Thematic Bible: Its nature


Thematic Bible



and said, 'Verily I say to you, if ye may not be turned and become as the children, ye may not enter into the reign of the heavens; whoever then may humble himself as this child, he is the greater in the reign of the heavens.

and he said to them, 'Ye are from beneath, I am from above; ye are of this world, I am not of this world;

Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens was likened to a man sowing good seed in his field, and, while men are sleeping, his enemy came and sowed darnel in the midst of the wheat, and went away, and when the herb sprang up, and yielded fruit, then appeared also the darnel. read more.
'And the servants of the householder, having come near, said to him, Sir, good seed didst thou not sow in thy field? whence then hath it the darnel? And he saith to them, A man, an enemy, did this; and the servants said to him, Wilt thou, then, that having gone away we may gather it up? And he said, No, lest -- gathering up the darnel -- ye root up with it the wheat, suffer both to grow together till the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather up first the darnel, and bind it in bundles, to burn it, and the wheat gather up into my storehouse.' Another simile he set before them, saying: 'The reign of the heavens is like to a grain of mustard, which a man having taken, did sow in his field, which less, indeed, is than all the seeds, but when it may be grown, is greatest of the herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the heaven do come and rest in its branches.' Another simile spake he to them: 'The reign of the heavens is like to leaven, which a woman having taken, hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.' All these things spake Jesus in similes to the multitudes, and without a simile he was not speaking to them, that it might be fulfilled that was spoken through the prophet, saying, 'I will open in similes my mouth, I will utter things having been hidden from the foundation of the world.' Then having let away the multitudes, Jesus came to the house, and his disciples came near to him, saying, 'Explain to us the simile of the darnel of the field.' And he answering said to them, 'He who is sowing the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world, and the good seed, these are the sons of the reign, and the darnel are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is a full end of the age, and the reapers are messengers. 'As, then, the darnel is gathered up, and is burned with fire, so shall it be in the full end of this age, the Son of Man shall send forth his messengers, and they shall gather up out of his kingdom all the stumbling-blocks, and those doing the unlawlessness, and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire; there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the reign of their Father. He who is having ears to hear -- let him hear. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to treasure hid in the field, which a man having found did hide, and from his joy goeth, and all, as much as he hath, he selleth, and buyeth that field. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a man, a merchant, seeking goodly pearls, who having found one pearl of great price, having gone away, hath sold all, as much as he had, and bought it. 'Again, the reign of the heavens is like to a net that was cast into the sea, and did gather together of every kind, which, when it was filled, having drawn up again upon the beach, and having sat down, they gathered the good into vessels, and the bad they did cast out, so shall it be in the full end of the age, the messengers shall come forth and separate the evil out of the midst of the righteous, and shall cast them to the furnace of the fire, there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of the teeth.' Jesus saith to them, 'Did ye understand all these?' They say to him, 'Yes, sir.'

nor shall they say, Lo, here; or lo, there; for lo, the reign of God is within you.'

Jesus answered, 'My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, my officers had struggled that I might not be delivered up to Jews; but now my kingdom is not from hence.' Pilate, therefore, said to him, 'Art thou then a king?' Jesus answered, 'Thou dost say it; because a king I am, I for this have been born, and for this I have come to the world, that I may testify to the truth; every one who is of the truth, doth hear my voice.'

So that we henceforth have known no one according to the flesh, and even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know him no more; so that if any one is in Christ -- he is a new creature; the old things did pass away, lo, become new have the all things.

for walking in the flesh, not according to the flesh do we war, for the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly, but powerful to God for bringing down of strongholds, reasonings bringing down, and every high thing lifted up against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of the Christ,