{"id":19222,"date":"2018-04-18T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-04-18T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-042\/"},"modified":"2018-04-18T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-04-18T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-042","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-042\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 042"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[69],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19222","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-jeremiah","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 042","sermon_date":"20180418","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":5688,"sermon_slides":5690,"sermon_mp3":5692,"sermon_id":"41818191034","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":69,"chapter_and_verse":"30:7","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n4-18-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jeremiah 30:7\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 42\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles and open them to the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 30 and verse 7. We\u2019re sort of at a transitional point, if you will, in our study of the kingdom.\u00a0 But in the book that I wrote we\u2019re in chapter 15, and the book that I wrote is not the important book; the Bible is the important book but my book is sort of topically organizes biblical material.\n\nThe first major part of this study is what does the Bible say about the kingdom?\u00a0 We started in Genesis 1 and travelled all the way through Revelation 22 and saw progressively the doctrine of the kingdom unfolded.\u00a0\u00a0 So currently we\u2019re living in a time period called the church age where the kingdom is not cancelled but postponed.\u00a0 It took us several lessons to get through all of that material but I hope you enjoyed the ride because it really is just going through the Scripture.\u00a0 And we\u2019re at a section now, which I think we can finish pretty rapidly; it\u2019s part 2, the main problem with kingdom now New Testament interpretations, because that is sort of the direction that folks are moving in today theologically.\n\nThe big argument that\u2019s being made today is that we are in a spiritual form of the kingdom now.\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019ve shared with you several quotes that demonstrate that.\u00a0\u00a0 You might recall this quote from Dallas Willard which I won\u2019t reread to you.\u00a0 We read it twice I think the last couple of weeks.\u00a0 But towards the end of it it says, \u201cBut even this does not detract from the reality of the \u2018kingdom among us<\/u><\/em>.\u2019\u201d And the last sentence says, \u201cNor does it destroy the choice that all have to accept it and bring their life increasingly into it.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy, p. 30]\u00a0\u00a0 I\u2019m not trying to pick on Dallas Willard but I thought his quote here pretty much epitomized the way most people today think about the kingdom.\u00a0 It\u2019s Jesus in our hearts, those sorts of things; a lot of people think their church is the kingdom.\n\nAnd what I was sharing with you are basically two major problems with that.\u00a0\u00a0 The first problem \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0is based on our study that we\u2019ve done in the Bible the kingdom is not something you can just \u00a0define any way you want to define it.\u00a0 The kingdom basically every time it\u2019s portrayed in the Old Testament is always earthly; it\u2019s not something happening in our hearts.\u00a0 I\u2019m not denying that God is doing things in our hearts but that doesn\u2019t represent the kingdom.\u00a0 The kingdom is always earthly and it always, the way it\u2019s pictured it only cam come into existence over planet earth after Israel is in faith.\u00a0 So God has attached His whole kingdom program to His covenanted nation and as we all know the nation of Israel today is in unbelief.\u00a0 So if they are in unbelief how can the kingdom be here?\n\nSo if that is true, and if that is a fair representation of what the Old Testament teaches what the kingdom now theologian always wants you to believe is that somehow the New Testament has changed the Old Testament.\u00a0\u00a0 So it\u2019s hard to listen to or talk to a kingdom now theologian without them introducing the word change.\u00a0 I gave\u00a0 you this quote last time from Colin Chapman.\u00a0 Real quickly it says, \u201cWhen the New Testament writers like John had seen the significance of the land and the nation in the context of the kingdom of God which had come into being in Jesus of Nazareth, they ceased to look forward to a literal fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies of a return to the land and a restoration of a Jewish state. The one and only fulfillment of all promises and prophecies was already there before their eyes in the person of Jesus. The way they interpreted the Old Testament should be the norm for the Christian interpretation of the Old Testament today.\u201d\u00a0 [Colin Chapman, Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine (Oxford, England: Lion, 2015), 262.]\n\nAnd what he\u2019s basically saying is Jesus came and brought in the kingdom spiritually and in the process reinterpreted the Old Testament, or changed it.\u00a0 And what I was sharing with you are basically three problems with that.\u00a0 This is a little bit of a review from last week, but the first problem with that is it turns God basically into a liar.\u00a0 I don\u2019t how else nice to say it.\u00a0 I mean, if the kingdom is always earthly and it always is portrayed as governing planet earth through a repentant Israel then suddenly for Jesus to introduce a spiritual kingdom, which is not earthly, but it\u2019s Jesus reigning in our hearts, without even Israel in faith yet nationally, is\u2026 I don\u2019t know how to say it nicely other than to say that that makes all of the promises of the Old Testament lies, does it not?\n\nAnd whenever someone comes along and says the New Testament changes the Old Testament that automatically warning flags should go up in\u00a0 your mind because the Bible very clearly tells us that there are certain things God can\u2019t do and one of the things He cannot do is lie; it\u2019s an impossibility.