SoiKosum

Jesus taught that the nature of the Kingdom is that it is Spiritually discerned and Spiritually entered. Basically this means that unless we are born of the Spirit and are taught and lead by the Spirit, we will not be able to discern or enter the Kingdom of God. I don't think Nicodemus will be able to understand this. First of all, Nicodemus was not a full believer, although he had seen enough of Jesus' miracles to be curious. Also, at that time, Jesus had not yet ascended back to heaven and so the Holy Spirit had not been sent. Without the Holy Spirit's prompting and leading, we will not be able to understand the Kingdom of God.

I think it is fair to say that to be a Christian does not mean one has to be poor. In the parable of the Young ruler, it was really not his wealth, but his love of this wealth, that kept him from being Jesus' disciple. His focus was not on Jesus and this easily led to his disobedience. We can choose to live a life of self-sacrifice, but without Jesus in our lives, this will become meaningless after a while. I think Jesus was asking the young ruler to follow him i.e. to be Jesus' disciple, to learn from Jesus, to be with Jesus and to focus on Jesus and not on his worldly possessions. It is indeed a great privilege to be able travel with and learn from Jesus. The young ruler rejected the offer because there was something else that he held dearer, something that he could not let go off.

The value and worth of the Kingdom is immense. In the two parables, the implication is that the value and worth of the treasure is so great that both men were willing to sell off all they owned in order to possess the treasure. Often, we are tempted to "under-value" the Kingdom because it is not something that can be seen or touched. The only way we can appreciate its true value is by spending time at Jesus' feet. We need to feel the heart-beat of God and know Jesus with our heart before we can really appreciate the true value of the Kingdom. Valuing the Kingdom means keeping our focus on Jesus and not letting our wealth, riches, possessions, job, etc hinder or distract us from that focus. Our testimony must only be that our walk and our talk has the same focus on Jesus. If not, we will be branded hypocrites.

It is probably because Jesus perceived that the young ruler's riches is causing him distress. He is wealthy and has kept all the commandments. Yet, he approaches Jesus with the question "What must I do to inherit eternal life?". This shows his lack of understanding. Most probably the young ruler feels that he has to do something to obtain eternal life. It could also be that the young ruler thinks that eternal life is something that can be bought. This troubles us because we tend to associate wealth with our ability to serve God. With money, we can give to missions, feed the poor, educate the orphans - we can do a lot of good. However, if we are poor, we are only able to give through our prayers and physical labour. Many of us also tend to associate God's blessing with the amount of wealth and possessions that we have. Jesus's instruction to the young ruler thus throws a spanner into our thinking. Really, this parable points to the dangers of wealth. Jesus said of money - we cannot serve both God and money and the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. The danger is not in the money itself but rather what wealth leads to. When a person is wealthy, he has possessions (houses, cars, etc), has status and influence and power. These products of wealth may lead us astray. If we are not careful, these can become our idol and replace Jesus as the centre of our lives. Money may harden our hearts and dull our compassion for the needy and less fortunate. In effect, when Jesus asked the young ruler to go sell his possessions, Jesus was asking the young ruler to give up all these idols. This was too great much to ask of the young ruler and he went away sad. This showed that indeed money and all its associated trappings have become the young ruler's God. This does not mean that we should frown upon the rich or focus on being poor or be afraid of being rich. There are many references in the bible of God blessing through riches and possessions. The important thing is for us to understand and acknowledge that our wealth is from God and that we should use it wisely to minister God's word and serve the needy and less fortunate. We must remember to always focus on Jesus and not on our wealth.

In the two parables, both men found something valuable and were willing to sacrifice everything they own i.e. sell off their entire possession, in order to obtain it. The main point of these parables is that when we find something valuable, we are willing to sacrifice and risk everything we have to possess it. There is a cost involved. The implication of these two parables for our values and lives are that now that we have discovered the Kingdom of God, we must sacrifice everything in order to obtain it. The cost is to take up our cross daily, leaving our sins behind and reaching towards the goal of eternal life with our Father.

The passage tells us that one group will be taken away to be saved, and others are left to experience terrible destruction and punishment. This should create an urgency in our lives - urgency to get our hearts right with God. There won't be time when the Kingdom comnes. This separation will take place instantly, without warning. We must be ready now for the coming of the Son of Man. At the same time, we should also share this urgency with our neighbors. As the saying goes, there is no time like the present.

The indications in the passage that Jesus will come suddenly are given in the account of two incidents - the Flood and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. In both stories, people were going about their daily chores and lives when destruction came suddenly and without further warning. We are therefore told to be watchful just like the seven brides who had their wicks trimmed and oil full waiting for their Lord. We are instructed to live our lives right and getting our hearts right with God because we do not know the date or time of the Lord's coming. Our focus should not be on merry-making and self-indulgence. Rather we should be prayerful and watchful, with our focus on our Lord Jesus Christ.

One interpretation says that the Kingdom of God was present in the Person and Ministry of Jesus as the Lord taught, discipled and exercised God's authority on earth. If this were the case, then similarly today, the Kingdon of God is present in us as we teach, disciple and exercise God's authority on earth, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can go further by saying that the Kingdom of God is also within us as we carry out God's commandments by the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling in us.

