"The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10

"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." Genesis 3:19

"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him." Matthew 3:13,16

"And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou Me good? None is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother.
And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, He said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me." Luke 18:18-22

Greetings, friends! May this day be a day of great joy to you; and indeed it should be, because it has been our Heavenly Father's pleasure to bestow upon us the wondrous Kingdom of Jesus Christ.

If you have your Bible convenient, you might hunt up the 12th chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, from which I will quote shortly.

Will you join me for a moment in an effort to be realistic? Does not the Word of God say, "Come...let us reason together" (Isa. 1:18)? So, for a moment, let us reason together and endeavor to be realistic. As we look about us, upon our fellow man and the world at large, we behold that which is far from an attractive picture. We see the meteoring of crime, with more prisons and hospitals being built to accommodate the convicts and to provide room and facilities for treating those who are sick in body, and sick in mind. On the outside of these institutions we see humanity at large, desperately struggling to achieve an odd few of their objectives in life. While the sorry fact remains that but a very small percentage of that struggling humanity ever achieve that which they so fondly dreamt about while they were young. Most of them fail to remain strong and healthy beyond the age of 3545. As to achieving any success in life, I believe it is generally agreed that somewhat less than 5 percent of our population ever enter the category of successful. Then with a questioning eye we might look at their state of happiness. Do homes break up and people get divorced because of their great happiness? Well, hardly! So, when we look at the sick, at the unhappy, at the unsuccessful, and those who are locked up in some institution, we cannot help but conclude that the bulk of Christendom is a sorry lot, and the picture a sad one. And when we look to countries which are non-Christian, the general picture is even far more grim.

Did not our Lord say to His disciples that He came to lay down His life for His sheep, that they might have life and have it more abundantly (Jn. 10:10)? I am well aware how our theologians have warped this to refer to a future life; yet we cannot get such an interpretation out of His words without doing violence to reason. So far as man knows, sheep have only one life, and that is here on earth. For the Master of words it would have been a simple matter to make use of a different illustration to correctly depict His thoughts, in the event He was speaking of a future life for the soul of man (in an unknown world and a hoped-for tomorrow). As for instance, there was no need of using sheep to illustrate His thought. If He had meant life, and a more glorious life for the soul of man after he was dead, He could have said that He had come to call His doves together, and to lay down His life for His doves, that they might fly into a higher heaven. Perhaps such an illustration would not have been flawless, yet it would have given valid foundation for, and readily linked with, a thought of the "soul" of man taking wings at the death of the body, to live in an higher and glorified world.

I am finding no fault with the words of our Lord; I am only finding fault with the senseless and utterly unjustified "interpretations" which our theologians have attached to His many sayings. You and I look out upon the world and we see the life of man: we have but one understanding thereof. If we believe that our Lord was a reasonable Man, then we must impute to Him words which were sensible. And, if sensible, then words which the common people could understand. Therefore, when He spoke of life we must think of life as we know it and understand it: even the same type of life as is enjoyed by sheep when they have plenty of tender grass, fresh, cool water, and the protecting care of a good shepherd – all of that is what our Lord came to provide for us.

Now, let us read from the 12th chapter of Luke's Gospel commencing with verse 29:

"And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
But rather seek ye the Kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you. Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the Kingdom."

Here, in the clearest of words, He said to not be concerned over what we should eat or drink, to make no desperate search for these matters, neither to kill ourselves in laboring for them, because, said He, "Your Father knows you have need of these things."

Can you not see that this is a complete reversal of God's judgment upon Adam and Eve wherein He said to them that "In the perspiration of your face shall you eat your bread" (Gen. 3:19)? When we consider the fact, as elsewhere stated, that our Lord came to fully destroy the works of the enemy (that is, of the Devil), then we see at once the sound logic for His making a statement which was the very reversal of God's judgment upon the Edenic pair. Now, after the Lord had countermanded God's decree unto Adam, He gave a substitute suggestion, namely: "But rather (that is, instead of), seek ye the Kingdom of God, then shall all these things be added unto you."

