{"id":19189,"date":"2017-03-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-01T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-009\/"},"modified":"2017-03-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-01T06:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-009","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-009\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 009"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19189","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-matthew","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 009","sermon_date":"20170301","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4433,"sermon_slides":4432,"sermon_mp3":4434,"sermon_id":"3117184761","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"10:5-7","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0 The Coming Kingdom\n\n3-1-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7\n\nLesson 9\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to Matthew 28:18-20.\u00a0 We are already in lesson 9 on the kingdom.\u00a0 We\u2019re in Lesson 9 but still in chapter 7 of the book I wrote, called The Coming Kingdom.\u00a0 <\/em>\n\n\u00a0<\/em>Really the first part of the class is to figure out what does the Bible say about the Kingdom, so that is, as I mentioned before it\u2019s like being on a bus ride with about 17 stops. But if you can be patient through these 17 stops you\u2019ll walk away with the big picture concerning what the Bible says about the kingdom.\u00a0 In fact, you\u2019ll probably start to see that the kingdom is the theme of the Bible.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think you can understand the Bible without understanding the broad theme of the kingdom.\u00a0 The theme of the kingdom starts in Eden where God ruled over a man, Adam and with the fall of man that structure was lost so the goal of history is how that structure is going to be\u00a0 reclaimed.\u00a0 God the Father is going to rule over a man, the last Adam, Jesus Christ, who is the God-man who\u2019s going to govern creation for God.\u00a0 So the doctrine of the kingdom begins right there in Genesis 1.\n\nThe second stop is the covenant God made with Abraham where we learn that God called aside a special nation, the nation of Israel and He gave Israel three blessings, land, seed and blessing, and Israel at this point is the owner of those blessings forever.\u00a0\u00a0 The third stop on the bus ride is the Mosaic Covenant which is\/then language.\u00a0 So if the Abrahamic Covenant gave Israel ownership of her blessings what does the Mosaic Covenant give Israel?\u00a0 Terms for possession or enjoyment.\n\nAnd the fourth stop on the bus is the divided kingdom where following the reign of Solomon the kingdom was divided, the two southern tribes and the ten northern tribes and the north is swept away by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. only the south remains.\u00a0 And so tiny Judah is the last vestige of God\u2019s kingdom program on the earth.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that God has a special protection for Judah and Judah then goes into captivity, this is stop number five on the bus ride, and this inaugurates, initiates a time period called the times of the Gentiles where the nation of Israel, or Judah, has no king reigning on David\u2019s throne and the nation is being trampled down by various Gentile powers.\n\nAnd during that time period the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 And Daniel\u2019s prophecies make it very clear that that\u2019s just the way it\u2019s going to be until the return of Christ at the end of the tribulation period.\u00a0 So during the times of the Gentiles don\u2019t expect the manifestation of the kingdom.\n\nThis takes us to number six on the bus ride, stop number six and this takes us into the ministries of the Old Testament prophets who take out their paint brushes and give a portrait of what the kingdom is going to be like when it comes one day.\u00a0 So they give an in depth treatment of the coming kingdom and they give us hope in a time period when the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 So it\u2019s really these Old Testament prophets that help us get an explanation or a description of the coming kingdom.\n\nAnd then from there we move on into the postexilic time period where the nation of Israel, Judah, comes back out of Babylonian captivity and that happened under the empire of Persia.\u00a0 And the nation of Israel is in the land for about four hundred years.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles are continuing, Persia is followed by Greece, Greece is followed by Rome, Rome heavily taxed the Jews people, Rome took away from the Jews the power of capital punishment, and so the times of the Gentiles are continuing.\u00a0 And this takes us to number eight on the trip, stop number eight, which is where we got into (last week) which is the offer of the kingdom.\n\nSo finally the King shows up, the King of course is Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Matthew is very careful to connect the genealogy of Jesus back to the covenant with Abraham and the covenant with David.\u00a0 So Jesus is the guy; He is the King of God\u2019s own choosing, and had the nation of Israel enthroned the King on the King\u2019s terms the kingdom would have arrived.\n\nSo this takes shape in what is called the offer of the kingdom which is preached by, number 1, John the Baptist, Matthew 3:2.\u00a0 Number 2, Jesus Himself, Matthew 4:17.\u00a0 And then number 3, the twelve, Matthew 10:5-7.\u00a0 [Matthew 3:2, \u201c\u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d;\u00a0 Matthew 4:17, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and say, \u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, \u201cThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: And the offer of the kingdom simply is this: \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d]\n\nNow what does all of that mean?\u00a0 We asked and answered five questions about the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 Number 1, what is the kingdom?\u00a0 I\u2019m not free to just pour into that word \u201ckingdom\u201d in the New Testament any definition I want; I have to interpret it according to everything that\u2019s been revealed so far about the kingdom.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I wanted to start this study in Genesis and systematically move through the Old Testament and into the New because that\u2019s sort of the mistake people are making today, is they\u2019re interpreting the word \u201ckingdom\u201d just how they want it to be and they\u2019re not paying attention to what the Old Testament reveals about the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 The kingdom is basically the millennial kingdom that is predicted in the pages of the Old Testament. \u00a0That\u2019s what was being offered to national Israel.