The People of God
Part Three: “The Sons of the Kingdom”
In the first century CE there were some, many,
who believed that the Jewish organization of
religious worship represented by and practiced
in the Jerusalem temple arrangement and also
as taught and practiced in synagogues
throughout surrounding cities, represented
Jehovah’s arrangement. They were right. That
is one reason why Jesus himself referred to
the temple of Jerusalem as, “the house of my
Father” (John 2:16).
But Jehovah’s arrangement, including his
earthly temple, had become corrupted by men.
Jehovah’s arrangement was corrupted by men who
were presumptuous (Matthew 3:7-10), by men who condemned the guiltless ones
(Matthew 12:1-7), by men who taught men’s
commands as if they were God’s commands
(Matthew 15:1-9), by men who questioned the
authority of others to teach, rather than the
teaching itself (Mark 11:27-33), by men who
“like … to be called Rabbi by men” (Matthew
23:2-7), by men who scheme and who use “crafty
device” rather than stand up for what they
believe in, in front of the crowds and in
front of all onlookers (Matthew 26:3-4). In
the first century Jehovah’s arrangement was
even corrupted by people who feared losing
their place and their position more than they
feared God himself (John 11:45-48).
These problems were not new among God’s
people. Incredibly, Jehovah has had to deal
with all of these same or very similar
problems where his chosen people have been
concerned time and time again. Unfortunately,
in this world Jehovah’s arrangement has always
been subject to corruption because of man
deciding for himself what is good and what is
bad and because of his reliance, not on the
best available reasons for a particular belief
or course of action, but most often because of
desire, human desire that often puts pleasing
other humans above pleasing Jehovah God
himself. Eve chose to please herself before
her husband and before her God (Genesis
3:6-7). Adam chose to please Eve and himself
before his God (Genesis 3:12). Satan clearly
was only interested in pleasing himself, for
he lied without regard for those whom he
tempted and deceived, and thus he is referred
to, not as the one who liberated mankind by
giving them the knowledge of good and bad, but
as one who was “a
manslayer when he began” because he “did not
stand fast in the truth” (John 8:44). One way
or another, it seems that people are always
putting themselves or others ahead of Jehovah
God, with the result that “their fear toward
[him] becomes men’s commandment that is being
taught” (Isaiah 29:13).
If you were alive during the first century CE,
just before or even during the beginning of
Jesus’ ministry, who would you have followed?
Would you have sided with the Pharisees,
scribes, and others who were in charge of the
temple, the synagogues, and Jehovah’s earthly
arrangement of worship at that time (John
7:13; 9:22; 12:42; 16:2)? Or would you have
sided with a man who “had his clothing of camel’s hair and a leather girdle around his loins
[and whose] food too was insect locusts and
wild honey” (Matthew 3:4)? Would you, or I,
have accepted the one who, though he could
have borne witness to himself, told everyone
that he did not teach what was his but only
what was from his God, and that people could
see this by simply looking at the things he
said, at his teachings, and at the “works [he
was] doing in the name of my [his] Father”
(John 7:14-18; 8:13-14; 10:25; 12:49-50)? Or
would we have sided with those who cared, not
for who was telling the truth, but only of
whether or not someone disagreed with their
teachings, as can be seen from the following
account:
John 18:19-24 (NWT)
And so the chief priest questioned Jesus about
his disciples and about his teaching. Jesus
answered him: “I have spoken to the world
publicly. I always taught in a synagogue and
in the temple, where all the Jews come
together; and I spoke nothing in secret. Why
do you question me? Question those who have
heard what I spoke to them. See! These know
what I said.” After he said these things, one
of the officers that was standing by gave
Jesus a slap in the face and said: “Is that
the way you answer the chief priest?” Jesus
answered him: “If I spoke wrongly, bear
witness concerning the wrong; but if rightly,
why do you hit me?” Then An´nas sent him away
bound to Ca´ia·phas the high priest.
Though it may seem like an easy choice to make upon reading
these accounts, remember: If you truly would
have sided with John the Baptist and with
Jesus Christ you would have been expelled from
the synagogues (John 12:42), persecuted (John
18:25-27), and quite possibly even killed
(Acts 7:54-60). None of these would have been
very pleasant then, or now. But if in the
first century CE we were looking for the truth
and seeking it on the basis of the best
available reasons for belief and not through
mere group association, then I have no doubt
we would have come to John or to Jesus and
‘openly confessed our sins.’ Nevertheless,
acting in accordance with the best reasons for
belief would have put us at odds with the
existing temple arrangement and Jewish system
of religious worship as overseen and
administered by the Pharisees, the Sadducees,
the chief priests, the older men, and their
scribes, for these had “made the word of God
invalid because of [their] tradition” (Matthew
15:6). In spite of their religious work and
their position in Jehovah’s arrangement, they
were disapproved as John the Baptist himself
made clear:
Matthew 3:7-10 (NWT)
When he [John the Baptist] caught sight of
many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
the baptism, he said to them: “YOU offspring
of vipers, who has intimated to YOU to flee
from the coming wrath? So then produce fruit
that befits repentance; and do not presume to
say to yourselves, ‘As a father we have
Abraham.’ For I say to YOU that God is able to
raise up children to Abraham from these
stones. Already the ax is lying at the root of
the trees; every tree, then, that does not
produce fine fruit is to be cut down and
thrown into the fire.