\u00a0\u00a0 So there\u2019s at least three verses in the Bible that teach this, maybe more.\u00a0 Numbers 23:19; Titus 1:2, Hebrews 6:18.\u00a0 [Numbers 23:19, \u201cGod is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?\u201d\u00a0 Titus 1:2, \u201cin the hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised long ages ago.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Hebrews 6:18, \u201cso that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we \u00a0\u00a0who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 God cannot lie!\u00a0 And aren\u2019t you glad that that\u2019s true because if that weren\u2019t true you would doubt every single promise He\u2019s ever made to you, including promises of your own salvation.\n\nThe second problem with this idea that we are now in this spiritual form of the kingdom is that it contradicts a basic biblical principle that truth is always determined by conformity to prior Scripture.\u00a0 In order to determine if an interpretation of the Bible is correct that interpretation must conform to what God has already revealed.\u00a0 If it contradicts what God has already revealed, if it changes what God has already revealed then it can\u2019t be true.\u00a0 And we went through several passages last time, beginning with Deuteronomy 13:1-5, all the way through Revelation 2:2 demonstrating that.\u00a0 And that\u2019s probably a second major problem with this spiritual form of the kingdom idea.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t conform to what God has already said concerning the kingdom.\n\nAnd we were dealing with, if I remember right, last time number three, the third major problem with this spiritual form of the kingdom idea, and that\u2019s this: The Greek word for kingdom in the Scripture is basileia<\/em>.\u00a0 Now that\u2019s a New Testament word, and practically every time you see that word ever used it\u2019s always going to portray the kingdom as something not happening now but future.\u00a0 And that is the overwhelming number of usages of the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in the New Testament.\u00a0 So in my book, I think it\u2019s on pages 192-193 I give you every single reference to the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in the New Testament, just to show that when the word basileia<\/em> is\u00a0 used, kingdom, it typically refers to something future.\n\nLet me show you, if I could, a few of those verses.\u00a0 I hope you have your Bible handy.\u00a0 Notice, you might want to just keep your place there in Jeremiah but let\u2019s quickly to a quick Scripture survey on the word kingdom.\u00a0 Notice Matthew 6:10.\u00a0 This is the so called Lord\u2019s prayer which we\u2019re going to be dealing with in detail, maybe next week, but part of that prayer we are to pray, \u201cThy kingdom come.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 6:10, \u201c'Thy kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.\u201d]\u00a0 So if you\u2019re supposed to be praying \u201cThy Kingdom come\u201d how can the kingdom be here now.\u00a0\u00a0 The prayer wouldn\u2019t make any sense; the prayer wouldn\u2019t even be needed would it?\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that \u201ckingdom\u201d translated basilea<\/em>, is future.\n\nTurn over to Matthew 20:20-21, these are the sons of\u2026 the mother of the sons of Zebedee, James and John and she was looking out for her kids because she said to the Lord, verse 20, \u201cThen the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to Jesus with her sons, bowing down and making a request of Him. [21] And He said to her, \u201cWhat do you wish?\u201d She said to Him, \u201cCommand that in Your kingdom these two sons of mine may sit one on Your right and one on Your left.\u201d\u00a0 And then down in verse 22 it says, \u201cBut Jesus answered, \u2018You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?\u2019 They said to Him, \u2018\u201cWe are able.\u201d\u2019 [23] He said to them, \u201cMy cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.\u201d\n\nSo it\u2019s interesting that she (this is very late in Christ\u2019s ministry) still believed in a future kingdom on the earth.\u00a0 She just said Lord, when you set this thing up finally can my sons have prominent seats in Your kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that Jesus never corrected her, and said oh, you silly woman, don\u2019t you know that the kingdom is spiritual and I\u2019m reigning in your hearts now?\u00a0 The only thing he corrected them on is you can\u2019t have the crown until you first have the cross.\u00a0 The cross precedes the crown.\u00a0 But He never corrected her on this idea of a future kingdom on the earth yet future.\u00a0\u00a0 See that?\n\nAnd they had been with Christ a long time; I mean, this is very late in Christ\u2019s ministry.\u00a0 It\u2019s just hard to believe that they would have\u2026 if they were wrong on this, that there is no future kingdom, that we\u2019re in a spiritual form of the kingdom now, it\u2019s amazing to me if Jesus had taught that that she would still have this false idea in her mind.\u00a0 So she still had that expectation and so did Jesus because He never said there\u2019s no such thing as a future kingdom.\u00a0 But you\u2019ll notice there the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is used and it\u2019s put into the future.\u00a0 This is the normal use of the word.\n\nTake a look, if you could, at Luke 23.\u00a0 This is the famous thief on the cross story.\u00a0 Luke 23:42, this is the penitent thief, or the repentant thief, \u201cAnd He said to him, \u2018Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Excuse me, that\u2019s verse 42, verse 43 says, \u201cAnd he was saying, \u2018Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So he\u2019s hanging there on the cross with Christ and he says to Christ when you finally set up Your kingdom remember me so I can be admitted into it.\u00a0 And Jesus didn\u2019t say well, as we\u2019re hanging here on the cross isn\u2019t it great we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 I mean, that wouldn\u2019t make any sense, would it?