{"id":19190,"date":"2017-03-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-08T06:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-010\/"},"modified":"2017-03-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-08T06:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-010","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-010\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 010"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[85],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19190","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 010","sermon_date":"20170308","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4444,"sermon_slides":4445,"sermon_mp3":4447,"sermon_id":"38171853545","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":85,"chapter_and_verse":"12:24","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\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\n3-8-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John 6:15\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 10\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles and open them to John 6:15.\u00a0 As you know we are continuing to study the doctrine of the kingdom.\u00a0 This is a quick announcement; next Sunday evening this Bible study will not be meeting so if you come in here looking for everybody you\u2019ll think you missed the rapture but the reason being is I\u2019m heavily involved with the Chafer Theological Seminary Conference which I would encourage you to attend if you are interested, it\u2019s all free or they do all the live streaming stuff and that conference goes half a day Monday, afternoon to evening, all day Tuesday, all day Wednesday, featuring this time around the very important doctrine of inerrancy of the Scripture.\n\nThere\u2019s a lot of compromise going on within our own circles on the doctrine of inerrancy and we sort of, back in 1972 came up with the Chicago statement on inerrancy and people thought well, we\u2019ve hammered that out, the job is done and what you discover is there\u2019s a lot of drifting.\u00a0 So the conference is about the doctrine of inerrancy, what does it mean to have an inerrant Bible.\u00a0 A lot of different speakers, I\u2019m presenting Wednesday afternoon, there\u2019s some speakers from Master\u2019s Seminary that are speaking, Dr. Wayne House is speaking, pastors in our theological orbit are speaking.\u00a0 The conference is local, it\u2019s about 20 minutes from here at West Houston Bible Church.\u00a0 And if you have an interest in it there\u2019s some flyers at the back table or name tag table along with the speaking schedule and all that kind of stuff.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why we decided to cancel Wednesday night for next week, which is the 15th<\/sup> but then we\u2019ll pick it up the following week which will be the 22nd<\/sup>.\n\nHere we are in chapter 8, we finished chapter 7 last week on the Doctrine of the Kingdom and really in the first part of this class that we\u2019ve been working our way through we\u2019re trying to figure out what does the Bible say about the kingdom.\u00a0 And here are the stops that we\u2019ve made so far.\u00a0 We started with Eden, the Garden of Eden, and that\u2019s where God decided to rule over a man, Adam, and he was to govern creation for God.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the beginning of what we call the doctrine of the kingdom.\u00a0 And that was lost in Eden when Adam and Eve began listening to the animals instead of governing the animals and that took place with the fall of man. So the kingdom, at that point, disappears from the earth.\u00a0 So sort of the goal of history is how this kingdom is restored and we saw the initial promises of a restored kingdom in the Abraham where God called a nation for Himself, Israel, and He gave them three promises, which you know well, right.\u00a0 Those are land, seed and blessing, and the nation of Israel owns those blessings forever.\n\nThen you go about 600 years future from the time of Abraham and you get to the Mosaic Covenant and there God gives a condition.\u00a0 The condition is the condition by which Israel becomes not the owner but the what?\u00a0 The possessor or enjoyer of those blessings.\u00a0 And of course that condition ultimately points towards Jesus Christ.\u00a0 So as long as the nation of Israel is a Christ rejecting nation she will be the owner but not the possessor of her blessings, and the kingdom will be in a state of postponement.\n\nAnd then fourth stop on the bus ride is the divided kingdom and it\u2019s after the time of Solomon that the nation of Israel was divided into two, the ten northern tribes and the two southern tribes.\u00a0 The ten northern tribes are swept away by the Assyrians in 722 B.C. and that only leaves tiny Judah left and she is the sole representation of God\u2019s kingdom on the earth at that time.\u00a0 And what happens is the fifth stop on the bus ride, which I the times of the Gentiles, where tiny Judah is taken into captivity in Babylon and it\u2019s there we learn from the prophecies of Daniel (that we\u2019re studying on Sunday morning) that the nation of Israel is going to be trampled down by various Gentile powers.\u00a0 And don\u2019t expect the kingdom to materialize until that time period is over.\n\nSo one of these days the empire of the antichrist will run its course, yet future, and only after that final days of Gentile dominion runs its course will the kingdom of God be set up on earth.\u00a0 So in the interim we\u2019re not in the kingdom, we\u2019re not bringing in the kingdom, don\u2019t expect the kingdom.\u00a0 We\u2019re in a time period called the times of the Gentiles.\n\nAnd the sixth stop on the bus trip is the Old Testament prophets, and this is where they get out their paint brushes, these Old Testament prophets and they start to paint a portrait of what the kingdom is going to be like one day.\u00a0 And the prophets are functioning as those that give us light in the midst of darkness; they\u2019re like a light shining in a dark place Jesus tells us.\u00a0 So they give us hope, even though the kingdom is not here they give us hope by reminding us of the wonderful conditions the world will be once the kingdom arrives.\n\nThe seventh stop on the bus is the return of Judah from Babylonian captivity back into their land and, of course, that\u2019s where the prophets, the historical books, Ezra and Nehemiah fill in that historical time period for us.