Though “many of the Pharisees and Sadducees” who came to John
could have accepted what he said and then
repented, they as groups and as individuals
for the most part presumed their legitimacy as
God’s people to be a result of their lineage
and not their works. It apparently never
occurred to them that Jehovah would cease to
tolerate their failure to live in accordance
with truth, and that “the kingdom of God
[could] be taken from [them] and be given to a
nation producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43).
Apparently they believed that once chosen by
God meant always chosen by God, regardless of
what they decided to do or what they decided
to teach thereafter. They forgot that God
chose Abraham because of the faith that he
showed by his works (Genesis 22:9-12; compare
James 2:21-24) and that God would consider
others Abraham’s children only if they ‘did
the works of Abraham’ (John 8:39).
Truth is not an inheritance, nor is it something you can
confer upon someone; you cannot appoint
someone to the ‘office of the truth.’ A person
either believes what is true or most likely
true based on the best available reasons, or a
person does not. A person either acts in
accordance with beliefs that are true or that
are most likely true based on the best
available reasons, or a person does not. That
is why in the Bible the “sons of the kingdom”
are described by Jesus in two very different
ways. The first is:
Matthew 8:11-12 (NWT)
But I tell YOU that many from eastern parts
and western parts will come and recline at the
table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the
kingdom of the heavens; whereas the sons of
the kingdom will be thrown into the darkness
outside. There is where [their] weeping
and the gnashing of [their] teeth will be.
[Underline added.]
The second description is from Jesus’ illustration of “the
kingdom of the heavens,” where he speaks of “a
man that sowed fine seed in his field”
(Matthew 13:24) and explains:
Matthew 13:37-39 (NWT)
The sower of the fine seed is the Son of man;
the field is the world; as for the fine
seed, these are the sons of the kingdom;
but the weeds are the sons of the wicked one,
and the enemy that sowed them is the Devil.
The harvest is a conclusion of a system of
things, and the reapers are angels. [Underline
added.]
Jehovah God threw the first “sons of the kingdom” into the
darkness outside because they ‘rejected the
chief cornerstone’ of the kingdom, Jesus
Christ (Matthew 21:42). These “sons” did not
‘produce fruit that befit repentance’ (Matthew
3:8). Subsequently, God’s Son came and sowed
“seed” (= the “word of God” [Luke 8:11]) in
the field of the entire world. According to
Jesus (Luke 8:4-15), some of the seed “fell
alongside the road and was trampled down, and
the birds of heaven ate it up” (= “the ones
that have heard, then the Devil comes and
takes the word away from their hearts in order
that they may not believe and be saved”), some
seed “landed upon the rock-mass and, after
sprouting, it dried up because of not having
moisture” (= “the ones who, when they hear it,
receive the word with joy, but these have no
root; they believe for a season, but in a
season of testing they fall away”), some seed
“fell among the thorns, and the thorns that
grew up with it choked it off” (= “the ones
that have heard, but, by being carried away by
anxieties and riches and pleasures of this
life, they are completely choked and bring
nothing to perfection”), and “some other fell
upon the good soil, and, after sprouting, …
produced fruit a hundredfold” (= “the ones
that, after hearing the word with a fine and
good heart, retain it and bear fruit with
endurance”).
It is the last “seed” mentioned by Jesus that grows into “the
sons of the kingdom,” the “the righteous ones
[who] will shine as brightly as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father” (Matthew 13:43). In
addition to the types of seed mentioned by
Jesus in his illustration of the kingdom,
there is still other “seed,” seed sown not by
Jesus but by his “enemy,” the Devil (Matthew
13:39). Satan’s seed grows into “the sons of
the wicked one,” and they exist right in among
the seed sown by Jesus so that the two “grow
together until the harvest” (Matthew 13:30).
How, then, can we make sure we are the seed
that ‘retains [the word of God] and bear fruit
with endurance,’ and also identify those who
are doing the same today? How can we recognize
“the sons of the kingdom” who are the “fine
seed” sown by Jesus, those who have a “fine
and good heart”? The answer to this question
is as simple and as difficult as the questions
asked at the beginning of this article with
respect to the first-century Jewish system of
worship, John the Baptist, and Jesus Christ:
We must look at the fruit produced by each
“seed” and then respond to what is said,
taught, and the works that each person does,
as Jesus himself cautioned:
Matthew 7:15-20 (NWT)
Be on the watch for the false prophets that
come to YOU in sheep’s covering, but inside
they are ravenous wolves. By their fruits YOU
will recognize them. Never do people gather
grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do
they? Likewise every good tree produces fine
fruit, but every rotten tree produces
worthless fruit; a good tree cannot bear
worthless fruit, neither can a rotten tree
produce fine fruit. Every tree not producing
fine fruit gets cut down and thrown into the
fire. Really, then, by their fruits YOU will
recognize those [men].