\n\nWhy is it called the kingdom of heaven then?\u00a0 Not because of its content but because of its source.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 It originates from heaven, remember that \u201cstone cut without human hands\u201d that Daniel saw?\u00a0 Where was it coming from?\u00a0 It was coming from heaven to the earth.\u00a0 So the kingdom of heaven, it\u2019s called \u201ckingdom of heaven\u201d because it\u2019s the rule of God which exists unchallenged in heaven has now drawn near to the earth in the person of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s called \u201cat hand\u201d because, not that it was here but that it was near.\u00a0 It was in a state of imminency, it was in a state of any moment expectation and had the nation of Israel enthroned Christ the kingdom, all that\u2019s said about it in the Old Testament would have materialized over planet earth.\n\nTo whom was the kingdom offered?\u00a0 Who was this offer given to?\u00a0 Anybody remember?\u00a0 The nation of Israel.\u00a0 And you get that very clearly from Matthew 10:5-7 where Jesus, when He\u2019s sending out the twelve to preach, says, \u201c\u2018Do not go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u00a0 [7] And as you go, preach, saying, for \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So the first half, really, of Matthew\u2019s Gospel you don\u2019t have any information about the cross of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial death of Christ.\u00a0 You don\u2019t have any information about the church age that we\u2019re in now.\u00a0 It\u2019s all a presentation of the offer of the kingdom to national Israel.\u00a0 And as we\u2019ve tried to say, had Israel enthroned Christ on His terms the kingdom, hypothetically could have come to the earth.\n\nNow this takes us to number 5 and this has to do with misinterpretations of the kingdom offer.\u00a0 There are an awful lot of people out there today preaching a gospel that is incorrect.\u00a0\u00a0 They don\u2019t preach the gospel of grace; they almost preach a gospel of works.\u00a0 And part of it is they try to develop their gospel presentation to the unsaved from how Matthew develops the offer of the kingdom in early Matthew.\n\nOne such individual, I sometimes hesitate to point out his name because some of the things he says I like but I also think he\u2019s brought a lot of confusion into the body of Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s John MacArthur.\u00a0 And this is from one of his sermons.\u00a0 He says, \u201cListen, the Jews were looking for a political kingdom but Jesus never offered one<\/u>.\u201d\n\nYou see that there?\u00a0 What he\u2019s saying there contradicts everything I\u2019ve just presented thus far.\u00a0 What I believe is Jesus was honestly offering the millennial kingdom to the Jewish people.\u00a0 And John MacArthur is coming along and saying Jesus never offered any such thing.\n\nHe goes on and he says, \u201cThere is no politics in the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 None.\u00a0 There is not one reference to the social, political aspect of the kingdom made here, not one.\u201d\u00a0 Now why are these things not referenced the way he wants?\u00a0 Because they\u2019re already developed where?\u00a0 In the Old Testament.\u00a0 \u201cThe Jews were so concerned about the politics and the social life\u201d that\u2019s true, \u201cJesus makes no reference to that at all...\u201d\n\nI think Jesus does make reference to it through his repetition of the phrase \u201ckingdom\u201d undefined.\u00a0 \u201cThe stress is on being.\u00a0 It\u2019s not on ruling or possessing, it is on being... So the political aspect of this message was devastating.\u00a0 It was absolutely everything was the opposite of what they expected a Messiah to say.\u201d\n\nSo in his view the Jews were expecting a political kingdom but Jesus never offered that; He just offered salvation.\u00a0 And I think that\u2019s incorrect.\u00a0 What Jesus was offering was the whole package of the kingdom which included politics but it also included an ingredient that the Jews didn\u2019t like\u2014the moral and ethical teachings of Jesus.\u00a0 But the whole package is the kingdom that was offered in its spiritual, geographical, political, physical and moral terms.\u00a0 So I have a disagreement with what he\u2019s saying here.\u00a0 He carte blanche<\/em> rejects the offer of the kingdom idea that I\u2019m trying to present.\n\nJohn MacArthur goes on and he says this: \u201cWe must not forget that Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, not merely to announce the earthly kingdom. When Jesus proclaimed His kingdom, He was preaching salvation<\/u>.\u201d\u00a0 So how does John MacArthur interpret this expression, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 He does not interpret that as an any moment appearance of the kingdom had the Jews changed their mind about Christ.\u00a0 He thinks that\u2019s salvation and that\u2019s the gospel.\n\nNow I\u2019m going to show you in just a second that that is not the gospel that we preach today; it\u2019s a special message\u00a0 of good news only for the nation of Israel and if you can\u2019t distinguish those things what you\u2019ll end up with is a very conflated, confused gospel presentation.\n\nThe gospel that we preach today is very, very different from the expression \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 When Israel rejected the offer of the kingdom, and if we have time I\u2019ll be showing you tonight exactly where that happened, it happened in Matthew 12:24, [Matthew 12:24, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u2019\u201d]\n\nOnce it becomes clear that Israel is going to turn down this offer everything in Matthew\u2019s Gospel shifts and he begins to focus on a new body that\u2019s going to be raised up called the what?\u00a0 The church, which we are part of.\u00a0\u00a0 And the church\u2019s gospel presentation is called the great commission which is found in Matthew 28:18-20.\u00a0 And you know these verses, the great commission, \u201cThen Jesus came to them and said, \u2018All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of\u201d what? \u201call nations,\u201d now isn\u2019t that very different than what He said earlier, \u201cgo only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Now He\u2019s saying something completely different, He is telling His church, which consists of a remnant, who has trusted in His Messiahship even though the majority of the nation has rejected it, this smaller group that He\u2019s going to raise up and they\u2019re going to be the foundation of the church, He\u2019s giving them an entirely different message, called the great commission, and now they\u2019re told to go into all nations.