{"id":19192,"date":"2017-03-29T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2017-03-29T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-012\/"},"modified":"2017-03-29T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2017-03-29T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-012","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-012\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 012"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[89],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19192","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-acts","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 012","sermon_date":"20170329","sermon_month":"3","sermon_year":"2017","sermon_notes":4518,"sermon_slides":4517,"sermon_mp3":4519,"sermon_id":"329171850494","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":89,"chapter_and_verse":"3:19-21","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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The Coming Kingdom\n\n3-29-17\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Acts 3:19-21\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 12\n\nIf we could take our Bibles and open them to Acts 3, verse 19.\u00a0 Does anybody need a handout?\u00a0 Let me, if I could, just sort of review where we\u2019ve been. We\u2019re continuing to study the Doctrine of the Kingdom and trying to figure out first and foremost what does the Bible say about the kingdom.\u00a0 So we started in Eden where God reigned over a man, Adam, and he reigned over the creatures for God and that\u2019s really the kingdom that God established through a man, which was lost (as you know) in Genesis 3.\u00a0 Man started listening to the animals, he became too much of an animal activist I guess, and rebelled against God, and the kingdom was lost at that point.\u00a0 So really what\u2019s happening in the Bible is God is putting the process in place, or the wheels in place to restore what was lost in Eden where God reigns over a man.\n\nWe know by the time we get to the calling of Abraham that He\u2019s going to work His program through a particular nation, the nation of Israel.\u00a0 And it\u2019s at that time that the nation\u00a0 of Israel is given the Abrahamic Covenant, which has three blessings which are land, seed and blessing.\u00a0 And Israel is the what of those blessings?\u00a0 Not the possessor but the owner, and can anything alter that?\u00a0 No!\u00a0 Six hundred years later God, at Mount Sinai, enters into another covenant with the nation of Israel through what\u2019s called the Mosaic Covenant, which is conditional.\u00a0 The Abrahamic is unconditional, the Mosaic is conditional.\u00a0 So if the condition is met Israel becomes the what of her blessings?\u00a0 The possessor, or enjoyer.\n\nAnd we continued further on in the biblical history where the kingdom is actually divided.\u00a0 This basically takes place after the reign of Solomon and the north is swept away by the Assyrians and the south remains.\u00a0 Now of the two which is the most important, north or south?\u00a0 The south, because which tribe is in the south?\u00a0 Judah.\u00a0 And going all the way back to Genesis 49:10 God said the kingdom program is coming through Judah.\u00a0 [Genesis 49:10, \u201cThe scepter shall not depart from Judah, Nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, Until Shiloh comes, And to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.\u201d]\n\nJudah is taken into captivity by the Babylonians and that\u2019s what starts the times of the Gentiles.\u00a0 The times of the Gentiles is the period of time where the kingdom is totally gone from the earth.\u00a0 Remember it returned in limited form in the days of Moses, only over Israel but once the Shekinah glory of God leaves the temple, even that limited form of the kingdom disappears and during the times of the Gentiles the nation of Israel has no king reigning on David\u2019s throne, and the nation is being trampled down by various Gentile powers.\n\nAnd that\u2019s the significance of Daniel\u2019s visions.\u00a0 And Daniel is very clear, he says don\u2019t expect the kingdom to come (you know, the stone cut without human hands) don\u2019t expect that to manifest itself until the antichrist\u2019s empire is over.\u00a0 Once the antichrist\u2019s empire comes and goes, which is yet future, then the kingdom will come.\u00a0 So we\u2019re not living in the kingdom age now because the antichrist\u2019s kingdom has never been present, has it?\u00a0 It\u2019s yet future.\n\nSo we\u2019re living in a period of time where the kingdom is not in cancellation but in postponement.\u00a0 And this is where God begins to use the Old Testament prophets as artists, if you will, they get out their paint brushes and they give you a tremendous picture of what the kingdom is going to be like one day.\u00a0 And we went through several of their prophecies; it\u2019s really a wonderful time period.\n\nSo the nation of Israel, or Judah, finally comes back out of Babylonian captivity in what\u2019s called the post exile, they return into the land.\u00a0 They\u2019re in the land for about four centuries and Persia comes and goes, Greece comes and goes, Rome is in place, and lo and behold who shows up, in the New Testament?\u00a0 Jesus Christ, and He presents to the nation of Israel what\u2019s called the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 So if Israel at that time had complied with the offer of the kingdom then Israel would have not just been the owner but the what?\u00a0 Possessor of her blessings and the kingdom would have come to the earth.\u00a0 So that\u2019s the significance of the expression early in the gospels, \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is\u201d what?\u00a0 It\u2019s \u201cat hand,\u201d it doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s hear, it means it\u2019s right within your grasp.\n\nSo the gospels are basically tracing how that offer was turned down.\u00a0 And that takes place in what we\u2019ve been talking about the last couple of weeks, something called the rejection of the offer.\u00a0 Why did the nation of Israel reject the opportunity of multiple generations and turn down the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 Two reasons; they were all about politics and not about spirituality so they liked the teachings of Jesus as long as they could apply it to overthrowing Rome, but when He got into the Sermon on the Mount type teachings and he began to disclose that the kingdom is not just about having one\u2019s stomach filled with food and political freedom but it\u2019s about moral requirements and spiritual requirements.\u00a0 The Jewish people, who were ready to take Him by force and make Him their king, whether he wanted it or not, beforehand, but by the time He starts talking about these ethical things they\u2019re really not interested in what He has to say.\n\nAnd the second reason they missed the kingdom is the reason people miss the gospel today; they pursued it by self-righteousness, whereas anything God gives it\u2019s always on the basis of what?\u00a0 Grace through faith.