\n\nThere\u2019s one, and I did not put it in my notes here maybe some of you could help me find where it is; it\u2019s in Mark 15, and it\u2019s concerning the burial of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 It says in Mark 15:42, \u201cWhen evening had already come, because it was the preparation day, that is, the day before the Sabbath, [43] Joseph of Arimathea came, a prominent member of the Council, who himself was waiting for the\u201d what? \u201cthe kingdom of God\u2026.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So Joseph of Arimathea didn\u2019t think they were in the kingdom that Jesus set up, they were waiting for it yet future.\u00a0 And the penitent thief on the cross didn\u2019t believe they were in the kingdom.\u00a0 They thought it was yet future.\u00a0 And these are the strange things for people to believe if Jesus had taught we\u2019re in the kingdom now because that\u2019s the doctrine that people believed; Jesus set up the kingdom in His first coming.\n\nTake a look over at 1 Corinthians 6, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11.\u00a0 You start looking at these passages and to me the data becomes almost overwhelming that the kingdom is future.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 6, notice verses 9-11, Paul says, \u201cOr do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the\u201d what? \u201cthe kingdom of God?\u00a0 Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, [10] Nor thieves, nor the<\/em> covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.\u201d\u00a0 And basically he\u2019s putting the kingdom there in the future also; he\u2019s basically saying we shouldn\u2019t act like the pagans or unbelievers because when the kingdom is set up they\u2019re not going to get into it.\u00a0 And in the process he puts the concept of the kingdom in the future.\n\nTake a look if you could at 1 Corinthians 15, just a few chapters to the right, and verse 24.\u00a0 This is talking about the final resurrection and\u00a0 it says, \u201cthen comes the end, when He hands over the\u201d what? \u201cthe kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.\u201d\u00a0 So you notice that the kingdom here is connected with the final resurrection; this is the resurrection chapter.\n\nTake a look at 1 Corinthians 15:50, \u201cNow I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the\u201d what? \u201ckingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.\u201d\u00a0 So Paul is saying our bodies have to be changed so we can fully participate in the kingdom.\u00a0 So Paul puts the changing of our bodies, resurrection, in the future, where we can enter the kingdom yet future.\u00a0 See, all of these passages are not teaching we\u2019re in the kingdom now, they\u2019re putting the kingdom in the future.\n\nNotice, if you will, the Book of Galatians, chapter 5 and verse 20, this is the same kind of thing that Paul said to the Corinthians.\u00a0 He says, Galatians 5:19-21, he tells us to avoid \u201cthe deeds of the flesh\u201d like what?\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0[19, \u201cNow the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions,] \u00a0[21] envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the\u201d what? \u201c kingdom of God.\u201d \u00a0Again he\u2019s saying don\u2019t act like unbelievers because unbelievers aren\u2019t going to inherit or enter the kingdom which is yet future.\n\nNotice, if you will, the Book of Ephesians, chapter 5, verse 5, sorry to drown you in Bible verses but I just want you to get a sense or a flavor of how this concept of the kingdom is portrayed over and over again in the New Testament.\u00a0 Ephesians 5:5 says, \u201cFor this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0So it\u2019s the same exhortation, don\u2019t live like unbelievers because unbelievers are not going to inherit or enter the kingdom yet future.\n\nNotice, if you will, 2 Thessalonians 1:5, Paul says, \u201cThis is a plain indication of God's righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.\u201d\u00a0 So you\u2019re suffering now but you\u2019re being counted as worthy for the future kingdom.\u00a0 Again it\u2019s putting it into the future.\n\nNotice 2 Timothy 4:1, Paul says to young Timothy, \u201cI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His\u201d what? \u201ckingdom:\u201d now where does Paul put the kingdom here?\u00a0 He puts it in connection with the appearance of Jesus Christ and the final judgment.\u00a0 I mean, these are all concepts that are yet future.\u00a0 And if that wasn\u2019t clear enough, same chapter, look down at verse 18, \u201cThe LORD will rescue me from every evil deed\u201d Paul says, \u201cand will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.\u201d\u00a0 [2 Timothy 4:18]\u00a0 So Paul says I\u2019m being rescued by God, I\u2019m being protected by God, and God is going to bring me safely into His kingdom one day.\u00a0\u00a0 So again the basilea<\/em>, or the kingdom, is future.\n\nJust a few more, I know your hands are getting tired.\u00a0 Flip over to the Book of James for a moment if you could, James 2:5.\u00a0 I mean, this is the overwhelming presentation of Scripture on the subject of the kingdom in the New Testament.\u00a0 James 2:5 says, \u201cListen, my beloved brethren: did not God choose the poor of this world to be rich in faith and\u201d to be what of the kingdom? \u201c\u2026 heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?\u201d\u00a0 What is an heir?\u00a0 An heir basically is someone that has a legal right to something but they\u2019re not yet experiencing or enjoying what\u2019s coming to them. That\u2019s what heirship means.\u00a0 And you\u2019ll notice that in several of these passages we\u2019ve looked at, including this one here in James 2:5, we\u2019re called \u201cheirs of the kingdom,\u201d which is a very strange way of talking if we\u2019re already in it.\u00a0 You can\u2019t be in it and an heir simultaneously.\u00a0 Those are two different concepts.\n\nNotice 2 Peter 1:11, Peter says, \u201cfor in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be\u201d see the future there, \u201cwill be abundantly supplied to you.\u201d\u00a0 So Peter exhorts his audience to not just enter the kingdom but to enter the kingdom \u201cabundantly supplied.\u201d \u00a0I would understand that as being fully rewarded because you spent your life \u201cin Christ.\u201d\u00a0 But when he puts it in the future tense he puts our entrance into the kingdom yet future.