{"id":19233,"date":"2018-10-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-10-17T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-053\/"},"modified":"2018-10-17T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-10-17T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-053","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-053\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 053"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[88],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19233","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-john","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 053","sermon_date":"20181017","sermon_month":"10","sermon_year":"2018","sermon_notes":6138,"sermon_slides":6139,"sermon_mp3":6140,"sermon_id":"1017181827209","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":88,"chapter_and_verse":"18:36","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n10-17-18\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 John 18:36\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 53\n\nLet\u2019s take our Bibles if we could and open them to John\u2019s Gospel, chapter 18 and verse 36.\u00a0 As you all know we are continuing our study on the kingdom and the first part of the study was what does the Bible, Genesis to Revelation, reveal about the kingdom?\u00a0 It was in that section we saw the Kingdom carefully developed, explained, offered to Israel and then rejected, making the kingdom in a state of postponement.\n\nThe second part of the study was what\u2019s the problem with saying that we\u2019re in the kingdom now?\u00a0 And the major problem with it is that you have to change what the Old Testament reveals about the kingdom to turn it into like a spiritual reign of Christ now.\u00a0 And from there we went into what does the Bible say\u2026 let me rephrase that, why do a lot of people think we\u2019re in the kingdom now?\u00a0 So we\u2019ve been going through passages in the New Testament that kingdom now theologians use to argue that we are currently in the kingdom?\n\nSo we\u2019re going to be looking at several passages in this section of the study but we started off with passages from Christ\u2019s ministry.\u00a0 That\u2019s generally where people go, they go to the ministry of Christ and they try to argue He set up a spiritual form of the kingdom in His first coming.\u00a0 So what it takes is you\u2019ve got to do the whole hard work and you\u2019ve got to go through each passage people use and you have to try to figure out is that really what the passage says.\u00a0 So we\u2019ve been scrutinizing these various passages and we only have two passages left to cover for the life of Christ.\u00a0 One of them is John 18:36, the verse we opened up to, and the other one, if we have time tonight we\u2019ll get to it as well, the great commission passage where Jesus says \u201call authority has been given to Me.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u201d]\u00a0 So we\u2019re basically trying to learn how to answer these passages from a futuristic kingdom perspec\u00adtive.\n\nTake a look at John 18:36.\u00a0 No doubt many of you have heard this passage used and taught many times.\u00a0 \u201cJesus answered, \u2018My kingdom is not of this world.\u00a0 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.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 So what the amillennialist does, the amillennialist is someone who doesn\u2019t believe that there is a future millennium, the \u201ca\u201d is a negation in front of the word millennium, no millennium, no future reign of Christ.\u00a0 It\u2019s probably the most popular view in church history; it\u2019s been taught in the church ever since the fourth century A.D. through the influential writings of Augustine and his book, The City of God<\/em>, but the amillennialist loves this verse because when Jesus says \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d and then He says it again, \u201cIf My kingdom were of this world My servants would be fighting\u2026My kingdom is not of this realm.\u201d\n\nWhat they basically believe it means is there is no future kingdom so quit talking about it.\u00a0 The millennial kingdom is completely off the table, there is no future millennial kingdom because after all, Jesus said \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world.\u201d\u00a0 So it\u2019s a verse when you look at it at first glance it looks like it supports amillennialism or kingdom now theology but with all of these verses what we\u2019re learning is that the devil is in the details. Right?\n\nSo let me give you, if I could, three responses to what I think is a misuse of John 18:36.\u00a0 My first response is this: the kingdom offer was already rejected.\u00a0 Now you all remember the kingdom offer that we talked about, how the kingdom was predicted in the Old Testament, offered to first century Israel on a silver platter through the expression \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d\u00a0 The nation rejected it, Matthew 12 is really the key chapter where the religious leaders turned down the offer, which led, not to the kingdom\u2019s cancellation but the kingdom\u2019s postponement, where God is doing an interim program today.\u00a0 And that\u2019s where we come in, we\u2019re the church. We\u2019re not the kingdom, we\u2019re an interim program on the earth until He establishes His kingdom one day.\n\nBut we know one of these days there\u2019s going to be a translation of the church, hopefully sooner than later, amen!\u00a0 And then God, who has not forgotten His promises to Israel will re-extend that offer to Israel in the tribulation period in which time they will accept it because Israel always gets it right the second time.\u00a0 So this is basically a framework that I think the Bible supports that we\u2019ve been using to explain the kingdom concept.\n\nThe hinge verse in all of that is Matthew 12:24.\u00a0 Once you get to Matthew 12:24 the offer is with\u00addrawn and the whole tenor of Matthew\u2019s Gospel shifts and you remember what Matthew 12:24 is about, right?\u00a0 It\u2019s when the leaders attributed Christ\u2019s miracles to the devil.\u00a0 They couldn\u2019t dismiss the miracle, the miracles were obvious, right in front \u00a0of them, so the next best solution they had is well, if we can\u2019t dismiss it in front of all these eyewitnesses we\u2019ll just say the devil did that through Jesus.\u00a0 And once it gets to that point it\u2019s obvious that the nation\u2019s heart is so hard they\u2019re not going to see the King or His kingdom.