\u00a0 And they weren\u2019t really wanting to receive it, if you will, on God\u2019s terms.\u00a0 So the offer is rejected.\n\nNow question number 2, what was the turning point.\u00a0 What chapter of the Bible did the nation of Israel reject the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 Matthew 12.\u00a0 Matthew 12:24 is the hinge verse and that\u2019s the verse where they attribute Christ\u2019s miracles to who? \u00a0Basically to Satan.\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.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 So they couldn\u2019t deny His miracle, He had performed several obvious miracles right in their midst and rather than deny it which they couldn\u2019t they just said the devil did that miracle.\n\nSo once it gets to that point it\u2019s very clear that the hardness of the nation\u2019s heart amongst the leaders is so hard, so stone-cold that they\u2019re not going to receive this offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 And so that shifts the whole ministry of Christ from public ministry, chapters 1-12 to what? Private ministry where He\u2019s now training the apostles for the age of the church which is on the horizon, that the apostles really know almost know nothing about; it\u2019s an era of time that we\u2019re living in now that the gospels hardly hint at and we really wouldn\u2019t know much about it had it not been for the Apostle Paul.\n\nSo this is a chart, if you will, that outlines the Gospel of Matthew and right there in the middle is the hinge; right there in chapter 12 is when everything shifts.\u00a0 There are certain chapters in the Bible that are like that, they turn everything.\u00a0 One of those chapters is 2 Samuel 11 where David is having success, success, success, success but then in chapter 11 he commits adultery and murder and the rest of the book he\u2019s having oppression and if you didn\u2019t understand what happened in chapter 11 or if that was sort of ripped out of your Bible you would have no hinge to explain the difference in content between the beginning of 2 Samuel and the end of 2 Samuel.\n\nAnother hinge chapter is Numbers 13 and 14 where God is leading the first generation out of Egypt to Canaan and then all of a sudden there\u2019s perpetual failures and God is banishing the first generation and starting to work with the second generation but what happened?\u00a0 Where\u2019s the hinge?\u00a0 Numbers 13 and 14 is the hinge.\u00a0 If you didn\u2019t have Numbers 13 and 14 you couldn\u2019t explain the different content in the two halves of the Book of Numbers.\u00a0 The Book of Matthew is that way and if you don\u2019t understand Matthew 12 you don\u2019t really understand why the shift happened beginning in Matthew 13 through the end of the book.\u00a0 So Matthew 12 is BIG!, all in caps with an exclamation point after it.\u00a0 It\u2019s huge what\u2019s happening in Matthew 12.\n\nNow one of the subjects I wanted to get into is this subject: was the kingdom, that\u2019s what we\u2019re going to deal with this evening, was the kingdom reoffered in the book of Acts?\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I had you turn to Acts 3:19-21 where there\u2019s a school of thought that says yes, the kingdom was turned down in Matthew 12 but in the book of Acts the kingdom just kept getting reoffered.\u00a0 And according to this line of thought it kept getting reoffered to Israel right up until A.D. 70 when the Romans finally pushed Israel out of her land.\n\nSo people that believe in a perpetual offer of the kingdom in the book of Acts will quote Acts 2, Joel\u2019s prophecies about the coming of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 They will quote Acts 3:19-21 that says this, Peter is speaking to the Jewish leaders in early Acts,\u00a0 \u201c\u201cTherefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; [20] and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, [21] whom heaven must receive until the<\/em> period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.\u201d\u00a0 So they say look, this is an offer of the kingdom, it says \u201crepent\u201d does it not, and if Israel repents the times of refreshing are going to come, which is the kingdom, and Jesus is going to be sent back from heaven to rule and reign on this earth and once that happens we will have the restoration of all things as spoken by the prophets.\n\nNow the restoration of all things is a bid deal because you remember in Acts 1 the apostle said this. \u201cSo when they had come together they were asking Him\u201d this is just before Christ ascended, \u201cLord, is it at this time\u00a0 You are restoring the kingdom to Israel.\u201d\u00a0 And so they\u2019ll camp on this word restoration of the phrase restoration of all things and they\u2019ll basically say this is in essence a re-offer of the kingdom; it\u2019s the very offer of restoration that Jesus spoke about in Acts chapter 1.\n\nSo this reoffer of the kingdom idea is an area that reasonable minds can disagree on.\u00a0 For example, some of my heroes, Dr. Toussaint, who I dedicated my book to, who probably taught me more about the kingdom than anybody else, he held to a perpetual reoffer of the kingdom in Acts.\u00a0 And Dr. Alva J. McClain, who Dr. Toussaint got a lot of his ideas from according to Dr. Toussaint\u2019s own admission, if you read his book The Greatness of the Kingdom<\/em>, he talks about how the kingdom kept getting reoffered in the book of Acts right up until A.D. 70.\n\nNow there is a movement outside of our traditional dispensational circles called hyper dispensationalism sometimes it\u2019s called ultra-dispensationalism; there\u2019s different varieties of it but the main tenant behind it is the church age, the age of time we\u2019re in now, did not start until the ministry of the Apostle Paul.\u00a0 So the whole idea is Paul is really the first one that understood the age of the church and so he\u2019s the only one that was given the mystery of the church.\u00a0 There\u2019s lots of problems with all of these things I\u2019m mentioning and I\u2019m only bringing this up to show you some of the voices that are arguing for an ongoing offer of the kingdom.\n\nSo the church really doesn\u2019t start until Paul, and so they start the church in Acts 9, some would\u00a0 start it in Acts 13 when Paul went on his first missionary journey.\u00a0 Some very strong ultra-dispensationalists like the late E. W. Bullinger starts the church in Acts 28.\u00a0 So they don\u2019t take the traditional dispensational normative view that we embrace here that the church started in Acts 2.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll be showing you in this course why the church, I believe, started in Acts 2; I might even get into some of that tonight.\n\nSo you ask them, well if the church really didn\u2019t start until Paul then what in the heck was Peter doing in the first nine, ten chapters; what was he preaching.\u00a0 I mean if Paul was really the first one to understand the gospel then what in the world was Peter doing in early\u00a0 Acts?\u00a0 What was he preaching in Acts 2?\u00a0 What was he preaching in Acts 3?\u00a0 And the response is Peter was still offering the kingdom to Israel.