Paul's Preaching of the Kingdom of God

 Paul's Preaching of the Kingdom of God

 

Acts 19:8『『And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.』Chapter 19 records the core ministry of Paul's third missionary journey, the pioneering ministry in Ephesus. Paul stayed in Ephesus for about three years, teaching the word of God. This was the period when Paul's missionary work blossomed. Paul set aside disciples in the school of Tyrannus and preached the word every day. At that time, all the people of Asia, whether Jews or Greeks, heard the gospel. In addition, the magicians repented and burned their magic books, and the amazing work of the Holy Spirit occurred.

What is the content of the kingdom of God that Paul preached about? It is not specifically stated. However, we can guess from the story before and after.

First, there is the story of the baptism of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 19:1-2, 『And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul had passed through the upper coasts and came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.』 The certain disciples were the disciples of Apollos. Paul asked them about the Holy Spirit, and they said they had never heard of it. Apollos knew about the Holy Spirit, but he said that he had not received the baptism of the Holy Spirit, so why did the disciples not know about the Holy Spirit?

The core of Christianity is the belief that one is born again through water and the Holy Spirit. However, not knowing the Holy Spirit is not Christianity. It is shocking that Apollos, who was not baptized in the Holy Spirit, was a leader of the church. And his disciples did not even hear about the Holy Spirit. Many ministers and believers in the church today are probably like this.

Chapter 19, Verses 4-5 『Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after him, that is, on Christ Jesus. When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.』

The baptism given in the name of Jesus is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The water baptism given by John is the concept of washing away sins. However, the water baptism that Paul speaks of in Romans 6:3-7 means dying to sin. And the fire baptism that Matthew speaks of is death to the soul. All of this symbolizes the death of Jesus on the cross.

The baptism of the Holy Spirit means resurrection, and God gives new life to those who are united with the resurrection of Christ through the Holy Spirit. Those who do not have the life of resurrection have never received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the saint receives the baptism of the Holy Spirit, a new temple is established in the saint’s heart, and Christ comes again and enters the saint’s heart and makes his presence (parousia). Therefore, the saint enters the Most Holy Place, and the prayer he prays at this time is called the Prosche Prayer.

However, in verse 9 of chapter 19, 『But when the divers were hardened, and did not believe, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.』 The slanderers are Jewish legalists. At that time, legalism had a serious impact on the spread of the gospel. So it seems that Paul explained the difference between the law and legalism.

Second, the content of the gospel, the kingdom of God

The core of the gospel that the saints must preach today is the kingdom of heaven in the soul. The kingdom of God that Jesus declared, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” is the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God in the soul. This is the ultimate purpose of the gospel. Therefore, the saints believe in the death on the cross with Jesus, the present resurrection with Christ, and through Him, the kingdom of God in the soul is the fruit. Just as the seed is sown to bear fruit, sowing the seed is precisely the death on the cross and the present resurrection. If you do not preach this and say, “If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven,” this is not preaching the gospel.

In Matthew 3:2, it says, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven (he basileia ton uranon "ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν") is at hand.” We must distinguish between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God. The Greek word he basileia ton uranon is translated as the kingdom of heaven, which is the kingdom of God in the soul. The Revised Standard Version translates it as the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom of heaven is a Chinese character word that when translated into Korean, is the kingdom of heaven.

God is near, so turn to God. The kingdom of heaven is near, which means Jesus Christ is near. Jesus Christ enters the soul of the one who repents. The singular uranon without an article is the heaven that is seen with the eyes. The plural heaven without an article means the church of the world. The heaven with an article means the kingdom of God, and the plural heaven with an article means the kingdom of God in the soul.

In the kingdom of God, the angels who sinned took off their clothes, and their spirits were imprisoned in the ark, so they became human. Humans are beings imprisoned in the world. That is why they die twice. In Genesis 2:17, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” The Hebrew Bible says, “Die and die.” They die twice.

And in John 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." It is expressed as being born again, meaning that the previous death dies (twice) and one is born from heaven. Regarding the two deaths, the first death is the death to sin (water baptism), and the second death is the death to the soul (fire baptism).

The death of the cross is the process of dying to sin and taking off the dirty clothes of the soul. So Jesus preached the gospel to the spirits in prison. That is, he entered into the hearts of all people and told them that they were beings who had to die. In 1 Peter 3:19-20, 『By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein a few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.』

Water baptism signifies death to sin. Romans 6:6-7『Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin.』

The death of the soul is the death of the soul (the first man Adam) that originated from the flesh as baptism of fire. It is changing from the fleshly body to the spiritual body (the clothes of Christ). In Matthew 3:11-12, 『I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. But he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.』

There is a number of three days between Jesus' death and resurrection. The third day means the building of the temple. In John 2:19, "Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." The saint who died with Jesus has a temple built in his soul. And the resurrection is the changing of the fleshly body into the spiritual body (new soul).