And As Ye Go, Preach, Saying, The Kingdom Of Heaven Is At Hand. Series

#4~ THE APOSTLE BARTHOLOMEW 12-28-13

Today we'll continue our study to do with the Apostles; and today we'll bring a few thoughts about the apostle BARTHOLOMEW, also called Nathaniel.

Let me say once again here at the beginning of today's broadcast, that the 12 apostles were chosen by the Lord Jesus Himself, they would be the foundation of the Lords true Church, Jesus being the Chief Cornerstone, they were to preach His gospel, they also received power to heal all manner of diseases and afflictions, they even raised the dead.

~ Listen as I read Matt.10:1-8, and notice that His 12 is mentioned 3 times, indicating that only these 12 would be given these powers, listen.

>Matthew 10: 1-8 And when he had called unto him his twelve disciples, he gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease.

2Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; 3Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; 4Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.

5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

8Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

* Notice, in these verses we see "12", three times, so this leaves every body else out.--- when ever we see a "three" in the scriptures most of the time the Lord is involved.

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* I want to say something about verses 5-7 before we move on.

~Listen as I read them once again;

5These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:

6But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

7And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.

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~The legitimate offer of the kingdom of Israel was being made by the rightful King Jesus, had Israel accepted her King, she would have had her long-awaited kingdom.

~ During His earthly ministry the Lord Jesus Christ was offering the Kingdom to the Jewish people, in accordance with the prophesies of the Old Testament.

~However, while the Kingdom was being offered to Israel, this did not rule out Gentiles.

„« Romans 15:8-9 Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision [Jews] for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers: [patriarchs]

9And that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy; as it is written, For this cause I will confess to thee among the Gentiles, and sing unto thy name.

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>Matthew 15:21-28 we read of our Lord's ministry to the Canaanite woman and her daughter who was possessed by a demon. -- He was ministering to gentiles.

~Also, Jesus gave the Great Commission.

„« Matthew 28:19 He said: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations --

~LISTEN, Jesus said in;

>John 10:16 And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd.

~ This is certainly a reference to the Gentiles; here Jesus was looking forward to the Church Age and to the evangelization of the world. -- Notice, Jesus says "and there shall be one fold."-- He is not speaking about two folds - a Jewish fold and a Gentile fold.

~ If the Jews had received Jesus as their King, He would have set up His Kingdom at that time; and He would still have saved the gentiles.

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~The church was never called to build the Kingdom. -- The Lord Jesus Christ Himself will establish the Kingdom when He returns to the earth. --- The church is a called-out body from the world to manifest Christ and to preach His gospel throughout the world. -- Kingdom business is none of our business.

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„« Back to our study of the apostles.

~ The power He gave to these 12 was their credentials as they went to the nation Israel. -- The prophets of the Old Testament had said that this would be the credentials of the Messiah. -- Having given them this power, they are no longer just disciples but apostles.

~ The Apostles of Jesus, including the Apostle Bartholomew, were missionaries, or leaders of the religious mission in the early Christian Church.