But what “fruits” come from the “good trees” of Christian
seed? Since not “everyone saying to [Jesus],
‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of
the heavens” but only those who ‘do the will
of his Father’ will, what is ‘the will of
Jesus’ Father” and how could many who call on
Jesus as “Lord” at the same not know or follow
the teachings and direction of his God and
Father (Matthew 7:21:-23)? Indeed, how could
Adam, Eve, Israel of old, Jewish society in
the first-century, and those in the Christian
congregations who call Jesus “Lord” have ‘come
near with their mouth, glorified Jehovah
merely with their lips, only to remove their
heart itself far away from God’ (Isaiah
29:13)? Since today this question involves the
types of “fruits” displayed by “fine”
Christian seed, as taught in the Bible,
specifically in the New Testament, it is there
we should look for answers when seeking to
identify “the sons of the kingdom.”
“By Its Fruit
the Tree is Known”
After reading the above selections from Jesus’ illustrations
regarding the sower of seed, one might think
that anyone in whom the “seed” of God’s word
is sown will be one kind or another of the
sown seeds described by Jesus, and that this
is the only kind one can be throughout his or
her life. But such is not the case, as Jesus
elsewhere made clear when addressing the
Pharisees:
Matthew 12:33-37 (NWT)
Either YOU people make the tree fine
and its fruit fine or make the tree rotten
and its fruit rotten; for by its fruit the
tree is known. Offspring of vipers, how can
YOU speak good things, when YOU are wicked?
For out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaks. The good man out of his good
treasure sends out good things, whereas the
wicked man out of his wicked treasure sends
out wicked things. I tell YOU that every
unprofitable saying that men speak, they will
render an account concerning it on Judgment
Day; for by your words you will be declared
righteous, and by your words you will be
condemned. [Underline added.]
There are times when we all say words or teach things that we
later regret. Thus, by our regret and by
changing what we say (and, thus, what we
teach) we can “make the tree fine and its
fruit fine” (compare Matthew 21:28-32).
Conversely, we might have at one time ‘sent
out good things” only to later “make the tree
rotten and its fruit rotten” (compare Hebrews
6:4-8). But since fine trees are only fine if
they are ‘made fine’ and stay fine by
producing fine fruit, and since rotten trees
are only rotten if they are ‘made rotten’ and
stay rotten by producing rotten fruit, then we
have good reasons to believe that no one, not
even those who are right now ‘fine trees,’
will always be considered such regardless of
what they ‘send out.’ The ‘fine trees’ can be
made ‘rotten’ and the ‘rotten trees’ can be
made ‘fine’ all because of what comes “out of
the abundance of the heart.”
Therefore, whether it was the original “sons of the kingdom”
or those who were ‘sown’ after the first were
rejected “the sower of the fine seed, the Son
of Man,” whether it was the Jewish people of
God, the first-century Christian people of
God, or the nineteenth, twentieth, or
twenty-first century people of God, “by [our]
words [we] will be declared righteous, and by
[our] words [we] will be condemned.” By our
“fruit,” the words, teachings, and deeds that
we ‘send out,’ we will be “known.”
But in view of the wide range of teachings that various
“Christian” groups ‘send out,’ how can the
people of God be identified today? What
“fruits” does the New Testament clearly teach
would be produced by “the sons of the
kingdom”? While there are many clear teachings
given in the New Testament, many important
teachings that describe the “fruits” of
Christianity, in what follows I am presenting
those “fruits” that collectively will help
anyone recognize “the ones that, after hearing
the word with a fine and good heart, retain it
and bear fruit with endurance” (Luke 8:15).
What follows is not meant to be a
comprehensive listing of all the ‘fine fruits’
that would help us identify one as a ‘son of
the kingdom,’ but only a partial listing of
things that would definitely, collectively
belong to the produce of ‘good trees’:
1)
“Witness work”(Revelation 6:9):
And when he opened the fifth seal, I saw
underneath the altar the souls of those
slaughtered because of the word of God and
because of the witness work that they used to
have.
The “sons of the kingdom” have the “witness
work” of “bearing witness to Jesus”
(Revelation 12:17), and in so doing they are
also “bearing witness that the Father has sent
forth his Son as Savior of the world” (1 John
4:14). This “work” is directly and fiercely
opposed by “the dragon,” Satan, who at some
point “went off to wage war with [those] who
observe the commandments of God and have the
work of bearing witness to Jesus” (Revelation
12:17). This “witness work” and the opposition
to it should be evident among those who are
the people of God, for it eventually leads to
the equivalent of being “executed with the ax
for the witness they bore to Jesus and for
speaking about God” (Revelation 20:4). In this
way, Babylon the Great is “drunk with the
blood of the holy ones and with the blood of
the witnesses of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6), for
she rides atop the wild beast whom the “sons
of the kingdom” refuse to worship (Revelation
17:3), a ride that will continue at least
until this “beast” and the “ten horns” destroy
her, too, as God wills it (Revelation
17:15-17).
These witnesses of Jesus and of God do not seek to learn and
require others to believe “knowledge of the
times or seasons which the Father has placed
in his own jurisdiction” (Acts 1:7). They do
not add to “this good news of the kingdom
[that] will be preached in all the inhabited
earth for a witness to all the nations”
(Matthew 24:14) by forcing others to accept
uncertain interpretations about when “the
kingdom of our God and the authority of his
Christ” has “come to pass” (Revelation 12:10).