\n\nSo at that point everything shifts but the hinge verse is 12:24.\u00a0 It says, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Matthew\u2019s Gospel, we talked a little bit about this is chiastically structured.\u00a0 A chiasm comes from the Greek word kai<\/em>, which is a letter of the Greek alphabet, it looks kind of like an X\u00a0 and so it kind of goes in so chapters 1 and 2 the same idea is mirrored in chapter 28, at the end of the chiasm.\u00a0 Chapters 3 and 4, the first leg there, the same idea is sort of mirrored in the passion, there it is, in the second to last peg there, chapters 26 and 27.\u00a0 And a lot of the books of the Bible are set up this way.\u00a0 The Book of Esther is set up this way, The Gospel of Mark is set up this way.\u00a0 And the middle\u00a0 point of the chiasm is the hinge or the transition and what is in the middle of the Mathian chiasm is the chapter we looked at very briefly, chapters 11 and chapters 12, because that\u2019s where the nation rejects the offer.\n\nSo that happened in Matthew chapter 12 and ever since Matthew 12, right up until the present, the any moment appearance of the kingdom was off the table.\u00a0 So at that point, late in Christ\u2019s ministry, now I\u2019m in John 18, the verse we looked at a little earlier, which follows Matthew 12, at that point, John 18, late in Christ\u2019s ministry the kingdom of God was no longer an imminent threat to Pilate\u2019s kingdom.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s why Jesus makes the statement, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, in your lifetime, Pilate, you\u2019re not going to see the stone cut without human hands that Daniel talks about that shatters the feet of this statue, the kingdoms of man instantaneously crushes them.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:34, \u201c\"You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands, and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and crushed them.\u201d]\n\nHypothetically Israel could have seen that; they could have seen that right up until Matthew 12 but following Matthew 12 that opportunity disappeared because Israel rejected the offer.\u00a0 I mean, Israel could have seen in a nanosecond the immediate overthrow of Rome and the establishment of God\u2019s kingdom on the earth had Israel accepted the King on the King\u2019s terms.\n\nBut John 18, in the life of Christ, follows Matthew 12.\u00a0 John 18 is very late in Christ\u2019s ministry, He\u2019s about ready to be executed for the sins of the world, and that\u2019s why He makes the statement, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world.\u201d\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 world.\u2019\u201d]\n\nHe\u2019s not saying the kingdom will never come when He says that. What He\u2019s saying is the any moment appearance of the kingdom, which you could have seen had Israel received the offer of the kingdom, that opportunity is gone.\u00a0 And that\u2019s His only point, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world.\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying the kingdom will never come, that\u2019s the amillennial misconception of the passage.\u00a0 What He\u2019s saying is it\u2019s not going to come now, it\u2019s not going to appear now in Pilate\u2019s lifetime.\u00a0 So Pilate\u2019s manmade kingdom is safe is what he states by saying that.\u00a0 Just to show you that I\u2019m not making this up I like to quote people, not to bore you with quotes but to show you that my thinking on this is consistent with generations that have preceded me.\u00a0 Here\u2019s Thomas Constable, one of my mentors at Dallas Seminary.\n\nThomas Constable say concerning John 18:36, and by the way, if you\u2019re into Bible study he has on his website 7,000 pages of Bible study material.\u00a0 He has a commentary on every single book of the Bible, all 66 books; you just go to his notes at Sonic Light.com<\/em>. and you click on what you\u2019re interested in and his wonderful commentary comes out and he gives you verse by verse analysis of any verse you might be working in.\u00a0 And there probably isn\u2019t a sermon or lesson that goes by that I don\u2019t try to at least click on his notes and see what he has to say.\u00a0 So he\u2019s done a wonderful service for the body of Christ, it\u2019s his lifetime of work and he offers these all for free online, he\u2019s not trying to make money off of it or anything like that.\u00a0 So it\u2019s just a huge resource if you\u2019re teaching or leading a Bible study or whatnot I would encourage you to be aware of that source.\n\nBut Constable, on John 18:36 says, \u201cJesus was not denying that His kingdom was an earthly kingdom. He was not saying it was only the spiritual rule of God over the hearts of His people.\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what amillennialist say.\u00a0 The only kingdom you\u2019re going to get is Jesus reigning in your heart, there is no future kingdom, using John 18:36 as a pretext.\u00a0 Constable says, \u201cHe\u201d Jesus \u201cwas not saying that His kingdom had nothing to do with this world, either. This should be clear from Jesus\u2019 other references to His kingdom as being an earthly kingdom. His point was that He and His kingdom were not a present threat to Rome\u201d at the time Jesus made the statement.\u00a0 \u201cIt was non-threatening because God had postponed the messianic kingdom\u2014due to Israel\u2019s unbelief\u2014though Jesus did not explain this to Pilate.\u201d\u00a0 [Notes on John<\/em>,\u201d 294, accessed February 5, 2014, http:\/\/www.soniclight.com\/<\/a>]\u00a0 As this Roman trial was taking place and this conversation occurs between Jesus and Pilate.\n\nThe verse isn\u2019t saying what everybody thinks it\u2019s saying.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is it\u2019s not an immediate threat, the kingdom is not an immediate threat to Pilate\u2019s kingdom\u00a0 That\u2019s Christ\u2019s only point.\n\nThe second issue I would raise is the emphasis on \u201cnow\u201d and this kind of goes with the first point.\u00a0 Jesus was making an issue out of \u201cnow\u201d because the final clause in John 18:36 has in it, and in some of your English translations it doesn\u2019t show up, the word \u201cnow\u201d but it\u2019s there in the Greek.\u00a0 I have it there in brackets and underlined.\u00a0 [John 18:36, \u201cJesus answered,\u00a0\u2018My kingdom\u00a0is 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 [nyn<\/u><\/em>], My kingdom is not\u00a0of this realm.