by Terry Wane Benton<\/p>\n
Isaiah 9:7 is interesting. Some brethren use it to teach that the kingdom on earth will keep “increasing” and never have an earth-ending moment and a transferal to heaven. But the “increase” is about the “prosperity” experienced rather than the kingdom growing on earth forever. The NET (New English Translation) says, “His dominion will be vast, and He will bring immeasurable prosperity.<\/em>“<\/p>\n Ephesians, written before AD 70, shows how this played out. Ephesians 1:3-7 speak of the “riches of His grace<\/em>” supplied in Christ at the time He was raised and seated at the right hand “far above all principality and power and might and dominion<\/em>” (Ephesians 1:20-23). See! Long before AD 70, His dominion was “vast<\/em>” and “far above<\/em>” all dominions\u00a0known among men on earth. He was made “head<\/em>” over all things to the church. His dominion was vast, and He was bringing “immeasurable prosperity<\/em>,” “every spiritual blessing<\/em>,” and “exceeding riches of His grace<\/em>” (Ephesians 2:7). There is “immeasurable prosperity<\/em>” for the soul in Christ. Paul was already preaching among the Gentiles “the unsearchable riches of Christ<\/em>” (Ephesians 3:8). He says the “eternal purpose was accomplished <\/b>in Christ<\/em>” (Ephesians 3:11). He speaks of the vastness of the love of Christ (Ephesians 3:16-19) “which passes knowledge<\/em>.”<\/p>\n That is the increase of His government and peace that has no end. That is the dominion that is so vast, and that is the “immeasurable prosperity<\/em>” that we can have in our hearts. It will not stop because it will keep increasing in our minds and hearts through the knowledge of Him into eternity when we take on immortality. The earth and all its lust will pass away, but those who do the will of God will last forever (I John 2:15-17). They have a treasure inside that is vast and immeasurable that never ends. Is it ever increasing in your heart?<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Terry Wane Benton Isaiah 9:7 is interesting. Some brethren use it to teach that the kingdom on earth will keep “increasing” and never have an earth-ending moment and a transferal to heaven. But the “increase” is about the “prosperity” experienced rather than the kingdom growing on earth forever. The NET (New English Translation) says,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[73,345],"class_list":["post-74147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-jesus","tag-kingdom"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45705,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/isnt-jesus-supposed-to-reign-over-israel\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":0},"title":"Isn’t Jesus supposed to reign over Israel?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How is it that the following verses define the church as the kingdom of Christ when it specifically states the kingdom of heaven? \"And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62530,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-glory-of-the-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":1},"title":"The Glory of the Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 16:21-28 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0To the dismay of his disciples, Jesus began to speak of his pending death. (See also Mark 8:31-9:1 and Luke 9:21-27) \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0They did not realize how important that death was to the plans of God, and when Peter declared that God would\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67984,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/jesus-the-king-of-kings\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":2},"title":"Jesus, the King of Kings","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"May 9, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The scriptural concept of kingship starts in Genesis 1. God is the sovereign Creator who made male and female in His image and gave them dominion over the creation (Genesis 1:26-29). The idea is that humanity rules with God according to His will. In the garden, we\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12631,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-glory-and-kingdom-of-the-son\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":3},"title":"The Glory and Kingdom of the Son","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 9, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Matthew 16:21-28; Mark 8:31-9:1; Luke 9:21-27 To the dismay of his disciples, Jesus began to speak of his pending death. Peter and the other disciples did not realize the importance of that death in God's plans. Peter went so far as to declare that God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":6807,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-honestly-think-man-is-gods-most-powerful-creation\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":4},"title":"Do you honestly think man is God’s most powerful creation?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 7, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Do you honestly think that man is God's most powerful creation? Just take a look at everything happening to man today, all the floods, all the storms; just imagine a brownish-black cloud consuming the visible sky and you will realize that man is not in control, that we are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32360,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-a-contradiction-that-jesus-said-he-would-send-the-holy-spirit-but-he-also-said-some-would-see-him-coming-in-his-kingdom\/","url_meta":{"origin":74147,"position":5},"title":"Is it a contradiction that Jesus said he would send the Holy Spirit, but he also said some would see him coming in his kingdom?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 30, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Preacher, In Matthew 16:28 Jesus said, \"Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.\" My question is did Jesus came on the day of Pentecost when the church was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=74147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/74147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=74147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=74147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=74147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}