Kingdom Parables
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THE KINGDOM PARABLES<br />
Barnabas and his home was the Church in Jerusalem in its inception. He<br />
presents Jesus as the Son of God. Luke was a traveling Physician who<br />
became involved. So he did some real research and his investigative<br />
journalism produce the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of Apostles. The<br />
other books in the New Testaments were written by early church fathers<br />
like Paul, Peter, James, Jude and John. The last book was written by<br />
John. They were all written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and<br />
proclaimed the message of the Person of Jesus Christ. These now form<br />
the seed.<br />
2.13 THE EPHESUS CHURCH<br />
As time went on, as the eschatology was not realized as expected, as<br />
persecution set in, Satan entered the Church and religious ceremonies.<br />
Insistence of Mosaic Law, emphasis on good works etc. were brought<br />
into the church. These rocks and stones delayed the growth of the<br />
church as a whole and some of Paul’s letters were written to counteract<br />
these teachings. The fast growth of the Church required organizational<br />
structure in order to obtain order and discipline within the church. Some<br />
of the letters were written to clarify the Christian stand in questions of<br />
morality, discipline and order in service, problems of Christian living in a<br />
non-Christian community. These were written so that thorns may not<br />
choke the plants. The young churches were quite successful in these<br />
matters. Jesus in a letter in the Revelations through John writes to this<br />
church period known as Ephesus Church. The church administration<br />
was taken over by the elders or bishops. Naturally some bishops began<br />
to act as priest - a distinct laity. Early Christians considered themselves<br />
as "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people"<br />
(1 Pe 2:9) So they resented any appearance of priestcraft. This is termed<br />
as Nicolaitan heresy. Nico means over comer or ruler, and laity means<br />
lay people. Jesus commended the Ephesus Church for this. A more<br />
detailed study of this letter the reader is referred to my articles on the<br />
seven churches.<br />
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