\u00a0 And so the nation of Israel is 400 years in their land before the coming of Jesus Christ, following the Babylonian captivity.\n\nAnd then the eighth stop on the bus is the arrival of Jesus and what you have getting into the New Testament, particularly Matthew, is the proclamation, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d and John the Baptist preaches that, Matthew 3:2.\u00a0 Jesus Himself preaches it, Matthew 4:17 and then the twelve preach it, Matthew 10:5-7.\u00a0 And the reason they\u2019re saying that is they\u2019re not preaching the gospel of individual salvation, as I tried to explain last week, but they\u2019re offering the nation Israel national salvation.\u00a0 So all national Israel has to do is enthrone the king of God\u2019s own choosing, Jesus Christ, and had they done that they would not just be the owner but the what?\u00a0 The possessor of their blessings and the kingdom of God would materialize on the earth.\u00a0 \u00a0[Matthew 3:2, \u201c\u2018Repent, 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] And as you go, preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo they had a unique opportunity back there in the first century to enthrone Christ and the times of the Gentiles would have ended, \u201cthe stone cut without human hands\u201d\u00a0 that\u2019s mentioned in Daniel 2 would have shattered the Roman Empire and the kingdom of God would have been established.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:34, \u201cYou continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.\u201d\u00a0 Daniel 2:45, \u201cInasmuch as you saw that a stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it crushed the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the king what will take place in the future; so the dream is true and its interpretation is trustworthy.\u201d]\n\nSo that\u2019s really what\u2019s going on all the way from Matthew chapter 1 verse 1, all the way really through chapter 12, verse 23.\u00a0 So this takes us up to where we are now in our study, this is stop number 9 on the bus trip, which is the rejection of the kingdom offer.\u00a0\u00a0 And as you study the Gospels, particularly Matthew, Mark and Luke, tragically what you see is the nation of Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\n\nAs we look this evening at the rejection of the offer of the kingdom we want to look at three points.\u00a0 Number 1, why did Israel reject the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 I mean, they had an unprecedented opportunity to enthrone Christ and the kingdom would have come.\u00a0 So why did they turn it down?\u00a0 It\u2019s almost the same two reasons people turn today the offer of personal salvation, as I\u2019ll show you.\n\nNumber 2,what was the turning point?\u00a0 In other words, when did Israel, in the first century, reach the point of no return?\u00a0 And then number 3, something that a lot of people have asked me about is once the offer of the kingdom was turned down and Jesus ascended to heaven, does that offer of the kingdom keep being re-preached or re-extended in the book of Acts?\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of good people actually that believe that and so we\u2019ll get into that subject if we have time.\n\nSo starting here with number 1, why did the nation of Israel reject the opportunity of several generations and turn down the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 And there are basically two reasons for it that the New Testament reveals.\u00a0 The first reason is Christ\u2019s kingdom was not just political, but it was also moral and ethical and I could even add the word spiritual in tone.\u00a0 What first century Israel wanted (and this is why I had you open up to John 6) was they wanted a political king; they wanted a political Savior, they wanted someone to overthrow Rome.\u00a0 They hated Rome; the reason they hated Rome was because Rome, beginning about 63 B.C. came into the land of Israel, taxed the Jewish people heavily, and they also took away from the nation of Israel the right to execute their own criminals.\u00a0 In fact you\u2019ll find a reference to that in John 18:31.\u00a0 [John 18:31, \u201cSo Pilate said to them, \u2018Take Him yourselves, and judge Him according to your law.\u2019 The Jews said to him, \u2018We are not permitted to put anyone to death.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd so the patriotic and nationalistic Jews were just brimming with revolutionary hatred and antagonism towards Rome.\u00a0 And for just a brief moment they thought Jesus might be the guy to get rid of Rome.\u00a0 And the reason they thought that is because in John 6:1-14 Jesus performs the miracle of feeding the masses with a few fish and a few loaves of bread.\u00a0 You know that story.\u00a0 And when the Hebrew population saw that they said this is our guy, this is our guy that\u2019s going to overthrow Rome.\u00a0 And so they were attracted to Jesus initially because of that.\n\nAnd so when you look at John 6:15 it says this, \u201cSo Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king,\u201d see that, \u201cwithdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So these people they saw in Jesus hope and they were going to make Him their king whether He wanted to be their king or not.\u00a0 And they looked at Him as a political Messiah.\u00a0 I mean, if this guy can do the miracle of the loaves and the fish just think what He could do to get rid of Rome.\u00a0 And Jesus withdrew from that, He wasn\u2019t interested in that relationship and He explains why in verse 26, it says, \u201cJesus answered them and said, \u2018Truly, truly you seek Me, not because you saw My signs but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.\u201d\n\nSo He perceives that the only interest they really have in Him is political.\u00a0 They like the Jesus that\u2019s going to feed the masses and meet their physical needs and they weren\u2019t really interested in Him because of other signs that pointed to His Messiahship and the need to trust in Him by faith alone.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t interested in that part of Christ.\u00a0 What they were interested in is really the part of Him that could meet physical needs and ultimately overthrow Rome.\n\nAnd of course this is one of the tragedies in the way we preach the gospel today; we preach Jesus as kind of some giant cosmic bellhop in the sky that exists just to meet our physical needs.\u00a0 I\u2019m not denying the fact that Jesus meets physical needs but you have to get beyond the point that Jesus is just someone who meets your physical needs.