\u00a0 So this is where you get into this idea that there are actually two gospels being offered; Peter is continuing to offer the kingdom to the nation of Israel because he didn\u2019t understand the gospel yet even though the Holy Spirit came upon him.\u00a0 And Paul is really the only one that understood it and Paul was taken into Arabia to be taught by the Lord and so Peter is preaching the gospel of the kingdom to Israel and Paul is really the first one to begin the church and Paul is really the first one to give the gospel of grace and preaching that.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why this rubric, or this framework of a continuing reoffer of the kingdom in Acts is a big deal because it plays very prominently I the thinking of ultra-dispensationalists or a hyper-dispensationalist.\n\nAnd I wasn\u2019t going to get too deeply into hyper dispensationalism, maybe we can do that some other time, but one of the things that causes the whole thing to unravel is when Paul was taken into Arabia, as recorded in the book of Galatians, and he was taught the gospel by God Himself in the desert of Arabia, when Paul came out of Arabia, does anybody remember where he went?\u00a0\u00a0 The first place he went was Jerusalem and the reason he went to Jerusalem is he wanted to make sure that what he received in Arabia aligned with what the apostles in Jerusalem were preaching.\u00a0 And Paul makes a point of this very strongly in Galatians 1 and Galatians 2.\u00a0 In Galatians 1 he wants you to understand that he got his gospel from God but the way God works is if God gives you a direct revelation about something it\u2019s going to line up with His truth that He has revealed in Scripture or to other people.\u00a0 So Paul marched right into Jerusalem, he even went and sat with Peter, and Paul is very clear in the book of Galatians that they added nothing to what Paul.\u00a0 The only thing they told Paul to do was just remember the poor, Galatians 2:10, which he was happy to do anyway.\u00a0 [Galatians 2:10, \u201cThey only asked us to remember the poor-- the very thing I also was eager to do.\u201d]\n\nSo there is no such doctrine, as far as I can tell, that Paul and Peter are preaching two different gospels.\u00a0 We can get more into that during Q & A if you want to.\u00a0 But at any rate, in hyper-dispensationalism or ultra-dispensationalism and even in traditional dispensationalism there is this idea that Peter just kept on offering the kingdom and the kingdom just kept getting offered in the book of Acts and it kept getting offered right up until A.D. 70.\n\nSo the $20.00 question that we\u2019re going to try to answer tonight is this:\u00a0 was the kingdom, which was faithfully preached up until Matthew 12, was that same offer of the kingdom, did it continue to be extended all the way through the book of Acts?\u00a0 And I believe that the answer to that is no and since this is an area of confusion and an area where people have asked me a lot of questions on it I want to give you ten reasons why I don\u2019t think the offer of the kingdom was preached by the apostles in the book of Acts.\u00a0 In other words, after Matthew 12 the offer of the kingdom is withdrawn.\u00a0 It will not reappear in the book of Acts, it will not reappear until the tribulation period itself.\u00a0 So the gospel that Peter is preaching is the exact same gospel that we preach today; it\u2019s the gospel of personal salvation.\n\nReal quickly, on hyper dispensationalism the hyper dispensationalist makes a big issue out of the fact that the mystery, which is an unknown truth, was only given to Paul; it wasn\u2019t given to the rest of the apostles.\u00a0 And if you\u2019ll leave your place here in Acts 2 just for a moment and go to Ephesians 3:5 I want to show you something that causes this whole hyper dispensationalism idea to really unravel.\u00a0 Ephesians 3:5 says, \u201cwhich in other generations was not made known?\u201d he\u2019s speaking of the mystery, \u201cwas not made known to the sons of men; it has now been revealed to His holy\u201d what\u2019s the next word? \u201capostles.\u201d\n\nLet me ask\u00a0 you a basic question: is the word \u201capostle\u201d singular or plural there?\u00a0 It\u2019s plural so therefore the mystery, although Paul is the one that taught on it the most and may even had the best comprehension of it,\u00a0 yes that mystery was given to Paul but it was also given to the apostles (plural).\u00a0 So therefore they all understood the mystery and that\u2019s why when Paul came out of Arabia he presented himself to the apostles in Jerusalem and they didn\u2019t add anything to what he was saying.\n\nSo there isn\u2019t any real doctrine that Paul taught one thing because he\u2019s the only one that understood it and Peter was teaching something different.\u00a0 So Ephesians 3:5, in addition to the early book of Galatians really causes the wheels to kind of fall off the hyper dispensationalism parade, if I can put it that way.\u00a0 Probably the most popular preacher and teacher today on hyper dispensationalism in the world is a guy named Les Feldick; have you ever heard of him?\u00a0 He\u2019s got a TV show, he\u2019s got a very engaging style, he\u2019s really down to earth, he\u2019s kind of sitting in a classroom format and people are out there taking notes.\u00a0 And Les Feldick has a lot of good things to say but he will pound the hyper dispensationalism, that Peter and Paul were teaching different gospels and the true church didn\u2019t start until Paul and so forth.\n\nSo having said all that let\u2019s go back to this reoffer of the kingdom idea.\u00a0 Was the kingdom reoffered in the book of Acts?\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t think it was and let me give you ten reasons.\u00a0 The first reason I don\u2019t think the kingdom was reoffered in the book of Acts is because the King was what?\u00a0 Absent!\u00a0 Where is Jesus in the book of Acts?\u00a0 On the earth?\u00a0 He\u2019s in heaven, isn\u2019t He, because of the what?\u00a0 It starts with an A\u2026 ascension which happens in which chapter of the Bible?\u00a0 Acts chapter 1.\u00a0 And one of the things to understand about the offer of the kingdom is king and kingdom are like horse and carriage in the Bible.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have a kingdom without the king present.\u00a0\u00a0 You see this in the Old Testament, it says, [Isaiah 9:6] \u201cFor a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.\u00a0 [7] There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.\u201d\n\nSo notice, \u201cunto us a child is born\u201d that\u2019s talking about who?\u00a0 Jesus, and right after it starts talking about the kingdom.\u00a0 In other words, the kingdom was in a state of imminent expectation as long as the king was on planet earth; once he leaves that changes.\u00a0 You see this in early Luke also which says, [Luke 1:32] \u201c\u2026. Most high the LORD God will give Him\u201d that\u2019s Jesus, \u201cthe throne of His father, David.\u201d See that.\u00a0 [33] And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever and ever and His\u201d what? \u201ckingdom will have no end.