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 It\u2019s the Greek word nyn<\/em>, which basically means now, immediately in other words.\n\nSo Jesus at the very end of the verse says, \u201cas it is\u201d or \u201cnow My kingdom is not of this world.\u201d\u00a0 So what Jesus is saying is My kingdom is not now going to be established; that\u2019s His only point.\u00a0 His point is not the kingdom will never be established; His point is it\u2019s not going to be now established within Pilate\u2019s lifetime.\u00a0 So Jesus is denying only one thing here, the immediate arrival of the kingdom. That\u2019s all He\u2019s denying; He is NOT, very important to understand this, He is NOT denying the ultimate arrival of the kingdom.\n\nAnd here\u2019s a citation from a scholar that I\u2019ve been quoting throughout this study, E. R. Craven, back in 1874, writes this: \u201cIn this utterance,\u201d John 18:36, \u201cit is contended that our Lord intended to declare to Pilate that the kingdom He came to establish was not after the manner of the kingdoms of this world, i. e.<\/em>, not external, political.\u201d\u00a0 See, that\u2019s what the amillennialist says, there\u2019s not going to be a future earthly kingdom.\u00a0 Craven says, \u201cIt is admitted that the utterance considered in itself will bear this interpretation;\u201d and see, this is one of the important things to understand about Bible study is we say this over and over again at this church but the three rules of real estate are what?\u00a0 Location, location, location!\n\nThe three rules of Bible study are context, context, context!\u00a0 What everybody does is they cherry-pick verses that support their preconceived idea.\u00a0 And your gullible Christian just looks at their preconceived verses without looking at the context of those verses. The fact of the matter is you can make the Bible say whatever you want it to say if\u00a0 you don\u2019t care about context.\u00a0 I\u2019ve used this example before, Judas went out and hung himself, go thou and do likewise and what you do, do quickly.\u00a0 So wow, the Bible supports suicide, right?\u00a0 Well, not if you care about the context of those verses but anybody can string together a bunch of out of context verses and make it sound any way they want.\u00a0 And theologians, very sadly, will do this all the time. They have a preconceived theology, in this case amillennialism, and they\u2019re just stringing verses together to make it sound like there is no future kingdom of God.\n\nSo Craven says \u201cIt is admitted that the utterance considered in itself will bear this interpretation; \u00a0but it will also bear one consistent with the theory herein advocated, especially in view of the introduction of nyn<\/em> in the last clause of the verse, which may be regarded as a particle of time\u2014\u201c see, the amillennialist is not telling you about the word nyn<\/em> in the Greek text, they\u2019re kind of hoping you don\u2019t know it\u2019s there because if the word \u201cnow\u201d is there (and it\u2019s there in the Greek) some of your English translations pick it up, others don\u2019t, Christ\u2019s only point is you\u2019re not going to have the kingdom now.\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying you\u2019re not going to have the kingdom ever the way amillennialists want us to believe.\n\nCraven says, \u201cMy kingdom is not now<\/em> established. Which of these interpretations are we to adopt\u201d he says. [Excursus on the Basileia<\/em>,\u201d in Revelation of John, J. P. Lange (New York: Scribner, 1874), 100.]\u00a0 The future kingdom, what he\u2019s advocating?\u00a0 Or the idea that there is no future kingdom.\u00a0 So he says, \u201cThe one\u201d the amillennial view, \u201csupposes that our Lord whispered into the ear of a heathen\u201d who was Pilate?\u00a0 Pilate is not one of the disciples of Christ, he\u2019s the opposite, he\u2019s responsible for the execution of Christ.\u00a0 The amillennial view \u201csupposes that our Lord whispered into the ear of a heathen\u201d and then he puts in parenthesis, \u201c(neither the disciples nor the Jews were in the Praetorium,) in fact look back at verse 28, you\u2019ll see that none of the disciples were even in there during this particular trial.\u00a0 It says in verse 28, and verse 28 comes before verse 36, right, you guys with me on that\u2026 amen!\u00a0 \u201cThen they led Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium and it was early and they themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they would not be defiled but might eat the Passover.\u201d\n\nChrist\u2019s whole entourage, His disciples were Jewish, right, and those that turned Christ over to the Romans for execution were Jewish and so they wouldn\u2019t go into a Roman Praetorium anyway because of the Jewish custom that they be defiled by being too close to the Gentiles.\u00a0 So when Jesus is talking here He\u2019s not talking to the disciples at all.\n\nSo Craven says, \u201cThe one supposes that our Lord whispered into the ear of a heathen (neither the disciples nor the Jews were in the Praetorium, verse 28), the great truth concerning His kingdom, which he had not only concealed<\/em> from His disciples (hid from them in a bewildering enigma) but a few hours before on the solemn occasion of the institution of the Supper, Luke 22:29, 30; but which, also, He continued to conceal<\/em> throughout the forty days of His subsequent continuance with them, during which time He is represented as \u2018speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God,\u2019 Acts 1:3, and as opening \u2018their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,\u2019 Luke 24:45!\u201d\u00a0 In other words, what he\u2019s saying is look how silly the amillennial position is.\u00a0 Jesus was talking about literal kingdom, literal kingdom, literal kingdom all the way through His ministry and now, suddenly when He\u2019s away from His disciples and He\u2019s around this unbelieving heathen, Pilate, Jesus says hey Pilate, just between you and Me, let Me give you the real interpretation of the kingdom\u2026 there is not kingdom!\n\nAnd then subsequent to that in His forty days in between His resurrection and ascension as He spoke about the kingdom of God for forty days, Acts 1, He went back to a literal interpretation of the kingdom.\u00a0 So literal before He met Pilate, literal after He met Pilate, but then He gives the true interpretation to Pilate, who wasn\u2019t even saved.