Paul like all Pharisees, was expecting a physical Kingdom set up with a physical Savior and King on earth as Christ scorned in Luke 17.20+ saying “when does the Kingdom appear”. And Christ’s reply? “It cometh not with (carnal) observation for the Kingdom of God is within you”. Meaning it takes no physical form visible to the human eye, because it is ubiquitous, being “The Kingdom of God at hand” in a proverbial sense of the term.
And again from John 3 that “only those born again can see the Kingdom of God” and only those “born from above may enter the Kingdom of God”. See, they could not. The Pharisees were still looking without for something that is within. Just like the second coming seekers.
Now Paul’s starting point was a Pharisee of Pharisees of the most religious sect so don’t be surprised that his writings started off with some of those concepts. Even as we see Paul try to have Timothy circumcised in Jerusalem after his encounter with Christ. But later he taught that “we are of the circumcision of the heart” as being the true believer and no longer a Jew. Paul started out believing that circumcision was necessary, but later he writes this in Philippians, “beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation! (Meaning castoration) 3 For we are the circumcision (as putting off the deeds of the flesh and not the flesh itself), who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have NO confidence in the flesh”. Or dependencies on its constant need of assurances.
He also said in Romans 3 that we are those of the circumcision of the heart and not of the flesh, showing the work of God on our invisible members and NOT on our outer body.
Yes like all the Pharisees Paul was looking for a physical manifestation of a savior, King and Kingdom to appear on earth. From this he had to be transformed by the Spirit.
The Pharisees also believed in a resurrection, but not the resurrection of faith but of fact. Terms like “the Kingdom of God, the Kingdom of Heaven, and the resurrection are all misunderstood by the Pharisaic mind as carnally experienced events for the eyes to behold. But you see “flesh and blood does not inherit the Kingdom” or the things of God, but the re-spirited mind of faith does. And it does so upon the recognition, the confession for the implementation of such.
As a Pharisee Paul believed in a bodily resurrection and a physical savior in a physical Jerusalem. From this Paul/Saul needed to be transformed in mind from and saved. He conveyed this to us saying “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. And he learned that “the weapons of our warfare are not physical but mighty through God for pulling down strongholds and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God”. Where? In the mind and not as visible events played out on plane old earth, as many have set their sights to.
The book of Acts spells out the qualifications to be an apostle to replace Judas as “one who witnessed the resurrected Christ. And Paul did, but not the way you may think. He did not witness the event at the cross or the events after the empty tomb. But on the way to Damascus he saw a light 7 times brighter than the sun, to mean brighter than humanly possible. Christ said to Paul “for this reason I have appeared to you”. He took no carnally visible form. This is what qualified Paul as the 12th by being one who had witnessed the resurrection, as one who had seen the Risen Christ not as a man but in His true construct of light unknowable to the human senses. Yes Paul had “endured as seeing Him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11) How about you?
Paul had persecuted the people of the Way for believing in a resurrection and a kingdom different than the physical one that was common to him as a Pharisee. The difference between the two views was so large in fact that Paul was categorized as an enemy of Christ. Paul consented to the murdering the people of The Way (being the journey of salvation in the spirit of the mind). The people of The Way pursued “The Kingdom of God at hand” and the resurrection as attainable. They were not of the crowd to “sit and wait”, like for a second coming thinking like the wicked steward who said in his heart “my lord has delayed his coming” and just like that he became disqualified from going any further into “the faith once and for all delivered to the saints”. To mean no more additions addendum’s or modifications necessary other than in your thinking to believe.
So as one who is qualified having seen the Lord to be a true apostle Paul had to become a witness unto the resurrection. Paul strove for just this cause as he explained to Herod “think it not strange that God raises the Dead?” who also pointed out that this was the resurrection that “the fathers strove night and day hoping to attain” even back then. And NOT an event to wait for or something to be experienced after the body dies, but their duty to God.
Paul acknowledged in Philippians that he sought to “lay hold of why Christ laid hold of” him, to attain to the richness and the fullness of Christ, to become a perfect man, “to attain to the resurrection” one revelation at a time, one after another, saying “to the degree that you’ve attained? So walk ye in it”. He said that all who are mature are seeking the resurrection. But the resurrection that he was seeking was not like he had thought when he was a Pharisee. That mindset only made him at odds with the true Christ who said “why do you kick against the goads?
The purpose for Paul was to transform from a Pharisee expecting a physical kingdom to in turn, experience revelation by degree, one revelation after the other until he attain to the resurrection, to attain his full status as “a fellow member and cite-zine of the house of God in the here-and-now for that was his calling, role and goal. This too is for us to learn from Paul’s journey “by degree”. Let us go up to Jerusalem in our understanding, in the spirit of our minds where it all comes together.
Paul was “chief among sinners” saying “that Christ would show in me first a pattern” meaning a progression, start to finish, “for all to believe”. For all with a Pharasitic mindset to transition out of that belief as being the trap to be saved from.
So Paul learned to understand that the Kingdom of God is NOT to be carnally actualized, but the inner man of the Spirit does. The one made in His image brought forth by word and spirit being “a kind of first fruits of His creation” of invisible components and of eternal composition.
This is the object of our faith. Anybody who seeks Christ in any other way than Paul encountered in the bright light is looking for God to appear in the construct that is not natural to Him. As it is written “I am the Lord, I change not”. That is why the transfiguration is ours.