\u201d\u00a0 Now notice how this verse connects \u201cking\u201d and \u201ckingdom\u201d because who was present in early Luke?\u00a0 Jesus Christ Himself.\u00a0 The opportunity to enthrone Christ and receive the kingdom was right there.\n\nAnd that is the way God structured the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 Remember, it\u2019s the Mosaic Covenant that gives the condition by which Israel is to receive the kingdom and their primary condition is you shall set a king over you who whom the Lord your God\u201d what? \u201cchooses.\u201d\u00a0 So Jesus is in front of them, they have a chance to enthrone Him, the offer of the kingdom is present through that transaction but once He leaves the earth there\u2019s no king to enthrone any more, is there?\u00a0 And that\u2019s why the offer of the kingdom starts to get rescinded.\n\nAnd even Acts 3 which is the verse they all use to say this was an offer of the kingdom\u2026 I\u2019ll explain Acts 3 in just a moment, but it says very clearly in this verse that Jesus Christ is where?\u00a0 In heaven; heaven has received Him.\u00a0 And without Jesus Christ on the earth there can\u2019t be an authentic offer of the kingdom.\n\nThe second reason that the offer of the kingdom I don\u2019t think is being re-extended in the book of Acts is because of the irreversible language found in the gospels. You get the impression that when the nation of Israel rejected the offer of the kingdom in Matthew 12 that was very permanent what they did.\u00a0 In fact, it was so permanent you don\u2019t get the idea that they could have turned back the clock any more than the generation that panicked because of the giants could have turned back the clock.\n\nFor example, over in Matthew 12:31-32 it indicates that that generation had committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 [Matthew 12:31-32, \u201c\u201cTherefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven. \u201cWhoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age<\/em> to come.\u201d]\u00a0 They had committed the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Now in the soteriology class that I was teaching on Sunday morning I don\u2019t interpret that as personal, I interpret that mostly as national.\u00a0 So there\u2019s very strong language of irreversibility there, so you get the idea that the nation had gone too far.\n\nNotice, if you will, Matthew 21:43, Jesus says, \u201cTherefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you\u201d who\u2019s the \u201cyou\u201d? Israel, \u201cand given to a people producing the fruit thereof.\u201d\u00a0 Now the \u201cpeople producing the fruit thereof\u201d is a distant Israel, in the future.\u00a0 But doesn\u2019t that look irreversible to you, the kingdom is going to be taken away from you.\u00a0 I mean, why would Peter show up and say just fooling, here\u2019s the offer again.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t make any sense in light of this irreversible language.\n\nIn the parable of the wedding feast, which is describing rebellious Israel in the first century, Matthew 22:7 says, \u201cBut the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.\u201d\u00a0 Now what event do you think that\u2019s speaking of?\u00a0 A.D. 70.\u00a0 So A.D.70 is coming whether\u00a0 you want it or not at this point, because the penalty of the curses for the rejection of the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 Again that\u2019s language that it can\u2019t be reversed.\u00a0 And so you see this irreversible language in the gospels and therefore it really makes no sense for all of that language to be reversed and suddenly the offer of the kingdom is back on the table again.\n\nNumber 3, there has been in the Gospels a new and undisclosed age as a result of Israel\u2019s rejection of the offer of the kingdom has already been revealed. \u00a0In other words, not only is it clear that the nation of Israel had gone too far through irreversible language but God has gone one step further and already disclosed what\u2019s going to happen in the interim.\u00a0\u00a0 What\u2019s the interim?\u00a0 It\u2019s the period of time that we\u2019re going to start talking about next week that we\u2019re living in now.\u00a0 We will discover that Jesus has already outlined that period of time through eight parables in what is called the inter-advent age.\u00a0 What\u2019s the interadvent age?\u00a0 It\u2019s the period of time that we\u2019re living in now between the two advents of Christ, now that the offer of the kingdom has been rescinded.\n\nIn the parable of the minas in Luke 19 Jesus has already said that He\u2019s entrusting people with certain things that they\u2019re to manage on His behalf and He\u2019s going away for a long time.\u00a0 Luke 19:11-27, the parable of the minas talks about that.\u00a0 He\u2019s going away for a long time and He\u2019s not coming back until a lengthy age has elapsed and then He\u2019ll hold people accountable for what they did with what He has entrusted to them.\n\nBeyond that you get into what is called the Olivet Discourse, which was given on the Mount of Olives, which is really a description of the tribulation period, and He\u2019s already articulated that the birth pangs, now why are these called birth pangs?\u00a0 Once the tribulation period begins it\u2019s like a woman about to give birth; the contractions become more and more intense, and the distance or time between the contractions gets shorter and shorter and shorter until the birth happens.\u00a0 So in the same way once the tribulation period starts the earth starts going through contractions.\u00a0 Jesus calls them birth pangs, John in the book of Revelation calls them the seal judgments and when you study Matthew 24 what you\u2019ll discover is these birth pangs have to happen before the kingdom can come.\u00a0\u00a0 Birth pangs leading to the birth of what?\u00a0 The birth of the kingdom at the end of the tribulation period.\n\nWhat am I trying to get at?\u00a0 Jesus, through these birth pangs and by describing the interadvent age has not just shown through irreversible language that the offer is off the table but He\u2019s already hinted at or started to describe this vast period of time that we\u2019re in now, which must transpire before the kingdom can come.\u00a0 And so for Peter to just show up and offer the kingdom again would erase all of these things that I\u2019ve mentioned here.\n\nNumber 4, and a lot of people miss this: the word \u201ckingdom,\u201d the Greek word basileia<\/em>, is found 45 times in Luke\u2019s Gospel; that\u2019s a lot of usages, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Why is it found 45 times in Luke\u2019s Gospel?\u00a0 Because at that time Jesus was on the earth and the offer of the kingdom was being extended.\u00a0 Luke is the prequel; what\u2019s the sequel he wrote, called the book of Acts.\u00a0 I\u2019m bringing this up because is the kingdom being reoffered in the book of Acts?\u00a0 How many times is the word \u201ckingdom\u201d used in the book of Acts?