\n\nAnd then one more, the Book of Revelation, notice Revelation 5:10, I think this is speaking here of the church universal, and it says, \u201cYou have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they\u201d what\u2019s the next word, \u201cwill reign\u201d what tense is that?\u00a0 Future, \u201cthey will reign\u201d where, up in the clouds somewhere?\u00a0 \u201cupon the earth.\u201d So we\u2019re not reigning right now.\u00a0\u00a0 How do we know that?\u00a0 Look at how Christians are treated around the world as we speak.\u00a0 Look at the martyrdoms.\u00a0 Look at the persecutions.\u00a0 So obviously we\u2019re not yet reigning in the kingdom but the promise is we will reign in the kingdom in the future.\u00a0 So again there\u2019s the word basilea<\/em> put into the future.\n\nAnd I think I shared with you last time this citation from Acts 14:22, you can look at that if\u00a0 you want, in the Bible.\u00a0 This was Paul sort of retracing his steps on missionary journey one in southern Galatia; he kind of recycled back through the areas that he had\u2026 the various churches that he had planted.\u00a0 And he said this: \u201cstrengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, \u2018Through many tribulations\u201d does that describe anybody tonight?\u00a0 Anybody going through \u201cmany tribulations\u201d?\u00a0 \u201cThrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.\u201d So what\u2019s normative Paul says, and he says as he\u2019s encouraging these brand new Christians is\u00a0 you\u2019re going through tribulations and what\u2019s normative is you go through many tribulations before you enter the kingdom of God.\u00a0 Here very clearly the \u201ckingdom of God\u201d is yet future.\n\nSo Thomas Ice, quoting that verse says, \u201c\"If they were in the kingdom, this statement would make no sense.\u201d\u00a0 [Thomas Ice, \u201cAmillennialism,\u201d in The Popular Encyclopedia of Bible Prophecy<\/em> (Eugene, OR: Harvest House, 2004), 20.]\n\nSo what, then, is the basic problem with this idea that we are in a spiritual form of the kingdom now?\u00a0 Number one, it makes God a liar because that\u2019s not how the Old Testament portrays the kingdom.\u00a0 Number two, it can\u2019t be true because you determine truth by how it conforms to prior revelation.\u00a0 You can\u2019t contradict what God has already said because that would violate God\u2019s nature.\u00a0 And number three, the vast overwhelming number of passages, and we\u2019ve just gone through most of them in the last 15 or 20 minutes don\u2019t portray the kingdom as something that we\u2019re in now.\u00a0 They portray it as something that\u2019s the future experience of the believer.\n\nSo of the two major problems with kingdom now theology, the first of which is the kingdom is always earthly over a repentant Israel, and always future.\u00a0 So an interpretation that says we\u2019re in it now in a spiritual non-earthly form, before Israel is even converted, that can\u2019t be a correct doctrine because it contradicts everything that the Old Testament says.\n\nThe second major problem with kingdom now theology is that the Old Testament is very clear, and that\u2019s why I had you originally open to Jeremiah 30:7, so I guess we could go back there, hopefully you kept your finger there.\u00a0 Jeremiah 30:7.\u00a0 The Old Testament is very clear that the kingdom will not come into existence until after or subsequent a time of great worldwide tribulation.\u00a0 There has to be the tribulation period on the earth before the kingdom can come.\u00a0 So if we\u2019re in the kingdom now what happened to the tribulation period that\u2019s supposed to precede the kingdom.\u00a0 And many, many verses teach this.\u00a0 Probably one of the most prominent is Jeremiah 30:7.\u00a0 It says, \u201cAlas! for that day is great, There is none like it; And it is the time of Jacob's distress,\u201d now who is Jacob?\u00a0 Israel, \u201cJacob\u2019s distress,\u201d it\u2019s talking about a time of unparalleled distress coming upon Jacob and the whole world for that matter, \u201cBut he\u201d that\u2019s Jacob \u201cwill be saved from it.\u201d\n\nSo the kingdom program revolves around Israel\u2019s conversion as we\u2019ve studied and the Scripture is very clear that you\u2019re not going to have Israel\u2019s conversion until the time of great distress.\u00a0 So for someone to say we\u2019re in the kingdom now is basically to ignore all of these Old Testament passages that indicate you can\u2019t have the kingdom or a converted Israel, which is necessary for the kingdom, until a time of great tribulation.\n\nProbably the section of the Bible that most prominently describes the time of distress before the kingdom can some is the seventy weeks prophecy, which if you\u2019ve been tracking with us on Sunday mornings you already know a little bit about this.\u00a0 Basically what it is, it\u2019s a 490 clock is what it is, given to the nation of Israel; 483\u00a0 years are past, a final 7 years is yet future; 490 years total but you can\u2019t have the kingdom until that 490 year clock runs its entire course.\u00a0 So Daniel 9:24 says: \u201cSeventy weeks have been decreed for your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to make an end of sin, to make atonement for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy place.\u201d\u00a0 These are six clauses here and these six clauses which describe the kingdom can\u2019t come into existence until the 490 years is over, the final seven years of which is the great tribulation.\n\nSo what is being described in verse 24 is the kingdom; it\u2019s a time period when Israel\u2019s transgression against God will be over; there will be a complete end of sin because Christ then will truly be reigning in the hearts of the Jewish people.\u00a0 They will have received the atoning work of Christ on their behalf.\u00a0 And notice number four; what\u2019s going to be brought in?\u00a0 Everlasting righteousness.\u00a0 You say what\u2019s \u201ceverlasting righteousness\u201d?\u00a0 That\u2019s just another way of describing the kingdom.\u00a0 That\u2019s exactly how the prophet Isaiah 9:6-7 describes the kingdom.\u00a0 \u201cFor to us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall rest upon his shoulders.\u201d\u00a0 And then verse 6 and 7 talks about how righteous and peace will be forever.\u00a0 That\u2019s the kingdom.\n\n[Isaiah 9: 6, \u201cFor to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.