Month: July 2025

The Kingdom of God is Within You #11

Monday, July 21, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

Read Peter’s sermon directed to unbelieving Israel: “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began…. Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities” (Acts 3:19-21,25,26). See Israel’s rise to kingdom glory!

Contrast this with Paul’s words: “I say then, Have they [Israel] stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fulness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office:…” (Romans 11:11-13). See Israel’s fall!

With much of Christendom regarding Paul as “the twelfth apostle” (Paul being Judas Iscariot’s successor) or Paul being an extension/supplement of the 12 (Matthias being Iscariot’s replacement), they have blended whatever God is doing in the “but now” with what He did in “time past.” Hopeless confusion has resulted, for they believe, “There is but one gospel in the Bible,” “only one church in the Bible,” and so on. This is not “rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). It is mixing distinct information God has separated—and then changing or denying verses because they know of no other way to resolve the incompatibilities. That is exactly what happened with Luke 17:20,21 (today’s Scripture and its context). Nothing is wrong with the Scriptures; what is incorrect is our traditional approach to them….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #10

Sunday, July 20, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

Read the Parable of the Barren Fig Tree, Luke 13:6-9: “He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down.”

National Israel refused to repent and trust Jesus as Messiah-King (Gospel of the Kingdom) during His three years of earthly ministry, so Father God gave a one-year extension of mercy. The kingdom is delayed in prophecy, His return not occurring until at least one more year after His Ascension. In early Acts, He would have come back in flaming fire and vengeance within eight years or so after Calvary (Daniel’s 70th Week included) (see Acts 7:55,56; cf. Psalm 110:1; Acts 2:34-36; Acts 3:19-21). Note how Spirit-filled Peter recognized Christ was resurrected “to sit on [David’s] throne” (Acts 2:29-32; cf. Acts 1:6).

Moreover, there is a second delay in Christ restoring Israel’s literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom—a mystery (secret) postponement connected to Paul’s ministry. That Pauline aspect is seldom recognized. Since what God is doing now through Paul’s ministry is not what He did before Paul, denominationalists soften those differences like this: If there is no literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom now—and it has been 2,000 years since Christ’s earthly ministry without such a kingdom—there must have never been any promise of restoring that literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom. WRONG!

Paul’s ministry is “the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, but now is made manifest…” (Romans 16:25,26). What God is doing today in the mystery program is totally separate and distinct from the prophetic program. It is the unbelief that remains the same….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #9

Saturday, July 19, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

To put it as succinctly as possible, “the kingdom of God” is the realm or sphere over which God has influence. It excludes unbelievers, Satan, and fallen angels. The expression is found in both Pauline and non-Pauline Bible verses. As touching us in mystery, we the Church the Body of Christ are “the kingdom of God.” In the prophetic program, however, the term takes the form of a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom—and this is because Israel is God’s literal, physical, visible, earthly people. In today’s Scripture, Jesus tells the Pharisees they need to have faith in Him before they see His literal, physical, visible, earthly kingdom founded. They must have God’s influence in their hearts (“the kingdom of God is within you”—today’s Scripture) before they observe with their physical eyes how He demolishes earthly governments.

Read Luke 17:20 again. By looking for a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom at so late a time during Christ’s earthly ministry, the unbelieving Pharisees (who have failed to receive Jesus by faith) and the rest of lost Israel have opened themselves up to the deception of the Antichrist’s literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom that will counterfeit and come before Jesus Christ’s literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic, Israeli kingdom.

That is the warning of Luke 17:20-25: “…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. And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it. And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after them, nor follow them. For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one part under heaven, shineth unto the other part under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day. But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.”

Again, Calvary is just weeks away, which postpones the kingdom….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #8

Friday, July 18, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

Believing Israel—the Messianic Church, Little Flock, or believing remnant—received Messiah-King Jesus by trusting Him in their heart (“the kingdom of God is within you”). They had already admitted their sin problem and believed in Him for redemption. However, unbelieving Israel sought mere political deliverance, not spiritual salvation. This was the Pharisees in the context of today’s Scripture. Their self-righteousness did not allow them to believe they had sin or needed spiritual salvation! Now that they refused to trust Him in their heart, He would not reign literally, physically, and visibly (David’s throne restored—see Acts 1:6) until after they formally rejected Him at Calvary’s cross.