\u00a0 Now how plausible is that?\u00a0 I mean, that\u2019s about as plausible as being struck by lightning two or three times, isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 And that\u2019s what theologians do to make their theories work; that\u2019s how they mutilate (many times) the context of the Bible.\n\nCraven, the last sentence is, \u201dThe other interpretation supposes that He spake\u201d now he says \u201cspake\u201d he\u2019s writing in 1874 using that old English.\u00a0 \u201cThe other \u00a0interpretation supposes that He spoke inconsistency with His previous and subsequent teaching.\u201d\u00a0 So you pick which view you want.\u00a0 As for me and my house I believe he kept the interpretation of the kingdom all the way through the same.\u00a0 The amillennialist says no, He changed it when He was talking to a pagan and gave the pagan the special insight.\u00a0 Why does this verse, \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d not teach amillennialism?\u00a0 (A) The kingdom was already rejected by that time so all He\u2019s saying is you\u2019re not going to have it now.\u00a0 (B) The emphasis of \u201cnow\u201d or \u201cnun\u201d in the Greek text emphasizes that; He\u2019s not saying the kingdom will never come, He\u2019s saying the kingdom is not coming now.\n\nAnd then my third\u00a0 point is this:\u00a0 He\u2019s making a statement here, really, in John 18:36 about the origin of the kingdom. [John 18:36, \u201cJesus answered, \u2018My kingdom is not of this world. \u00a0If 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 [nyn<\/u><\/em>], My kingdom is not of this world.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 He\u2019s not saying the kingdom will never come to the earth when He says \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world, He\u2019s making a statement that when the kingdom originates, although it will come to the earth, it does not originally come from the earth.\u00a0\u00a0 It comes from where?\u00a0 It comes from heaven to the earth.\u00a0 And you get that because in chapter 18, verse 36 there is a two-fold repetition, I put it in brackets there, but the Greek preposition ek<\/em> which means of or from, Jesus answered, \u201cMy kingdom is not of\u201d now a lot of your translations say \u201cof,\u201d you could easily render that \u201cfrom\u201d ek<\/em>, \u201cMy kingdom is not from this world. If My kingdom were\u201d ek<\/em> \u201cfrom this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews;\u201d and then He\u2019s very clear here, \u201cbut as it is, My kingdom is not of <\/u>this realm.\u201d\n\nAmillennialists say well that means there\u2019s never going to be a kingdom on the earth.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what He\u2019s saying at all.\u00a0 He\u2019s saying My kingdom, when it originates and ultimately comes to planet earth, which it will, it\u2019s not going to come from the earth to the earth, it\u2019s going to come from heaven to the earth.\u00a0 In other words, it\u2019s a statement about not the nature of the kingdom but the source of the kingdom.\u00a0 See the difference there?\u00a0 Because what the amillennialist says is oh, it\u2019s just a spiritual kingdom, that\u2019s all it is, it\u2019s not earthly.\u00a0 Christ is not making a statement about the nature of the kingdom; He\u2019s making a statement here about the source or origination of the kingdom.\n\nOnce again to show you I\u2019m not just up here making things up, Alva J. McLain in his book, The Greatness of the Kingdom:<\/em> which I recommend to you, says, \u201cMy kingdom is not of<\/em> this world (italics added), the word translated \u201cof\u201d is the Greek preposition ek<\/em>. McClain notes its significance:\u201d\u00a0 Here\u2019s a quote from Alva J. McLain, \u201cThe preposition is ek<\/em>, indicating source or originating cause. His kingdom does not originate in the present cosmos or world system.\u201d\n\nBack to Constable\u2019s notes, Constable says the same thing: \u201cJesus\u2019 kingdom is not of this realm or from another place.\u201d\u00a0 And then he says literally, \u201cnot from this place in another sense.\u201d\u00a0 It will come down from heaven to the earth rather than originating from the earth.\u00a0 It will begin when Jesus comes down from heaven to the earth at His second coming.\u00a0 When\u2026 not the rapture because when the rapture happens His feet don\u2019t touch the earth, if we\u2019re alive and remain on the earth at this time we\u2019re caught up, that\u2019s seven years (at least) before the second advent.\u00a0 But when Jesus comes back in His second advent at the end of the tribulation period He is coming from heaven to the earth; His feet are going to touch the Mount of Olives, it\u2019s so literal, Zechariah 14:4.\u00a0 [Zechariah 14:4, \u201cIn that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which is in front of Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in its middle from east to west by a very large valley, so that half of the mountain will move toward the north and the other half toward the south.\u201d]\n\nAnd what is He bringing with Him?\u00a0 His kingdom, which was with Him in heaven that He\u2019s bringing to the earth because Satan, in the events of the tribulation period will have been evicted from the earth so when He sets up His kingdom upon the earth, which will last for a thousand years, Satan will be bound and then ultimately at the end of the kingdom thrown into the lake of fire.\u00a0 So when Jesus says \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d He\u2019s not saying there\u2019s never going to be a kingdom one day; He\u2019s saying that when it comes it\u2019s going to originate from heaven to the earth; that\u2019s His only point.\u00a0\u00a0 That\u2019s a meaning that\u2019s completely foreign to what you find in amillennial\u00adism and kingdom now theology and their total mistreatment of this verse.\n\nAnd this is why when Christ offered the kingdom in the first century to Israel it was called the kingdom of what?\u00a0 Heaven. Why would it be called the kingdom of heaven?\u00a0 Because it originates in heaven, that\u2019s why it\u2019s called the kingdom of heaven.\u00a0 When it was offered again, I gave\u00a0 you Matthew 3:2, He called it the kingdom of heaven, that\u2019s John the Baptists anyway.\u00a0 Jesus called it the kingdom of heaven when it was offered to Israel.