\n\nSo unless you understand that there was an offer of the kingdom given to Israel and turned down and God then raised up the church with a different message you have no way to harmonize Matthew 28:19 with Matthew 10:5, 7 which says \u201cgo only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 Those verses contradict each other unless you understand that there\u2019s a shift that\u2019s gone on that\u2019s very dramatic after Matthew chapter 12.\u00a0 So obviously the message we have is very different than the one that Jesus gave to the twelve when He sent them out to preach the offer of the kingdom.\n\nNow take a look at Acts 16, verses 30-31.\u00a0 Now this is Paul in Philippi, it says, \u201cand after he brought them out, he said,\u201d this the Philippian jailor, \u2018\u201cSirs, what must I do to be saved?\u201d\u00a0 [31] \u201cThey said,\u201d that\u2019s Paul and Silas, \u2018\u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.\u201d\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice what Paul did not say to the Philippian jailor, \u201cwhat must I do to be saved?\u201d\u00a0 He didn\u2019t say \u201crepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand\u201d did He?\u00a0 So obviously what\u2019s happened is the offer of the kingdom, which is extended to Israel early on in the gospels is now off the table.\u00a0 God is now raising up the church and giving it a different message, the message of salvation.\n\nDoes it ever say in here \u201cthe kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that at all and yet that was very clearly presented, wasn\u2019t it, in Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:17, Matthew 10:5-7.\u00a0 So obviously what\u2019s happened is a dramatic shift.\n\nAnd unless you can appreciate how the offer of the kingdom was unique only to first century Israel and how we\u2019re preaching a different message today you can\u2019t harmonize these verses.\u00a0 And if you don\u2019t want to harmonize these verses you\u2019re going to end up preaching a distorted gospel.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to end up saying something to the lost that God never intended for the lost to hear in terms of the gospel.\n\nNow where did Paul preach this?\u00a0 Where was he?\u00a0 Anybody remember?\u00a0 He was in Philippi.\u00a0 That\u2019s a good ways away from the city of Jerusalem, isn\u2019t it.\n\nSo obviously Paul is no longer adhering to the instruction, \u201crather go only to the lost sheep of the house of\u201d what? \u201cIsrael.\u201d\u00a0 So you see how different Paul\u2019s gospel is than what the original disciples preached to Israel.\u00a0 Number 1, there\u2019s no kingdom language.\u00a0 Number 2, Paul is outside of the land of Israel whereas the offer of the kingdom was to only be given to the Jews within the land of Israel.\n\nSo what I am getting at is simply this: there is a big, BIG BIG BIG BIG BIG difference between the gospel of the kingdom and the personal gospel that we preach today.\n\nIn fact this difference is so big I created a chart that goes two slides to help you see the difference between the two.\u00a0 What exactly is the difference between the offer of the kingdom gospel versus the personal gospel that we preach today?\u00a0 Well, we have for one thing different Biblical examples.\u00a0 If you want to study the Kingdom Gospel you study Matthew 3, 4 and 10.\u00a0 If you want to study the gospel that we preach today you would study Acts 16:30-31 and other passages.\u00a0 The target audience of the two is completely different.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel is only given to who?\u00a0 First century Israel.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus says \u201cgo only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 10:6].\n\nThat\u2019s why I made reference last time to the Syrophoenician woman who was a Gentile and wanted a miracle from Christ and Christ basically tells her look, I wasn\u2019t sent to you, I was sent \u201conly to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.\u201d\u00a0 And then she wants a miracle anyway and says well even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the master\u2019s table, I know all of us are supposed to be blessed through Israel one day, and Jesus says I haven\u2019t seen faith like this even in the land of Israel amongst the Jews.\u00a0 And that moment, was it her son or daughter I think it was, was healed.\n\nSo the target audience of the kingdom gospel is only first century Israel.\u00a0 The target audience for the personal gospel is who?\u00a0 Every nation.\u00a0 So if you\u2019re having a missions conference you wouldn\u2019t use Matthew 10 as your theme, you\u2019d use Matthew 28 as your theme, Christ for the nations.\u00a0 And by the way, with the nation of Israel their missionary strategy was always a come and see strategy, so they built this majestic Solomonic temple and it was so beautiful that even the Queen of Sheba traveled 1200 miles to sit at Solomon\u2019s feet and learn of his wisdom, and it was a place where pagans could come in, into the temple area to some degree and see the glory and majesty of God.\u00a0 So it was \u201cif we build it they will come\u201d strategy.\u00a0 The nation of Israel didn\u2019t send out missionaries.\u00a0 In fact, the only missionary the nation of Israel sent out was a guy that went reluctantly was a guy named who?\u00a0 Jonah, and he didn\u2019t want to go anyway and he got mad when the Ninevites repented.\n\nSo Israel is a come and see strategy, the church is a totally different strategy; we\u2019re not to build these edifices to get the world to come and see, we\u2019re supposed to go out.\u00a0 And this is a problem with the mega church mentality because they think if they build this giant cathedral it\u2019s going to attract everyone.\u00a0 They\u2019re still following the Israel strategy.\u00a0 The strategy of the church is to win, build and send.\u00a0 So the target audience for the personal gospel is all nations.\u00a0 For the kingdom gospel the type of salvation that was offered was national; it\u2019s God liberating a nation from the diabolical rule of Rome and establishing His kingdom through them.\u00a0 For the personal gospel it\u2019s personal and individual salvation.\u00a0 You have to believe it to stay out of hell; it has nothing to do with overthrowing the Romans, or anything of that nature.\u00a0 With the kingdom gospel how is Jesus portrayed?\u00a0 He\u2019s portrayed as national Savior and King.\u00a0\u00a0 He\u2019s held up as the One who is going to reign on David\u2019s throne and restore the nation and overthrow the oppressive rule of Rome.\n\nWith the personal gospel what kind of portrait of Christ do we have?\u00a0 We don\u2019t preach Him necessarily as national Savior, He\u2019s not the Savior of America.\u00a0 We don\u2019t necessarily present Him as King.\u00a0 Now He will be reigning King one day but your belief in the personal gospel doesn\u2019t usher in the immediate kingdom of God so we portray Him more as a personal Savior, believe in Jesus Christ to be personally saved.\u00a0 Saved from what?\u00a0 Saved from hell.