\u00a0\u00a0 Not 45 times, a mere 8 times, so we get 45 usages in the Gospel of Luke when the King is present and then when the King is gone the word kingdom, the Greek word basileia<\/em> is only mentioned a mere eight time.\u00a0 Why the shrinkage?\u00a0 Because the offer has been given, rejected and rescinded and we\u2019re now in a new age of time when the kingdom is not being reoffered.\u00a0 And what people will do is they\u2019ll find those eight usages of the word kingdom in the book of Acts and they\u2019ll build their whole theology around these eight usages.\n\nFor example, at the very end of the book of Acts it says this: \u201cHe\u201d that\u2019s Paul, \u201cstayed two full years in his own rented quarters\u00a0 and was welcoming all who came to him preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness and unhindered.\u201d\u00a0 People say aha, there it is, He\u2019s reoffering the kingdom in the book of Acts.\u00a0 Does that verse say He was offering the kingdom?\u00a0 Does it say \u201crepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand?\u201d\u00a0 NO, he was just teaching the full counsel of God\u2019s Word, which is not just what Jesus will do at His first coming but what He will do at His second coming.\u00a0 He was just having a Bible study; if he had had the book of Revelation at that time (it hadn\u2019t been written yet) he\u2019s probably have just been doing a Bible study on the book of Revelation.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that He\u2019s offering the kingdom.\n\nAnd there\u2019s about eight usages in the book of Acts where this happens and that\u2019s a very different usage compared to the 45 times the word is used in Luke, the prequel, where the offer of the kingdom is right there on the table.\n\nNumber 5, the expression \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d which is so prominent in the Gospels, how many times do we find that expression in the book of Acts?\u00a0 Zero!\u00a0 You remember how the kingdom was offered by John the Baptist, Matthew 3:2, \u201cJesus,\u201d Matthew 4:17, the apostles, remember\u00a0 He said go only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel with this message?\u00a0 Matthew 10:5-7, the seventy.\u00a0 [Matthew 3:2, \u201cRepent, 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: \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.]\n\nAnd they kept saying over and over again, \u201crepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s what John the Baptist taught.\u00a0 Jesus shows up after John the Baptist and says \u201crepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus sends out the twelve and gives them the same message, \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 The seventy go out, \u201cthe kingdom of God has come near to you.\u201d\u00a0 You get to Matthew 12 where the offer is rejected and the phrase disappears.\n\nAnd guess what?\u00a0 It never appears in the book of Acts.\u00a0 The phrase, \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d is not found in the book of Acts, it\u2019s not found in Acts 2, everybody is trying to build this doctrine of a reoffered kingdom in Acts 2, the phrase \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d is not found in Acts 2.\u00a0 In fact, the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not even found in Acts 2 nor is the word \u201ckingdom\u201d found in Acts 3.\u00a0 Instead what is Peter saying in Acts 2, \u201cbe saved from this\u201d what? \u201cperverse generation.\u201d\u00a0 What\u2019s the perverse generation?\u00a0 It\u2019s the nation that rejected the offer of the kingdom that is now under the disciplinary hand of God.\u00a0 See that?\u00a0 He\u2019s not offering the kingdom here, He\u2019s saying come out from that perverse generation.\n\nAnd what happened is God did a miracle and 3,000 people got saved which is very small potatoes compared to the over a million people that potentially could have been saved at this point on the day of Pentecost.\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t think any of these ten reasons I\u2019m giving seals the deal but when you put all ten together you\u2019ve got a pretty strong case that the kingdom is not being reoffered in the book of Acts.\n\nNumber six, to place the offer of the kingdom in the book of Act is to unnecessarily comingle kingdom truth with church age truth.\u00a0 What is the book of Acts all about?\u00a0 It is about the birth of the church and its growth.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have time to get into it this evening but I\u2019ll be showing you from these Scriptures here that the church started in Acts 2.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s the only place in the book of Acts where the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit began; the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit takes the child of God at the point of faith and identifies them with Christ\u2019s body.\u00a0 Paul explains that in 1 Corinthians 12:13.\u00a0 [1 Corinthians 12:13, \u201cFor by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.\u201d]\n\nSo all you\u2019ve got to figure out then to discover when the body of Christ started is to figure out when the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit started because that\u2019s the ministry that takes the child of God and identifies them with Christ\u2019s body, the church.\u00a0 Once that ministry starts that\u2019s when the body of Christ starts; the ministry (as I\u2019ll be showing you) started in Acts 2.\n\nSo what is the book of Acts about?\u00a0 It is not about the kingdom.\u00a0 The issue of the kingdom has already been settled in Matthew 12; we\u2019re now into something completely different that God is doing which is the birth and the growth of the early church.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the book of Acts is about; how the church started and how it grew numerically, geographically and ethnically.\u00a0 It grew numerically as Luke gives us progress reports; he says 3,000 were added, then 5,000, and he keeps giving us a number showing us that the church is progressing.\u00a0 And then the church leaves Jerusalem and goes all the way to where?\u00a0\u00a0 Rome, that\u2019s geographic progression.\u00a0 I mean, is that the offer of the kingdom?\u00a0 No, the offer of the kingdom was only given to which nation?\u00a0 Israel.\u00a0 The book of Acts is talking about things happening in Rome.\n\nAnd then how the church changed in terms of its composition, ethnically, from an offshoot of Judaism into a body that\u2019s where the Gentiles are predominant.\u00a0 So all the way through the book of Acts what\u2019s happening is the ethnic complexion of the church is changing from Judaism that\u2019s becoming hardened against the gospel to Gentile domination.\u00a0 And people get very confused about that and they say well when the church became Gentile that\u2019s when the church started.\u00a0 NO!\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The church started when what ministry started?\u00a0 The baptizing work of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 That\u2019s how you figure out when the church started.