\u00a0 And when Jesus sent out the twelve to offer it to Israel in Matthew 10 they again called it the kingdom of heaven. Why do all these guys keep calling it the kingdom of heaven?\u00a0 Because they\u2019re making a comment, not about its nature but about its source or where it comes from.\n\nAnd it\u2019s very important to understand this because most people look at this phrase \u201ckingdom of heaven\u201d and they think it\u2019s just kind of this fuzzy shapeless kind of morphic kingdom of Jesus reigning in our hearts and that\u2019s not at all what the phrase means.\u00a0 Jesus is not in these passages making any kind of statement concerning the nature of the kingdom.\u00a0 It\u2019s just as literal and earthly as the Old Testament passages portray it.\u00a0 The only thing He\u2019s saying here with the expression \u201cthe kingdom of heaven\u201d is it\u2019s origination point or its source.\u00a0 And this is why Daniel 2:44 says, when the kingdom comes, the prophecy of Daniel, \u201cIn the days of those kings\u201d now what kings would those be?\u00a0 The ten nation confederacy controlled by the antichrist.\u00a0 That\u2019s the kings in context that he\u2019s talking about.\n\nIn other words, the antichrist is going to be ruling planet earth in that time period through ten kingdoms or kings or regions and I find it sort of interesting that the Club of Rome already has a map where they\u2019ve got the world divided up into ten regions.\u00a0 So the United States, Canada and Mexico would be a region, and they\u2019ve got ten of these all over the world.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of interesting that an unbelieving organization has ten regions for world government.\u00a0 I mean, why not nine, why no seven, why ten?\u00a0 Why do they pick the exact number ten?\u00a0 Because that\u2019s what the Bible says is going to exist in the end times, there\u2019s going to be a ten region confederacy under the antichrist.\u00a0 It\u2019s all in Daniel 2.\n\nSo in the days of those kings\u2026 which kings?\u00a0 The ten kings under the antichrist.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026the god of heaven will set up the kingdom which will never be destroyed.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 [Daniel 2:44, \u201cIn the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed, and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.\u201d]\n\nAnd that\u2019s the stone cut without human hands that shatters the feet of the statue and on each foot of the statue are how many toes?\u00a0 Five on one foot, five on another foot, five plus five equals what?\u00a0 Ten, that\u2019s the ten regions that the antichrist is ruling over so at the height of his dominance this kingdom cut without human hands shatters that ten nation confederacy.\u00a0 But it\u2019s very clear here that this comes from the God of heaven because the kingdom is ultimately sourced where?\u00a0 In heaven. See how this works.\n\nSo summing up the first part of the study, \u201cJesus answered, \u2018My kingdom is not of this world.\u00a0 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\u00a0 [John 18:36]\u00a0 This is not teaching there will never be a kingdom on the earth.\u00a0 What it\u2019s saying is the kingdom offer was already rejected, therefore it posed no threat to Pilate\u2019s empire and when that kingdom finally comes to the earth it\u2019s going to originate from heaven.\u00a0 That\u2019s his only point.\u00a0 You get all that (that I just taught there) based on the context of John 18.\n\nAll right, can we shift gears here for a minute?\u00a0 Let\u2019s go over to Matthew 18-20.\u00a0 Take a look at Matthew 28:18-20, this is the last passage we\u2019re going to look at that kingdom now theologians use from the life of Christ.\u00a0 And you already know the passage, it\u2019s the famous great commission. And here\u2019s what it says: \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \u2018All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.<\/u> [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.\u201d\u2019\n\nNow you see the expression I have underlined there, \u201c\u2018All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.<\/u>\u201d\u00a0 What people think that means is Jesus possesses all authority now, which He does, but they think He\u2019s actually exercising that authority.\u00a0 He has all authority and therefore He\u2019s exercising all authority and therefore we must be in the kingdom now because He has all of the authority and He\u2019s exercising the authority presently.\u00a0 So this becomes a really important verse to people who think the kingdom is now, not future.\n\nThis was a favorite of one of my professors, Darrell Bock, who is what you call a progressive dispensationalist; he\u2019s not a full blown amillennialist but he believes that we are in what he thinks is phase A of the kingdom, he calls it \u201calready not yet.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s kind of a like being a little bit pregnant as far as I\u2019m concerned, already not yet.\u00a0 Either you\u2019re in the kingdom or you\u2019re not!\u00a0 So he has two phases of the kingdom, and he makes a big deal about these verses in the\u00a0 Great Commission.\n\nBock says, \u201cThe point made here is like that of Matthew 28:18, where all authority resides with Jesus, who has formed a community through which He provides spiritual blessing. This is the first stage of the kingdom program. Nonetheless, the demonstration of full authority awaits his return.\u201d\u00a0 [Darrell Bock, \u201cThe Reign of the Lord Christ,\u201d in Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church, ed. Craig A. Blaising and Darrell L. Bock (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1992), 61.]\u00a0 So you see the already not yet language.\n\nBock goes on concerning this passage.\u00a0 \u201c\u201cThe biblical terminology and conceptual field\u201d now this is how these guys talk, whenever the text doesn\u2019t really support what they think it should support they take the vocabulary right over your head, and they make you feel that if you ask a question you\u2019re kind of stupid because you don\u2019t know what they\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of like nothing to see here folks, move right along, I have the PhD from Europe, you just accept what I say by way of faith.\u00a0 That\u2019s what he means here when he starts talking about here.\u00a0 \u201cThe biblical terminology and conceptual field\u201d I didn\u2019t know what he was talking about here and I was one of his students.