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What Are The Mysteries of The Kingdom of Heaven?

Hi M____,

Thank you for your questions.

There is a characteristic of God's Word which will help you to understand it much better. That characteristic is repeated many times in the book of Revelation. Christ repeatedly tells us that He Is, Was and Will Be:

Rev 1:4  John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace [be] unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

Rev 1:8  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Rev 1:18  I [am] he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
There it is, three times in this one chapter. It appears many more times throughout this book. Why does Christ make such a big deal about the fact that He Is, Was and Will Be? The reason is that this is a very important point if we want to understand who He is and who is His Word. Christ IS the Word:
John 1:1  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
This being the case, Christ's Words are also "Is, Was and Will Be." Christ went out of His way to make this crystal clear:

Matt 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.

"My Words shall never pass away" and Is, Was and Will Be means that we must always keep the order in which Christ always presents Himself to us. That order is always, without exception, primarily Is, secondarily was and thirdly will be. The whole world has this order reversed and concentrates on the future first, the passion of the Christ second and the present application of Christ and His Word working in us now, in the present in every generation of mankind, last.

If you can get your spiritual eyes to see this spiritual Truth, then many questions will be answered which are unable to be understood any other way.

Let's take the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man as an example. If this is only a statement about some future event then it would have had no relevance to the people of Christ's day nor the people of this day. If this were only a statement about the second resurrection, then it has no real relevance to us. But this is not primarily a parable about some future event, even though it will indeed have a future application. These words of our Lord, like every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God, are to be lived by every man who ever lives.

All men who have ever lived and who are "in Adam," have within them both the rich man and Lazarus. We all have looked down with disdain on someone somewhere. Not one of God's elect has ever become elect or even aware of their election without first experiencing the fire which Christ came to kindle in the "wood, hay and stubble," which is in us all." We have all allowed the tares to grow with the good grain right up to the harvest which is the judgment which is even now on the house of God:

1 Pet 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:

1 Pet 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

This and every parable is not about someone else out there in the future or way back there in the past. All of Christ's parables are about the kingdom of God. They are parables for the very purpose of keeping the multitudes blinded from "seeing the mysteries of the kingdom of God:"

Matt 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Matt 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
The disciples asked a very revealing question, and Christ's answer is even now being revealed only to those who have been given ears to hear and eyes to see:
Matt 13:9  Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.
Matt 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Who, to this very day, has been given the ears to hear what is Christ's answer to this very simple question?
Matt 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Matt 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Matt 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Matt 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Matt 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and [their] ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Matt 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Matt 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.
"To them [the multitudes who come to Christ] it is not given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven... therefore I speak unto them in parables." Does that sound like Christ came to save the world at this time? No, it does not. It is a doctrine of Christ that He is deliberately deceiving the multitudes who come to Him, and he is revealing the mysteries to but very few:
Matt 22:14  For many are called, but few are chosen [at this time]
Now notice this revealing truth:
Matt 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:
Christ never spoke to the multitudes without a parable. The purpose for the parables was to keep the multitudes from "knowing the mysteries of the kingdom of God." So this parable about Lazarus and the rich man is serving that very purpose."

Why doesn't Christ want the multitudes to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God at this time? Here is why:
Luke 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luke 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

At this time Christ does not want the multitudes to know that the kingdom is within God's elect of every generation since Christ. This does not deny that there will soon be an outward kingdom which will "rule the nations with a rod of iron." In fact Christ turned away from the pharisees who "demand of Him when the kingdom should appear" and tells His disciples:
Luke 17:22  And he said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see [it].
Luke 17:23  And they shall say to you, See here; or, see there: go not after [them], nor follow [them].
Luke 17:24  For as the lightning, that lighteneth out of the one [part] under heaven, shineth unto the other [part] under heaven; so shall also the Son of man be in his day.
Luke 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.
Luke 17:26  And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.

In that day Christ will have those "12 legions of angels" and He will do battle with the nations and He will put down strong nations afar off." But that is all the "Will Be" third-in-order part of God's Word. For now "the kingdom of God is within you." What that means is that all of Christ's parables are within each of us." They are not within others out there in the future. It is those who think like that who are missing out on the present "kingdom within you" and that "blessed and holy first resurrection."

Christ and His words are Is, Was and Will Be." Christ's Words will never pass away. What that means for this parable is that "Abraham and Lazarus" are, with all mankind, "in Adam," and Adam is in us all. We are all part of the multitudes before we are called out of the multitudes. So these parables all have an application for us all.
Luke 6:13  And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles;

This parable is not an actual eschatalogical event. It is a parable which will be applicable from Christ's days in His flesh right on up through the millennium and right into and through the lake of fire.It is for you and me, to admonish us to put the kingdom of God first, now. It is not primarily for the deceived multitudes who don't even know that the parables are for the purpose of hiding the mysteries of a kingdom "within you."
Matt 24:35  Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.
Your second question was:

"Why does Rom. 3 and Gal.3 speak about Abraham being justified by faith, and his faith being accounted to him for righteousness? Seems to sound like a NT conversion."

Indeed it does seem like that, but it is not. Abraham knew that he was nothing more than a pilgrim here on earth. But he also knew that God had not shown him when he would be given that city not made with hands:
Heb 11:10  For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
And He also knew that his faith was but a shadow of the faith of Christ, which Christ would give to us:
1 Pet 1:9  Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
1 Pet 1:10  Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1 Pet 1:11  Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1 Pet 1:12  Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
There it is. The prophets knew, "it was revealed unto them," that they were "not ministering to themselves but unto us."

I hope this has answered your questions. I hope it is given to you to understand the mystery that the kingdom with which all the parables are concerned is within you. I also hope you can see that the law had a shadow of good things to come and that shadow was the faith and righteousness of Abraham among many others.
Heb 10:1  For the law having a shadow of good things to come , and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Mike