage of Egypt they were all going against the will of God.<Ref>[[Deuteronomy 17]]:15 ,18</Ref> 

The people of Judea had gone back into the [[bondage]] of [[Egypt]] where the people were forced to pay at least a 20% income tax to the government,<Ref>[[Genesis 47]]:24 “And it shall come to pass in the increase, that ye shall give the fifth [part] unto Pharaoh, and four parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and for them of your households, and for food for your little ones.”</Ref> there was a central treasury or bank, and all the land and cattle were owned by government suffrage. Jesus came to change all that and did for those who would seek His ways. He set all the people free who would accept the responsibility and duties of His godly government and live by faith, hope and charity and the perfect law of loving liberty.

Under [[Abraham]]'s leadership and faith the people set up charitable altars to maintain societies by free will offerings which liberated them from the degrading subjections of the city-states. When Moses returned to Egypt in hope of setting the people free they still had to pay their tale of bricks, but they had to provide their own straw.<Ref>[[Exodus 5]]:18 “Go therefore now, [and] work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.”</Ref> The “tale of bricks” and “straw” are metaphors for their tax obligation owed to government and the social welfare benefits they normally would have been provided.

<blockquote>''“The real destroyers of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits.” —[[Plutarch]]''</blockquote> 

Throughout history these forms of government of power which offer benefits to one class of citizen at the expense of another have eventually failed under growing avarice, apathy, and covetous greed of the people and the corruption of their leaders. Without liberty of choice, diligence dies and sloth and greed reign as king.<Ref>“... the slothful shall be under tribute.” [[Proverbs 12]]:24</Ref> The prophets of God have always preached systems of self government dependent upon the daily practice of virtue where the right to choose, which all men are endowed with by God, remains intact.

== Warnings ==

[[Jesus]] and [[John the Baptist]] were teaching that same message of common love. They agreed that you may owe Caesar and Herod because you have gone under their authority, but everyone needed to learn to do without their tainted benefits of those civil religions if they were going to be free again. In truth, the Bible is a “do's and don't” guidebook to freedom under God, the kingdom of God. It has forever warned of what will lead us back into the bondage of men and away from God.

In the first chapter of Proverbs there is a lengthy warning about giving your [[Consent|consent]] with men who are greedy for gain. Those men entice others to have “[[One purse|one purse]]”. Through cunning and craft they swallow people alive, trapping everyone in a net of their own making.

Peter warns us that through “[[covet]]ousness” and “feigned words” we will be made “[[Merchandise|merchandise]],” “human resources”, losing our freedom in Christ.<Ref>[[2 Peter 2]]:3 “... through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.”</Ref> Just as David, Jesus, and Paul warned about the [[welfare]] system of rulers which snares the people, [[Proverbs 23]]:<Ref>Proverbs 23:1 “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to [[appetite]]. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.”</Ref> warned us about desiring with a coveting appetite those benefits from leaders who, by our consent, are given the power to “exercise authority” over the people.

<blockquote>''“Are men the property of the state? Or are they free souls under God? This same battle continues throughout the world today.”<Ref>Cecil B. DeMille asked at the beginning of his 1956 movie, “The Ten Commandments”.</Ref>''</blockquote> 

The [[Ten Commandments]] is about more than Thou shalt not kill, commit adultery, steal, or bear false witness against our neighbor. They were to be written on our hearts and minds to make us free souls under God. The Kingdom of God, in the Greek “basileia theos”, means the right to be ruled by God. The Bible tells of the struggle of man to be ruled by God or ruled by the gods of [[Cain]], [[Nimrod]], Pharaoh, or Caesar.

<blockquote>''“If we will not be ruled by God, then we will be ruled by tyrants.” —William Penn''</blockquote> 

This kind of ruler brings the people into a citizenship of servitude.<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:2, 3 “ I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.</Ref> Their power is instituted by the consent of the governed<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:4 “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...”</Ref> who desire their benefits, but in return they require the obeisance and service of the people.<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:5 “Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the [[Workers of Iniquity|iniquity]] of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;”</Ref> They rule with a different character<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:7 “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”</Ref> than God the Father.