\u00a0 There is so much more to being a disciple of Christ than just that.\u00a0 So we say are you down to your last dollar?\u00a0 Well, come to Jesus, He\u2019s the great provider.\u00a0 You know, Jesus can do this, Jesus can do that, and we get away from the fact that we are sinners separated from God and we need to embrace Him by faith alone.\u00a0 And after we embrace Him by faith alone we need to continue on in our walk with Him and submit to Him in discipleship.\u00a0 In other words, His moral and ethical precepts are supposed to be governing my life.\n\nAnd when you start talking like that the crowd starts to dissipate.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s exactly what\u2019s happening in John 6.\u00a0 As long as He\u2019s meeting physical needs everybody is interested, but once He starts talking about faith alone and the walk of the disciple the crowd thins to the point where there are only twelve left, the disciples.\u00a0 And He says to them you\u2019re not going to leave too, are\u00a0 you?\u00a0 And then Peter speaks up and says well, where else are we going to go?\u00a0 You know, \u201cYou alone have the words of eternal life.\u201d\u00a0 [John 6:68, \u201cSimon Peter answered Him, \u2018Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo this was sort of the condition of first century Israel and when you see this you start to see why they reached the nation, the leadership by and large rejected the kingdom offer, because when you go back into the Old Testament and you study the doctrine of the kingdom, which is something we\u2019ve done, you discover that the kingdom is political but it\u2019s also ethical, it\u2019s also moral, it also deals with the sin problem that we have.\u00a0 Even in Ezekiel\u2019s prophecy of the kingdom, when he predicts it\u2019s arrival on the earth, Ezekiel 37:23-24, he predicts a time period when, \u201cThey will no longer defile themselves with their idols, or with their detestable things, or with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned,\u201d see that, \u201cand will cleanse them.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s speaking of an internal cleansing.\u00a0 \u201cAnd they will be My people, and I will be their God.\u00a0\u00a0 [24] My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd;\u201d look at this, \u201cand they will walk in My ordinances and keep My statutes and observe them.\u201d\n\nAnd Ezekiel explains all of this in the very context where he talks about the nation of Israel being regathered in the last days politically, but he goes on and he says it\u2019s not just political in nature, it\u2019s spiritual in nature, it\u2019s ethical in nature, it\u2019s moral in nature.\n\nSo as long as you\u2019re on the subject of politics the nation of Israel and its leaders were happy, but once you get into the subject that the kingdom, when it comes is also going to be an internal spiritual transformation then they lost interest.\u00a0 And it\u2019s a lot like talking to an unbelieving Jew today; the unbelieving Jew today is looking for a political savior, or a Messiah, but when you start to talk about the fact that they need to change internally, this is what the gospel does through the spiritual birth, the Holy Spirit comes into you and begins to clean you from the inside out, and transform you.\u00a0 You\u2019ll discover that with the unsaved Jewish person, unless a miracle happens and they\u2019re brought to saving faith in Christ through great conviction of the Spirit, without that they\u2019re basically uninterested in the message of Jesus.\u00a0 And that\u2019s exactly how it was back in the first century.\n\nAnd this is why the expression, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand\u201d is such a big deal.\u00a0 \u201cRepent\u201d means change of mind.\u00a0 The word \u201crepent\u201d is communicating that the kingdom, once it arrives, is not just going to politically govern the world, it\u2019s going to internally govern the heart of individuals.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what the kingdom is, and the problem with first century Israel is that they wanted a king and a kingdom on their own terms.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t willing to accept the whole package as Jesus was offering it and as the Old Testament consistently portrayed it.\n\nSo yes, the Old Testament talks about politics, it talks about the Dead Sea coming back to life, it talks about the dwelling in safety and security, and being protected from their enemies. But in the same breath that it talks about those things it also talks about forgiveness of sin, internal transformation, the new spiritual birth and it\u2019s that latter part of the equation that the nation of Israel was uninterested in.\n\nAnd Matthew skillfully explains to us this reality because in Matthew\u2019s Gospel you find this expression, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d as taught first of all by John the Baptist; secondly taught by Jesus Christ, so Jesus presented it in Matthew 4, John presented it in Matthew 3, the twelve apostles presented it in Matthew 10.\u00a0 So here\u2019s Matthew 4, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s Matthew 10, it says basically the same thing, repent, as the twelve were sent out, \u201cThe kingdom of God is at hand.\u2019\u201d\n\nSo somebody tell me in between Matthew 4 and Matthew 10 what great body of material do we find.\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 What is The Sermon on the Mount doing there?\u00a0 \u00a0The Sermon on the Mount is sandwiched in between the offer of the kingdom, as taught by Jesus, and the offer of the kingdom as taught by the twelve.\u00a0 Right in between those two outer edges you find the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 In Matthew\u2019s Gospel there are five great discourses.\u00a0 Matthew is a Jewish believer explaining to His Hebrew Christian audience if Christ is the King, where\u2019s the kingdom?\u00a0 Every\u00adthing in Matthew\u2019s Gospel can be related to what I just said.\u00a0 If Christ is the King, where\u2019s the kingdom?\u00a0 So Matthew is not written for evangelistic purposes.\u00a0 It\u2019s written for edification purposes and apologetic purposes, trying to explain to a Hebrew Christian audience, who has trusted in Jesus, if Jesus is the King where is His kingdom because the Old Testament really says that King and kingdom go together, like horse and carriage.