More Important than Our salvation is God's NAME!!!

[rejean]

In Matthew 6:9, Jesus puts the 'hallowing,' or sanctifying, of God's name first in this prayer. As if that name was clearly of crucial importance to him, and he mentioned it repeatedly in his own prayers. On one occasion when he was praying publicly to God, he was heard to say: "Father, glorify your name!" And God himself answered: "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."(John 12:28)

Lets make a little test...In Jeremiah 7:29-31 we read: "Shear off your uncut hair and throw [it] away, and upon the bare hills raise a dirge, for The Lord has rejected and will desert the generation with which he is furious. 'For the sons of Judah have done what is bad in my eyes,' is the utterance of The Lord. 'They have set their disgusting things in the house upon which my name has been called, in order to defile it. And they have built the high places of To´pheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hin´nom, in order to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that I had not commanded and that had not come up into my heart.'
Notice that the 'evil doers' here is God's own people (the people attached to His Reputation). By 'burning their sons and their daughters in the fire, a thing that He had not commanded and that had not come up into His heart' his congregation was rejected! So no matter if We call ourselves: Sons of God; Christ Church; God's People or Jehovah's Witnesses... By he way Nobody can "own" God's Name as a fetish or an amulet! If we do not teach the reality about God, We are not 'sanctifying His Glorious Name! In fact, if I was Jesus today, I would make sure some people and organiations would not use God's real name because the words of Paul applies to them! Romans 2: 'For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you'. God's Name means "to become," "He Causes to Become." He progressively fulfills his promises and unfailingly realizes his purposes. His Reputation is being revealed with time ! We have to be ready to adjust our truths!

[Jaareshiah]

Yes, Jesus made the hallowing or sanctifying of God's name of Jehovah over even our own personal salvation the prime issue. How is this to be accomplished ? By means of the "kingdom" that he taught his disciples to pray for, saying "Let your kingdom. Let your will take place, as in heaven, also upon earth."(Matt 6:10) What though is God's kingdom ? Many feel that it is an inner state of mind or is just in our heart, because of the rendering of the King James, along with several other Bibles at Luke 17:21, which reads: "Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you."(King James Bible) Could God's kingdom actually be "within" the ones to whom Jesus was speaking, the Pharisees, even if it were an inner state of mind or in one's heart ? No. Why ? Because the Pharisees, along with the Sadducees, were avowed enemies of Jesus Christ. He further said that these were barred from the "kingdom".(Matt 23:13)

Luke 17:20,21 is more accurately rendered as: "But on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God was coming, he answered them and said: "The kingdom of God is not coming with striking observableness, neither will people be saying, 'See here!' or, 'There!' For, look! the kingdom of God is in your midst."(New World Translation, Montgomery New Testament) How was the "kingdom of God" in the midst of the Pharisees ? That Jesus, as the one chosen by God to rule this "kingdom", was standing before them or in their "midst".

Since the "kingdom" is not a state of mind, what then is it, that Jesus will rule as king and that will "hallow" or sanctify God's name ? At Isaiah 9:6, it says that "the government shall be upon his (Jesus) shoulder".(King James Bible) Thus, Jesus is ruler of a "government" that God has "set up". At Daniel 7:9,10,  Daniel sees in vision God, who is called the "Ancient of Days": "I kept on beholding until there were thrones placed and the Ancient of Days sat down....The Court took its seat, and there were books that were opened." Then he further sees this: "I kept on beholding in the visions of the night, and, see there! with the clouds of the heavens someone like a son of man happened to be coming; and to the Ancient of Days he gained access, and they brought him up close even before that One. And to him there were given rulership and dignity and kingdom, that the peoples, national groups and languages should all serve even him. His rulership is an indefinitely lasting rulership that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be brought to ruin."(Dan 7:13,14) Jesus, who is this "son of man", is given "rulership and dignity and kingdom", ruling over "peoples, national groups and languages" that become obedient to this "government".

In addition, Daniel 2:44 gives more information on this "government" that God has purposed, saying that "in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be brought to ruin. And the kingdom itself will not be passed on to any other people. It will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, and it itself will stand to times indefinite;" This "kingdom" is to "crush and put an end to all these kingdoms" or human governments. Thus, the "kingdom" cannot just be "an inner state of mind" or just in one's heart, for the "kingdom" will remove all human governmental authority, including all religion that is false and death and it's causes(1 Cor 15:24,25; Rev 18:4, 21:3,4) An "inner state of mind" cannot accomplish this, but this powerful government that God has established is able to.

[SeekerSA]

The kingdom is already established, however it is not a kingdom in an earthy sense hence it is not subject to the vanities of the flesh.

Joh 18:36  Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would fight so that I might not be delivered to the Jews. But now My kingdom is not from here.
Joh 18:37  Pilate then said to Him, Are you a king then? Jesus answered, You say it that I am a king. To this end I was born, and for this cause I came into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.

In fleshly kingdoms, their is a hierarchy of the royals, inner court servants and the rest.

The spiritual kingdom exists with one King and all subjects are joint heirs meaning we all are one with the King.  There is no exaltation of one member over another and thus enforces the fact, God is no respecter of persons, he sees all His subjects as equal.

The pharisees were not of the kingdom as they had made a fleshly kingdom whereby they were the royal decree and the rest were subject to them or via them to God.

All mankind are part of the kingdom, once our eyes have been opened to the fact, we are able to see it and enter it.

We are in this world not of it, meaning there is something to hope for. 

Many wait foolishly for a kingdom to come of yet to be established forgetting that the kingdom is already established, all have not yet entered into this kingdom as they fail, similar to the pharisees to recognize it.  Once God opens our eyes to the fact, we can enter in and rule in this kingdom, yet many choose to stay outside even with the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

In Christ all things are possible.  Is Christ still in the flesh? No.  So why do we try make His kingdom manifest in the fleshly realm, meaning why reduce it to carnal understanding and/or likeness?

The reason is, the Law is mixed with Grace and the two are like water and oil, they do not, can not mix.  Religion today offers only the hope, making the kingdom now of no effect in our lives.  The peasants are kept ignorant paying their taxes to those that rule over them, where Jesus came to destroy that very structure that man had established in God's name.

This is why the word states:

Mat 6:33  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you

The things are those required to operate in the other kingdom of the prince of this world.

If you wait for a kingdom to come, you are in bondage to the earthly kingdom and we all know who rules that kingdom, it is not Jesus.  You wait in vain as the kingdom of God IS COME.

Blessings

[PaulTheJesusFreak]

 Amen, that was well said.

"We have to be ready to adjust our truths!"

If only some people would...  :sigh: