Cheryl Schatz

Mark,
You said:

Mat 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Now is he talking about heaven Cheryl?

kingdom of heaven Sure seems like he is talking about heaven to me.

Jesus after giving the parable of the sower saids to his disciples
Mat 13:18 “Hear then the parable of the sower:
Mat 13:19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path.
What is the word of the kingdom? Is it only something future?

The “word” is another way to say the gospel of the kingdom.

a statement: 33.98
b speech: 33.99
c gospel: 33.260
d treatise: 33.51
e Word: 33.100
f account: 57.228
g reason: 89.18
h event: 13.115
i appearance: 30.13
Louw, J. P., & Nida, E. A. (1996). Vol. 2: Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament : Based on semantic domains

The “good news” of the kingdom is the message of the coming kingdom. The kingdom is still future, but the good news is spoken now.

Again Jesus saids
Mat 13:24 He put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,

Once again as your quote shows, this is about the kingdom of heaven. This is to come.

Mark 13:31-33 is also about the kingdom of heaven.

Matthew 18:23 is about a future coming kingdom where the accounts are “settled”. Sure hasn’t happened yet.

Matthew 19:14 is also about a future kingdom.

Matthew 19:23, 24 is about entering the kingdom of “heaven”. This is future again.

Matt. 20:1 and following is about the kingdom of heaven and the reckoning that happens in the kingdom. That reckoning has not yet happened. Once again it is consistently in the future.

There are so many references to the kingdom of God that I simply cannot go through them all, but to say the kindom is only future is a big mistake.

Let me be clear: The kingdom is future, but the preaching about the kingdom is now.

Therefore that is why Jn 3 is so clear that we need to be born again before we can even see or enter the kingdom. You have a wrong understanding of the kingdom and a wrong understanding of being born again.

My friend, it is you who have a wrong understanding. No unregenerate person is ever said to be “born again” and no “unregenerate born-again person” is prepared for the kingdom of heaven. In fact the terms “unregenerate” and “born-again” are opposites. They cannot exist together.

In a classic passage about the future kingdom, Jesus talks about entering the kingdom and it is future “on that day”.

Matthew 7:21–23 (NASB)
21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
22 “Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’
23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’

I wonder why you didn’t quote these verses? Is it because they are so obvious about a future judgment and a future entering into the kingdom that they cannot even be twisted to be about the here and the now?

And how about Matt 8:11?

Matthew 8:11 (NASB)
11 “I say to you that many will come from east and west, and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;

This is the time that the OT saints looked forward to and it is clearly in the future where the dead OT saints have been resurrected.

In fact everything about the “kingdom of heaven” is so obviously in the future and not in operation on the earth.

Two last verses that are of note:

John 18:36 (NASB)
36 Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.”

If the kingdom had already arrived, then why did Jesus teach his disciples to pray for God’s kingdom to come?

Luke 11:2 (NASB)
2 And He said to them, “When you pray, say:
‘Father, hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.