\n\nSo if you understand that question that the Hebrews Christians were wrestling with in the first century you start to understand everything in the book of Matthew.\u00a0 That\u2019s why, contrary to most scholars I do not believe Mark was the first Gospel written.\u00a0 I think Matthew was the first Gospel written because it was written during the time when the church, which started in Acts 2, was still Jewish.\u00a0 I mean, do we understand that beginning in Acts 2, when the church was born and Peter preached his sermon on the day of Pentecost that the church was totally Jewish?\u00a0 And the church continued to be Jewish right up until Acts 10; Acts 10 is the first time a Gentile was won to Christ.\u00a0 Anybody remember his name?\u00a0 Cornelius, he\u2019s the first Gentile in the church.\u00a0 And it\u2019s such a big deal that all these Hebrew Christians had to have a meeting\u2014can a Gentile really get saved?\u00a0 I mean, they\u2019re just stunned.\n\nAnd by the time Paul, in Acts 13, launches out on missionary journey one into southern Galatia from Syrian Antioch, till that point in time the church continues to be all Jewish, heavily Jewish, and it\u2019s not until Paul takes off on that first missionary journey that the Gentiles start getting saved like crazy.\u00a0 So early on in Christianity all of Christianity is Hebrew; all of Christianity is Jewish.\u00a0 So Matthew, therefore, has to be the first Gospel written because it\u2019s written to explain a question that a Hebrews Christian audience is wrestling with\u2014if Christ is the King, where is His kingdom?\u00a0 Mark is not answering that exact question; neither is Luke, neither is John.\n\nSo therefore most of church history, in fact, the uniform testimony of church is that Matthew was the first gospel written.\u00a0 It\u2019s not until the higher critical movement in Germany beginning in the 1900\u2019s that people started to second guess that.\u00a0 But prior to German rationalists and liberals getting their hands on the Bible and starting to second guess a lot of things, everybody believed that Matthew was the first gospel written.\u00a0 And that makes perfect sense if you understand that the early church was all Hebrew Christians, they have a specific question they want to know, if Jesus is the King where\u2019s the kingdom.\u00a0 And Matthew is written to address that question, so since it was written during a time the population of the church was heavily Jewish it stands to reason that Matthew would be the first gospel written.\n\nIn Matthew\u2019s Gospel there are five discourses, major discourses.\u00a0 Now the number five is a big deal in Judaism.\u00a0 David went out to slay Goliath with how many stones?\u00a0 Five.\u00a0 The book of Psalms, 150 Psalms, is divided into how many books?\u00a0 Five books.\u00a0 The first five books of the Torah, called Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, which Jews revered, comes to a total of what?\u00a0 Five.\u00a0 So if you think like a Jewish person you understand why Matthew is high\u00ad-lighting five discourses.\u00a0 We, as Gentiles, look at five discourses we just say five, what does that matter but to a Jewish mind that means everything.\n\nAnd you know that there are five discourses here because five times in Matthew\u2019s Gospel it says this: \u201cWhen Jesus had finished saying these things.\u201d\u00a0 He says it once in chapter 7, verse 28, to conclude the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 He says it a second time in Matthew 11:1 to conclude the missions discourse.\u00a0 He says it the third time in Matthew 13:53 to conclude the kingdom parables discourse.\u00a0 He says it a fourth time in chapter 19, verse 1, to conclude the humility discourse.\u00a0 And he says it a fifth time in chapter 26, verse 1, to conclude the Olivet Discourse. \u00a0[Matthew 7:28, \u201cWhen Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at His teaching.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 11:1, \u201cWhen Jesus had finished giving instructions to His twelve disciples, He departed from there to teach and preach in their cities.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 13:53, \u201cWhen Jesus had finished these parables, He departed from there.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 19:1, \u201cWhen Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan;\u201d]\n\nSo every time in Matthew\u2019s Gospel when it says \u201cWhen He had finished saying these things\u201d that\u2019s a literary clue telling us that Jesus has just finished a major discourse.\u00a0 And the major discourse I\u2019m looking at here is the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, which is sandwiched in between the offer of the kingdom taught by Christ, Matthew 4:17 and the offer of the kingdom taught by the twelve, Matthew 10:5-7.\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\nAnd by strategically inserting the Sermon on the Mount between those two brackets of the offer of the kingdom, Matthew is giving us an explanation as to why the offer of the kingdom was turned down.\u00a0 Why did first century Israel turn down the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 Because the kingdom is not just about politics it\u2019s about morality and ethics and Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, is speaking of the morality and the ethics of the kingdom.\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount is not giving us the politics of the kingdom, that\u2019s part of it but that\u2019s already been developed elsewhere in the Old Testament.\u00a0 It\u2019s focusing on the moral and ethical tone of the kingdom.\u00a0 And so therefore when you read through Matthew 5-7\u2026 there\u2019s a fast outline of Matthew 5-7, the Sermon on the Mount, you\u2019re given an explanation as to why Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\n\nThey\u2019re going to turn down the offer of the kingdom in Matthew 12.\u00a0 Matthew 5-7 explains why they turned down the offer of the kingdom, because Jesus made it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that the kingdom is not just about politics, it\u2019s about ethics, it\u2019s about morality.\u00a0 And that latter part of the package the nation of Israel did not want; it was all about political liberation.\n\nSo that sort of helps you understand what the Sermon on the Mount is doing here.\u00a0 There are a lot of people today that believe that the Sermon on the Mount, you just apply it directly to the life of the Christian today.\u00a0 Does that dog hunt?