We must be persistent in seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Very often, we let our fleshly desires distract us from this task. Our human instinct is to be independent and do or solve things on our own. God is always our last resort. However, Matthew 6 verse 3 says that we must seek FIRST... We give up easily because we do not see the results we want in the time we want it. We want everything done according to our agenda and schedule. However, we must recognise and accept that God knows what is best for us and God's timing is perfect, God is never early or late. We gain boldness and persistence in prayer when we pray often i.e. commune with God. By speaking (praying) to God, we are able to tap into the heart-beat of God. From this, we will be able to know God's heart and the nature and character of God. Without a heart knowledge of God's character, we will never be able to gain the necessary boldness in our prayer. We will then have the tendency to hold back because we are not sure how God will receive our petitions. If this were the case, then we will not be able to enjoy the full measure of God's love and blessing.

Even good soil can have thorns which hinder the growth of crop. In the natural, these could be faithless anxiety, love of money or the pleasure principle. You may be able to see some love, joy, and peace; some patience, kindness, and goodness or some faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But not a lot. Their fruit has not matured. The two most important factors why some reap a 30-fold, 60-fold or 100-fold growth or increase is an obedient, receptive and willing heart. These will in turn determine the amount of fruit that is borne - fruit of the Holy Spirit i.e. godly character traits that begin to grow in our character when we yield to the Spirit and fruitfulness of our spiritual gifts, the tools that God gives Christians to help build up the Church, the body of Christ. We are to seek God for what he calls us to do and then seek to be fruitful and effective in that to which he calls us.

In my opinion, riches is the most dangerous. Riches, money, material wealth - if not managed in an appropriate manner based on biblical principles, can quickly lead one away from the Lord Jesus. This is because in the physical world, money can really "make the world go round". With money, one can alleviate worries (albeit for a season) and buy pleasures. With money, one can be led to believe that they can do anything, leading many to believe that there is no need for God in their lives. As a result, arrogance and pride can quickly take hold and cause this person to believe that they are invincible! This thorn can quickly choke the life out of a person and in the end, their life could the what Solomon experienced and wrote about - meaningless!

As all of us have been given a free will to choose (or not choose) to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, I suppose repentance signifies our choice to follow the Lord. As God is holy and righteous and is absolutely pure, we must repent of our sins before we can come before God. Repentance also signifies our acknowledgement that all of us were born sinners. Baptism's importantance can be seen from two aspects. Water baptism is the baptism of repentance. The immersion in water is symbolic of our death to sins and our cleansing of our sins. It is also the outward show of our commitment to and our believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is essentially the condition of our heart where we invite the Holy Spirit to dwell in us. This is to give us heavenly power to overcome our flesh and the enemy. Without repentance, it really means that we are still living in sin and are not willing to give up the sin. As the Lord Jesus Christ is absolutely pure, he is unable to reign in our lives. Sin is the divide which separates us from God. It would be hypocritical for us to praise God and yet continue to enjoy our sins.

There were three main Jewish political and religious movements - the Sadducees, Pharisees and Essenes. The Sadducees had a conservative outlook and accepted only the written Law of Moses. Many wealthy Jews were Sadducees or sympathized with them. The Pharisees perhaps meant to obey God, but eventually they became so devoted and extremist in very limited parts of The Law (plus all that they themselves added to it), that they became blind to The Messiah when He was in their very midst. They saw His miracles, they heard His Words, but instead of receiving it with joy, they did all that they could to stop Him - eventually to the point of getting Him killed because He truthfully claimed to be the Son of God. These two groups resisted John's baptism, which was a baptism of repentance of sins, believing themselves to be above such a public display of repentance and cleansing. Those who received John's baptism were truly repentant and accepted John's exhortation to "repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand". John's baptism struck at the heart of Jewish pride and belief. Jews believed in the inherent goodness of the world and its people as creations of God. Jews do not accept the Christian concept of original sin i.e. the belief that all people have inherited Adam and Eve's sin when they disobeyed God's instructions in the Garden of Eden. Jews believe that they are able to sanctify their lives and draw closer to God by performing and fulfilling rituals such as the mitzvot. Jews do not recognize the need for a savior as an intermediary with God.

I think that a very high percentage of Christians today are unrepentatnt and unprepared in heart. Repentance is difficult for many Christians because while we are called to "in the world but not of the world", many are both "in the world and of the world". They feel that the Christian life is boring and uninteresting. The temptation of the world is strong and many succumb to it. They listen to the lies of the devil. Many are still living in the flesh and hence are guided by the flesh. 1 John 2: 16 says "For all that is in the world

No it is not wise in all cases. Indeed the bible warns us not to be surety for friends and strangers. However, Paul vouches for Onesimus. This was really to help reconcile Onesimus with Philemon. Perhaps Paul had come to know Onesimus' heart during the time that Onesimus was with Paul. It is quite plausible that it was Paul who led Onesimus to Christ. So Paul and Onesimus had developed an intimate relationship which gave Paul the "comfort" to vouch for Onesimus. Christ vouched for us when he took our sins and nailed it to the cross with himself. Christ is risen and is seated at the right hand of God interceding for us day and night. In this manner, Christ is also vouching for us. We can vouch for our brothers/sisters after God has given us the approval through his Holy Spirit. We need to pray to God for a spirit of discernment and to hear clearly from God before we can agree to vouch for anyone.