That is not a part of the “witness work”
described in the Bible. The “sons of the
kingdom do not need a false motivation to
serve God and Christ as their witnesses. They
“are all sons of light and sons of day” and
they ‘need nothing to be written to them’
concerning “the times and the seasons” because
they know quite well that Jehovah’s day is
coming exactly as a thief in the night’ and
this fact alone is enough for them as they
‘are not in darkness, so that that day should
overtake them as it would thieves’ (1
Thessalonians 5:1-5).
Anything beyond this, and beyond the
clear biblical indications of Jehovah’s day
such as the cry of “Peace and security!” or
other descriptions of those living during in
the “last days” (for example, 2 Peter 3:13; 2
Timothy 3:1-7), which is itself (“last days”)
a description applied since the first-century
(Acts 2:17), is beyond “the teaching of the
apostles” (Acts 2:42; 16:4). This includes
uncertain
beliefs associated with the “seven times” of
Daniel 4, which times are nowhere in the
entire Bible said to represent anything but
Nebuchadnezzar’s removal from and return to
his kingdom (Daniel 4:23-26). If others want
to consider possible applications of this
prophecy beyond this, then that is something
they should keep to themselves and never allow
affect the thinking and “witness work” of the
“sons of the kingdom.” The “sons of the
kingdom” would never force others to accept
chronological speculation, or even probable
interpretation of chronology, as this subject
is nowhere given such a place in the New
Testament. They would never require others to
accept something uncertain as if it were
certain, knowing that such a requirement could
cause others to stumble (Matthew 18:6). They
might teach certain applications of prophecy,
but with care and caution never to allow
speculation to infect the mindset or
motivations of others. Only disappointment and
an improper motivation can result from trying
to figure out what is not ours to figure out.
Again, while world conditions since 1914 may
indicate the trapped presence of Satan and his
demonic angels, the “good news of the kingdom”
to which the “sons of the kingdom” bear
witness does not include a requirement that
people accept an uncertain interpretation of
Bible chronology as “good news.” Why would
they? Instead this “witness work” focuses on
what has been “ordered us to preach to the people … to give a thorough witness that this is the
One [Jesus Christ] decreed by God to be judge
of the living and the dead” (Acts 10:42), and
“to bear thorough witness to the good news of
the undeserved kindness of God” (Acts 20:24).
The “sons of the kingdom” bear witness “to the
truth … [and they] go on walking in the truth”
(3 John 3).
2)
“No part of the world” (John 17:15-19):
I request you, not to take them out of the
world, but to watch over them because of the
wicked one. They are no part of the world,
just as I am no part of the world.
The “sons of the kingdom” are those who
“belong to Christ; Christ, in turn, belongs to
God” (1 Corinthians 3:23). None of them have
anything to do with what makes this world “the
world,” namely, “the desire of the flesh and
the desire of the eyes and the showy display
of one’s means of life” (1 John 2:16),
together with other “worldly desires” (Titus
2:12). Of course, the “sons of the kingdom”
are tempted like anyone else, perhaps even
more so because of the “war” that the Devil
wages against them in particular (Revelation
12:10; compare 1 Peter 5:8). But even though
we suffer at his hand in this world, we keep
fighting. We are in the world but we resist
becoming one with the world, for we are and
can only be one with it or with God and Christ
Jesus (John 17:20-26). We do not accept the
weakness of the flesh as something approved,
but as sign or our need of forgiveness through
Jesus’ sacrifice so that ‘after we have
suffered a little while, the God of all
undeserved kindness, who called us to his
everlasting glory in union with Christ, will
himself finish our training’ (1 Peter 5:10).
The “kingdoms of the world,” their authority
and their glory, belong to Satan the Devil
(Matthew 4:8-9; Luke 4:5-6). At the same time,
God can establish who rules the earth and he
absolutely does influence the hearts of kings
(Proverbs 21:1; Daniel 4:17; Revelation
17:17). But the “dragon” is also able to give
“its power and its throne and great authority”
(Revelation 13:2), so being no part of the
world would have to include not ‘worshipping’
its kingdoms with such words as, “Who is like
the wild beast, and who can do battle with
it?” (Revelation 13:4). As “witnesses to the
people” (Acts 13:31), the “sons of the
kingdom” do not ‘worship the wild beast nor
its image and the do not receive its mark on
their forehead or upon their hands’
(Revelation 20:4). For this reason, they are
persecuted by being ‘delivered up to local
courts and scourged in their synagogues,’ even
“haled before governors and kings for [Jesus’]
sake, for a witness to them and the nations”
(Matthew 10:17-18).
Yet, the “sons of the kingdom” are also in one
sense submissive to the “superior authorities”
that in once sense ‘stand placed by God,’ for
they are part of “the arrangement of God” in
the earth today (Romans 13:1-2). Thus, the
full extent of any Christian’s political
involvement would have to be decided by each
Christian. The “sons of the kingdom” do not
make rules about whether or not a person can
vote or salute the flag, neither of which
involve any kind of worship or admiration for
any political “beast” but only an acceptance
of the laws of the county (depending on the
wording of any pledge or salute, or course),
and an attempt to better the nation or locale
in which a Christian lives. None of this would
ever be a part the “witness work,” but it is
for each Christian to decide how they will act
in the world outside of this “work” and in the
light of what the Bible clearly teaches. But
since politics is not something on which
Christians will agree, then it is not
something that should be brought into the
congregations. Each ‘son of the kingdom’ must
stand before Christ and God, both of whom will
determine whether or not the individual was a
“part of the world” in a disapproved
capacity.