\u00a0 And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,\u00a0 Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.\u00a0\u00a0 [7]\u00a0 Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end.\u00a0 He will reign on David\u2019s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and \u00a0right\u00adeousness from that time on and forever.\u00a0 The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this.\u201d]\n\nThere will be a sealing up of vision and prophecy meaning that all of God\u2019s promises concerning the kingdom will come to pass and there will be an anointing of the Most Holy Place, which I understand as the functioning millennial temple.\u00a0 So you take those six clauses and you put them together and they\u2019re just another way of describing the kingdom.\u00a0 \u00a0And Daniel is very clear that those six clauses can\u2019t come into existence until the 490 year clock, including the final seven years runs its course.\n\nDaniel 9:27, which is\u00a0 yet future, has to run its course in order for these six clauses to manifest themselves.\u00a0 [Daniel 9:27, \u201cAnd he will make a firm covenant with the many for one week, but in the middle of the week he will put a stop to sacrifice and grain offering; and on the wing of abominations will come one who makes desolate, even until a complete destruction, one that is decreed, is poured out on the one who makes desolate.\u201d]\u00a0 So before the kingdom comes there has to be the seven year tribulation period.\u00a0 Before the kingdom comes there has to be the events of the Book of Revelation in terms of seal judgments, trumpet judgments, and bowl judgments which is just an amplification of that final seven year period in greater clarity and detail.\u00a0 \u00a0And that\u2019s why the kingdom is not portrayed as never coming to the earth, until chapter 20, verses 1-10, after this seven year period and these judgments have run their course.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nSo for someone to say we\u2019re in the kingdom now you have to completely contradict everything the Scripture has revealed, that you\u2019re not going to have the kingdom until the time of great distress overtakes Jacob and the whole world.\n\nSo my professor, Stanley Toussaint, who I think probably understood the doctrine of the kingdom better than any person alive, he\u2019s with the Lord now, but I think he really had it down when it comes to the doctrine of the kingdom.\u00a0 And in his Matthew Commentary he says this:\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cIf the kingdom began in the ministry of Christ, where is the prophesied judgment in the Gospels?\u201d\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s a fair question, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 \u201cWere the Old Testament prophets and John\u201d now he\u2019s talking there about John the Baptist, \u201cincorrect in their message?\u201d\u00a0 Because John the Baptist talked about this too, about the winnowing fork and the fire and all of these kinds of things.\u00a0 And John the Baptist is just reflecting what the Old Testament says, you have to have a time of distress before the kingdom comes.\u00a0 So for people to show up and say well, we\u2019re in the kingdom now, Jesus set up the kingdom at His first advent, well how come there was no seven year period, tribulation period preceding that when the Old Testament demands you have to have that before the kingdom can materialize?\n\nSo these really, to my mind, become the two major problems with kingdom now theology.\u00a0 The first thing is they\u2019re coming up with a definition of the kingdom that contradicts everything the Old Testament says, indicating that the kingdom is earthly over a repentant Israel.\u00a0 And the second thing they\u2019re not really paying attention to when people just throw this word kingdom around is they\u2019re not paying attention to the chronology that the Old Testament painstakingly details and develops, that the kingdom can only come after the period of distress of seven years.\n\nSo what people want you to do is they want you to basically sever your New Testament from the Old Testament.\u00a0 They want you to pretend like the Old Testament is not even there.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what they do when they come up with these definitions that we\u2019re in the kingdom, we\u2019re building the kingdom and all of these things.\u00a0 They don\u2019t have the foggiest understanding of what the Old Testament carefully develops.\n\nSo that really takes us out of number 2, the main problems with kingdom now interpretations from the New Testament.\n\nNow we move into number three and number 3 begins with chapter 16 of my book and goes all the way through, I think chapter 21 if I\u2019m not mistaken.\u00a0 So this one I can\u2019t handle in a soundbite, it\u2019ll take a few weeks and I think May 24th<\/sup> is going to be our last Wednesday for the summer so we may not even finish this by the time we get to May 24, so we\u2019ll just pick it up in the fall.\n\nBut number three, why do some people believe that we\u2019re in the kingdom now?\u00a0 For those of you that followed with me in my soteriology study, that I do on Sunday mornings here, I spent many, many weeks, I\u2019m afraid to look at how many weeks it was, on the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 And I could have cut that study, probably into a third of what it was lengthwise if I had just shown you the verses in the Bible that say you are eternally secure. But I didn\u2019t want to do that because there\u2019s a debate that\u2019s been going on for the last\u2026 I don\u2019t know, multiple centuries, on are we really saved.\u00a0 So for a debate to persist that long there must be other verses in the Bible that contradict, at least at first glance, the doctrine of eternal security.\u00a0 And I wanted to show you what the other side was saying from the Bible and I wanted to show you how to handle those other verses that seemingly contradict the doctrine of eternal security because if I can talk you into something somebody else can come along and talk\u00a0 you out of it.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s very easy to sit up here and just give you the verses that support my position and say case closed, thus saith the Lord, let\u2019s go enjoy the fellowship lunch, because that\u2019s not going to sustain you when someone else comes along with a verse that your pastor never covered.