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel, what was the kingdom expectation?\u00a0 The kingdom can come in a nanosecond if you enthrone the king of God\u2019s own choosing. But with the personal gospel we never attach it to kingdom language; we never say repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand other than to tell people that if you believe in the gospel you\u2019ll be a citizen one day of the coming kingdom but we don\u2019t present it as if you believe it now the kingdom is supposed to come.\n\nAnd these differences continue.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel, how does it contribute to God\u2019s program?\u00a0 Well, if it\u2019s acknowledged by the nation of Israel in the first century it would have contributed the immediate appearing\u00a0 of the millennial kingdom of God on planet earth.\u00a0 The personal gospel, what does that contribute to God\u2019s program.\u00a0 It\u2019s the mechanism that God uses to build His church.\u00a0 So God, through the personal gospel is not building His kingdom; the kingdom is not in a state of cancellation but in a state of what?\u00a0 Postponement.\u00a0 And so as the kingdom is in abeyance it doesn\u2019t mean God is not doing anything, He\u2019s building His church, the body of Christ, around the world which is not the kingdom.\u00a0 And Romans 11:25 tells us that that process is going to continue until the full number of Gentiles comes in.\u00a0 [Romans 11:25, \u201cFor I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery-- so that you will not be wise in your own estimation-- that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;\u201d]\n\nOne of these days the church will be made complete; the right number will be reached.\u00a0 Don\u2019t ask me what the number is because only God knows what it is but one of these days a certain number will have come in and the body of Christ will be complete.\u00a0 The church at that time will be raptured to heaven, the earthly ministry of the church will be over and God will turn right back to Israel in the tribulation period and re-extend to them the offer of the kingdom at which time they will accept it.\n\nScriptural foundation\u2014what foundation is there for the kingdom gospel?\u00a0 It\u2019s the Mosaic Covenant going all the way back to Exodus 19:5-6 which condition the coming of the kingdom on the obedience of the Jewish people to the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 [Exodus 19:5-6, \u201cNow then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; [6] and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.\u2019 These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel.\u201d]\n\nBy the way, the Mosaic Covenant points towards who?\u00a0 Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So the whole foundation of it is rooted in the if\/then conditional language of the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 Well then what\u2019s the Scriptural foundation of the personal gospel?\u00a0 Not the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 The personal gospel we preach goes all the way back to Genesis 3:15 which is a prophecy that there\u2019s coming one from the seed of the woman; the woman being Eve, who\u2019s going to crush the serpent\u2019s head, although the serpent is going to be allowed to bruise this coming one.\u00a0 [Genesis 3:15, \u201cAnd I will put enmity Between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel.\u201d]\n\nYou start to see in that prophecy a picture of the personal gospel, the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s the very gospel that Abraham personally believed.\u00a0 Genesis 15:6 says Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for what?\u00a0 For righteousness. [Genesis 15:6, \u201cThen he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him as righteousness.\u201d]\n\nAnd Paul, in Galatians 3:16 says what did Abraham actually believe?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t believe simply in the generic promises of seed,\u00a0 plural, he believed in a seed, singular.\u00a0 [Galatians 3:16, \u201cNow the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, \u201cAnd to seeds,\u2019 as referring to many, but rather to one, \u2018And to your seed,\u2019 that is, Christ.\u201d]\n\nAnd what seed could he have possibly believed in, going all the way back to Genesis 15:6?\u00a0 The presentation of the gospel that\u2019s unleashed as early as Genesis chapter 3 and verse 15; \u201ca seed\u201d is what you call a collective singular and that\u2019s a noun that can be used as a singular or a plural.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the word sheep; are we talking about a cute little singular fuzzy sheep over here or a flock of sheep.\u00a0 Or\u00a0 hair, am I talking about a strand of hair or am I talking about a head of hair.\u00a0 When someone says did you get your hair cut I don\u2019t say well which hair are you talking about because we all understand that hair can be used singular, it can be used plural.\u00a0 That\u2019s how seed is used. And Abraham believed in the promise of coming seed, plural, despite his old age, him and Sarah.\u00a0 But he also believed that through his generic seed would come Galatians 3:16, \u201ca seed.\u201d\u00a0 And through that individual seed personal salvation would be accomplished, that individual seed being Jesus Christ.\n\nSo that is the foundation of the personal gospel that we preached and John, when he gives us his book, called the Gospel of John, unlike Matthew, he\u2019s not going to track all this data about the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 That\u2019s not his point.\u00a0 His point is to trace the personal gospel of individual salvation and individual faith all the way through.\u00a0 So it started in the Old Testament, it goes right on through the ministry of Jesus Christ,\u00a0 you see it in passages like John 3:16.\u00a0 [John 3:16, \u201cFor God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.\u201d]\u00a0 It goes right on through the teachings of the apostles into the ministry of Paul the apostle and it\u2019s the same personal gospel that we preach today.\n\nSo although Matthew is developing the offer of the kingdom, that\u2019s one angle of things, John is tracing this consistent personal gospel of individual salvation and individual faith from beginning to end.\u00a0 So as the personal individual salvation is extended to the human race God is also working in terms of extending His kingdom to Israel.\u00a0 So God is so creative He can create multiple sub plots and have those multiple sub plots come together in one coherent package.\u00a0 So Matthew is looking at one issue, the author of the kingdom to first century Israel.\u00a0 John is not dealing with that issue; John in his gospel is tracking personal salvation to all individuals.\n\nSo should you teach John or should you teach Matthew?\u00a0 It depends on what part of God\u2019s program you want to emphasize.