The “sons of the kingdom” know that the
“wisdom of the world” is “foolish” (1
Corinthians 1:20-29), but not all knowledge in
this world is the “wisdom of the world.” There
are a variety of professional trades and
professional endeavors that a person may be
involved in that will require education of one
kind or another. It is not for anyone to judge
in any respect whatsoever how a person decides
to educate him- or herself for life in this
world. Christians are supportive of other
Christians in their ministry, in their work,
in their school, and in every aspect of life
that is a part of this world, so long as a
person is committed in all that they do to
“love Jehovah your God with your whole heart
and with your whole soul and with your whole
mind” (Matthew 22:37). The
“sons of the kingdom” do not over- define “the
world” to include the things that may be
needed for a satisfying life in this system,
nor do they seek to enforce their own opinions
on matters such as the extent of one’s secular
education in this world. We are supportive and
encouraging, leading by example, knowing that
as long as Christians do not ‘love the world
or the things in the world’ and develop a
‘friendship’ with it that would compromise our
faith and love for God and for Christ Jesus,
we will “conquer the world” through our faith
while living in it (James 4:4; 1 John 2:15;
4:4-5; 5:4).
3)
Caring for those in need (Luke 10:25-37):
[Jesus said:] “A certain man was going down
from Jerusalem to Jer´i·cho and fell among
robbers, who both stripped him and inflicted
blows, and went off, leaving him half-dead.
Now, by coincidence, a certain priest was
going down over that road, but, when he saw
him, he went by on the opposite side.
Likewise, a Levite also, when he got down to
the place and saw him, went by on the opposite
side. But a certain Sa·mar´i·tan traveling the
road came upon him and, at seeing him, he was
moved with pity. So he approached him and
bound up his wounds, pouring oil and wine upon
them. Then he mounted him upon his own beast
and brought him to an inn and took care of
him. And the next day he took out two
de·nar´i·i, gave them to the innkeeper, and
said, ‘Take care of him, and whatever you
spend besides this, I will repay you when I
come back here.’ Who of these three seems to
you to have made himself neighbor to the man
that fell among the robbers?” He said: “The
one that acted mercifully toward him.” Jesus
then said to him: “Go your way and be doing
the same yourself.”
That’s what Christians do! They teach truth (John 18:37).
They are witnesses for God and for Christ
Jesus. They ‘keep themselves without spot from
the world’ (James 1:27). But if they do not
show compassion to those who are weak, if they
do not in some sense, as they are able,
“render judgment for the fatherless boy; plead
the cause of the widow” (Isaiah 1:17; James
1:27; compare Galatians 2:10), not only toward
those “related to [them] in the faith”
(Galatians 6:10) but even toward those who
might be their “enemies,” then how can they
‘prove themselves sons of their Father who is
in the heavens, since he makes his sun rise
upon wicked people and good and makes it rain
upon righteous people and unrighteous”
(Matthew 5:45)? Indeed:
Matthew 5:46-48 (NWT)
For if YOU love those loving YOU, what reward
do YOU have? Are not also the tax collectors
doing the same thing? And if YOU greet YOUR
brothers only, what extraordinary thing are
YOU doing? Are not also the people of the
nations doing the same thing? YOU must
accordingly be perfect, as YOUR heavenly
Father is perfect.
The “sons of the kingdom” are like Jesus in
this respect as much as possible, but without
‘practicing their righteousness in front of
men in order to be observed by them” (Matthew
6:1). They would certainly advocate that
others follow Jesus’ example in these
respects, and they would never put
restrictions on the extent to which such work
could or should be done, that is, beyond what
the apostles themselves taught, “[L]et us work
what is good toward all, but especially
toward those related to [us] in the faith”
(Galatians 6:10; underline added).
4)
“Love among yourselves” (John 13:34-35):
I am giving YOU a new commandment, that YOU
love one another; just as I have loved YOU,
that YOU also love one another. By this all
will know that YOU are my disciples, if YOU
have love among yourselves.”
The “sons of the kingdom” are like their Father, and like
their “brother” (Matthew 5:45; Hebrews 2:11),
in showing love to others. This love would be
especially obvious ‘among themselves.’ To know
just how this would be outstanding in a way
that would identify Jesus’ disciples, consider
what is love:
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NWT)
Love is long-suffering and kind. Love is not
jealous, it does not brag, does not get puffed
up, does not behave indecently, does not look
for its own interests, does not become
provoked. It does not keep account of the
injury. It does not rejoice over
unrighteousness, but rejoices with the
truth. It bears all things, believes all
things, hopes all things, endures all things.
There are many important aspects to “love”
mentioned here, all of which show how the
“sons of the kingdom” would treat their
brothers in all things. They would never
mistreat others by being unkind in requiring
things for approval by God or Christ, when
what they require is nowhere actually, clearly
required by God or by Christ in the Bible.
