Tim Boyd's Blog

What's exciting about the references to the Kingdom of Heaven in chapter 5 of Matthew is that Jesus is ushering in the Kingdom.  He isn't just explaining what it is like - he is telling us that it has come.  The Kingdom of Heaven is being announced here. "Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven." You are not supposed to be poor in spirit.  This isn't a law that Jesus is handing out.  He isn't issuing a rule. He is making an observation followed by a promise.  You aren't supposed to make sure that you are poor in spirit.  Jesus is telling them (and us) that we are blessed because the Kingdom of Heaven is ours.  It is right now. We learn from this that the Kingdom of Heaven is different than what we think of as "Heaven."  The Kingdom of Heaven is something that is happening here on earth as a result of Jesus coming to earth.  The moment that Jesus crossed over from Heaven to earth the Kingdom had arrived.  For examp

Matthew 4:17, "From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near." Repent does not mean to feel bad or guilty.  Repent means to change direction.  Those are very different things.  Repent has very little to do with feelings and much more to do with action.  Now action and feelings are generally tied together by the human psyche but, in this case, it is a call to action not a call to "feeling." Jesus is telling people that they need to stop and change direction because something new is coming.  There is a new Kingdom and we are invited to change our direction and join into this kingdom instead of the kingdom's that we are under now.  In their case, they were under Roman rule.  They were a province of the kingdom of Rome.  As the Israelite people were awaiting their Messiah - they were hoping for a king and kingdom that would overthrow the present kingdom in power.  In the United States we put a lot of hope into elected o

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There are 31 references to the Kingdom of Heaven in the book of Matthew (NIV).  I called my blog "the simple guide to the Kingdom of Heaven" so maybe this would be a fitting study.  I have been wanting to look at each one of these references for a couple of years now.  I didn't want to make them a sermon series just yet, and I didn't want to do a Sunday school class with these references.  I have finally figured out the venue I would like to present these in - my blog. So here is mention #1 - Matthew 3:2.  This scripture is the first mention of the Kingdom of Heaven and it is presented by John the Baptist.  John was clearing the way for the King to come.  He was baptizing people in water to cleanse their sins.  He was preaching that the Kingdom was coming.  So he said to get prepared.  Make sure that you are ready.  The King is coming. Repentance is a way to make room for the Kingdom of Heaven.  The people repented of their sins.  In essence they were cleaning out