Andrew Murray
And God Created Woman
Difference between Anabaptists and Evangelicals
Kingdom
Mysteries
Part 1
Part 2
Anabaptist
Voice
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Sermons by Eli Hofer
03/14/01
08/22/01
08/11/02
The Writings of Ulrich Stadler
Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4
The Anabaptist Voice
11/11/2009
Proclaiming the Good News of the Kingdom of God: Love, Joy and Peace in Jesus.
Dear friend in Christ,
Grace
to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
We pray you are all well. We are having beautiful days with the temperature of
70s during the day. It is wonderful weather to go out for a walk.
Yesterday, Naomi received a letter from Shelly Brauer who lived with us
for 8 years at Fan Lake Brethren community in eastern Washington. Now she is
living at a nursing home in Maryland. It is wonderful to hear from her. We do
think about her often, as she is a good singer and taught us some hymns, too. We
pray she is well. We miss her.
We had been praying to our Heavenly Father which local church here in
Tucson that He wants us attend. God led us to go to the New Life Bible
Fellowship church last Sunday and we were very glad. God blessed us in many
ways. When we arrived at the church, it was almost time for the service to
start, so it was a problem to find empty seats. But we found seats right next
to our dear friends, Bud and Dawn Rita Morris. We were looking for Joe and
Sharon Shanton, but we could not find them.
The worship began with the praise songs we knew and we could join in
singing this time. Don noticed a lady way in front, praising the Lord with both
of her hands lifted high. It was our dear friend Sharon Shanton. And we too
could join the praise of our Lord whole-heartedly with up lifted hands. The
sermon was 
wonderful
also. We are to be with the Lord all the time. Amen.
After the worship, we had wonderful fellowship with Bud and Dawn Rita,
Joe and Sharon Shanton, Denis and Karin Noah, Colleen and Naomi who goes to
Linda’s house to worship on Monday mornings. Then we talked with Larry and
Anita! It was a surprise to see them. Anita told us that it was their first
time in that church. Thank you, Lord for guiding us there.
We are all excited about our dear ones coming to visit us. David can
come to be with us during the Thanksgiving time and spend several days with us.
Lord, we lift up David to You. Please watch over him and guide him. We also
learned that Patrick and his family are planning to visit us next month. Again,
we are very happy that we can spend time with our dear ones.
Naomi went to spend the day with Donna’s mother Mary again. She had a
wonderful time as usual. Mary and Donna are wonderful gifts from God to us,
especially to Naomi. Thank you, Mary for spending time together with Naomi.
Kris is also a good friend to Naomi. Naomi is blessed. While we are living
here, we are blessed. We will be content and rest where our Heavenly Father
wants us to be. He is wonderful, you know. (Here is a photo of Naomi reading
to some of the children at our Fan Lake community.)
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, “People will know that you are my disciples
by your love for one another.” (John 13:35)
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The Kingdom of God
by Don Murphy
11/10/2009
The only way to heaven is through the kingdom
of God which is ruled by the Lord Jesus (John 14:6). It is a spiritual kingdom
now (Luke 17:21) and will become a physical kingdom at the end of this age (1
Cor 15:24). It is a wonderful kingdom, full of love, joy and peace (Romans
14:17) and is mentioned about 130 times in the New Testament so it is a very
important concept to understand. But it is also a place of tribulation (John
16:33) because the enemies of the kingdom of God will hate the citizens of God’s
kingdom (Mt 10:22, Mark 13:13, Luke 6:22, 17:21, John 15:19, 17:14, 1 John
3:13).
How to become a Citizen of the Kingdom of God
Jesus set the rules for becoming a citizen of His kingdom. First a
person must be born again (John 3:3) and repent of his sins (John 3:5) and be
baptized in the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16). He described this process with a
couple of parables:
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure
hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy
went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
(Mt 13:44)
“The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant
looking for fine pearls. When he found one of great value, he went away and
sold everything he had and bought it.” (Mt 13:45-46)
How to remain a Citizen of the Kingdom of
God
Many people
are born again and enter the kingdom of God. But not all will chose to remain
in it until their life on earth is over. Only those who stand firm to the end
will be saved (Mt 10:22, 24:13, Mark 13:13, 1 Cor 15:2, 2 Thess 2:13-15).
One of the parables of the Lord that explains this is the Parable of the
Sower where four classes of people hear the Word of God but one class is
acceptable to the Lord. The first class don’t believe enough to be saved, the
second class gives up in times of testing, the third class are choked by life's
worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. The forth class hear the
Word, retain it, and by persevering produce the fruit that the Lord desires (Mt
13:1-23, Luke 8:1-15).
The apostle Paul tells us that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
(Gal 5:22-23).
The Lord Jesus spent over three years on earth teaching about the kingdom
of God and how to obtain eternal life, which He said is knowing God the Father
and His son Jesus Christ (John 17:3). In order to really know Him, we have to
live according to His teachings and commands. The apostle John said that anyone
who claims to know Him but does not obey His commands is a liar! (1 John 2:4)
Jesus told some Jewish believers that if they would live according to His
teachings they would know the truth and the truth would set them free from the
hold that the devil has on them (John 8:31-59).
The Vine and the Branches
Jesus said, “I am the
true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that
bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it
will be even more fruitful… Remain in me, and I will remain in
you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I
in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone
does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you
remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish,
and it will be given you. This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much
fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:1-8)
The Stairway to Heaven
The apostle Peter writes, “Make every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge,
self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance,
godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly
kindness, love… For if you do these things, you will never fall, and you
will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-11)
This passage is usually called ‘The Stairway to Heaven’, or as
Peter writes, to the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. It
teaches us that membership in the kingdom of God is a progressive activity; we
don’t just suddenly become a full member of God’s kingdom. We have to shed, by
the power of God’s grace, the garments of the kingdom of the world in which we
were born and grew up in. We are to participate in the divine nature in order
to escape the corruption of worldly desires. And this is a process that takes
time and varies from one person to the next.
Will only a Few be Saved?
Someone asked Jesus, "Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?" He
replied, “Make every effort
to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter
and will not be able to… There will be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth,
when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of
God, but you yourselves thrown out.” (Luke 13:23-29, Mt
7:13-27 )
Jesus said, “The kingdom of heaven
is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish.
When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down
and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it
will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked
from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be
weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Mt 13:47-50)
The Grace of the Holy Spirit
We can not survive in the kingdom of God under our own power. We must be
filled and moved by the Holy Spirit, by His grace. We need the baptism in the
Holy Spirit. John the Baptist baptized with water for repentance and Jesus
baptizes with the Holy Spirit (Mt 3:11, Mark 1:8, Luke 3:16, John 1:33, Acts
1:5, Acts 2:38).
Jesus said to His disciples, “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)
Paul wrote, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and
this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one
can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good
works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph 2:8-10) Grace is
God’s power working in us to reign in life, to live a holy life, pleasing to
God.