They would never be jealous over Jehovah’s or
Jesus’ use of any one brother or sister as
they “go on walking as children of light, for
the fruitage of the light consists of every
sort of goodness and righteousness and truth”
(Ephesians 5:8-9). The “sons of the kingdom”
would never “brag” or “get puffed up”
concerning who they think they are, for they
know that they are really “nothing” (1
Corinthians 3:7; Galatians 6:3). They would
never “look for [their] own interests” at the
expense of others, or at the expense of truth,
for love “rejoices with the truth”! The “sons
of the kingdom” never “rejoice over
unrighteousness,” for they have love among
themselves in a way that would never permit
injustice or anything but that which “bears
all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, [and] endures all things.”
Preeminently, the “love” they have would move
them to give their life on behalf of Christ’s
sheep, even as he did (Ephesians 5:2), the
very opposite of the “evil slave” who ‘starts
to beat his fellow slaves’ (Matthew 24:48-29).
While such love may help protect the “sons of
the kingdom” from “oppressive wolves [who]
will enter in among [them] and [who] will not
treat the flock with tenderness,” since these
also “speak twisted things to draw away the
disciples after themselves” something more is
needed to resist and to remove them: the
truth. Only by means of the truth will anyone
know if the flock is being mistreated, or
misled, and only by means of the truth will
the “sons of the kingdom” be “sanctified.”
5) ‘Sanctified by means of the truth’ (John
17:17-19):
Sanctify them by means of the truth; your word
is truth. Just as you sent me forth into the
world, I also sent them forth into the world.
And I am sanctifying myself in their behalf,
that they also may be sanctified by means of
truth.
The “sons of the kingdom” cannot, under any circumstance,
lose their commitment to the truth. If they
do, how then will they be “sanctified” by
means of it? People make mistakes, even big
mistakes. But the “sons of the kingdom”
acknowledge those mistakes when presented with
better reasons to believe something different.
If any were harmed by their previous error,
they repent, apologize, and try to make things
right. They do not “become provoked” for they
have ‘love among themselves’ (John 13:35; 1
Corinthians 13:5) and those who were wronged,
because of this same love, ‘do not keep
account of the injury.’ Obviously, in the
light of these texts, neither those who become
provoked because of the truth and thereby
refuse to accept it, or those who ‘keep
account of the injury’ after those who have
committed error have repented of their wrong,
are “sons of the kingdom” (Matthew 6:14-15).
An important New Testament example of one who was appointed
by Jesus Christ to “feed [his] little sheep”
(John 21:15-17) but who was instead found to
be mistreating Christ’s flock is the apostle
Peter. In spite of his divine commission,
Peter began “compelling people to live” in
ways that were not Christian (Galatians
2:11-14; 6:12). This forced others in the
congregation, such the apostle Paul, to act in
accordance with truth, to keep truth from
being sacrificed even at the feet of one
directly appointed by Jesus himself. Thus,
instead of accepting Peter’s actions and
teachings toward others as something that,
while not Christian, were nonetheless not
something he should confront openly for fear
of causing disunity, Paul did what Christ
wanted him to do over and above all other
arrangements God may have put in place: He
taught the truth and ‘resisted Peter face to
face’ because Peter and those with him were
“not walking straight according to the truth
of the good news” (Galatians 2:11, 14).
Peter, for his part, showed that he truly was simply misled
and that he had “love” for the congregations
after all, for he accepted Paul’s counsel as
having good reasons for being true and he
ceased teaching false doctrine and compelling
others to listen to him. Peter was ‘sanctified
by means of the truth’ that Paul presented to
him. So, too, we can all change course if we
find that we are “not walking straight
according to the truth of the good news”
(Galatians 2:11). But if we find ourselves
“resisting the truth” rather than being
‘sanctified by it,’ then it is inevitable that
we will become “completely corrupted in mind,
disapproved as regards the faith” (2 Timothy
3:8).
No one who ‘resists the truth’ is exempt from this
eventuality, because a refusal to accept what
is true, or most likely true based on the best
available reasons, suggests that the person
who does “not accept the love of the truth
that they might be saved” would rather
‘believe the lie” to protect their own selfish
interests (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11; compare
Romans 1:24-32). Others simply resist the
truth because they have not founded their
faith and beliefs on the best available
reasons, choosing instead to follow
“misleading inspired utterances and teachings
of demons, by the hypocrisy of men who speak
lies” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). These ones act “in
accord with their own desires, [and]
accumulate teachers for themselves to have
their ears tickled; … [and they] turn their
ears away from the truth” (2 Timothy 4:4).
The “sons of the kingdom,” by contrast, are ‘sanctified by
means of the truth,’ which shows itself by
their “fruit” (Matthew 7:15-20). They know
that the “the judgment of God is in accord
with truth” (Romans 2:2), and so they do not
fear his coming judgment because they are “on
the side of the truth” (John 18:37). In the
present world if someone speaks wrongly then,
like Jesus, they “bear witness concerning the
wrong” rather than react abusively to those
who speak rightly to them (John 18:23). But
the “sons of the kingdom” are described in
other ways in the New Testament, ways that
help us to further identify them.