\u00a0 When are these gospels preached?\u00a0 The kingdom gospel is preached only in early Matthew or the early Synoptics.\u00a0 Do you know synoptic is?\u00a0 S-y-n means same, and\u00a0 you recognize the word \u201coptic,\u201d as in optometrist, so \u201coptic\u201d means look.\u00a0 Synoptic means same look.\u00a0 There are three Gospels that we have, now I\u2019m talking about the written Gospels that we call the Synoptics, they are Matthew, Mark and Luke.\u00a0 They have the same basic plot structure.\u00a0\u00a0 And all three of those Gospels are capitalizing on the kingdom offer to Israel.\u00a0 Their focus is not so much on the personal gospel\n\nAnd then we have John\u2019s Gospel that comes along and it\u2019s a mold breaker, so it\u2019s written in a totally different form and style, so it\u2019s not one of the Synoptics.\u00a0 John, in his Gospel is not focusing on the kingdom offer to Israel the way the Synoptics are; he\u2019s focusing on personal salvation.\n\nSo the kingdom gospel is preached in the early gospels and it\u2019s not being preached today but after the rapture of the church it will be re-preached in which time period?\u00a0 The tribulation period, where God once again is dealing with Israel.\u00a0 The personal gospel, when is it preached?\u00a0 It\u2019s preached in the church age and I believe it\u2019s the same gospel that\u2019s preached all the way through the Old Testament, they just didn\u2019t know the name \u201cJesus.\u201d\u00a0 They knew of a Messiah that was coming; they didn\u2019t know His name, and they received the blessings of that coming Messiah on credit.\u00a0 \u201cAbraham believed God and it was\u201d what? \u201ccredited to him for righteous\u00adness.\u201d\n\nWhat is credit?\u00a0 Credit means you get a goodie without payment, like a credit card.\u00a0 But it\u2019s the exact same gospel, it\u2019s by faith alone, and it\u2019s the same gospel by which we are saved today, it\u2019s just, unlike the Old Testament characters which looked forward to a coming Messiah we are looking what?\u00a0 Backward.\u00a0 The Old Testament characters didn\u2019t know His name; as we look backward do we know the name Jesus?\u00a0 Yes we do.\u00a0 Old Testament characters received the benefits of that personal gospel on credit.\u00a0 Do we receive it on credit?\u00a0 No we don\u2019t because it\u2019s been paid for at the cross of Christ two thousand years ago.\u00a0 But the package is always the same; it\u2019s always received by faith alone.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nAnd this is so important to understand because the viewpoint that I\u2019m giving here, which is called dispensationalism, people attack us for preaching different gospels.\u00a0 They say oh, you\u2019ve got one gospel for the Old Testament and another gospel for the New Testament, another gospel for today.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re talking about the gospel of personal salvation that is completely inaccurate, that charge.\u00a0 We preach for personal salvation the exact same gospel from cover to cover, which is different than God\u2019s dealings with a nation, the nation of Israel who was given the Mosaic Covenant and given the opportunity for the any moment appearance of the kingdom.\n\nSo when is the kingdom gospel preached?\u00a0 Early in Matthew and in the tribulation period and that\u2019s it.\u00a0 We don\u2019t preach it today.\u00a0 When is the personal gospel preached?\u00a0 Always and it\u2019s the gospel that we preach today.\u00a0 Is the kingdom gospel being preached today?\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Is the personal gospel being preached today?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Is the kingdom gospel always available?\u00a0 No, it was only available for first century Israel and it will only be available for that generation of Jews in the tribulation period.\u00a0 Is the personal gospel always available?\u00a0 Yes it\u00a0 is. So anyway that\u2019s the best I can do with kind of a complicated idea.\u00a0 I just took out a piece of paper and divided it into two and started looking at the differences between personal gospel and kingdom gospel because I know there\u2019s a lot of confusion out there about this.\n\nThis chart here simply shows you that the personal gospel has always been the same.\u00a0 Abraham was saved by faith, Genesis 15:6.\u00a0 It\u2019s the gospel that Jesus preached as recorded in John\u2019s Gospel, John 3:16.\u00a0 It\u2019s the gospel that the Apostle Paul and Silas preached to the Philippian jailor, Acts 16:30-31.\n\nJust so you don\u2019t think I\u2019m inventing things up here let me give you a few quotes if I could.\u00a0 One is from Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Seminary and he is reacting here in this quote against people that preach the gospel today the same way they did in early Matthew.\u00a0 They got up in front of audiences and say \u201crepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 And he is explaining here in this quote why that\u2019s an error.\n\nHe says, \u201cSuch insistence is too often based on Scripture which is addressed to the covenant people, Israel.\u201d\u00a0 One of the big things to understand about the Bible is this: all Scripture is for us but not all Scripture is about us.\u00a0 You have to start learning to distinguish between God\u2019s program with Israel and God\u2019s program with the church to interpret the Bible correctly.\n\nIf you\u2019re grabbing passages from the kingdom gospel and presenting it to the lost today you\u2019re acting as if the whole Scripture is for today.\u00a0 There\u2019s even a song that we sing, something like every word of the Book is mine, every line or something like that, I can\u2019t even remember it let alone sing it.\u00a0 But that\u2019s just not true, that song.\u00a0 All Scripture is for us, no doubt about it, but not all Scripture is about us.\u00a0 What is about \u201cus\u201d is the age of the church that really begins in Acts 2.\u00a0 And Chafer is saying that people aren\u2019t making this distinction.\n\n\u201cSuch insistence is too often based on Scripture which is addressed to the covenant people, Israel. \u00a0They . . . being covenant people, are privileged to return to God on the grounds of their covenant by repentance. There is much Scripture both in the Old Testament and in the New that calls this one nation to its long-predicted repentance. . . . The preaching of John the Baptist, of Jesus and the early message of the disciples, was, \u2018repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u2019; but it was addressed only to Israel [Matt. 10:5, 6].\u2019 The gospel of the kingdom was for the nation of Israel and should in no wise be confused with the gospel of saving grace.\u201d\n\nAnd that\u2019s why coming out of the John MacArthur camp you get a very garbled gospel and the reason you get a garbled gospel, as I showed you the quotes earlier, he doesn\u2019t distinguish between the kingdom gospel and the gospel of personal salvation.