\u00a0 So I felt it was my obligation as a Bible teacher not just to give you the verses that support eternal security but to show you the verses that people use to contradict it.\u00a0 So the study went a little longer (not a little longer but a lot longer).\n\nAnd that\u2019s sort of my same philosophy with the doctrine of the kingdom.\u00a0 \u00a0It would be a very easy thing for me to just show you the verses that say the kingdom is yet future, but there\u2019s an awful lot of people running around today saying we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 In fact, they\u2019ve been saying it all the way back, probably to the fourth century, at least, A.D.\u00a0 What are the verses they use?\u00a0 Because at first glance, just like the doctrine of eternal security there\u2019s some verses that look like we\u2019re in the kingdom.\u00a0 How would I, as a future kingdom person, handle those verses.\u00a0 And that\u2019s sort of the direction we\u2019re moving now at this point.\n\nSo what we\u2019re doing is the response to kingdom now problem passages, passages that people use to promote the doctrine of the kingdom now.\u00a0 I would say this: there\u2019s about a handful of passages, isolated passages, that are used over and over and over and over again by people to explain the fact that we\u2019re in the kingdom.\u00a0 So we\u2019ll be looking at passages that people use from Christ\u2019s ministry, passages from the Book of Acts that people use, passages from the writings of the Apostle Paul, passages from the general letters. What are the general letters?\u00a0 They are the non-Pauline epistles, so it would be James, Hebrews, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, Jude and I\u2019m not sure, 1, 2 and 3 John.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be showing you passages people use from the Book of Revelation.\u00a0 And there\u2019s a lot of arguments people make that really aren\u2019t based in the Bible at all. I call those miscellaneous argument, philosophical arguments, so we\u2019ll be interacting with those. Are you all comfortable with the direction we\u2019re headed in?\n\nWe only have about fifteen or twenty minutes left but we can at least start with passages from Christ\u2019s ministry. If Jesus established a spiritual form of the kingdom at His first coming then there must be passage from his ministry that people us to promote this idea.\u00a0 And in fact, there are quite a few passages, passages Jesus indicating the kingdom is at hand, theirs is the kingdom, or passages where He told us to pray \u201cthy kingdom come\u201d or \u201cseek first the kingdom,\u201d or \u201cthe kingdom suffers violence until now.\u201d\u00a0 O what do you do with that passage in Luke 10 where Jesus says I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.\u00a0 My professor, Darrell Bock, who I don\u2019t agree with on this, uses that to argue that we\u2019re in the kingdom now. What do\u00a0 you do with that passage.\u00a0 What do you do with Matthew 12:28 where Jesus says \u201cthe kingdom has come upon\u00a0 you.\u201d\n\nNow here\u2019s the clincher, this is the toughie, Luke 17:21, what do you do with a passage that says the kingdom is in your midst, in Christ\u2019s teachings.\u00a0 [Luke 17:21, \u201cnor will they say, \u2018Look, here it is!\u2019 or, \u2018There it is!\u2019 For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.\u2019\u201d]\n\nWhat do you do with his dialogue with Nicodemus when he said you\u2019ve got to be born again to enter the kingdom?\u00a0 \u00a0[John 3:3, \u201cJesus answered and said to him, \u201cTruly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.\u201d]\n\nWhat do you do with Matthew 16:28 where Jesus says there will be no death\u2026 these folks hear aren\u2019t going to die until the kingdom comes.\u00a0 [Matthew 16:28, \u201cTruly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom.\u201d] He\u2019s talking about an imminent death.\n\nWhat do you do with Matthew 21:43, where Jesus says to Israel the kingdom will be taken away from you and given to a people producing the fruit thereof, because people use that to say the king\u00addom is taken away from Israel and given to the church. \u00a0[Mathew 21:43, \u201c\"Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it.\u201d]\n\nIf the kingdom is coming to the earth one day what to you do with Christ\u2019s statement in John 18:36 where He says My kingdom is not of this world.\u00a0 [John 18:36, \u201cJesus answered, \"My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm.\u201d]\n\nWhat do you do with what He says in the Great Commission, at the very end, when He says all power and authority has been given to me, go and make disciples of all nations.\u00a0 [Matthew 28:28, And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \u2018All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 I\u00a0 mean, when he says\u00a0 all power and authority has been given to Me isn\u2019t that Christ reigning in kingdom form?\n\nSo these are all verses that we have to sort of interact with.\u00a0 So let\u2019s take a look at the first one on the list here, notice, if you will, Matthew 3:2, remember the offer of the kingdom, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 That was taught by John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, the twelve apostles and the seventy.\u00a0 Remember what was said?\u00a0 Matthew 3:1-2, \u201cNow in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying, [2] Repent, for the kingdom of God is\u201d what? \u201cat hand.\u201d\u00a0 You know how people interpret that?\u00a0 They say that doesn\u2019t mean it was near, it means it was here.\u00a0 There it is right there in\u00a0 your Bible, Jesus set up a spiritual form of the kingdom.\u00a0 And the verb there, \u201cat hand\u201d is engizo<\/em> which will be very important in just a second.\n\nJesus taught the same message, Matthew 4:17, \u201cFrom that time Jesus began to preach and say, \u2018Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u2019\u00a0 People say it\u2019s not near, it\u2019s here.\u00a0\u00a0 And then Jesus sent out the twelve to reach the lost sheep of the house of Israel and He said,\u00a0 [Matthew 10:7]\u00a0 \u201cAnd as you go preach, saying, \u2018The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d Engizo<\/em>, not near but here.