Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
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The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
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The Anabaptist Voice
03/25/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear Friends,
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior to you.
We pray our Heavenly Father is taking care of you well. Our front yard garden
is getting beautiful with flowers that God made for us to enjoy.
Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
There are so m
any
people who are suffering. We need to remember that God is in charge and we need
to learn to rest in His love and grace.
Michi took
Naomi to a glaucoma specialist this morning as her eye doctor told her. We have
been praying for her healing. The doctor showed them a 10 minute film about how
eyes are made and how they could be troubled with glaucoma. It is so delicate
and wonderfully made by our Heavenly Father. Michi was so impressed that God is
so wonderful and careful about tiny things. Thank you, Lord. You are
wonderful.
There are so many problems in the world, yet our wonderful God knows
every part of our body, soul and spirit. He knows how many hairs we have, which
means how many hairs we lost today.
It seems outwardly
that Naomi has physical problems all the time. Yet she is well in Him who
created her. Naomi got sick when she was two years old, the doctor told us that
3/4th of her brain is dead. Michi wrote that to her mother, and she
wrote her back: “Though the fig tree should not blossom And there be no
fruit on
the vines, Though the yield of the olive should fail And the fields produce
no food, Though the flock should be cut off from the fold And there be no cattle
in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD, I will rejoice in the God of my
salvation. The Lord GOD is my strength, And He has made my feet like hinds'
feet, And makes me walk on my high places.” Habakkuk (3:17–19)
We are learning to depend on our Heavenly Father’s love. Naomi is doing
well. All the tests they did for Naomi’s eyes shows she does not have glaucoma,
or we should say, our Heavenly Father healed her, as we have been praying and
resting in His love. She is to have a checkup again in 6 months. Thank you,
Lord for Your love for us.
Naomi’s birthday is this Friday when she will be 48 years old. Don’s
birthday is Sunday when he will be 72 years old. We received wonderful birthday
cards from Pat’s family with notes from the sweet grandchildren whom we love to
talk with on the telephone.
Why Did Jesus Come to Earth?
What is the difference between the Old Testament way of life and the New
Testament way of life? Why did God send Jesus into the world? Jesus tries to
explain why:
Jesus said, "The
Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news
to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and
recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim
the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus said, "The
time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"
(Mark 1:14)
Jesus said, "I
must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also,
because that is why I was sent." (Luke 4:43)
Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another, proclaiming
the good news of the kingdom of God.
(Luke 8:1) Jesus sent His disciples out to preach the
kingdom of God. (Luke 9:2)
The theme of the teachings of Jesus was the kingdom of God. Wherever He went,
Jesus preached about the kingdom. There are 111 references to the kingdom of
God in the New Testament. Do you understand why?
Now what is the opposite of the
kingdom of God?
The devil led Jesus up to a high place and showed him in an
instant all the kingdoms of the world.
And he said to Him, "I will give you all their authority and splendor, for it
has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. So if you worship
me, it will all be yours." (Luke 4:5-7)
The apostle John wrote: “We know that we are children of God, and
that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.” (1 John
5:19)
THE TWO KINGDOMS THEOLOGY
The TWO KINGDOMS THEOLOGY is a basic belief of the Anabaptists
(the Amish, Mennonites, Hutterites, Brethren) and it affects their entire way of
life. Those people in the kingdom of God follow the ways of God as explained by
King Jesus and those in the kingdom of the world live as their master Satan
desires.
Peter Riedemann, the 16th century Anabaptist leader who spent nine years
in four different prisons because of his missionary work, explains it this way:
"We confess Christ to be our Lord, because He Himself bought us with
His own blood to be His possessions. By His death He became victor over the
devil, liberated us from the bonds of the evil one, and reconciled us with God
the Father. He made us a royal priesthood for Himself and for His Father. He
also made us His dwelling place and has now begun His work in us. Thus the sin
from which He redeemed us, even if it stirs within us, may not take control of
us, continue to destroy us, or lead us to death.
"Christ is rightly our Lord since He controls us and uses our members
according to His will. He reveals Himself by living and doing everything in
us. We have completely surrendered ourselves to Him, patiently and humbly
submitting to His work and to His will in us." (Page 67 in his Confession
of Faith)
So we see that one major change from the Old Testament way of living is
the advent of the Kingdom of God ushered in by the Lord Jesus. And that is not
all:
Jesus said, "You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
We can see now that the Lord God has made a major change from the Old
Testament to the New Testament. His people, members of the kingdom of God, now,
empowered by the Holy Spirit, live according to the basic law of God, which
is love, love to God and love to their neighbor.
God's Three Attempts
In pre-Bible times, God had a problem with some of His angels
who rebelled against Him. So God continued His desire for children by creating
the Garden of Eden and placing Adam and Eve there. But the devil came and led
them astray so this first phase of God's work ended. Then God created a Chosen
People, the Jews. But the devil came and led them astray and so this second
phase of God's work ended. Then Jesus came and brought His kingdom to the
earth, empowering His people with His Holy Spirit so that they can and will live
according to the teachings of Christ and His apostles, so that He can have a
family that loves Him.
Now, in the New Testament period, we here in the world must choose
between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of the world. Our actions show what
choice we have made.
Do we live like Jesus did or do we live like His enemies did and do? Do
we try to obey all of the commands given by Jesus and His apostles or do we find
excuses for disregarding them, disobeying them? When Jesus said “Do not swear
an oath!” do we take that seriously? That is such an easy and clear command to
obey yet who is willing to obey that simple instruction? The members of the
kingdom of God will and people in the kingdom of the world will not.
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. (2 Cor
13:14)
your brother and sisters in Christ,
Don, Michi & Naomi Murphy
Tucson, AZ, phone 520-297-1639
www.AnabaptistChurch.org
Jesus said, "Do not store up wealth on earth…
You can not serve both God and mammon.”
(Mt 6:19)
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