\u00a0 The body of Christ is going in Acts 2, it has nothing to do with the change of the ethnic complexion of the church which Luke documents for it but that\u2019s not the factor\u00a0 you look at to determine when the church started.\u00a0 You don\u2019t try to figure out when did Paul get saved to determine when the church started.\u00a0 You don\u2019t try to figure out when did the church become Gentile, predominantly?\u00a0 Those are non-issues; the issue is when did the baptizing work of the Holy Spirit begin.\u00a0 And I\u2019ll be showing you very clearly that that started in Acts 2.\n\nAnd see this is why Jesus is trying to change the thinking of the disciples.\u00a0 Remember what they said in Acts 1, beginning in verse 4?\u00a0 \u201cGathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised,\u201d what\u2019s the gift the Father had promised?\u00a0 The Holy Spirit.\u00a0 \u201c\u2018Which,\u2019 He said,<\/em> \u2018you heard of from Me.\u201d\u00a0 [6] \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 They\u2019re not thinking in terms of the church, they know very little about it, they\u2019re thinking all about the what?\u00a0 the Kingdom.\u00a0 What did Jesus say?\u00a0 [7] \u201cHe said to them, \u2018It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;\u201d\u2019 don\u2019t worry about the kingdom, that\u2019s all going to come one day, you focus on what God is doing now which is not the reoffer of the kingdom to Israel but it\u2019s the birth and growth of the what?\u00a0 The church.\u00a0 That\u2019s why he changes their focus.\u00a0 He says, [8] \u201cbut you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.\u201d\n\nNow was the offer of the kingdom to the remote parts of the earth?\u00a0 No, it was only to national Israel.\u00a0 He\u2019s talking about something totally new now where the church is going to start in Acts when the Spirit comes; this takes place in Acts 1. When did the Spirit come?\u00a0 Acts 2.\u00a0 So they\u2019re still thinking kingdom, kingdom, kingdom, he\u2019s trying to transition their thinking away from the kingdom, which is a dead issue by this time, to what God is doing now, which is the work of the Holy Spirit through the church.\n\nSo sort of my concern is people, I think, are not understanding what the book of Acts is about, to read all of this kingdom stuff into the book of Acts\u2026 that\u2019s not what the book of Acts is about.\u00a0 That issue has already been taken care of in Matthew 12; that\u2019s a done deal.\u00a0 The issue is what is God doing new in the church age that began in Acts 2, that\u2019s been going on for the last 2,000 years.\n\nThis takes us to number 7, why the kingdom was not reoffered in Acts.\u00a0 The timing of the kingdom has already been fixed by the Father\u2019s authority.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that what Jesus said to the disciples.\u00a0 [Acts 1:6] \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 What did he say?\u00a0 [7] \u201cHe said to them, \u2018It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has\u201d what? \u201cfixed by His own authority;\u201d the kingdom is going to come one day to and through Israel, largely in the events of the great tribulation period and when the kingdom comes it has already been fixed.\u00a0 So they rejected it in the first century and God has already fixed a time in the distant future when the kingdom will come.\u00a0 And what He\u2019s getting at here is don\u2019t worry about that right now; focus on what God is doing, which is the birth and growth of the church.\n\nSo to make Acts 2 and Acts 3 a reoffer of the kingdom is to say oh, all that stuff that the Father has fixed it by His own authority, just fooling, Jesus really didn\u2019t mean that, you can have it right now.\u00a0 Well, if they can have it right now in Acts 2 and 3 why does Acts 1 say the coming of the kingdom has already been fixed by the Father\u2019s authority?\n\nNumber 7, what was Peter doing in the book of Acts? What is Peter doing in Acts 2?\u00a0 Is he offering the kingdom?\u00a0 No, he\u2019s preaching the gospel.\u00a0 You remember the difference between the kingdom Gospel that was offered to Israel,\u00a0 (\u201cgospel\u201d just means good news) and the personal gospel?\u00a0 The kingdom gospel is found in early Matthew; the personal gospel you start to read about in John\u2019s Gospel and in Acts.\u00a0 The target audience for the kingdom gospel is the nation of Israel.\u00a0 The target audience for the personal gospel is all nations.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel offered national salvation; the personal gospel offers personal and individual salvation.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel always portrays Jesus Christ as King; the personal gospel always portrays Him as what?\u00a0 Savior.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel says the kingdom is imminent.\u00a0 The personal gospel has nothing to do with that.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel, if Israel had accepted it the kingdom would have appeared but the personal gospel relates to the building of the church.\n\nDo you guys recall this chart?\u00a0 The Scriptural foundation of the kingdom gospel is the condition of the Mosaic Covenant.\u00a0 The personal gospel is all about the personal plan of salvation, that Abraham believed, it\u2019s developed in John\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel was preached in the early Gospels and will be preached in the tribulation period.\u00a0 The personal gospel has been preached since the fall of man and it\u2019s being preached right now in the church age. \u00a0\u00a0The kingdom gospel is not being preached today but the personal gospel is.\u00a0 The kingdom is not available today but the personal gospel is.\u00a0 The Synoptics, remember what Synoptic means?\u00a0 Similar look, s-y-n means similar in Greek, and optic, you recognize that word as in optometrist, ophthalmologist, it means eyes or look.\u00a0 The Synoptics are Matthew, Mark and Luke, because they follow the same plot structure.\u00a0 Which is the non-Synoptic gospel?\u00a0 John.\u00a0 The Synoptics ae all about the kingdom gospel.\u00a0 What\u2019s John\u2019s Gospel all about?\u00a0\u00a0 The personal gospel.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel does not mention the cross, the atonement of Christ, the resurrection of Christ, the ascension of Christ, the coming of the Holy Spirit or the forgiveness of sins.\n\nWhat does the personal gospel mention?\u00a0 All of the above.\u00a0 Look at that last one for a minute.\u00a0 The kingdom gospel is not going to mention the cross, the atonement, the resurrection, the ascension, the Holy Spirit or the forgiveness of sins.\u00a0 As you go through the offer of the kingdom, as presented by John, Jesus, the Twelve, the disciples, repent, repent, repent for the kingdom of God is at hand, do you see any language here about the cross?\u00a0 None.\u00a0 The resurrection, none!\u00a0 The atonement, none!\u00a0 Forgiveness of sins, no reference to it all.\u00a0 The same with the way Jesus preached it.