\n\nSo with all of these passages I\u2019m going to give you what I think is a response.\u00a0 How would I respond to the kingdom now theologians use of Matthew 3:2 and related passages?\u00a0 Well, the first response is the verb engizo<\/em>, when Jesus says it\u2019s at hand it\u2019s engizo<\/em>.\u00a0 And if you\u2019re a Greek student the verb is the third person singular perfect active indicative.\u00a0 Why is that important?\u00a0 That\u2019s important because the same verb is used in John 5:8, same parsing. [John 5:8, \u201cJesus said to him, \u2018Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.\u2019\u201d What is it again?\u00a0 Third person singular, perfect active indicative, engizo<\/em>, same parsing in James 5:8, which says, \u201cYou too be patient, strengthening your hearts for the coming of the Lord is near,\u201d engizo<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0 Same verb used in Matthew 3:2, Matthew 4:7, Matthew 10:7, the exact same parsing.\n\n[Matthew 3:2, \u201cRepent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 4:7, \u201cJesus said to him, \"On the other hand, it is written, \u2018YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew 10:7, \u201cAnd as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u2019\u201d]\n\nNow there\u2019s not a person on planet earth, there\u2019s not a Bible interpreter on planet earth that would interpret James 5:8 as indicating that the second coming is happening now.\u00a0 When it says here \u201c\u201dthe coming of the Lord is near\u201d nobody is going to say He\u2019s here, this is a second coming passage.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is His entrance into this world is right at the door, in fact, in verse 9 it uses that expression, right at the door.\u00a0\u00a0 It\u2019s not here, it\u2019s near, it\u2019s imminent, meaning it could happen at any moment.\u00a0 And since engizo<\/em>, same parsing, is used in Matthew 3:2 and related passages, that\u2019s all Jesus is saying.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying to the nation of Israel the kingdom is near, it\u2019s right at the door, it\u2019s at an any moment entrance and to receive it all you, Israel, have to do is enthrone Me as your king and it will come.\n\nWhat is Jesus saying in all these passages?\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying it\u2019s here; He\u2019s saying it\u2019s near.\u00a0 Now the kingdom now theologian doesn\u2019t want you to read your Bible that way; they want it to say it\u2019s here but they don\u2019t interpret James 5:8, same verb, same parsing that way.\n\nStanley Toussaint writes, concerning Matthew 3:2, \u201c\u2026that the kingdom had drawn near and was then in a condition of nearness.\u201d\n\nWilliam Lane, in his Mark Commentary says, to the verb engizo<\/em> and its use in \u201crepent for the kingdom of God is at hand,\u201d he says, \u201cThe linguistic objections to the proposed rendering \u2018has come\u2019 are weighty, and it is better to translate it \u2018has come near.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So if you want to translate it as \u201cthe kingdom of God is here\u201d rather than \u201cnear\u201d there\u2019s, what William Lane is saying, some linguistic objections to that; that\u2019s not the best translation.\u00a0 Jesus is not saying the kingdom is here; He\u2019s saying it\u2019s near, it\u2019s imminent.\n\nBeyond that, continuing with the response to the kingdom now theologians use of Matthew 3:2\u00a0 you\u2019ll notice that in all of these passages the kingdom was never defined.\u00a0 Did you notice that? Did you notice when John the Baptist said \u201cthe kingdom of God is at hand\u201d and Jesus said \u201cthe kingdom of God\u201d or \u201cheaven is at hand\u201d and the disciples said the same thing and the seventy said the same thing, did you notice that not a single one of them defined what the kingdom was?\u00a0 They just threw the term out there.\n\nSo let me ask you a question.\u00a0 Since they left the term undefined how do you think they knew as a Bible reader should define that term?\u00a0 Where should you go?\u00a0 You go into the Old Testament.\u00a0\u00a0 You say well, do you have any information on that?\u00a0 Yeah, it\u2019s called about forty lessons of teaching or so on this.\u00a0 I mean, did we not go through all of everything that the Old Testament says about the kingdom?\u00a0 So when the New Testament leaves it undefined the expectation of God is that we would fill the term, not with any meaning we want, and see this is what Dallas Willard and all these people are doing about Jesus reigning in your hearts, they\u2019re just coming to the word \u201ckingdom,\u201d they\u2019re seeing it there and they\u2019re just filling the word with whatever meaning they want to fill it with.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not how God expects His Word to be read.\u00a0 God expects us to pour everything we understand about the Old Testament into that word because it\u2019s defined by its prior treatment in the Old Testament.\n\nAnd here\u2019s something very, very important to understand; you do not interpret the Old Testament according to the New Testament!\u00a0 Did you hear me on that, because this is a big deal.\u00a0 You do not interpret the Old Testament according to the New Testament, rather\u00a0 you interpret the New Testament according to the Old Testament, because I\u2019m not going to interpret the New Testament according to the Old Testament, then I just made God a what?\u00a0 A liar.\u00a0 When terms are not defined for us, and by the way, there\u2019s an awful lot of terms like that in the New Testament.\u00a0 How about the term redemption?\u00a0 I mean, how would you ever understand what that means if you didn\u2019t have in the back of your mind the Exodus story.\u00a0 The Exodus story fills out the meaning of redemption. See that?\u00a0 When Paul says we have redemption in Christ how are we supposed to know what that means?\n\nSo when you see the word \u201ckingdom\u201d and there\u2019s no definition of it we have to go back into the Old Testament, develop a meaning, which is what we spent 40 lessons doing, and pour that meaning into the New Testament term.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not what people are doing.