The Sheep and
the Brothers of Christ
The kingdom of God includes or in some sense
relates to “a new heavens and a new earth” in
which “righteousness is to dwell” according to
God’s “promise” (2 Peter 3:13). That promise
of a kingdom was first given to the nation of
Israel (Isaiah 65:17), but now it is extended
to “a nation producing its fruits” (Matthew 21:43), which
includes those “in every nation” who ‘fear God
and work righteousness’ (Acts 10:35). The
‘sons of this kingdom’ include those separated
by Jesus’ angels during “the harvest,” the
“righteous ones [who] will shine as brightly
as the sun in the kingdom of their Father”
(Matthew 13:36-43).
The ‘harvesting’ of the “fine seed” or the “sons of the
kingdom” illustrated by Jesus in Matthew 13 is
also described by him as a ‘separation’ of
different kinds of people, on the basis of the
“fruits” they produce that show they have
living faith (James 2:26). Here is what Jesus
said concerning this separation:
Matthew 25:31-40 (NWT)
When the Son of man arrives in his glory, and
all the angels with him, then he will sit down
on his glorious throne. And all the nations
will be gathered before him, and he will
separate people one from another, just as a
shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.
And he will put the sheep on his right hand,
but the goats on his left. “Then the king will
say to those on his right, ‘Come, YOU who have
been blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom
prepared for YOU from the founding of the
world. For I became hungry and YOU gave me
something to eat; I got thirsty and YOU gave
me something to drink. I was a stranger and
YOU received me hospitably; naked, and YOU
clothed me. I fell sick and YOU looked after
me. I was in prison and YOU came to me.’ Then
the righteous ones will answer him with the
words, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and
feed you, or thirsty, and give you something
to drink? When did we see you a stranger and
receive you hospitably, or naked, and clothe
you? When did we see you sick or in prison and
go to you?’ And in reply the king will say to
them, ‘Truly I say to YOU, To the extent that
YOU did it to one of the least of these my
brothers, YOU did it to me.’
Whether or not some distinction is to be made between the
sheep and Christ’s brothers in terms of one
group belonging to the “new heavens” and one
group belonging to the “new earth,” the text
does not say. There is a “new heavens” and a
“new earth” promised by God, for sure, as
noted in the scripture referenced earlier in
this section, and in both of them, “in
these,” righteousness will dwell. But it
is also true that Jesus’ ‘brother’ is “whoever
does the will of [his] Father who is in
heaven” (Matthew 12:50). Since the true
followers of Jesus are to have ‘love among
themselves’ (John 13:35), then it also makes
sense that those approved by Jesus when he is
gathered, not with his “brothers,” but with
“all the angels” in judgment, that those whom
he approves are the ones who showed love and
compassion to his or her fellow “brothers.”
This is, in fact, the very essence of Jesus’
teaching in Luke 12:42-48 and Matthew 24:45-47
concerning the “faithful and discreet slave,”
the latter of which accounts reads:
Matthew 24:45-51 (NWT)
Who really is the faithful and discreet slave
whom his master appointed over his domestics,
to give them their food at the proper time?
Happy is that slave if his master on arriving
finds him doing so. Truly I say to YOU, He
will appoint him over all his belongings. But
if ever that evil slave should say in his
heart, “My master is delaying,” and should
start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat
and drink with the confirmed drunkards, the
master of that slave will come on a day that
he does not expect and in an hour that he does
not know, and will punish him with the
greatest severity and will assign him his part
with the hypocrites. There is where [his]
weeping and the gnashing of [his] teeth will
be.
In both the Matthew 24 and 25 accounts it is
the treatment of one’s “fellow slaves” who do
God’s will, Christ’s “brothers,” that is in
view, or least so it seems to me (but see also
below). In both accounts Jesus “arrives,”
which word translates a form of the Greek word
for “coming” (Greek: erchomai) and in
both accounts there is a judgment followed by
a ‘separation’ or ‘assignment’ of each
individual with one group or another. One
group is approved because they were faithful
in taking care of the master’s “belongings”
and the other group is punished for not taking
care of their “fellow slaves” and because
although they “understood the will of [their]
master [they] did not get ready or do in line
with his will” (Luke 12:47).
It is also possible that the two groups are
different, and that even the times indicated
by the ‘comings’ are different. Who can say
for sure, really? If they are different, and
if Christ has already ‘come’ to appoint his
“faithful and discreet slave,” and if this
“slave” is a group that is considered by Jesus
to be his “brothers” as described by him in
Matthew 25:40, then those who are approved by
Jesus during his Matthew 25 ‘coming’ judgment
do not know who these “brothers” are, for they
answer the Lord with the words, “When did we
see you a stranger and receive you hospitably,
or naked, and clothe you? When did we see you
sick or in prison and go to you?” If the
“sheep” are those who today know those who are
Christ’s “brothers” and they treat them as if
they were Christ himself because of this
prophecy, why would they in the future then
question the basis for their approval? (Also,
compare Matthew 5:46-48, quoted earlier.) It
is only by Jesus’ answer that these brothers
are revealed, just as the identity of “the
faithful and discreet slave” is not given by
anyone except by Jesus himself, at his
‘coming’ (Matthew 24:46; Luke 12:43).