Read Luke 7:19-35. John the Baptist, whom King Herod Antipas had imprisoned (Luke 3:19,20), could not understand why the Lord Jesus had not yet rescued him by overthrowing that evil ruler. The answer is simple: apostate Israel’s unbelief postpones God’s literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom. With John the Baptist (Messiah’s forerunner or announcer) about to die by beheading, and Messiah Himself preparing for His crucifixion, there will be no literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom until Messiah returns to His Father in Heaven to bring His kingdom back to Earth at His Second Coming.

Skip ahead to Luke 19:11,12. Jesus declares He is departing to His Father to receive the kingdom but He will come back with it: “And as they heard these things, he added and spake a parable, because he was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear. He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return.” Verses 13-14 cover His ascension (His leaving Earth) all the way to His Second Coming. His return is verses 15-27, with Jewish unbelievers destroyed when He comes back.

The key to today’s Scripture is verse 25: “But first [before His return to rule as King] must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.” Again, the tree of Calvary must precede the throne of David….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #7

Thursday, July 17, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

During a 40-day ministry after His death and resurrection, the Lord taught His Little Flock from the Old Testament about the kingdom of God. “Ought not Christ to have suffered these things [Calvary], and to enter into his glory [kingdom]? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself…. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me…. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,…” (Luke 24:26,27,44,45).

“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen: To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God:…. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power” (Acts 1:1-3,6,7).

Responding to His teaching, His disciples understood He, now (!) resurrected (!), would “restore again” (reinstate) David’s throne. Did David reign in the hearts of men?! (Utter nonsense! No!) Just as David governed a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Israeli kingdom, so Jesus Christ will reign in a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Israeli kingdom. That is the only way Christ can fulfill the Davidic Covenant (2 Samuel 7:12-14; Isaiah 9:6,7; Jeremiah 23:5,6; Luke 1:31-33). By the way, Christ never criticized their question in Acts 1:6, for it was a valid one, He merely kept its timetable a secret (verse 7)….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #6

Wednesday, July 16, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

It was not simply God would become a man, Jesus Christ incarnated, to instantly sit on David’s throne. The nation Israel was to receive Him in faith first. Yet, for three years, only a believing remnant trusted Him. “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:11-13).

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32). This believing remnant would inherit the kingdom, not the entire nation (which was comfortable in unbelief!). By the time of today’s Scripture, Israel’s unbelieving religious leaders were already plotting Jesus’ execution. “Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him” (Matthew 12:14). “And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him” (Mark 3:6). “And they were filled with madness [craziness!]; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus” (Luke 6:11).

Re-read today’s Scripture and context: “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” (verses 20,21). After almost three years of earthly ministry during which they relentlessly rejected Him, refusing to have Him reign over them as Messiah-King, why would they suddenly be looking for a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom? It was obvious He would first have to die on Calvary’s cross as a rejected monarch (check Luke 9:18-22,31,43-45; Luke 11:53,54; Luke 18:31-34). The kingdom would be delayed until after His crucifixion—not cancelled.

Hearts of unbelief such as this resulted in His literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom being held off until His Second Coming….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #5

Tuesday, July 15, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

One chastisement idolatrous Israel faced was the loss of political might in the Earth: “And if ye will not yet for all this hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. And I will break the pride of your power [political disaster]; and I will make your heaven as iron, and your earth as brass [agricultural/economic calamity]:…” (Leviticus 26:18,19). This governmental collapse was achieved through a series of events spanning 350 years.

Firstly, King Solomon (immediately inheriting the Davidic Covenant) constantly engaged in idolatry, thereby originating Israel’s political destruction (1 Kings 11:1-13). With Solomon dead, Israel’s 12 tribes divided. Ten northern tribes followed a new king (Jeroboam, Solomon’s servant), creating the Kingdom of Israel; the remaining two (southern) tribes formed the Kingdom of Judah, which remained loyal to the Davidic dynasty (Rehoboam, Solomon’s son) (1 Kings 12:16-20). Secondly, Israel’s northern kingdom was lost to the Assyrian troops (2 Kings chapter 17), whereas Judah’s southern kingdom fell to the Babylonian armies a century later (2 Kings chapters 24 and 25).

Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar thrice attacked Jerusalem, deposing three consecutive descendants of David (Kings Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah). “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown: this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn, it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him” (Ezekiel 21:26-28). Messiah/Christ will reclaim David’s throne (“until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him”).