\u00a0 \u201cThe biblical terminology and conceptual field (even the name Christ) shows that the authority of Jesus is received now and involves\u201d watch this, \u201cthe exercise of that authority at certain\u201d here we go with the big words, \u201ckey soteriological points.\u201d\u00a0 Which point?\u00a0 He doesn\u2019t tell me.\u00a0 \u201cJesus\u2019 executive authority in a variety of areas as shown in this listing indicates that His activity is messianic, and thus regal,\u201d regal means what?\u00a0 Kingly.\u00a0 Now watch this, \u201cnot merely high priestly\u2026.\n\nNow there are three offices of Christ.\u00a0 What are those?\u00a0 If you come Sunday morning we\u2019re going to go into these in depth because we have a passage in Revelation that deals with this, Revelation 3:21. [Revelation 3:21, \u201cHe that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne.\u201d]\u00a0 Prophet, priest and king, threefold ministry of Jesus, Prophet, first coming, King second coming, does that mean He\u2019s not, just because He\u2019s not reigning as King He\u2019s not doing anything right now?\u00a0 No, He\u2019s functioning at the right hand of the Father as high priest after the order of Melchizedek.\u00a0 So He\u2019s in a higher priesthood than Aaron.\u00a0 That\u2019s what He\u2019s doing, and there\u2019s a lot of functions He does but they don\u2019t involve Him reigning over the earth.\n\nAnd He\u2019s rejecting those three categories; He\u2019s blending priestly function with kingly function and here at Sugar Land Bible Church we don\u2019t do that, we keep them separate.\u00a0 And if you read our doctrinal statement you\u2019ll see that the three offices are kept separate.\u00a0 You can\u2019t blend the two.\u00a0\u00a0 And our doctrinal statement is patterned after Dallas Seminary\u2019s doctrinal statement so when he\u2019s doing this at Dallas Seminary he\u2019s violating the doctrinal statement of the school (in my humble opinion).\u00a0 But if you bring this up, and I brought this up to him, you\u2019re just immediately dismissed as some kind of crackpot.\n\nAnd my point is if you can violate the doctrinal statement at one point that opens the door to violating it at other points.\u00a0 So to me the doctrinal statements are important.\u00a0 In other words, when a church or a school puts out its doctrinal statement the public has a right to expect people that teach in that church or school to follow the doctrinal statement.\u00a0 Right?\n\nSo he\u2019s saying there are no three offices because he\u2019s blending two of them, priest and king, together in his already spiritual form of the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 He says,\u00a0 \u201c\u2026If it is messianic and Davidic, then it is regal and indicates initial manifestations of Jesus\u2019 rule.\u201d\u00a0 Now where is he getting this whole thing from?\u00a0 He\u2019s getting this whole thing in that paragraph from Matthew 28:18 where Jesus says, \u201cAll authority has been given to Me\u201d\u00a0 in heaven and on earth.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u201d]\n\nSo as someone who believes that the kingdom is yet future, how would I answer this?\u00a0 I have at least six answers, I\u2019m not sure if I can go through all of them before the clock turns 8:00 o\u2019clock but I\u2019ll do my best here.\n\nNumber one, do you see the word \u201ckingdom\u201d at all in Matthew 28:28-20?\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18-20, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \u2018All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.<\/u> [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, [20] teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.\u201d\u2019]\n\nThe Greek word for kingdom is what?\u00a0 Basileia, did you see the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in that passage?\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t even show up.\u00a0 So it\u2019s very strange to me that you can build a whole doctrine on the present form of the kingdom from these verses when the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not even found in these verses.\n\nAnd it\u2019s interesting that when Jesus was making the kingdom available to Israel on a silver platter did you see the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in those passages?\u00a0 I mean, it showed up all the time, \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d Matthew 3:2.\u00a0 \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d Matthew 4:17.\u00a0 \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,\u201d Matthew 10:7.\u00a0 God is pretty good at using the word when the kingdom is right there and available but the word is not even found in Matthew 28.\n\nOther passages that make the availability of the kingdom plain when God is making it plain is Matthew 24:14 where the gospel of the kingdom will be preached to the whole world.\u00a0 That\u2019s in the tribulation period, when the kingdom is right around the corner.\u00a0 [Matthew 24:14, \u201cThis gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come.\u201d]\n\nMatthew 25, when Jesus sits on David\u2019s throne and executes the sheep and the goat judgment and says, \u201cCome you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the\u201d what? \u201cthe kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 25:34, \u201cThen the King will say to those on His right, \u2018Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.\u2019\u201d]\n\nAnd then you can jot down Matthew 26:29, there late in Christ\u2019s ministry He talks about the kingdom, and Luke 10:9.\u00a0 [Matthew 26:29, \u201cBut I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father's kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 Luke 10:9, \u201cand heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.\u2019\u201d]\n\nSo the Lord knows how to use the word \u201ckingdom\u201d when the kingdom is either present or available and I just find it very, very odd that the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not found at all in the great commission passage.\u00a0 So that\u2019s why Darrell Bock has to go on and on talking about a conceptual field and all these kinds of things, because he\u2019s trying to wow you with a bunch of language to compensate for the fact, the simple fact that the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not there.\u00a0 And it\u2019s almost like\u2026 you know that story where the little kid says the king is naked; that\u2019s almost how you feel in these sort of discussions because it\u2019s so obvious and yet it gets lost in all of this high-minded scholarship.