\u00a0 No it doesn\u2019t!\u00a0 For example, look at Matthew 5:23-24, tell me if this sounds a little bit Jewish to you.\u00a0 \u201cTherefore if you are presenting your offering at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, [24] leave your offering there before the\u201d what? \u201caltar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and present your offering.\u201d\u00a0 So this is talking about a time period when people are taking their offerings, that would be\u2026 there\u2019s different kinds of offerings described in the book of Leviticus and they\u2019re taking them to the altar, which would be the what?\u00a0 The temple.\n\nNow did you guys do that Sunday?\u00a0 Did you bring your offering to the temple?\u00a0 No\u00a0 you didn\u2019t.\u00a0 Well, aren\u2019t you all following the Sermon on the Mount?\u00a0 Well not exactly, because this was obviously written when the temple was still functioning, the animal sacrifices were still in effect, and Jesus is speaking to a Hebrew audience still function\u00ading\u00a0 under the Old Testament Law.\u00a0 And when Jesus makes this statement He\u2019s explaining to them that look, this kingdom that you all want is not just about politics, there\u2019s stuff in it about forgiveness and reconciliation.\u00a0 And it\u2019s that latter part of the equation that the nation of Israel in the first century wasn\u2019t interested in.\n\nTake a look at Matthew 5:40-42, do you follow this perfectly today? \u201cIf anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, let him have your coat also. [41] Whoever forces you to go one mile, go with him two. [42] Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.\u201d\u00a0 Now if you believe that we\u2019re under the Sermon on the Mount today I hope you\u2019ll let me know because I\u2019ll come up to you after class and I\u2019ll go easy on you at first, I\u2019ll just ask for five bucks, and then maybe ten, twenty, fifty, a hundred, a thousand, and I\u2019ll do as deep as the pockets are because this says you are to not turn away from anyone who wants to borrow from you.\n\nSo we look at this and we say well, we\u2019re not offering offerings any more on an altar, obviously any business that follows this practice would go bankrupt.\u00a0 So we kind of instinctively understand that we\u2019re not directly under the Sermon on the Mount the way it\u2019s described here. And what you have to do is you have to put yourself in the circumstances in which the Sermon on the Mount was given.\u00a0 As I mentioned before, what brackets the Sermon on the Mount is the offer of the kingdom to Israel as taught by Christ in Matthew 4, and the offer of the kingdom as taught by the twelve, Matthew 10.\n\nSo therefore what is the Sermon on the Mount doing here at this particular point in Matthew?\u00a0 It is explaining that the kingdom, which is being offered to Israel, is not just physical and political, it is ethical and moral.\u00a0 And by the time Jesus got finished with the Sermon on the Mount it logically leads into Matthew 12 which is an explanation of why the nation of Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\n\nIt disturbs me a lot to see pastors put the church of Jesus Christ directly under the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0\u00a0 And the reason I say that is because of the omissions in the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5-7, never a single time mentions Christ\u2019s sacrifice for sins.\u00a0 Now Jesus apparently did talk about that (according to John\u2019s Gospel) early on.\u00a0 But the Sermon on the Mount never mentions that.\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount never once talks about salvation by faith alone, not a single time!\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount, not a single time talks about praying in Christ\u2019s name.\u00a0 Now Jesus, in the final week of His life in the Upper Room Discourse talks about this quite a bit, called the Upper Room Discourse, John 14:13-14.\u00a0 [John 14:13-14, \u201cWhatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.<\/em>\u201d]\n\nThe Sermon on the Mount never once mentions the Holy Spirit, although Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit towards the end of His ministry in John 14:26.\u00a0 [John 14:26, \u201cThese things I have spoken to you while abiding with you.\u201d]\u00a0 The Sermon on the Mount never mentions the church.\u00a0 Now Jesus will mention the church later, after the nation of Israel has rejected the kingdom offer, Matthew 16:18. [Matthew 16:18, \u201cI also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.\u201d]\u00a0 But the Sermon on the Mount never mentions the subject of the church.\n\nSo therefore what is the Sermon on the Mount about?\u00a0 It is not to put the church directly under in a one to one sense.\u00a0 It\u2019s there to explain that the kingdom that Jesus was offering, which the Sermon on the Mount, as I mentioned before, is bracketed by the preaching of the kingdom by Christ and the preaching of the kingdom by the twelve that this kingdom that is being offered is not just politics, it\u2019s not just about filling your stomach with food.\u00a0 It is that but it\u2019s more than that!\u00a0 It\u2019s about morality, it\u2019s about ethics, it\u2019s about spiritual truths, it\u2019s about things going on in the heart of man and how the internal heart of a man has to be changed.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Jesus keeps talking about the human heart in the Sermon on the Mount.\u00a0 He says things like you know what, you can pride yourself on the fact that you\u2019re not a murderer but if you\u2019re angry in your heart towards your brother you\u2019ve already committed what?\u00a0 Murder.\u00a0 You pride yourself on the fact that you\u2019re not a physical adulterer but if you have lust in your heart you\u2019re already a what?\u00a0 An adulterer.\u00a0 And he\u2019s getting at morals, morals, morals, ethics, ethics, ethics, submission, submission, submission, submission, submission because it\u2019s an explanation of the whole package of the kingdom.\n\nIsrael only wanted half of the package, the political part, not the spiritual or ethical part.\u00a0 So the Sermon on the Mount is there to explain the other part of the equation and it explains why the nation of Israel, if you understand where the Sermon on the Mount is strategically inserted into Matthew\u2019s Gospel then you have an explanation as to why first century Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\n\nNow when I talk like this the big question is well, I mean, are you saying that we in the year 2017 should ignore the Sermon on the Mount?