\u00a0 You don\u2019t even start to get a glimpse in Matthew\u2019s Gospel of Jesus paying the penalty for our sins until you get beyond\u00a0 He offered the kingdom to Israel and the rejection of that offer. \u00a0The Twelve are never sent out to preach forgiveness of sins.\u00a0 The seventy weren\u2019t sent out that way.\n\nWhat\u2019s Peter talking about in Acts 2?\u00a0 Look at Acts 2:23-24.\u00a0 The word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not found here.\u00a0 You tell me what Peter is talking about.\u00a0 \u201cthis Man,<\/em> delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you\u201d what? \u201cnailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him<\/em> to death. [24] But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power.\u201d\u00a0 Do you see the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in here?\u00a0 Do you see the words \u201crepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d in here?\u00a0 You don\u2019t see that.\u00a0 What\u2019s he preaching here?\u00a0 Christ died for your sins and rose from the dead.\u00a0 Is he preaching the kingdom gospel or the personal gospel?\u00a0 It\u2019s quite obvious he\u2019s preaching the personal gospel.\n\nHe goes on in Acts 2 and he says, \u201che looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ,\u201d now did John the Baptist ever preach about the resurrection of Christ?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t.\u00a0 \u201c\u201dhe looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of Christ that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. [32] This Jesus God raised up again,\u201d that\u2019s the resurrection, \u201cto which we are all witnesses. [33] Therefore having been exalted to the\u201d where? \u201cright hand of God,\u201d the kingdom gospel couldn\u2019t be offered here because Jesus is in heaven at the Father\u2019s right hand.\u00a0 He\u2019s not imminently present for Him to be enthroned.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit,\u201d did John the Baptist and the early guys, offering the kingdom, did they ever talk about the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 Not really.\u00a0 \u201cHe has poured forth this which you both see and hear.\u201d\u00a0 [36] \u201cTherefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ\u2014this Jesus whom you crucified.\u201d\n\n[38] \u201cPeter said to them repent\u2026 \u201coh-oh, \u201cand each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the\u201d what? \u201cforgiveness of\u201d whose sins? \u201cyour sins;\u201d as an individual, there\u2019s nothing national here at all, this is all about you as an individual, it\u2019s the exact same gospel that I try to preach, if God allows me, every Sunday morning.\u00a0 Now what about this word \u201crepent\u201d?\u00a0 People get very confused about the word \u201crepent\u201d and they try to say well, repent, that reminds me of \u201crepent, the kingdom of God is at hand,\u201d therefore Peter must be preaching the kingdom gospel.\u00a0 Well, what does repent mean?\u00a0 It means change of mind, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 When you change your mind you are going away from what you have been trusting in to what you are trusting in now.\u00a0 When the word \u201crepent\u201d is used that way it is speaking of trust, which becomes not an antonym for believe but a synonym.\u00a0 When Peter used the word \u201crepentance\u201d all he was doing there was he was\u00a0 using a synonym for the word repent; that\u2019s all he was doing.\n\nAnd people get kind of bent out of shape about this too, in Acts 2:38 \u201cPeter said to them, \u2018Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins;\u2019\u201d and people say look at that, that\u2019s a works gospel there because he says I\u2019ve got to get baptized to get my sins forgiven.\u00a0 May I just say to you that that\u2019s a mistranslation.\u00a0\u00a0 The Greek word there is eis<\/em>, the Greek word translated \u201cfor\u201d is the Greek preposition eis<\/em>, which can be translated not for but because of.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s how it\u2019s used in Matthew 12:41, \u201cThe men of Nineveh will stand up with this generation at the judgment, and will condemn it because they repented\u201d here\u2019s eis,<\/em> which can be translated because of \u201c the preaching of Jonah\u2026.\u201d In other words, they repented because of the preaching of Jonah.\n\nAnd if you understand eis<\/em> in that manner the whole problem with Acts 2:38 disappears.\u00a0 What Acts 2:38 is saying is this: \u201cPeter said to them repent and each of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ\u201d not for the forgiveness of your sins but \u201cbecause of the forgiveness of your sins.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t that change the meaning there?\u00a0 Why do I get baptized?\u00a0 Because my sins have been forgiven.\u00a0 Amen!\u00a0 I don\u2019t get baptized to get my sins forgiven, that is a mistranslation of the Greek word eis<\/em> and it\u2019s tragic that so many Bible translations translate that word \u201cfor\u201d when it should read (I believe) \u201cbecause of.\u201d\n\nI bring this up because people will camp on the word \u201cfor\u201d and they\u2019ll say aha, that\u2019s a different gospel, it\u2019s some kind of works gospel, it must be the offer of the kingdom and I don\u2019t believe that that\u2019s true at all.\u00a0 I believe what Peter is doing in Acts 2 is he\u2019s preaching the gospel, he\u2019s telling people to believe it, now he\u2019s using the word \u201crepent\u201d which means change of mind, when you stop trusting in whatever it was you were trusting and trust exclusively in Christ, have you believed or have you repented?\u00a0 The is yes.\u00a0 The moment you trust in Christ you\u2019ve automatically changed your mind.\u00a0 That\u2019s how repentance should be understood in Acts 2.\u00a0 And he\u2019s not saying you have to get baptized so your sins will be forgiven; he\u2019s saying get baptized, eis,<\/em> because your sins have been forgiven.\u00a0 So what Peter is doing in Acts 2 is he\u2019s just preaching the normative gospel that we preach today; he\u2019s not offering the kingdom at all here.\n\nWell, what are you going to do with Acts 3, that\u2019s the dead ringer isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 In Acts 3:19-21 what is Peter doing?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go back to Acts 3:19, \u201cTherefore repent\u201d he\u2019s speaking to Israel, \u201cand return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; [20] and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, [21] whom heaven must receive until the<\/em> period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.\u201d\u00a0 Now people that believe the gospel of the kingdom is being re-preached in Acts will gravitate toward this verse.\n\nI believe that what Peter is doing here is he is outlining the condition that will be met in the distant future by the nation of Israel before the restoration of all things can occur and \u201ctimes of refreshing\u201d will come.