Jesus told us to only pray to “Our Father” in heaven and to “call no man [[father]] upon the earth”.<Ref>Matthew 23:9 “And call no [man] your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” See “Call no man [[Father]]” published by His Holy Church</Ref> If we choose men, who call themselves benefactors, making covenants<Ref>[[Exodus 23]]:32 “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods”.</Ref> to obtain benefits at the expense of our neighbor,<Ref>[[Exodus 20]]:17 “Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour’s.”</Ref> then we will only have those who by nature are no [[Gods|gods]]<Ref>Theos, means a ruling judge and is translated “God” or “gods”. The Hebrew word ''elohiym'', is translated “God” or “[[Gods|gods]]”. Both terms were used every day to address magistrates and judges in courts in nations like Greece, [[Rome]], Israel, and Judea. </Ref> to cry out to in the “world” we have made for ourselves.<Ref>Judges 10:14 “Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.” [[Jeremiah 11]]:12 “Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble.”</Ref> 

Honoring our Father and Mother was about retaining the rights of the family. “Excise, in its origin, is the patrimonial right of emperors and kings.”<Ref>Vectigal, origina ipsa, jus Caesarum et regum patrimoniale est.</Ref> Government rights originally were vested in the family which was God's first institution. [[Government]]s are based on the law of [[Patronus]], our father. As the power of government increases family rights decrease. With whom goes the responsibility, there also goes the right.

The [[Kingdom of God]] was a ''dominion''<Ref>[[Genesis 1]]:26  And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27  So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28  And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
: Man is not suppose to have dominion over other men. Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them [unto him], and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
</Ref> of individuals where the power of the “State” rested in God's sacred institution, the Family. It was and is a system of self-government dependent on the willingness of the people to accept individual responsibility for the welfare of society through charity rather than contracts and force. You could not compel your neighbor to provide benefits through the exercising authority of elected government officials. To force your neighbor to provide the social benefits you desire would be a violation of the foundational law of God to love one another and to not covet anything that belongs to our neighbors through any institution or social scheme. 

Ezekiel 11:<Ref>[[Ezekiel 11]]:2, 3 “these are the men that devise mischief... Which say, [It is] not near; let us build houses: this [city is] the caldron, and we [be] the flesh.”</Ref> warns the people about building a civil structure that makes our neighbors and ourselves human resources to be devoured by each other through the power of those who call themselves benefactors but exercise authority one over the other.

<blockquote>''“For the LORD [is] our judge, the LORD [is] our lawgiver, the LORD [is] our king; he will save us.” (Isaiah 33:22)''</blockquote> 

The wicked governments mentioned in the Old Testament like [[Cain]]’s city-state, [[Nimrod]]’s<Ref>Genesis 10:9 “He was a mighty hunter before the LORD...” is telling us that Nimrod was a great 'provider instead of God'. </Ref> Babylon, or [[Pharaoh]]'s treasure cities brought the people into bondage in exchange for benefits. The Bible is about men who serve God by loving each other as He loves us, or men who covet their neighbor's rights by establishing governments where certain men exercise authority over other men as elite rulers over a subject citizenry.

We are being warned in Colossians 2:8<Ref>Colossians 2:8 “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”</Ref> not to lose our God given right to freedom, and being tempted to abandon the ways of Christ by being deceived with ideas that cause us to give up these rights.<Ref>The Greek word translated spoil means “to carry off booty.” </Ref> We also see the Greek word translated “traditions”<Ref>The Greek word paradosis is also translated ordinance, defined “giving up, giving over”</Ref> can actually mean “ordinances” in accordance with the “elements”<Ref>''stoiceion'' stoicheion translated element, rudiment, principle, defined “any first thing,... first principal ... the principles and practices of the old covanent world order. </Ref> of the “constitutional order” of men which is often translated “world” but means the “state”. 