\n\nThe second problem with making Matthew 28, \u201cAll authority has been given to Me\u201d as a manifestation of the kingdom is \u00a0the world that we\u2019re living in today where Matthew 28 is being fulfilled through the great commission, it doesn\u2019t really seem like the kingdom, does it?\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \u2018All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0 I mean, what is the kingdom as we\u2019ve seen it developed in the Old Testament?\u00a0 It\u2019s Jerusalem will be the center of world spiritual and political authority.\u00a0 Is that happening today?\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 There\u2019s going to be perfect justice and world peace and peace in the animal kingdom and universal knowledge of God.\u00a0 Is that happening today?\u00a0 NO, it\u2019s not.\u00a0 And yet the Prophet Isaiah describes that as existing on the earth when the kingdom comes.\n\nWhat is happening today?\u00a0 Massive apostasy is happening today.\u00a0 What is apostasy?\u00a0 Departure from known truth.\u00a0 Would you say that\u2019s happening in the Christian world today?\u00a0 Paul said it would happen when he said, 2 Timothy 3:1, \u201cBut know this, in the last days perilous times will come.\u201d\u00a0 2 Timothy 3:13, \u201cBut evil men and imposters will\u201d what \u201cgrow worse and worse, [deceiving and being deceived.\u201d]\u00a0 Would you say that\u2019s happening today?\u00a0 I would say that\u2019s happening today.\u00a0 If that\u2019s happening today then how in the world could the earth be filled with the knowledge of the Lord today?\u00a0 I mean, which is it?\n\nDon\u2019t get me wrong, God is working but the world that we\u2019re living in is not getting any better. The churches aren\u2019t getting better, with very few exceptions.\u00a0 There\u2019s a downward slide and that\u2019s what the Bible said would happen in the last days.\u00a0 That\u2019s why 2 Timothy was written.\u00a0 Paul said in Acts 20:29-31 as He\u2019s speaking to the elders of the church at Ephesus, \u201c\u201cI know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;\u201d now this must have freaked them out because to these elders he said \u201cfrom your own number men will arise\u201d and distort the truth.\u00a0 [Acts 20:29-31, \u201d I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;\u201d now this must have freaked them out because to these elders, [30] \u201cand from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. [31]\u201cTherefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.\u201d]\n\nThat\u2019s the church age we\u2019re in. That doesn\u2019t fit\u00a0 Kingdom Now conditions at all, with the earth being filled with the knowledge of the Lord and Jesus reigning with a rod of iron. Now we\u2019re studying on Sunday mornings the seven letters to the seven churches.\u00a0 Has that been an interesting study to you?\u00a0 It\u2019s been interesting to me, it\u2019s been a little bit depressing also because five of the seven churches are apostate.\u00a0 That\u2019s just sixty years after the life of Christ\u2014five of the seven churches are in decline.\u00a0 And in fact in one of the churches, Laodicea, that we studied Sunday, Jesus is outside the door of the church knocking to get in.\u00a0 Does that sound like the kingdom?\n\nRemember Newell\u2019s comment, \u201cThe name Laodicea comes from Laos<\/em> meaning people and dike<\/em>\u014d<\/em>, to rule, the rule of the people, democracy in other words.\u00a0 What\u2019s happening in Laodicea is the people are having their way and Jesus is pushed outside.\u00a0 That isn\u2019t the kingdom at all.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know how people can confuse that with the kingdom.\u00a0 It\u2019s never made any real sense to me.\u00a0 I mean, if this is the kingdom I\u2019m thinking I\u2019m sorry I signed up for the whole deal to begin with because I\u2019m really disappointed.\u00a0 I\u2019m looking for the real kingdom that the Bible speaks of.\u00a0 That\u2019s my hope.\n\nAnd also in the present age we have carnality, don\u2019t we?\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t Paul describe three kinds of Christians?\u00a0 Spiritual, infant and carnal.\u00a0 Now are you going to have that in the kingdom?\u00a0 Not openly because Jesus is going to be reigning with a rod of iron and there\u2019s going to be instantaneous punishment. But in the present age, very sadly, you can have this and Paul even says in this passage, Hebrews 5 says it to, \u201cBy this time\u00a0 you ought to be teachers,\u201d you should have grown out of this a long time ago.\u00a0 [Hebrews 5:12, \u201cFor though by this time you ought to be teachers, you have need again for someone to teach you the elementary principles of the oracles of God, and you have come to need milk and not solid food.\u201d]\n\nSo my second point is that the present age does not at all describe the kingdom.\n\nMy third point is for Darrell Bock\u2019s interpretation to work he has to completely change the defin\u00adition of the kingdom.\u00a0 First of all, what is the kingdom? \u00a0It\u2019s Israel ruling over her land territory.\u00a0 It\u2019s all of those conditions that I just mentioned becoming a reality in the world.\u00a0 So to say that we\u2019re in a spiritual form of the kingdom today when these things aren\u2019t happening means you\u2019ve got to change all of this.\u00a0 And this is how these people think; they think the New Testament changes the Old Testament.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think that ever happens because if that happened that would make the things that God said in the Old Testament, to the Old Testament people to be what?\u00a0 Lies!\u00a0 God cannot lie, it\u2019s impossible for God to lie.\u00a0 [Hebrews 6:18, \u201cso that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie\u2026.\u201d]\u00a0 So he\u2019s kind of changing horses in midstream, is what he\u2019s doing.\n\nMy fourth problem with what he\u2019s doing here, and this is maybe the most important point, is he\u2019s confusing authority being granted with the exercise of that authority.\u00a0 Being granted authority and exercising authority are two different things.\u00a0 So all authority has been given to Christ.\u00a0 Right?\u00a0 Is that true?\u00a0 That\u2019s what it says there in verse 18, \u201cAll authority has been given to me.