\u00a0 He\u2019s not offering it right there to experience these things now; he\u2019s saying in the future this is what\u2019s going to have to happen if you\u2019re ever going to get the kingdom.\u00a0 And it\u2019s identical to what Jesus says at the end of Matthew 23:37\u201cJerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her, how often I have wanted to gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks under \u00a0her wings but you were unwilling. [38] Behold, your house is being left to you desolate! [38] For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say,\u201d what? \u201c\u2018BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 You have to publicly acknowledge Me as the Messiah is what Jesus is saying here.\n\nSee, Matthew 12 has already occurred, by the time you get to Matthew 23 he\u2019s outlining the condition in the distant future through which the condition will be met and the kingdom will come to the earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s why Matthew 23 is followed by Matthew 24.\u00a0 You guys with me on that?\u00a0 Matthew 24 is a description of the great tribulation which is the circumstances by which the nation of Israel in the future will meet that condition. Do you follow?\u00a0 So Jesus at the end of Matthew 23 is not reoffering the kingdom; He\u2019s just giving the condition that the nation must meet for the kingdom to come, which we know eschatologically will take place in the great tribulation period. Peter, think of the end of Matthew 23, Peter in Acts 3, when he\u2019s speaking to the unbelieving Jewish leadership is telling them the exact same thing.\n\nAnd then finally number 10, people say well what about the miracles?\u00a0 I mean, aren\u2019t there miracles in the book of Acts?\u00a0 Yes there are.\u00a0 Aren\u2019t there miracles in the Gospels?\u00a0 Yes there are.\u00a0 Weren\u2019t the miracles in the Gospels there to authenticate the offer of the kingdom to Israel?\u00a0 Yes they were.\u00a0 Therefore aren\u2019t the miracles in the book of Acts to authenticate the fact that the offer of the kingdom kept getting re-extended in the book of Acts?\u00a0 The answer is no.\u00a0 The miracles in the Gospels are for a different purpose than the miracles in the book of Acts.\n\nMiracles in the Bible have a tendency to cluster around time periods when God is doing something totally new.\u00a0 So you have miracles taking place very extensively in the time of Moses because God was doing something new through the giving of the Law.\u00a0 That\u2019s why they\u2019re called signs; the signs confirm that what is happening now is of God.\u00a0 Miracles take place extensively in the time period of Elijah and Elisha because God is raising up a new office called the prophet, because now we have kings and these kings have a tendency to run off the rail.\u00a0 The northern kingdom had zero good kings, the southern kingdom only had eight.\u00a0\u00a0 So God has to raise up prophets to call wayward kings back to the Mosaic Law and so the miracles confirm that new office.\n\nMiracles are very extensive in the ministry of Christ because finally the Messiah is showing up and what is He offering to Israel?\u00a0 The kingdom.\u00a0 But then we\u2019ve got a lot of miracles taking place in the book of Acts, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Why are those miracles there?\u00a0 They\u2019re not there because the kingdom is being offered again to Israel; they\u2019re there to authenticate something brand new that God has raised up called the church.\u00a0 And the best I understand it the next signs and wonders movement on the horizon is the kingdom of the antichrist, where there are going to be counterfeit signs and wonders that Satan is going to perform around his man of the hour, the antichrist.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I\u2019m always a little bit nervous with Christians that are looking for the next signs and wonders movement when prophetically I understand the next signs and wonders movement is coming from the devil.\n\nSo my point is the miracles in the book of Acts really have nothing to do with the kingdom being reoffered to Israel; they\u2019re there to authenticate the new program God is doing called the what?\u00a0 Church.\u00a0 Hebrews 2:2-4, towards the end of the verse talks about these signs and wonders. \u00a0\u00a0God confirmed it to us, \u201ctestifying to them by both signs and wonders and by various miracles and gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His will.\u201d \u00a0[Hebrews 2:2-4, \u201cFor if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, [3] how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, [4] God also testifying with them, both by signs and wonders and by various miracles and by gifts of the Holy Spirit according to His own will.:]\n\nThese signs and wonders that are spoken of here are to confirm the church, not the continuing offer of the kingdom to national Israel.\n\nSo you take these ten reasons, no one argument seals the deal but ten of them taken cumulatively I think have a pretty good argument to be made that the kingdom is not being re-offered in Acts; the King was absent, the language in the Gospels around Matthew 12 is irreversible, a new age of time in the Gospels has already been disclosed where the kingdom will be absent.\u00a0 The word \u201ckingdom\u201d is hardly mentioned in the book of Acts.\u00a0 The expression \u201crepent for the kingdom of God that is so prominent in early gospels is not found in the book of Acts.\u00a0 The story of the book of Acts is the church and the new ministry that\u2019s been raised up called the baptizing ministry of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 The Father has already fixed the time when the kingdom will come.\u00a0 So why would Peter violate that by offering the kingdom now?\u00a0 What\u2019s Peter doing in Acts 2?\u00a0 He\u2019s preaching the gospel.\u00a0 What\u2019s Peter doing in Acts 3?\u00a0 He\u2019s laying out the condition that the nation must meet for the kingdom to come.\u00a0 Well why do we have miracles in the book of Acts then?\u00a0 Not to authenticate the continuing offer of the kingdom like we had in the gospels but to authenticate the new thing that God is doing that we\u2019re still\u00a0 involved in today called the church.\n\nAnyway, maybe that clears up some confusion, maybe it makes you more confused but we\u2019re leaving the rejection of the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 We\u2019ve asked and answered the question why did Israel reject the offer of the kingdom.\u00a0 What was the turning point?\u00a0 And was the kingdom re-offered in the book of Acts?\u00a0 To number 3 I would say no.\u00a0 Next week we\u2019re moving into chapter 9 of my book where we\u2019re going to learn about this new age of time that is disclosed, that we\u2019re living in today.\u00a0 Just because the kingdom is not here doesn\u2019t mean God is not active.\u00a0 God\u2019s doing a lot of stuff, it just is not the kingdom.\u00a0 What this new age of time is about is described uniquely or differently in everything we\u2019ve read about concerning the coming kingdom.\u00a0 Okay, 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