<blockquote>''“Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances,” ([[Colossians 2]]:20)''</blockquote>  

The word ''rudiments'' is the word for ''[[elements]]'' we see in Peter's epistle:

<blockquote>''“Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the [[elements]] shall melt with fervent heat?” ([[2 Peter 3]]:12)''</blockquote>  

Some interpreters of the New Testament suggest that the word “[[elements]]” is referring to a future nuclear war. The same words “element” is also used in Galatians 4:3, in reference to being “in bondage under the elements of the world.” This is the same “world” which is defined “constitution, order, government” or “state.” Again in [[Galatians 4]]:9<Ref>Galatians 4:9 “... after that ye have known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak and beggarly elements, whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage?”</Ref> the word is used to describe the elements of returning to “bondage” under that world or state where men covet each other's goods.

Colossians goes on to talk about being “Buried with him in baptism”<Ref>[[Colossians 2]]:12 “Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with [him] through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.”</Ref> we are all raised from the dead in the “operation” of God. We know Jesus spoke about the dead burying the dead because they would not participate in the ways of God or the way that Jesus Christ came to preach, saying, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15

When men stop praying to those who call themselves [[benefactors]], those ''[[fathers]] upon the earth'', and start coming together in the character or name of Christ as true sons of the Father, then they will be able to blot out the hand written ordinances of men and be free indeed. But because false brethren have deceptively brought false doctrines about the simplicity of the gospel of the kingdom, our liberty under God has turned into bondage.<Ref>[[Galatians 2]]:4 “...false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:”</Ref>

== Stand Fast ==

We are told “Stand fast... in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of [[bondage]]” by eating that which is sacrificed to idols. We were “called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”<Ref>[[Galatians 5]]:1 ...3 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage... For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”</Ref>
 
<blockquote>''“And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the [[Mammon|mammon]] of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations... No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and [[Mammon|mammon]].” ([[Luke 16]]:9, 13 & Mt. 6:24.)''</blockquote> 

“[[Mammon]]” means a system of entrusted wealth<Ref>“[[Mammon]], an Aramaic word mamon “wealth” … derived from Ma’amon, something entrusted to safe keeping.” Encyclopedia Britannica.</Ref> where a government may hold the right to exercise authority over the wealth and property of the people. Men who seek power seek those offices of power and are corrupted by that power granted by the people, not by God. 

Mankind has repeatedly been snared by his own wantonness and appetite, his own greed and lust. Man's sinful nature will always bring him back to the bondage of Egypt. He must repent and change his ways in order to be free. Even though he may have to suffer for a season under the burden of his captivity, he must, with honesty and honor, seek the ways of liberty originally bestowed by Our Father who art in Heaven.

Did Jesus preach a new world order?The gospel of Matthew wrote in Aramaic. Translating the Aramaic to Greek, the word ''malkuthach'' becomes ''basileia ouranos'', or Kingdom of Heaven, meaning a “realm”. Ouranos is best translated “world”<Ref>“…indeed we have no suitable word to express what the Greeks at first called an ouranos. It will be convenient to use the term ‘world’ for it”; Plato’s Dialogues, Early Greek Philosophy, Introduction , John Burnet.</Ref>  as in His Kingdom of the [[World]]. 

Have certain ungodly men crept in denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ?<Ref>Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”</Ref> Have we left the path to the Kingdom of God and crossed over into the ways of the “world” and the grip of Caesar?

Christ was the king professed by Christians. They did not pray for the subjugating benefits which snared the people into bondage. They sought another kingdom, another government, as free souls under God caring for themselves, and working out their salvation with fear and trembling.

The “union and discipline of the Christian [[Republic|republic]]... gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire.”<Ref>Comment on Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85.</Ref> The early Christians were recognized by Rome through the proclamation [[Nailing it to His cross|nailed to the cross]] by Pontius Pilate. When Jesus rose from the dead to stand again upon the earth, so did His Kingdom. 

{{Churchy}}

The [[Eucharist]]<Ref>[[Eucharist]] is the Greek word for thanksgiving.</Ref> of Christ was the joy of thanksgiving. The early Church was the government of God, answering the prayers of the people by the love and charity of the people who had Christ dwelling in them. In times of famine, social unrest, and want, Christians, who refused to eat the “free bread” of a declining Roman government, were able to sustain and prosper as a community through faith, hope, and charity.

