Beggars in the Kingdom

I get it. Most Christians do as well. At least those that have been Christians for awhile. I see quite a few posts on different subjects as to Christian living. Some are on general topics such as can a Christian do such and so activities. For example, can a Christian smoke tobacco, drink 'adult beverages', curse, fight, attend x-rated movies, participate in—well there is quite a general list for male and female Christians. 

There are some do's and don'ts for men (that don't apply to women, ie. "Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered." 
(1 Peter 3:7 ASV)). There are do's and don'ts for women (that don't apply to men). Herein lies the problem. 

"And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars; see that ye be not troubled: for these things must needs come to pass; but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and earthquakes in divers places. But all these things are the beginning of travail. Then shall they deliver you up unto tribulation, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all the nations for my name's sake. And then shall many stumble, and shall deliver up one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall arise, and shall lead many astray. And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold." 
(Matthew 24:6-12 ASV)

Many talk and write of 'end times', and these things have happened for centuries, the famines, wars, earthquakes in many places, so that, to point to these things as occurring in these days doesn't mark end times, but the last phrase is chilling  And because iniquity shall be multiplied, the love of the many shall wax cold.

For the past—at least forty-five years—many that call themselves Christians have been infiltrated by those who know the will of Christ, but who really don't care. Those who can read the will of God in scriptures and will still deny and rebel against that will. 

"Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit to them: for they watch in behalf of your souls, as they that shall give account; that they may do this with joy, and not with grief: for this were unprofitable for you." 

(Hebrews 13:17 ASV)

If people don't like what the elders of the congregation tell them, all they need to do is find a congregation that will allow them to do what they choose to do. Who cares about the Word of God, or the Elders. We have too many folks who just don't care. The mission has been side-tricked, side-swiped, or sabotaged.    

When Jesus became relegated to a lilly-livered, wuss, most laugh and scorn, but they seem to have forgotten what John the Baptizer said of Jesus Christ: 

I indeed baptize you in 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 in the Holy Spirit and in fire: whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly cleanse his threshing-floor; and he will gather his wheat into the garner, but the chaff he will burn up with unquenchable fire. 
(Matthew 3:11-12 ASV)

These people need to mark well that the unquenchable fire is not something they will want. This post originally came from the scripture in Luke that tells the lesson of the King and His feast. It had to do with the fact that Christ went first to His fellow Jews, but most of them rejected the new Kingdom, so He turned to a people not His own:

"and I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; and I will say to them that were not my people, Thou art my people; and they shall say, Thou art my God." 
(Hosea 2:23 ASV)

In this aspect the Church or Kingdom of today is a Kingdom of beggars from the highways and byways. It is the poor, maimed, and blind and lame, but also it is the people who bow before the great I AM, and confess "I was blind, but now I see":

"And the servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor and maimed and blind and lame. And the servant said, Lord, what thou didst command is done, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and constrain them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, that none of those men that were bidden shall taste of my supper." 
(Luke 14:21-24 ASV)
Hallelujah! What a savior! 

Rules That Cannot Be Broken

Write ye also to the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king's name, and seal it with the king's ring; for the writing which is written in the king's name, and sealed with the king's ring, may no man reverse. 
(Esther 8:8)

The book of Esther is an ancient type of Novella. The story of a young orphan girl, in a foreign land, chosen to be queen of the land by powerful King Ahasuerus. It chronicles her rise to the throne, and her necessity to hazard her life for her people. In the end she triumphs over the plot to commit genocide of her people. Her great enemy is slain, and her people are given the ability and right to defend themselves against others who would seek to take their lives.

  

The reason for her dilemma came about through a grudge a man named "Haman" had toward Esther's Uncle Mordecai. Haman, a confederate of the King, used that power to decree that all the Jews in the kingdom were to be killed on a certain day. 

With Esther's intervention King Ahasuerus strives to change it enough that the people affected (Esther and her nation) will be saved. He sends a second set of letters that give the Jews the ability to defend them self. The commentary makes these points: 

• why the king, Mordecai, and Esther are writing and sealing the present letters-
• why the earlier letters can't be reversed (it doesn't appear that Haman's letters were reversed, merely an addendum added)
• now the people could still rise up against their Jewish neighbors, but the Jews now had the right of self defense against said attempts upon their lives
• so, although the second letters did not reverse the first (the Persian law once made could not be broken) these letters rendered them moot and void--

We can view these forays into Biblical history and learn from them. Here are some things we can learn from this:

• we have laws over us written by mere humans, if those are important we need to recognize Jehovah's laws are much more important
• The laws of Jehovah God, unlike man made laws, are not something we can vote into, or out of vogue. 
• Jehovah's laws are not made on a whim. He knows what's best for us, He desires the best for us, and those laws are best for us.
• The Old Law was nailed to the cross; done away. The New Law, brought into existence and paid for by Jesus on the cross, gives us hope. He is our advocate against our enemy Satan. 

Under the Mosaic Law a person was born Jewish then they were taught how to live according to that law. To become a Christian we are taught first then choose to become a Christian. The Mosaic Law was written on tablets of stone; Christian Law is written on tablets of the heart. The Law of God is not like the law of men; 

Matthew 16:19  And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 

The Law of God cannot be broken—Hallelujah, What a Savior!