This is the very reason why if one does come in the way the Pharisees expect of a physical Kingdom in a physical City, they are misled and their leaders are Pharisees, sons of Satan and a brood of vipers, whited sepulchers full of dead mans bones. Those are the words of Christ to that bunch. They are not entering “The Kingdom At Hand” not are they allowing those who are trying to do so”. And if God does honor the end time seekers desire of a visible Kingdom like the Pharisees, then He would have to apologize and make reparations to the Jews as of old for condemning them for that very thing.
And so it is Christianity Today that predominantly proclaims another coming Christ with an earthen fabricated kingdom with another saving act like the Pharisees anticipated back then. Being spiritually bereft and blind they never say what Christ told them to. “Go village to village and house to house proclaiming that “The Kingdom of God is at hand” (and “the Kingdom of God is within you). They align themselves with the Pharisees of old having a mindset of Christ and His kingdom in an earthen construct saying “when does the Kingdom of God appear” and “they will look here and there but do not go after them” and they call it a 2nd coming with the expectation of another saving from Satan, sin and death.
With this they devise theories with raptures and bodily resurrections and earthly destruction. So many in fact that it has scattered God’s flock all over the place. What confusion. Who authored that? It’s just a re-hash of old testament expired and fulfilled parables designed only to help the mind understand the invisible realities of God in a way for us to be one with Him now. to be reconciled to Him as Paul pleaded “be ye reconciled to God”. He is “eternal, immortal and invisible “.
So we shouldn’t expect Him to become physical to please our carnal senses. He is not physical for “the Father is spirit and truth and seeketh such”. We are remade in the spirit of our mind to interact with Him perfectly. It is in this way that we are temples of the Living God.
The purpose of all the law, the sacrifices, the feasts and the prophets was only to clear the conscience and make visible the invisible components, concepts and attributes of the “lo I am with you always, even to the ends of the ages”. “Christ, the same yesterday today and forever”. Hebrew 11.8
So it is those who reject God in this way wonder why there’s no power in their gospel. By expecting a physical Kingdom in this way they allege themselves with the Pharisees of old who were condemned, and come to the same conclusion. They regurgitate scripture and come up with the same conclusion saying the Kingdom comes with carnal observation and deny the saving of faith. They call it a 2nd coming Jesus to rapture? That is just another saving too!
The power to defeat death has been neutered and become a gospel to hold in limbo a faithless generation. Isn’t that what the Pharisees were doing saying “when does the kingdom come?” Of whom the Christ answered “it cometh NOT with observation”. Their Christ was looking at them ready to save them then and they rejected what He offered them, despised and killed Him. If you reject our message as such? Then as them, such are you.
If you believe what Saul/Paul did and you see this luminous revelation, you should commence your journey and sojourn-ship as pilgrims from a physical, visible Kingdom as did Paul. Depart from the end time seeker sit and waits and join the followers of The Way. Christ saying “I am the way, the truth and the light”. And “follow Me that where I AM, there you may be also. Where? “In Christ” as opposed to “in Adam”, Gods broken image Christ replaced.
We are of those whom it was written of that “they looked for the city whose builder and maker is God”. Whose construct and design is superior to time and matter being “the Kingdom prepared for you from before the foundations of the world”. Even as Paul finally understood in Colossian’s that “you then be risen with Christ, (and we are) then seek the things that are above”. Yes where Christ sits. And “while we look to the unseen, for the things that are seen are temporal but the things that are unseen (the invisible) are eternal. In this way Paul transitioned from being a Pharisee expecting a physical kingdom on earth, to entering the Kingdom in the here and now as should we.
If we follow Paul through the succession of Revelations “to the degree ye are able to attain so walk ye in it?” Then you too can hope to acquire the resurrection (then you can focus on “being raised up to Heavenly places in Christ” as being the ascension. Not only that, but we can see by his consecutive revelations an exchange takes place. An old mindset for a new mindset. An old concept for a new concept a physical for an invisible.
That is why we are asked to be renewed in the spirit of our mind for that is our invisible place for the invisible God. In this way we are the temples of the Living God and not a construct of matter on plain ol earthen city called Jerusalem. We are complete in him who is the head of all principality and Power and “it is in Him we live and dwell and have our being”. We are in CHRIST our destination. We do not need a physical Jesus to be “raised and seated” meaning resurrected and empowered in the Kingdom for we have this (Eph 2.8)
And As Christ spoke through Isaiah, and said “with My dead body they shall arise”. And so we do. He said “follow Me that where I am you may be also”. This is how to do that.
We have to learn to quit seeing God as a 3rd party distant, disconnected entity needing to reappear physically to complete His work because “it is finished” in the way we prescribe. We do not need a 2nd coming physical appearing for any portion of our saving. He is the “lo I am with you always” and not just in part.
If you’ve got this down then seek the ascension. Are you not re-conned as being seated in heavenly places? Then receive that too!
It is this article and this chapter as all subsequent chapters are meant to define and explain and reason without doubt that the kingdom of God is just as much at hand and available now as it was when Christ first proclaimed it. Amen!
The Kingdom of God is at hand! Our Heavenly Father is present to perform His work in us now. This is true salvation.