Being excluded from the welfare of Rome and Judea prepared men and women for the decline of the Empire. Christians who had a surplus during the runaway inflation, economic collapse, and endless foreign wars of Rome were able to aid the needy, giving from their hearts.<Ref>“And the wealthy among us help the needy ... and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.” (Ch. 65-67) AD 150, Justin Martyr on the [[early Church]].</Ref> 

<blockquote>''“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” ([[1 Corinthians 10]]:21)''</blockquote> 

His Holy Church was a [[network]] of [[soul]]s with God's love written on their hearts and minds. It was the righteous social insurance through the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free in the righteous love of God.

We are all in the world God created, but are we of the world created by men, or, are we in that world but of God's kingdom and righteous ways? We may all pray to God the Father, but should we also pray to the gods of the world at the expense of our neighbor when we know those benefits which we covet snare us into bondage again? Why should we exchange the liberty of Christ for the chains of the world? 

[[Repent]], and seek the [[Kingdom of God]], and His [[righteousness]].

== Imagining the Kingdom ==



Some point to consider and learn to understand when examining the [[Gospel of the kingdom]].<Ref name="gospking">{{gospking}}</Ref>
# Is the Kingdom here on earth or after we die in heaven?
## The kingdom of God is from generation tot generation.<Ref name="gentogen">{{gentogen}}</Ref>
## The kingdom was for the living, not the dead.<Ref name="livef">{{livef}}</Ref>
## The kingdom was at hand on earth and you could eat in the kingdom.<Ref name="dideat">{{dideat}}</Ref> 
# What does it mean to [[seek]]<Ref name="seekstrive">{{seekstrive}}</Ref> the "[[kingdom of God]]" and His "[[righteousness]]"?<Ref name="unright">{{unright}}</Ref>
## It is not [[righteous]] to [[covet]] your neighbors' goods through men who [[exercise authority]].
## It is not [[righteous]] to [[employ|enslave]] your neighbor bringing again the [[bondage of Egypt]] to provide you with [[benefits]] for the [[masses]].
# Who has the kingdom? 
## The [[Pharisees]] sat in the seat of [[Moses]] but also as blind guides they sat in [[darkness]].<Ref name="seatm">{{besaved}}</Ref>
## The [[kingdom of God]] would be taken from them.
## Their [[Corban]] was making the [[word of God]] to none effect.
## Jesus took it from those who denied [[the way]] of "[[Father]]" with their [[Nicolaitan|deeds]] and [[appoint]]ed it to His [[disciples]] who were [[called out]].
## Jesus took the Kingdom from those who were not bearing [[fruit]]<Ref name="ktaken">{{ktaken}}</Ref> and [[appoint]]ed it to His [[faith]] filled "[[little flock]]". 
# What does the [[Kingdom of God]] look like?
## It does not look like the governments that [[exercise authority]] and call themselves [[Benefactors]] because their [[welfare]] is a [[snare]] that makes you [[merchandise]] and will [[curse children]] as a [[surety]] debt.
## It does not depend upon the [[civil law]] system of [[Corban]] created by the [[leaven]] of [[Pharisees]] and [[Herod]].
## It is not like the [[One purse]] of the [[cities of blood]] where the people [[bite]] one another in the [[covetous practices]] of the [[world]].
#  Who is invited in God's Kingdom?
## Those who will [[repent]] and [[seek]] to do that which [[Abraham]], [[Moses]], [[Jesus]] called [[righteous]] system of [[welfare]] that is not a [[snare]] but sets the [[captive]] free.
#  How do we seek it?
#  What will change in the lives of those who seek it?

* [[Money]] in the kingdom
* [[Responsibility]] 
* How do we deal with security issues
* [[Family]], [[community]] 
* [[Conversation]],  we'll see how things flow.

Are people involved in being a [[doer]] of the [[Word of God|word]]. 

Hope it's good with you?

== Footnotes == 

<references /> 



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