\u00a0 I\u2019m not necessarily saying that either.\u00a0 Lewis Sperry Chafer, the founder of Dallas Seminary, puts it this way: All of the things in the Sermon on the Mount that we are to comply with in the year 2017 have been repackaged into the epistolary literature.\u00a0 So teachings on anxiety, not being worried, you\u2019ll find that repackaged into the epistles, Philippians 4:6-7.\u00a0 [Philippians 4:6-7, \u201cBe anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.\u201d]\n\nAnd that\u2019s how I would teach the Sermon on the Mount; I would say we\u2019re under the Sermon on the Mount as it\u2019s been sort of re-shifted for our age, for the church age.\u00a0 And we take our primary ques from the epistolary literature; we don\u2019t take\u00a0 our primary ques first from the Sermon on the Mount because the Sermon on the Mount is really presented to a nation that\u2019s still functioning under the Law of Moses, giving them a very rough teaching that the kingdom is not just politics, it\u2019s also about morality and ethics.\n\nSo I would view the Sermon on the Mount through the lens of the epistles.\u00a0 I would take your primary ques, just for what\u2019s normative today from the epistolary literature and then sort of use the teachings of the Sermon on the Mount in more of a supplemental way.\n\nAnd even though the kingdom has been offered to Israel and postponed, when we get to Matthew 13, which won\u2019t be this evening, but Matthew 13 is the kingdom parables discourse; it\u2019s an explanation of what\u2019s happening in the interim while the kingdom is in postponement.\u00a0 We, in that discourse, are called the sons of the kingdom.\u00a0 So even though we are not in the kingdom now we are representing kingdom values to a certain extent.\u00a0 For example, Paul calls us ambassadors.\u00a0 Now if I\u2019m America\u2019s ambassador to Iran I\u2019m representing American values on Iranian soil.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 That\u2019s largely what we are today as New Testament Christians; we are not in the kingdom but we are ambassadors.\u00a0 We are called sons of the kingdom, Matthew 13:38.\u00a0 [Matthew 13:38, \u201c\u2026and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one;\u201d]\n\nPaul, in Galatians 4:7 says, \u201cIf a son, then a\u201d what? \u201cthen an heir.\u00a0 [Galatians 4:7, \u201cTherefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.\u201d]\u00a0 So we are heirs of the coming kingdom, and so we reflect (to a large extent) kingdom values while we\u2019re living on Satan\u2019s turf.\u00a0 I would try to apply the Sermon on the Mount that way but I would not put the church of Jesus Christ directly under the Sermon on the Mount, as many people do.\u00a0 I would make it dispensational adjustment and the reason I\u2019m saying that is the Sermon on the Mount was given at a period of time when the nation of Israel was being offered the kingdom.\u00a0 They were being told, before the Sermon on the Mount began and after the Sermon on the Mount ended, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 And they were being told that the kingdom is political but it\u2019s also ethical and moral.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the part of it that they didn\u2019t like, and that\u2019s why they turned down the offer of the kingdom.\n\nSo why did the nation of Israel turn down the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 It was this simple: Christ\u2019s kingdom was not just political but it was also moral and ethical in tone, and the whole point of the Sermon on the Mount is to communicate that.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they turned the offer down.\n\nNumber 2, why did Israel turn down the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 Because Israel, back in the first century, and even today, pursued righteousness by self-righteousness, rather than transferred righteousness available through faith alone.\u00a0 First century Israel was heavily involved in a works orientation; they were involved in a works orientation not because of the Old Testament, the Old Testament teaches grace, doesn\u2019t it.\u00a0 \u201cNoah found\u201d what? \u201cgrace in the eyes of the LORD,\u201d\u00a0 Genesis 6 tells us.\u00a0 [Genesis 6:8, \u201cBut Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.\u201d]\n\nGenesis 15:6 tells us that \u201cAbraham believed God and it was\u201d what? \u201ccredited to him as righteousness.\u201d\u00a0 [Genesis 15:6, \u201cAbram believed the LORD, and it was credited to him as righteousness.\u201d NIV]\u00a0 The Old Testament never taught works but by the time Jesus showed up the nation of Israel was heavily involved in works.\u00a0 Why were they heavily involved in works righteousness?\u00a0 Because of the advent of the Pharisees; the Pharisees were the legalists of the day.\u00a0 The Pharisees basically said our nation went into Babylonian captivity because of Sabbath violations so we\u2019re going to pass so many rules and regulations over the people that they will never violate the Sabbath again.\n\nSo they had regulations put on them regarding eating on the Sabbath, pulling out your donkey on the Sabbath, and Jesus comes along and He heals someone on the Sabbath.\u00a0 He did that many times in the Gospels, and that just freaked the leadership out, bigtime.\u00a0 And in that context\u00a0 Jesus says \u201cThus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition.\u201d\u00a0 [Mark 7:13] They had lost sight of what the Sabbath was there for.\u00a0 When God originally gave the Sabbath it was to be a blessing to man; man was to rest and recuperate on the Sabbath.\u00a0 But Jesus says if I heal someone on the Sabbath that should be no big deal, should it, if that\u2019s a blessing to\u00a0 a person.\u00a0 You all pull your animal out of a ditch on the Sabbath, don\u2019t you?\u00a0 So what\u2019s the harm in me healing somebody on the Sabbath.\n\nSo what had happened with Pharisaism is they had passed so many rules and regulations on the people, because they understood that what sent them into Babylonian captivity was violating the Sabbath so they said we\u2019re never going to let that happen again, and it\u2019s going to be rule, rule, rule, regulation, regulation, regulation on what you could or could not do on the Sabbath and these regulations became so onerous over multiple centuries that the original intent of the Sabbath was lost under layer and layer and layer of regulations.