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 Right Division In Practice - Articles 1 thru 5
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RIGHT DIVISION IN PRACTICE #1
Not so many years ago the Bile was not very will known (and is not much better known
today), then being mostly hand written copies in the hands of the rich or in some monasteries. Some few were chained to the pulpits in the churches. It was recognized as the Word of God in
most quarters, but they had little idea of how to apply it to the present time and its particular problems.
So without any regard to the time, or the people addressed, any verse in the Bible was likely to be quoted and
made to apply to the present time. A few exceptions could be mentioned. For instance, Gen. 17:10, Every man among you shall be circumcised.
Even among the several denominations and sects which think they are Jews, we do not know of any who cling to this rite today.
About the first verse that is quoted in evangelistic efforts today is a part of Matt 1:21, Thou shalt call His name
Jesus: for He shall save His People from their sins. There are about two errors made in connection with this
passage. His People are the Jews. In chapter 10 He told the disciples not to go to Samaritans or Gentiles, and in verse 6 He says, But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
And later in 15:24 He said,I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Then this is not about giving of eternal life, but saving those who were His from
their sins. His people had been chosen to be a channel of blessing to the nations. But from the making of the golden calf
to Act 28:28 Israel could not fulfill her mission because of her own sins. So the Lord came to deliver Israel from her sins so she could be a blessing to the nations of the earth.
Matthew is about the King and the kingdom, not the giving of eternal life as in John 3:16. There is nothing in
Matthew about Gentile salvation or the Gentiles gaining everlasting life.
A much quoted verse is Matt. 3:2, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Repent is also the theme
of the Lord later, as well as the 12 and also the 70. And it is always in connection with the kingdom and it being near or at
hand. The word repent is not used after Acts 28:28. It is not used in connection with gaining everlasting life. It is not
found in John’s gospel at all. And now for 1900 years the kingdom has not been offered, at hand, or near. Everlasting life or the church is the themes for today, not the kingdom.
There is a great deal of preaching today about wrath to come and such passages as Matt 3:7, 10, 12; 5:22, 29, 30
and many other are quoted to prove it. But again, we must remember that Matthew is writing about the kingdom, not the
church. With the end times of the kingdom there is wrath promised, such as the bowls of wrath in the Revelation which
are poured out on the kingdom of the beast. Even Job knew that in the last days there would be wrath (Job 14:13) and
prays that God will hide him in hell till the wrath is over. The word wrath is used in the prison epistles as to individuals, but the church does not look for a day or wrath to come.
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RIGHT DIVISION IN PRACTICE #2
The Magna Charta of the kingdom of heaven is the Sermon on the Mount, which is found in Matt 5,6,7. It is best to leave it to the kingdom of
heaven and not try to apply it to the church. Read it slowly and note all the conditions and promises. This is a kingdom, which will be here on the earth and ruled over by a King who is coming down from
heaven some day. His capital will be Jerusalem. He will be the King of the Jews, and much more. He will rule over all the nations of the earth with a rod of iron. Read Ps 2 in this
connection. This Jerusalem will have a city dump (Isa. 66:24) just as Jerusalem in the Lord’s time had its Gehenna or hell as mentioned in the Sermon on the Mount. It was a place where the refuse of
the city was burned, along with dead animals and the bodies of executed criminals. Hence the warnings in this sermon abut breaking the law and been cast into the city dump after execution.
But back to the Sermon on the Mount. If you were to give and lend to just anybody today as taught in this sermon, you would soon be
bankrupt. This practice will not work in the society we find ourselves in today. But in a Jewish community in the kingdom, these things can and will be practiced.
However, in general, you will find a lot of good advice in this sermon, which might be applied to some of our actions today.
In this connection, we must note that the Lord did His works and miracles in fulfillment of prophecy. This was a sign to His people,
Israel. They should have recognized Him as their Messiah without having to be told. But in their blindness and unbelief, they missed the day of their visitation. Their Messiah had come and gone and they
knew it not.
In Matt 8:11 we are told that many shall come from the east and the west and sit down with the fathers in the kingdom of heaven. This is on the
earth. The fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob never had any promise of going to heaven.