\n\nCharles Ryrie puts it this way: \u201cEven the New Testament uses the word gospel<\/em> to mean various types of good news,\u201d what does\u00a0 the word \u201cgospel\u201d mean?\u00a0 It just means good news.\u00a0 Well what good news are we talking about?\u00a0 If it\u2019s the offer of the kingdom to Israel it\u2019s good news that Rome is going to be overthrown and the kingdom is going to be established.\u00a0 If you\u2019re talking about the gospel of personal salvation that\u2019s a different kind of good news.\u00a0 You believe that gospel and it will keep you out of hell.\u00a0 So Ryrie says, \u201cEven the New Testament uses the word gospel<\/em> to mean various types of good news,\u201d so when you see the word \u201cgospel\u201d in the Bible you don\u2019t assume that word means the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used.\u00a0 If a word means the same thing everywhere it\u2019s used we call that a technical word.\u00a0 The word \u201cgospel\u201d is not a technical word.\u00a0 The gospel can mean different things.\u00a0\u00a0 And how do you determine which meaning to pour into the term?\u00a0 What\u2019s the dead giveaway?\u00a0 Context.\n\nSo even the New Testament uses the word \u201cgospel\u201d to mean various types of good news so one has to describe what good news is in view.\u00a0 In the Gospel of Matthew, all but one time, the word \u201cgospel\u201d is used concerning the good news of the gospel of the kingdom.\u00a0 This is the message of John the Baptist, Matthew 3:1-2; our Lord, Matthew 4:17, and the twelve disciples that were first sent out by the Lord, Matthew 10:5-7.\u00a0 [Matthew 3:1-2, \u201cNow in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, \u2018\u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 4:17, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and say, \u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, \u201cThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: \u2018Do not go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] \u2018And as you go, preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\n\nWhat was the good news about the kingdom?\u00a0 The correct answer lies in the concept and hope of the kingdom that the Jewish people had at that time, of the first coming of Christ.\u00a0 In fact, their hope was the establishment of the promised rule of the Messiah in His kingdom on this earth and in the kingdom that would exalt the Jewish people and free them from the rule of Rome under which they lived.\u00a0 But the rule of heaven did not arrive during Jesus\u2019 lifetime because the people, the Jewish people that is, refused to repent and meet the spiritual conditions of the kingdom.\u00a0 Most, and I\u2019ll be explaining this more later, either tonight or next week, most only wanted a political deliverance without having to meet the personal requirements for a change of life.\u201d\n\nso one has to describe what good news is in view. . . . In the Gospel of Matthew, all but one time the word gospel<\/em> is used concerning the good news of the gospel of the kingdom. This is the message of John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1\u20132), of our Lord (Matthew 4:17), and of the twelve disciples when they were first sent out by the Lord (Matthew 10:5\u20137).\n\n[Matthew 3:1-3, \u201c\u201cFor this is the one referred to by Isaiah the prophet when he said, \u2018THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, \u2018MAKE READY THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS PATHS STRAIGHT!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 4:17, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and say, \u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, \u201cThese twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them: \u2018Do not go in the<\/em> way of the<\/em> Gentiles, and do not enter any<\/em> city of the Samaritans; [6] but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. [7] And as you go, preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\n\nWhat was the good news about the kingdom? The correct answer lies in the concept and hope of the kingdom that the Jewish people had at the time of the first coming of Christ. In fact, their hope was for the establishment of the promised rule of the Messiah in His kingdom on this earth, and in the kingdom that would exalt the Jewish people and free them from the rule of Rome under which they lived. But the rule of heaven did not arrive during Jesus\u2019 lifetime because the people refused to repent and meet the spiritual conditions for the kingdom. Most only wanted a political deliverance without having to meet any personal requirements for change of life. So the kingdom did not arrive because the people would not prepare properly for it.\u00a0 They wanted, the Jewish people in the first century, a part of God\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 They loved the political part of it but all of the Old Testament teachings about morality, ethics, the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit, they turned a blind eye to that.\u00a0 And because they wouldn\u2019t receive the King on the King\u2019s terms the offer of the kingdom was faithfully extended to them but it got so bad in their rejection when they attributed Matthew 12:24, Christ miracles, to the devil that the offer was taken off the table.\u00a0 [Matthew 12:24, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u201d\u2019]\n\nAnd that offer will not be re-extended to the nation again until the distant future, in the tribulation period.\u00a0 And if you talk to a Jew today, an unsaved Jew, I\u2019ve talked to many of them, one of the questions I like to ask them is well why don\u2019t you believe\u00a0 Yeshua Jesus is the Messiah?\u00a0 I like to show them Isaiah 53 where it\u2019s very clear that Isaiah 53 is pointing towards this man, Jesus Christ, and their answer basically is there\u2019s no shalom in the world.\u00a0 Shalom means peace.\u00a0 Now when they use the word \u201cpeace\u201d they don\u2019t use it the way we as evangelical Christians use it.\u00a0 When we\u00a0 use the word \u201cpeace\u201d we talk about peace in the heart, peace with God.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what the unsaved Jewish mind thinks at all.\u00a0 They think all in terms of politics; look at how the\u00a0 United Nations is treating our people, look at the holocaust that happened.\u00a0 I mean, if Jesus was really the Messiah all of that would be brought to an end.\n\nSo their interest, even to this day, and God is going to have to send them to tribulation of great dimensions to shake them of this but their interest even today is just for a political kingdom, exactly how it was in the first century.\u00a0 So even today they want a part of the kingdom but they don\u2019t want everything that the Old Testament reveals.