\u00a0 See that?\n\nWhat the Pharisees did is they built a fence around the Law; they built a fence around the Law through manmade regulations called the Talmud, called the Mishnah, in fact I had to read through some of that stuff in seminary; it\u2019s exhausting the intense regulations they put on people.\u00a0 And really the first time this happens in all of the Bible is with Eve.\u00a0 Remember what God originally said to Adam and Eve?\u00a0 You can eat freely from any tree of the garden that\u00a0 you want.\u00a0 [Genesis 2:16, \u201cThe LORD God commanded the man, saying, \u2018From any tree of the garden you may eat freely;\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo the serpent comes and tempts Eve and she says, not only can we not eat of it but we can\u2019t what?\u00a0 Touch it.\u00a0 Wait a minute, God never said anything about touching it, He just said you couldn\u2019t eat of it.\u00a0 So what did Eve do in her mind?\u00a0 She was so afraid of violating the command that she added a bunch of human regulations, which we call legalism, to prevent her from eating from the tree.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what Pharisaism is, it\u2019s what\u2019s called a defense around the law, they were so afraid of Israel violating the sabbath again, which might send them back into captivity because after all, that\u2019s what sent them into captivity the first time.\u00a0 They passed all of these regulations to such an extent that they built a fence around the Law and in the process they lost sight of what the original sabbath command was all about.\n\nThat\u2019s why Jesus, showing up and healing people on the Sabbath, He is in a direct confrontation with the Pharisees and the issue is not Jesus versus Moses, the issue is Jesus trying to get back to the original intent of the Sabbath, which had been lost thanks to Pharisaical regulations.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why Jesus says to the Pharisees, \u201cthus invalidating the Word of God by your tradition.\u201d\u00a0 [Mark 7:13].\u00a0 So by the time Jesus shows up the Pharisees and they were the religious leaders and therefore the whole nation of Israel was heavily involved in works righteousness.\u00a0 This is why Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount, \u201cFor I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Scribes and the Pharisees you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 5:20]\n\nNow that was quite an attack because the Scribes and the Pharisees were considered the most spiritual holy people in the nation, and Jesus says to enter the kingdom you\u2019ve got to have a righteousness that goes beyond the Scribes and the Pharisees.\u00a0 And what he\u2019s saying is works righteousness is not going to get this done; you\u2019ve got to back to imputed righteousness or transferred righteousness, the kind of righteousness that Abraham received by faith alone.\u00a0 And as Jesus taught this the Pharisees in the nation of Israel didn\u2019t want to receive it because they valued human works over faith alone.\n\nSo what I\u2019m giving you is a second reason why the nation of Israel rejected the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 Jesus said this, in John 6; now this is to the same crowd that wanted to make Him king by force.\u00a0 He said this in John 6, \u201cTherefore they said to Him, \u2018What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God,\u201d\u00a0 verse 29, \u201cJesus answered and said to them, \u2018This is the work of God, that you\u201d what? \u201cbelieve in Him whom He has sent.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So here they are with all of their extra-biblical revelations, works, works, works, and Jesus comes along and talks about salvation by simple faith.\u00a0 And they had taken the original intent of the Old Testament and buried it under layer after layer after layer of man-made tradition that when Jesus shows up He was basically teaching a different language than what they wanted.\u00a0 They were all about works, Jesus was teaching the reality of faith alone.\u00a0 Righteousness from God comes by transferred righteousness, His righteous\u00adness transferred to us by faith alone.\u00a0 It is not something that could be worked for.\n\nAnd this is the great danger of legalism because legalism always starts off well-intentioned but eventually what happens is the tail starts to wag the dog; the man-made rules that people come up with take precedence over God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 So for example, a lot of Christians know that they should keep their thought life pure.\u00a0 Well, how do I keep my thought life pure?\u00a0 What people do, they start to pass rules, women can only wear dresses up to a certain part of their legs, I can only go to certain movies that have a certain rating.\u00a0 So what has happened is to keep my mind pure I\u2019ve passed a lot of human rules along the way.\u00a0 That\u2019s called legalism and when legalism takes hold the rating of a movie or the length of a woman\u2019s dress is more important than the original principle found in the Bible.\u00a0 That\u2019s the danger of legalism is the tail starts to wag the dog.\n\nAnd this is exactly what happened to first century Israel.\u00a0 The Mishnah, the Talmud, all of these things came along because of Pharisaism.\u00a0 It all started off, I think fairly well intentioned, but as the centuries rolled on the rules and the regulations and the manmade laws were more important than the Word of God.\u00a0 Jesus shows up and starts talking about the Word of God and the original intent of God\u2019s Word and He could not penetrate the legalistic mind of the Pharisees.\n\nNow this is exactly what Paul says in Romans 9:30-32.\u00a0 Notice this passage, Paul here is giving us an explanation as to why the nation of Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 He\u2019s speaking about his own people that he has a great heart for, the Jewish people, Paul being Jewish.\u00a0 He says, \u201cWhat shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by\u201d what? \u201cfaith;\u201d these Gentiles were all made right with God because they came to God by faith alone.\u00a0 What about the Jews though? [31] \u201cbut Israel,\u201d look at this, \u201cpursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that<\/em> law. [32] Why? Because they did<\/em> not pursue it<\/em> by faith, but as though it were<\/em> by\u201d what? \u201cworks.