Surely it should be a simple matter to understand that if "the Kingdom of God" which they should seek is that which Christians call "heaven," then none but a stupid fool would ever start searching for a kingdom like that here on earth. Why – yes, ten thousand times, why – didn't our Lord say to the disciples that they should be exceedingly careful as to what manner of life they lived here on earth, in order that their "souls" might go to heaven after the body was dead? You Christians who believe that Jesus was the Son of God, why should you not also be willing to admit that the Son of God was fully honest? And, if He was honest, then it would have been utterly impossible for Him to not say what He meant in such language that the people would have readily understood. I claim and I prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the very Son of God; and I also claim that He was 100% honest. Being fully honest, He said what He meant, and He meant what He said....

Therefore, as He advised His disciples to first seek the Kingdom of God, and that it was more important for them to seek the Kingdom of God than it was to start searching for food and drink (being concerned over such matters and laboring for them), then we must of necessity understand He meant simply that. And, if we are going to seek, or search for, the Kingdom of God here on earth, then that implies, of necessity, that there is a Kingdom of God right here on earth which Christendom has yet utterly failed to find! Consider for a moment the words He spoke on another occasion: "Great is the gate and broad is the way which leads to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat; but strait is the gate and narrow the way which leads unto life, and few there be which find it" (Matt. 7:13-14).

Bear in mind that our Lord was speaking unto Jews and about Jews who lived under the Mosaic Law. And, if you will study the Mosaic Law and its ordinances, you will find that the sacrificial rites practiced under the Law of Moses guaranteed forgiveness and life unto the people; and this teaching was fully supported by the Lord Jesus, Who upheld and glorified the Law. What did He answer the rich young man who asked Him what he should do in order to inherit eternal life (Mk. 10:17-22)? In Luke's version, the first answer the Lord shot back at him was, "How readest thou?" Now, in the days of the Lord Jesus there were no newspapers or magazines, neither storybooks. The only thing they had which could be read consisted of the sacred scrolls, and they were the scrolls by Moses and other Prophets, dealing with the Law and God's covenant unto His people. Then immediately the Lord followed up His answer to the young man by quoting to him the commandments – that he should love the Lord his God with all his heart and strength (etc.), to which He added, "and thou shalt live."

Why is it so utterly impossible for the modern Christian to add two and two together and arrive at four, instead of three or five? Here, clearly and emphatically did the Lord commit Himself that the keeping of the Law was the way unto life. That is, "the eternal or everlasting life" which the young man inquired about. Therefore, on the other occasion when He spoke about the gate being so straight, and the way to life so narrow, and few there were who found it (Matt. 7:14), then of necessity He had to be talking about a different kind of life than that which the rich young man questioned Him about! One was the eternal life which the ordinances of the Mosaic Law provided for all of the people; while the other was the glorified life here on earth: that superabundant life which Christ provided for His sheep through His sacrifice on Calvary. And that very truth He tied up in a few little words when He here was speaking to His disciples about rather seeking the Kingdom of God, "...and all these things shall be added unto you."

Emphatically do I state that human beings cannot start searching, or seeking, a kingdom of human souls somewhere in the heavens while we are here on earth. Therefore, it follows that there is a spiritual Kingdom which God has established and has superimposed upon this world, to which, when we find the Keys, or that small gate, do we enter into the glorious heritage of God's wondrous grace to human beings right here on earth now. Here our Lord spoke about His little flock, which again we see is in perfect harmony with His other statement of there being but a few who find the way unto life – that way unto the life superabundant, with the unstinted blessings of God Almighty upon them.

On June 22, 1965, God spoke to me saying, "Call My people together." That is why these messages are being shared. That is why I have also written and put into print a study entitled The Kingdom Keys.

Are YOU prepared to face our returning Lord? Even the LION of the tribe of Judah? But unto His sons and daughters there will be peace, security and joy forevermore!