\u00a0 So in the meantime the personal plan of salvation continues, God continues to build His church and yet we have these promises that one day this offer of the kingdom is going to be re-extended to Israel and they will accept it in the midst of great tribulation.\n\nGeorge Zeller makes a comment about John MacArthur and how he conflates the kingdom gospel with the gospel of personal salvation and ends up teaching a confused gospel.\u00a0 George Zeller says, \u201cMacArthur also runs counter to traditional Dispensationalism in his understanding of \u2018the gospel of the kingdom\u2019. . . . He sees this phrase as simply meaning that Jesus was \u2018preaching salvation\u2019\u2026\u201d and I showed you the quote where John MacArthur does this. \u00a0\u201cDispensationalists understand this as a reference to that preaching which takes place when the Messianic kingdom is \u2018at hand\u2019 which was true in the days of John the Baptist and Christ, and will also be true during the closing years of this age (Matthew 24:14). Nowhere in the New Testament does it say that the gospel of the kingdom is being preached during this church age.\u201d<\/em> One of the things to understand about theology is it\u2019s like dominoes in a row; if you knock over one domino what\u2019s going to happen to the rest of the dominoes?\u00a0 They\u2019re going to start to crumble or fall over.\u00a0 And if you can\u2019t make a basic dispensational distinction, if your eschatology, let\u2019s put it this way, is incorrect then that\u2019s going to affect your doctrine of salvation which is your what?\u00a0 Soteriology.\n\nPeople say why are you all amped up about dispensationalism?\u00a0 Why does it matter what we believe about dispensationalism?\u00a0 Dispensationalism distinguishes kingdom gospel from personal gospel.\u00a0 If you\u2019re not concerned about the issues of dispensationalism then you knock over that domino, it\u2019s going to affect other dominos of a soteriological nature.\u00a0 And ultimately it\u2019s going to lead to preaching and teaching a confused gospel today and holding out to the lost the wrong instructions that they need to get to heaven.\u00a0 That\u2019s why all this stuff is important; it\u2019s not just pie in the sky stuff that theologians debate.\u00a0 It gets right down to how you share the gospel.\n\nNow have you ever been the victim of bad directions from somebody?\u00a0 This happens to me a lot, my maps go or Google maps isn\u2019t working, this happened to me just this weekend.\u00a0 I was in the State of Washington, I pulled over and some guy that I trusted gave me directions and his directions got me more lost.\u00a0 And I\u2019m afraid that\u2019s what we\u2019re doing with unsaved people.\u00a0 We\u2019re telling them all this stuff that God never told us to tell them and we\u2019re holding out all of these conditions that God never places in front of them.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re not paying attention to basic dispensational distinctives.\u00a0 Theology matters folks!\u00a0 Theology matters!!!\u00a0 Theology is so basic that if you don\u2019t interpret things correctly it gets right down to the message you give to lost individuals.\n\nSo here are some quotes from John MacArthur where he is rejecting dispensational distinctives.\u00a0 He says this: \u201cThere is a tendency, however, for dispensationalists to get carried away<\/em> with compartmentalizing truth to the point that they make unbiblical differentiations<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0 They have, MacArthur says, \u201cAn almost obsessive desire<\/em> to categorize and contrast related truths has carried various dispensationalist interpreters\u201d like all the guys that I like for example, \u201c(Chafer, Ryrie,\u201d <\/em>to some extent Zane \u201cHodges, etc.<\/em>) it carries these interpreters\u201d says John MacArthur, \u201cfar beyond the legitimate distinctions between Israel and the Church. Many would also draw hard lines <\/em>between salvation and discipleship (justification and sanctification), the church and the kingdom, Christ's preaching and the apostolic message<\/em>, faith and repentance, and the age of law and the age of grace.\u201d\n\nSo what he is saying here is if you are drawing these distinctions then you\u2019re getting carried away.\u00a0 What distinctions?\u00a0 The distinction between salvation and fellowship, justification and sanctification.\u00a0 Now those of you that attend this church and attend my soteriology class on Sunday mornings know that I make that distinction all the time.\u00a0 There is a world of difference between justification, what someone needs to be made right with God, through faith alone, versus how you grow in Christ.\u00a0 There is one condition necessary for an unsaved person to fulfill to be saved and that\u2019s to fulfill the command to do what?\u00a0\u00a0 Believer, period!\u00a0 If you add anything else to it you\u2019re teaching something and you\u2019re laying on unsaved people something that God never put on them.\n\nBut how do I grow in Christ?\u00a0 Multiple conditions; study and show yourself approved, do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of this world but have your mind renewed.\u00a0 Do not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.\u00a0 Put on the full armor of God.\u00a0 These aren\u2019t things I tell unsaved people; these are things I tell believers so that they can grow.\u00a0 So what have I just done here?\u00a0 I\u2019ve distinguished between the message I\u2019m giving to the unsaved versus the message I\u2019m giving to the saved.\u00a0 Now John MacArthur comes along here and he says I\u2019m getting carried away with distinctions.\n\nBeyond that other unbiblical distinctions in his mind is the distinction between the church and the kingdom.\u00a0 I mean, is there a difference between the church and the kingdom?\u00a0 That\u2019s what this whole class is about.\u00a0 That\u2019s what this whole 400 page book that I wrote is about.\u00a0 There\u2019s a world of difference between the church and the kingdom.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s a very legitimate distinction.\u00a0 John MacArthur comes along and says it\u2019s an unbiblical distinction that people are getting carried away with.\u00a0 How about this---and this goes right to the heart of what we\u2019re dealing with,\u00a0 \u201cChrist\u2019s preaching and the apostolic message,\u201d Christ\u2019s preaching being what?\u00a0\u00a0 Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, Matthew 10:5-7 versus \u201cGo into all the world and preach the gospel,\u201d versus \u201cBelieve in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved.\u201d\n\nI mean why is are the apostles preaching one message when they are sent out after the ascension, which is completely different from the message that they were preaching to lost Israel before the crucifixion?