In Daniel chapter 2, the Prophet learns how God gives Israel’s political might in the Earth to successive Gentile world-powers—Babylonians, Medians–Persians, Greeks, and so on. “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever” (Daniel 2:44). Yet, as the Pharisees knew, Jesus, “Son of David,” destroyed no government during His three-year earthly ministry….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #4

Monday, July 14, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

The Pharisees knew Jesus was called “the Son of David” (Matthew 9:27; Matthew 12:23; Matthew 15:22; Matthew 20:30,31; Matthew 21:9,15; Mark 10:47,48; Luke 18:38,39). They were also aware of the Hebrew Bible’s prophecies about Messiah, the Son of David, occupying David’s throne. “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The son of David” (Matthew 22:41,42). “And Jesus answered and said, while he taught in the temple, How say the scribes that Christ is the son of David?” (Mark 12:35).

Yet, they had trouble reconciling how Jesus—the so-called “Son of David”—continued to let the Roman Emperor reign. It made no sense that, though Jesus preached about His reigning from a throne, He had never sat on such a throne throughout those three years! He was the Son of David, yet He had not restored David’s throne that had been lost to the Babylonians (chief of the Gentile world-powers) hundreds of years prior? “Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” (Jeremiah 23:5,6).

As concerning the kingdom of God that Jesus preached during Matthew to John, there was a spiritual aspect as well as a physical. For example, Israel had much more serious problems than being political prisoner to heathen Gentiles (the Romans). They had a sin problem that had to be addressed before physical problems such as material poverty. “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 knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matthew 6:31-33).

Here is what the Pharisees failed to realize….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #3

Sunday, July 13, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

The heart of the Davidic Covenant is the LORD God’s promise to give King David a son or heir: “And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will stablish the throne of his kingdom for ever…. And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak unto David” (2 Samuel 7:12,13,16,17).

Isaiah 9:6,7 builds on this: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” Jesus Christ is the fulfillment in Luke 1:31-33: “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.”

Although Amillennialists assert otherwise, the Lord Jesus Christ did more than simply preach a “spiritual reign of God in the hearts of men.” Proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom of God (“Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand [near];” Matthew 4:17,23; Matthew 9:35; Mark 1:14,15; et al.), He was there to bring in a literal, physical, visible, earthly, Davidic kingdom exactly as the Old Testament prophets foretold….

The Kingdom of God is Within You #2

Saturday, July 12, 2025

“Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21 KJV).

Is there really a “mis-translation” in the King James Bible here?

Unfortunately, a tangled web of misinformation surrounds today’s Scripture and the verse before it. This is, of course, caused by a miserable failure to “study…. rightly dividing the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). Without dispensational Bible study, people must resort to “spiritualizing” verses (“the verses do not mean what they say”) and/or changing them (“let us re-translate verses so they say what we think God meant”).

Responding to the Pharisees’ inquiry about “when the kingdom of God should come,” Christ declared, “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:…” (Luke 17:20). Expositors have taken this to mean the kingdom of the Gospel of the Kingdom that He preached, was merely a “spiritual reign in the hearts of men” (the chief heresy of “Amillennialism”). After all, it is argued that, if the kingdom of God does not come with “observation” (visual evidence, what is perceived by eyesight), it must be an invisible, non-political, non-physical kingdom.

Furthermore, it is reasoned that, because there is no literal, physical, visible, earthly kingdom of Christ centered in Jerusalem today (our present moment), Christ must never have been preaching a literal, physical, visible, earthly kingdom of God. We see just how easily such a line of thought is created and sustained… until we recognize dispensational Bible study prevents the formation of that warped theological system and demonstrates the verses mean just what they say where they say what they say.

To unravel the confusion, we shall start here. The Pharisees were Jewish nationalists: they hated being subject to the Roman government. For nearly three years (up to the time of Luke chapter 17), Jesus had claimed to be King-Messiah/Christ and preached the Gospel of the Kingdom. The unbelieving Pharisees wanted to know just where that “kingdom” was, as in, “Jesus, if You really are Messiah-King, why have You not delivered us from Roman oppression?! You keep talking about some ‘kingdom of God’ but we do not see any kingdom with physical eyes! Just when will it be founded?!”

Indeed, the Pharisees are mystified, but they should not have been….