Therefore, being Christ’s “brothers” should
never be something that any man or group of
men hold over people’s heads as if to say, “We
are Christ’s brothers, so you must submit to
us.” Christ’s brothers would never, ever, do
that (Romans 14:4; 2 Corinthians 1:24). They
might for a time ‘compel’ others to follow
them (Galatians 2:14), but once presented with
the truth Christ’ brothers cannot resist it.
They are forever drawn to it, for they ‘listen
to Christ’s voice’ (John 18:37).
Regardless of how the “sheep” on Christ’s right hand and his
“brothers” are positioned in God’s kingdom,
the “new heavens” and the “new earth” will be
a part of it. Those who ‘come to life and rule
as kings with the Christ for a thousand years’
(Revelation 20:4) will be permanent “pillars”
in the ‘temple of his God’ (Revelation 3:12)
and become a radiant bride that will descend
upon earth to restore “mankind” (Revelation
21:3) to life by means of “a river of water of
life, clear as crystal, flowing out from the
throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle
of its [= New Jerusalem’s] broad way.” On each
side of this river are “trees of life … [a]nd
the leaves of the trees [are] for the curing
of the nations.” Though the “bride” of Christ
which descends from God does not need any more
‘curing,’ many who survive the “great
tribulation” or who ‘come to life [during or
at the end of] the thousand years will. All of
this, again, is prefaced by John’s vision of
“a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation
21:1), “the kingdom prepared … from the
founding of the world” (Matthew 25:34) for
“the sons of the kingdom” (Matthew 13:38) and
for any others approved by God and Christ
Jesus to be among them.
Conclusion
The people of God cannot continue to be his people if they do
not continue to do the ‘will of the Father’
(Matthew 7:21), which itself cannot be
accomplished unless they are “on the side of
the truth” (John 18:37). The children of the
Devil are the ones who practice the Seven
Levens discussed in Part One of this series,
and if we follow in their steps we, like
Satan, will not “stand fast in the truth”
(John 8:44). On the other hand, if we ‘do
nothing according to a biased leaning’ (1
Timothy 5:21), if we do not ‘speak according
to our own originality (John 7:16-18) but
instead speak according to the best reasons
available for belief, if we do not then
‘deviate from the truth’ (2 Timothy 2:16-18),
or, worse, ‘turn away from it’ (2 Timothy
4:3-5; Titus 1:11, 13-14), we will be able to
‘consider whatever things are true’
(Philippians 4:8) which will lead us to the
belief, based on the best available reasons,
that “the Son of God has come, and he has
given us intellectual capacity that we may
gain the knowledge of the true one” (1 John
5:20).
The people of God never treat those who tell
them the truth as enemies (Galatians 4:16). If
they disagree with others concerning what is
true then they, like their Lord Jesus Christ,
“bear witness concerning the wrong” rather
than react abusively to those who speak
rightly to them (John 18:23). Once the people
of God, the “sons of the kingdom,” are given
reasons to believe something as true, reasons
that are better than the reasons for what they
currently believe is true, they change
immediately for they know that “if
we practice sin willfully after having
received the accurate knowledge of the truth,
there is no longer any sacrifice for sins
left” (Hebrews 10:26). Yet, Satan the Devil is
ever at work trying to corrupt the “fine seed”
sown by Jesus Christ (Matthew 13:38-39). He
does not only, or even primarily, do this from
outside of the congregations of God; rather,
he sows his seed in the same “field” as the
Son of Man sows his, including the
congregations. Satan sows “false prophets” and
“false teachers among you” who cause ‘the way
of the truth to be spoken of abusively’ (2
Peter 2:1-2). But if those “on the side of the
truth” show no fear or man and instead rise up
to “resist” those who “compel” others to “not
walk straight according to the good news”
(Galatians 2:11-14), then those in the
congregations who are true and those who are
false (compare Revelation 2-3) will be clearly
distinguished from one another, with ‘the
righteous ones shining as brightly as the sun
in the kingdom of their Father’ (Matthew
13:43).
Who are the people of God today? Show me the people who are
“bearing witness to Jesus” (Revelation 12:17),
“bearing witness that the Father has sent
forth his Son as Savior of the world” (1 John
4:14), and declaring the “good news of the
kingdom” as a “witness to all the nations”
without requiring belief on the part of others
concerning “times or seasons” that are not
within our “jurisdiction” (Matthew 24:14; Acts
1:7). Show me the people that are “no part of
the world” just as Jesus was no part of this
world (John 17:15-19). Show me the people who
are caring for those in need the way Jesus did
and the way he taught his followers should do
(Luke 10:25-27). Show me the people who have
‘love among themselves,’ not by ‘beating their
fellow slaves,’ but by laying down their life
for their brothers and sisters if need be, and
by ‘rejoicing with the truth’ as “love” is
said to do (John 13:34-35; Matthew 24:48-49;
Ephesians 5:2; 1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Show me
those who are ‘sanctified by means of the
truth’ and those who stand up for what is
right without fear of any man (Isaiah 29:13;
John 17:17-19; Acts 10:35), and I will show
you the people of God.
Greg Stafford
For IN MEDIO (May 1, 2007).
