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Results from: Answered Bible Questions, Answers, Unanswered Bible Questions, Notes Ordered by Verse | ||||||
Results | Verse | Author | ID# | |||
1 | Actions to preach the kingdom of God | Luke 9:2 | 00123 | 224432 | ||
Exactly what did Jesus mean by "preach the kingdom of God"? Let us imagine we are His disciples in Jesus' time. We were sent by Him and enter a village. Then, what were we suppose to do there? Can you list what actions to take to preach the kingdom of God? Tell me some details in the act of preaching. Thank you. | ||||||
2 | Actions to preach the kingdom of God | Luke 9:2 | Inquisitor | 224442 | ||
I would have to say the most powerful and emphatic way to "preach the kingdom of God" is to imitate God and be a truly devoted disciple. Now of course, we as humans can't possibly imitate God the Father quite as well as we can and should imitate His Son, Jesus Christ. Naturally that's because Jesus spent three and a half years here on earth as a human, 100 per cent as well as 100 percent deity. How can that be possible? Only by God. So what do we see in Jesus' life that is so different with what we see in our world? We see extreme cases of Mercy and Love as in the situation of the woman caught in the act of adultery, John 8. Naturally a big question here is where is the man involved in this adultery, but we must move on. Instead of the world's natural inclination to punish, Jesus would much rather forgive and encourage her to "sin no more." As a matter of fact, the ONLY time Jesus rose to anger is when He saw the abuse heaped onto the poor crowds around the temple in Mark 11 and John 2. Another extreme picture of contrast is that of Jesus' handling of His own trial before His execution. The mockery of this trial is truly one of the biggest example of man's shameful behavior of all time. Yet Jesus was as "silent as a lamb" just as predicted in Is 53:7 and proven true in His cross examination with the high priest in Matt 26. Yes, we must share the ultimate Gospel News of how to become a christian with our fellow man but don't you see, it is so much more powerful when that part of the sermon is preached AFTER the person watches and confirms that this Christianity business is very real with the person sharing this Gospel. Yes the most effective way of sharing Christ Jesus is to follow Paul's advice, "imitate [Paul] even as I imitate Christ." 1 Cor 11:1. There are many more ways of imitating Christ that draw attention NOT to ourselves but to Him we're imitating. The world is so tired of seeing cheap imitations but imitating Christ must be a life of total sacrifice because it has to be real and genuine. It must include those instances when we have to give up what we want in preference to what He wants. Of course, this is just my opinion and I hope it starts a good strong series of comments and discussions from others. God bless you in asking a good question. One more suggestion to those who haven't seen it; I recommend your getting a copy of "The Passion of Christ" directed by Mel Gibson. A true depiction of just how much our God and His Son loves us, the whole world. If you can watch that film and NOT end up with tears in your eyes, then you have my sympathy. |
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3 | Actions to preach the kingdom of God | Luke 9:2 | 00123 | 224443 | ||
Inquisitor, Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Imitating the Lord thru our life is very important for ourselves as well as for efefctive preaching. But that was not answering my question, which was what the disciples did in the villages to preach the kingdom of God. I am interetsed their actions in the villages. God bless. |
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4 | Actions to preach the kingdom of God | Luke 9:2 | Beja | 224444 | ||
00123, Its a pretty interesting question you are asking. One that I admitedly haven't thought of much in the past. I'll give you some of my own thoughts on this matter and you can judge their worth for yourself. First, what message exactly was this kingdom message they went and preached? We must noticed that we aren't given any examples of it. I am left with the assumption that their message was the same message as Christ when He Himself preached the kingdom. So what did Christ do? That we have many examples of yet we then notice that Christ spoke in parables. Shall we assume that the preaching of the disciples were also them going out in parables? I couldn't say. Now, let me direct the question a bit further. If the case is that we are asking this question from just some trivial interest then we are forced to stop there. We are given no further evidence of how their preaching differed from post-ressurection preaching. But, if we are asking such a question because we feel it is of the utmost importance because we ourselves must know what we are to preach, then I suggest we reshape the question. Let us state it clearly in that case and ask what shall we preach? Now there we have very much guidance in the scriptures. We see very clearly what those disciples of Christ preached once the Holy Spirit came and they were filled with power on high. They preached Jesus Christ crucified for sins. They preached justification through faith. They preached the gospel. So what are we to be preaching? The gospel. And truely, that may be what preaching the Kingdom of God was from the beggining. Mar 1:14,15 Now after John had been taken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." In this verse we see Christ preaching the coming of the kingdom to be a motivation to believing the gospel and repenting. And again scripture says Mat 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." So when Christ preached the kingdom of God, central to that was calling people to repent and believe the gospel. This is exactly what we see the aposltes take up after pentecost. Paul says his constant teaching was Act 20:21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. So there is no question what you and I are to be preaching. We are to call people to repentence and preach the gospel as ambassadors of Christ urging them to be reconciled to God. (2 Cor 5:20) In Christ, Beja |
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