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s a basic logical obvious distinction in the Bible between the preaching of Christ and His message and the apostolic message.\u00a0 That whole chart I showed you earlier about the difference between the kingdom gospel and the personal gospel, what does that arise from?\u00a0 It arises from a legitimate distinction between Christ\u2019s preaching and the apostolic message.\u00a0 Yet John MacArthur comes along and he basically says that\u2019s an unbiblical differentiation and people that amp up on this unbiblical differentiation are getting carried away.\n\nAnother issue is faith and repentance, the age of law and the age of grace, and you know, it\u2019s frustrating for me to hear people point to John MacArthur as our dispensational standard bearer.\u00a0 I don\u2019t reject everything John MacArthur says; there are many things that he says that are very good but on this issue of dispensationalism the man is no standard bearer at all.\u00a0 In fact, if anything he\u2019s tearing down legitimate walls that God has erected.\n\nHe, in one of his sermons begins to explain how he moved in this direction.\u00a0 He says, \u201cI was raised in a dispensational environment; there\u2019s no question\u2026 But, as I got into seminary, I began to test some of those things.\u00a0 I have been perhaps aptly designated as a leaky dispensationalist<\/em>\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 I would say he\u2019s not a \u201cleaky dispensationalist,\u201d he\u2019s a very leaky dispensationalist, in fact he\u2019s leaking so much I don\u2019t even know if the name dispensationalism applies to him anymore.\n\n\u201cHere\u2019s my dispensationalism \u2013 I\u2019ll give it to you in one sentence: there\u2019s a difference between the church and Israel \u2013 period!... \u201c\u00a0 Now to that I applaud, there is a difference between Israel and the church but he says that\u2019s the only distinction you can legitimately draw.\u00a0 You can\u2019t draw any distinctions between justification and sanctification; you can\u2019t draw any distinctions between church and kingdom.\u00a0 I would say take the legitimate difference between Israel and the church and use that same method of interpretation to see other legitimate distinctions in the Bible.\n\nNow here\u2019s the problem.\u00a0 \u201cAt the same time in seminary,\u201d watch this very carefully because this is what happens to a lot of people, \u201cI began to be exposed to reading among more Reformed theologians\u2026 \u201c\u00a0 Oh-oh, what happened\u2026 stopped reading the Bible and started reading the Puritans, Cotton Mather, Martin Lloyd Jones, Owens, some of the great Puritan writers.\u00a0 And if you get into that business and you take\u00a0 your eyes off the text do you know what\u2019s going to start happening?\u00a0 What\u2019s going to start influencing your mind over time is not the pages of God\u2019s Word but the ideas of man.\u00a0 And this quote is so interesting to me because this is exactly what happened to John MacArthur, why he moved in this direction.\u00a0 He used to think exactly the way we think about all of these issues but at some point his mind got off the biblical text.\n\nAnd he goes on and he says, I began to be exposed to reading among more Reformed theologians\u2026\u201d and that\u2019s called scholarship today, and this is sort of the great pull amongst many younger people that have training in theology.\u00a0 They want to be accepted by the scholars, they want to be accepted by the theologians.\u00a0 It sounds much more scholarly to quote some Puritan masterpiece than it does God\u2019s simple Word.\n\nAnd what happens over time is your mind becomes absorbed in a theological system and you start reading the Bible through your theological system rather than letting the Bible correct your theological system.\u00a0 And I point this out not to disparage John MacArthur, it\u2019s a warning, if it can happen to him it can happen to me, it can happen to you, it can happen to anybody.\u00a0 Don\u2019t take your eyes off the biblical text!\u00a0 This is\u00a0 your authority.\u00a0 This is what God has given, these sixty-six books.\n\n\u201c And over the years of exegeting the scripture, it has again yielded to me a Reformed theology\u2026. \u201c\u00a0 See what\u2019s going on?\u00a0 He read the Reformed theologians and eventually their ideas he started seeing in the Bible because he was taking his primary ques, not from the Bible but from these Reformed theologians that he holds in such high regard.\u00a0 \u201cI was convinced of it (Reformed theology<\/em>) when I started and I\u2019m more convinced of it now as I\u2019ve gone through the text. I was convinced of it when I started because I read so many noble men who have held that view <\/em>(Reformed Theology<\/em>). It was more at that point hero worship,\u201d see that? \u201cand now it\u2019s become my own.\u201d\n\nAnd people are like this.\u00a0 Alister Begg says this, John MacArther says this.\u00a0 I have my heroes: Ryrie says this, Hodges says this, Chafer says this, but you know what?\u00a0 At the end of the day it doesn\u2019t matter who says what does it?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even matter what I say.\u00a0 What matters is what the Bible says!\u00a0 And if I\u2019m reading a theologian and that theologian departs from the Bible, guess what?\u00a0 At that point I\u2019m departing from that theologian because the theologian is not my authority.\u00a0 The biblical text is my authority.\n\nSo the offer of the kingdom, what is the kingdom?\u00a0 It\u2019s the geopolitical physical and spiritual millennial rule of Christ.\u00a0 Why was it called the kingdom of heaven?\u00a0 Because it draws the authority of God from heaven to the earth.\u00a0 Why is it called \u201cat hand\u201d?\u00a0 Not because it was here but it was near; had Israel enthroned Christ the kingdom would have come.\u00a0 To whom was it offered?\u00a0 What\u2019s the answer to that?\u00a0 Only to national Israel.\u00a0 What was offered to national Israel is not the message of personal salvation that we preach today.\u00a0 And are there misinterpretations of the kingdom offer?\u00a0 Yes there are; if you conflate kingdom gospel with personal gospel you\u2019ll end up preaching no gospel because it becomes a garbled gospel.\n\nNow next week you can read chapter 8, we\u2019re going to get into the subject of why did Israel turn down the kingdom offer and what does that mean.\u00a0 AND I know many of you have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting for this, some of you have based on the questions I\u2019ve got, when Israel turned down the kingdom offer in the gospels did the apostles keep extending the offer of the kingdom in The Book of Acts?\u00a0 Is Peter preaching one gospel and Paul preaching a different gospel?\u00a0 So we\u2019re going to be getting into that subject next week as well. \u00a0So read chapter 8 and at this time I\u2019ll stop talking.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t