Matt 8:17 is often quoted out of context. It does not apply to us Gentiles today, or ever to the church. Esaias was a prophet to the
Jews, not to the Gentiles. And to the Jews he says, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. Many a person has taken the promises for Israel to himself, only to be bitterly
disappointed. Right division avoids this.
In Matt 9:35, as in many other places, it says that the Lord went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom (not the church), and in connection with
that gospel were healings of all kinds as well as casting out demons. This was a foretaste of the age to come (Heb 6:5). And note that those who would turn back after coming into contact with this great
kingdom message and the miracles, could never find a place of repentance. It is like Esau who could not undo what he had done. But this is kingdom truth.
It is interesting to see in chapter 10 of Matt the equipping of the 12 to go out and preach. They were to make no provision whatsoever for the
journey, but were simply to preach the kingdom and at the same time heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead and cast out devils. Israel is not doing that today!
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RIGHT DIVISION IN PRACTICE #3
There are times when men make fools of themselves by failing to obey the Word in the matter of right division. For example, take Matt
10:18-20. There the 12 are told that in certain circumstances they are to take no thought of what they shall say, but that the Spirit will speak through them. That was for the 12, and under certain
circumstances. For a lazy preacher or teacher to try to do that today for his regular service is going to end in disaster. His mouth is very likely to utter foolishness. There is a place for study
and work in the ministry.
He that endureth to the end shall be saved. Matt 10:22. How often we hear this quoted by those who think you can be saved one
moment and lost the nest. Of course they mean having life and not having life. Salvation is a different matter. Of course the supposition is that one must endure to the end of his life. But
that is not the subject. The tribulation is in view. That is for the Jews, the time of Jacob’s trouble. There is no indication that a single Gentile will take part in this great
tribulation. But the Jew that endures to the end of the tribulation shall be saved.
Fear not them, which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell. Matt 10:28. Here is a fearsome verse in the hands of those who do not know right division. The kingdom is in view here. Before it comes the tribulation. In this tribulation
many will be killed (not destroyed) and they will have a life in resurrection. So their life is not killed. But in the kingdom times, the ungodly will be executed and thrown into the city dump, Gehenna
or hell, as it is called here. Those will have no resurrection, so then both body and soul (life) will be destroyed. No hope of a resurrection. See the very last verso of Isaiah. Since no one
has the hope of the kingdom and this particular resurrection today, we should seek what is truth for us.
Verses 37-39 of Matt 10 should not be made to mean that one should love his family less, but that one should love the lord more. Verse 39 tells
us that in the kingdom administration those who find their lives shall lose them. If a man lives his life to suit himself, like the man who buried his talent so as not to be bothered with it, he will get what
he wanted; but life in the kingdom will be denied him. That has to do with reward and inheritance. But the man, who forgets himself and his desires in order to serve the Lord, will find life, that is, a
reward in the kingdom. Probably there is a parallel to his today.
He that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he (John the Baptist). Matt 11:11. This verse has been greatly
misunderstood. Note in the following verses that prophets and the law were until John. Also that from the days of John the kingdom suffered violence. So John must indeed be included in the
kingdom. Even the law made it plain that the husbandman should partake of the fruits of his labors. To exclude John from the kingdom would violate all the rules. But Jesus of Nazareth was thought
by the rulers to be least of all in the kingdom. But He was greater than John. Simple, isn’t it?
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RIGHT DIVISION IN PRACTICE #4
Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Matt 11:28). This is not a text be thrown at the
unbelievers. Matthew was not writing to such. He was writing to Jews who and the oracles of God, believed them and was looking for the Messiah. The Lord was speaking to such people in this
reference. The Companion Bible aptly notes, “Her Christ refers, not to sins, but to service; not to guilt, but to labor; not to the conscience, but to the heart; no to repentance, but to learning; not to
finding forgiveness, but to finding rest.” Since all Scripture is profitable, we may be able to get a lesson from this for today.
We are to remember that in chapter 12 of Matthew, the Lord was not walking through the fields on a Sunday, but on the Jewish Sabbath.
Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment (Matt 12:36). These words are concerning
the kingdom and the judgment that is connected with it. Again these words are to and for believers. The unbeliever was already judged, and has no part I the judgment of awards or prizes. Compare
with Col. 3:24,25.
Matt 13 needs a lot of careful reading and study. It is parables of the kingdom: not the church. It reveals the mysteries of the kingdom;
especially its postponement for it is at his point that the Jews have rejected the King and kingdom. It is because of this that the prophecy of Isa 6:9,10 is quoted as a warning. Compare with its final
quotation in Act 28 and the kingdom withdrawn for the time being, over 1900 years as of now. Note that there are 8 of these parables and they make a perfect structure. See the notes on these in the
Companion Bible.
In Matt 15:22-28 we have the story of the woman of Cannan. In it is a lesson in right division. That a Gentle woman should call the Lord
Son of David was just not proper. She had no part in the promises made to David or to Abraham for that matter. But when she took her place as a Gentle and called Him Lord, she received some crumbs from
the children’s table, a real blessing to her. So do not be confused. There is no question as to her faith and the fact that she had life in Christ. It was a blessing that she wanted, and the
Jews and the promise of blessings.
In Matt 16:18 there is a church mentioned. The Lord did not come to build the church, but to offer the kingdom. But we find in Acts 7:38
a church in the wilderness mentioned. It is the same church, the congregation of Israel. It is this church that was to be founded on the rock, the confession of Peter. This is not the foundation
you find in Eph 2:20, but that demands a lot of study.
There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom
(Matt 16:28). Many have wondered at this verse. In the Greek there is a particlean and the subjunctive mood which makes it conditional. If the nation had repented and accepted the King and
His kingdom, then they would have lived to see this very thing happen about A.D. 85. The condition was not met. Note other places where we have this expression.
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RIGHT DIVISION IN PRACTICE #5
Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead (Matt 17:9). This one is more a matter of correct reading
than right division, yet it is involved too. Not that this was a vision. Moses and Elijah were not there in person
For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost(Matt 18:11). This is followed by a parable of the shepherd going into the
mountains to seek the one of one hundred sheep that went astray. Lost does not mean loss of eternal life and resurrection. Though lost and gone astray, nevertheless it was still a sheep and belonged to
the shepherd. And none that belongs to the shepherd shall perish. But remember that this concerns Israel who are called sheep.
The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matt 21:43). There has been much
speculation on this saying. Some have thought that it meant the Gentiles. But Gentiles are nations and here it is in the singular. There is a promise in Isa. 66:7-14 that there will some time be a
new Israel, a new nation. This is the one that will inherit the kingdom.
The parable in Matt 22:1-14 has been badly handled by many an expositor. They try to get the present age into this parable, but it, as do so
many others, jumps over this age into the end times of the times of Israel, not Gentiles. There is first the invitation by John and the Lord and disciples. Then there was the invitation during Acts
followed by the destruction of Jerusalem. The after the times of the Gentiles the angels will gather His elect (Israel) from all parts of the earth, highways and byways.
God Is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matt. 22:32). This is concerning the resurrection of the dead, not that the dead
continue to live. The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, so they tried to trap the Lord with a question. He speaks of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as if they were living because their resurrection is
certain. But they still are in the grave (hell).
But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved (Matt. 24:13). Endure to the end of what? Tradition says to the end
of life. But the context is speaking of the tribulation and that any who endured till the end of it should be delivered. This refers to Dan. 12:1.
In this same chapter is some food instruction that is almost completely ignored because men do not rightly divide the Word of God. It is
concerning the coming of the Lord, the rapture. In verse 29 we are plainly told that this coming will be after the tribulation, and that it will not be in secret, but all the world will know when it
happens. How much false doctrine has been put out in spite of these plain statements. In connection with this is the mistake made about verses 39-42. The flood came and took all the wicked
away. So will the angles come and bind up the tares and take them away. Then the harvest. So when one is taken, that is a tare. Also remember that this is all in connection with the
kingdom and none of it refers to the church and its hope. Exercise right division!
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