\u201d \u00a0And so consequently Paul says, the last clause there, \u201cThey stumbled over the stumbling stone.\u201d\n\nJesus showed up and they tripped right over Him.\u00a0 Why would they trip right over Him?\u00a0 Because they were wrapped up in works righteousness, extra-biblical Pharisaism.\u00a0 And so when Jesus shows up and He teaches faith alone it\u2019s like He was talking a different language and they tripped right over it.\u00a0 And frankly that\u2019s the very reason why many people reject Christ today.\u00a0 Christ will not accommodate to man\u2019s works righteousness.\u00a0 When salvation by faith alone and grace alone is presented many people have such a legalistic mindset they say it can\u2019t be that easy and they stumble right over the message.\n\nNow there\u2019s a remnant that did believe the message within Israel but the crux of the leadership rejected the message; the crux of the nation rejected the message and the leaders rejected the message.\u00a0 And so what you discover as you go through the Gospels is you have a very specific reason why Israel rejected the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 Two reasons; number 1, Christ\u2019s kingdom was not just political but moral and ethical in tone.\u00a0 By the time He finished amplifying that in the Sermon on the Mount the leadership was already turning against Him.\n\nNumber 2, Israel pursued righteousness by self-righteousness rather than by transferred righteous\u00adness available through faith alone.\u00a0 It was like He was talking a different language because of the dominance of the extra-Biblical rituals and legalism of the Pharisees.\u00a0 So that becomes a second reason why the nation of Israel turned down the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 But guess what?\u00a0 God can take lemons and turn them into what?\u00a0 Lemonade.\u00a0 God used this to have the nation of Israel turn Christ over to the Romans for execution and through that transaction God, in the process, paid the sin debt of the whole world.\u00a0 So God took a negative and turned it into what?\u00a0 A positive.\n\nNow when did the nation of Israel formally reject the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 The only thing I\u2019ve explained thus far is why they turned it down.\u00a0 They turned it down because they didn\u2019t like the physical and the moral teachings of the kingdom.\u00a0 They turned it down because they were wrapped up in works righteousness rather than transferred righteousness by faith alone.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the why question.\n\nThe next question is the what question, or maybe better said the when question.\u00a0 When did they officially turn down the offer?\u00a0 And the answer is in Matthew 12:24 is the turning point in Matthew\u2019s Gospel because in Matthew 12:24 Jesus does the miracle in their midst that they could not deny; they could not explain it away.\u00a0 So the only excuse they were left with is this man performs this miracle by whose power?\u00a0\u00a0 The devil\u2019s power.\u00a0 And once they go that direction they\u2019ve just crossed the point of no return; the offer of the kingdom at that point is rescinded, it is taken off the table, and the offer of the kingdom does not show up again in Matthew\u2019s Gospel until Matthew records the words of Christ talking about the future tribulation period in what\u2019s called the Olivet Discourse, given on the Mount of Olives, Matthew 24:14.\u00a0 [Matthew 24:14, \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.\u201d]\n\nSo in Matthew12;23 it says this, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man casts out demons only by Beelzebub, the ruler of demons.\u201d\u00a0 Once that happens you don\u2019t find any more the expression, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 The expression disappears and does not reappear in Matthew\u2019s Gospel until Jesus begins to talk about the end of the age and the Tribulation period, when He says: \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.\u201d [Matthew 24:14] \u00a0So this chart I wanted to get into this tonight but it\u2019s going to take me too long of an explanation to do that so I\u2019ll postpone that, not for next week but the following week.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u201c\n\nBut this chart here shows you the pivot point in Matthew\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 Everything is building up to a certain point right there in chapter 11 and specifically in chapter 12.\u00a0 Once you get to that point the whole tenor and tone of Matthew\u2019s Gospel changes.\u00a0 Jesus is no longer saying \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 He starts talking about a church, \u201cI will build my church and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 16:18]\u00a0 He\u2019s never spoken of any such thing before.\u00a0 He starts to talk in parables and He starts to train the remnant\u2026 see, the nation has moved into a Christ rejecting state but there\u2019s a tiny remnant that remains in faith, a Jewish remnant.\u00a0 He starts to train them for the roles that they\u2019re going to play as foundations of the church beginning in the book of Acts.\u00a0 The miracles are no longer done by Christ to prove to the nation who He is.\u00a0 He starts to perform miracles like having Peter walk out on the water and things like that to prepare Peter and to train him for his role in the coming church age.\n\nSorry I didn\u2019t get a little further tonight but\u2026\u00a0 Number 1, why did Israel reject the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 They wanted a political kingdom, not a moral one, so they wouldn\u2019t accept the kingdom on Christ\u2019s terms.\u00a0 And number 2, they were wrapped up in works righteousness.\u00a0 Those are the two tragic reasons why the nation of Israel stumbled right over the stumbling stone, Jesus Christ, and why the kingdom was rejected and why today Israel remains owner but not possessor of her blessings and the kingdom remains in a state of what?\u00a0 Postponement.\n\nMatthew, a Jewish Christian, is carefully explaining this to his Hebrews Christian audience because what is on their mind is this: if Christ is the King then where is His kingdom.\u00a0 Matthew is giving them an explanation as to why Christ is the King but the kingdom is not here.\u00a0 So hopefully I\u2019ve caused more light than confusions tonight.","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