\u00a0 People have a very sort of shallow understanding of the Scripture.\u00a0 They come to the New Testament, they see these terms and buzzwords and they just pour into it whatever is right in their own eyes.\u00a0 That\u2019s NOT how to read the Bible.\u00a0 Why is that?\u00a0 Because we believe in a doctrine called progressive revelation.\u00a0 You say what does that mean?\u00a0 It means God begins to reveal things very early on in the Bible going all the way back to Genesis and the rest of Scripture may clarify things, it may add more details, watch this very carefully, it never changes the original promise.\u00a0 Clarification yeah, no problem; an outright change, no way Jose (that\u2019s the Spanish translation of the Bible, no way Jose).\u00a0 Because you do that you make God out to be a liar.\u00a0 The doctrine of progressive revelation is really important to understand and if you don\u2019t hear anything else this evening hear this much: you do not interpret the Old Testament according to the New Testament; rather you interpret the New Testament according to the Old Testament. \u00a0And that\u2019s how it is with the word kingdom.\n\nSo the problem is the kingdom is undefined there in Matthew 3:2.\u00a0 I can\u2019t just come at this word \u201ckingdom\u201d with a spiritualized kingdom understanding that Jesus is reigning in our hearts because I\u2019d be interpreting the word \u201ckingdom\u201d differently than how the Old Testament develops it.\n\nBeyond that, if Jesus established the kingdom in His first advent the statements He makes late in His ministry would not make any sense. Did we not already share Matthew 20:20-23 where the mother of the sons of Zebedee said, Lord, when you enter your kingdom grant my two sons positions on your right and your left.\u00a0 Now notice that very late in His ministry, which was when this event occurred, they still believed in a future earthly kingdom.\u00a0 Jesus never corrected them on that point.\u00a0 The only thing He corrected them on is the cross comes before the crown.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only point of correction.\u00a0 It\u2019s not there\u2019s not going to be a kingdom in the future on the earth with real thrones.\n\nYou remember Acts 1:6-7, this is the forty day period after Christ\u2019s resurrection but before His ascension.\u00a0 It says, \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u201cLord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?\u201d See, they still believed in a future kingdom for Israel.\u00a0 Now they had been with Christ all this time, wouldn\u2019t that idea have disappeared from their minds if Christ had taught against that idea?\u00a0 But the idea is still on their minds because Christ never taught against that idea, He never cancelled ever what the Old Testament reveals concerning the kingdom.\u00a0 \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is at this time You are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?\u00a0 [7] He said to them, \u201cIt is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;\u201d the only thing He challenged them on is not the reality of a future earthly kingdom through Israel, the only thing He corrected them on is the timing of it.\n\nSee the difference?\u00a0 They didn\u2019t understand the age of the church is going to precede that kingdom; they thought it was going to happen right then and there.\u00a0 Jesus never said oh, get rid of this idea of a future earthly kingdom.\u00a0 What He corrected them on is the timing.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Jesus is doing with the mother of the sons of Zebedee, same idea, not correcting her on the issue of the kingdom but on another issue that the cross comes before the crown.\n\nOne more point and with this we\u2019re finished here.\u00a0 The last response to the kingdom now theologians use of Matthew 3:2, what did Jesus mean when He said \u201cthe kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d?\u00a0 What He meant is I am here and all\u00a0 you (Israel) have to do to experience the kingdom in its glory according to your own covenants, is to do what?\u00a0 Enthrone Me!\u00a0 That\u2019s why it was near.\u00a0 As long as He was on the earth it was near because they had an opportunity, if they had chosen to take it, which they didn\u2019t, to enthrone Christ.\u00a0 If they had done that the kingdom would have materialized.\n\nThat\u2019s why He keeps saying it\u2019s near, it\u2019s near, it\u2019s imminent, but guess what folks?\u00a0 He\u2019s left the earth now, is it near any more?\u00a0 It\u2019s not near right now because we know there has to be a seven year tribulation period to convert Israel, to get her to a place where she will enthrone Christ.\u00a0 So when we go out and share the gospel we don\u2019t go out to people and say \u201crepent, for the kingdom of God is at hand\u201d because it\u2019s not at hand right now.\u00a0 Why is it not at hand?\u00a0 He\u2019s not here.\n\nIt was at hand in the first century because He was right there in front of them performing miracles, fulfilling prophecy, fulfilling genealogies, and they could have had the whole thing if they had enthroned Christ.\u00a0 All they have to do, Israel has to do, is to fulfill Deuteronomy 17:15 and the kingdom comes, which says, going all the way back to the days of Moses, the obligations of Israel, \u201cyou shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses,\u201d you get that one right Israel and you\u2019ve got the kingdom.\u00a0 The problem is Israel hasn\u2019t gotten that one right, has she?\u00a0 She didn\u2019t get that one right in the first century, she hasn\u2019t gotten that one right for the last two thousand years, she won\u2019t get that one right until the events of the tribulation period and then the millennial kingdom will come.\n\nThat\u2019s all Christ meant when He said \u201cthe kingdom of God is at hand,\u201d an imminent, any moment expectation and opportunity of multiple generations to have the kingdom.\u00a0 The kingdom \u201cis at hand,\u201d He\u2019s saying it\u2019s near in the first century.\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying it\u2019s here.\u00a0 Does that make any sense?\n\nSo we\u2019ll stop at that point and we\u2019ll look at more of these so-called problem passages next time.","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