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say He is exercising all authority.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t say that, does it?\n\nHe obviously is not exercising all authority because where is Jesus now?\u00a0 \u00a0\u201c\u2026at the right hand of the Father, \u201cwell how long is He there for, \u201cuntil\u201d see the word heos<\/u><\/em> in brakets, \u201cHis enemies be made a footstool for His feet.\u00a0 [Hebrews 10:12-13, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>but He, having offered one sacrifice\u00a0for\u00a0sins\u00a0for all time,\u00a0sat down at the right hand of God,\u00a0[13] \u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>waiting from that time onward\u00a0until [heos<\/u><\/em>] His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.\u201d]\n\nHave His enemies been made a footstool for His feet on this earth?\u00a0 Not yet.\u00a0 If He were exercising all authority now there would be no \u201cuntil\u201d in that passage, would there.\u00a0\u00a0 His enemies would be \u201ca footstool for His feet.\u201d\u00a0 So the Nelson Illustrated Bible Commentary says this: \u201cAll authority has been given to Jesus although He is not exercising all of it.\u00a0 He will manifest His power when He returns in all His glory.\u201d\u00a0 Now who is the type of Jesus in the Old Testament?\u00a0 Which king?\u00a0 David!\u00a0 David is anointed as the next king in 1 Samuel 16.\u00a0 Does that mean that David immediately took the throne?\u00a0 NO, who was on the throne?\u00a0 Saul. So there\u2019s a transitionary time where David is the king but Saul is still ruling. And David had the authority but did not exercise it because he was waiting for God to depose Saul.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great illustration of learning to wait on God.\n\nAnd in fact, David, twice, 1 Samuel 24 and 1 Samuel 26 had the chance to kill Saul.\u00a0 Did David take that opportunity?\u00a0 He did not, he waited on the Lord.\u00a0 So David was anointed but he was not yet ruling.\u00a0 Do you see that?\u00a0 If you want to understand where Jesus is right now He is exactly where David was in that transitional time in between his anointing and ruling with Satan or a Saul-like character still on the throne.\u00a0 So what is Jesus waiting for at the right hand of the Father.\u00a0 He is waiting until Satan is deposed by the Father, even though Jesus has the authority to reign on this earth if he wanted to.\u00a0 So you want to talk about somebody who knows how to wait on the Father it\u2019s Jesus Christ.\u00a0 He\u2019s waiting on the Father\u2019s timing for the Father to depose Satan so Jesus can reign.\u00a0 So just because He has the authority doesn\u2019t mean He\u2019s exercising it.\u00a0 Are you with me on that.?\u00a0 Just like David!\n\nSo just because the passage says, \u201cAll authority has been given to me\u201d doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re in the kingdom.\u00a0 You guys follow me?\u00a0 Very fast, what authority is Jesus exercising?\u00a0 See the word \u201ctherefore\u201d in verse 19, \u201cGo therefore,\u201d that\u2019s the Greek word oun<\/em>, which connects verse 19 back to verse 18.\u00a0 Verse 18, \u201cAll authority has been given to Me,\u201d okay Jesus, what are you doing with that authority?\u00a0 I\u2019m not exercising all of it right now, I\u2019m exercising it in a limited sense by propelling my church into their assignment of fulfilling the great what?\u00a0 Commission.\u00a0 When you step out and fulfill the great commission you\u2019re functioning under the Son\u2019s authority because that\u2019s the authority He\u2019s wielding today.\u00a0 He\u2019s not reigning as King, He\u2019s exercising limited authority although all authority has been given to Him but here is what He is doing\u2014He\u2019s propelling His church in the fulfillment of the great commission.\n\nSee, as we go out and fulfill the great commission we\u2019re not out there to conquer the world.\u00a0 Why not?\u00a0 Because Jesus is not conquering the world right now.\u00a0 He\u2019s exercising authority in a limited sense. That\u2019s the church of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 (I hope I\u2019m not losing you all.)\u00a0 And in my sixth argument as to why Matthew 28:18-20 cannot be the kingdom is where is the kingdom going to be head\u00adquartered?\u00a0 Jerusalem.\u00a0 That\u2019s in Isaiah 2:3, \u201cThe word of the LORD will go forth from Zion, from Jerusalem.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 2:3, \u201cAnd many peoples will come and say, \u2018Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, To the house of the God of Jacob; That He may teach us concerning His ways And that we may walk in His paths.\" For the law will go forth from Zion And the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, when the kingdom manifests itself on the earth and nations are going to be forced to go to where to worship Jesus?\u00a0 Jerusalem, Zechariah 14:16-18.\u00a0 [Zechariah 14:16-18, \u201cThen it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. [17] And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. [18] If the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall<\/em> on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths.\u201d]\n\nNow if this is the kingdom age where would Jesus be sending His disciples to rule from? He would be sending them back to Jerusalem, wouldn\u2019t He.\u00a0 He would be sending them back to Jerusalem, wouldn\u2019t He?\u00a0 But He\u2019s not doing that here, He\u2019s sending them where?\u00a0 Into all the nations.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that kind of odd?\u00a0 I mean, if this is the millennial reign of Christ, if this passage is the kingdom even though the word doesn\u2019t even show up in the passage, I would think He would say go back to Jerusalem and exercise your authority.\u00a0 But He doesn\u2019t do that, He sends them into all the world.\n\nHe says \u201cAll authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth,\u201d \u00a0so \u201cGo therefore and make disciples of all nations\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 [Matthew 28:18,, \u201cAnd Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, \"All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.\u00a0 [19] Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.\u201d]\n\nTim LaHaye says, \u201cInstead of sending His disciples back to the house of Israel, they were sent into all the world.\u201d\u00a0 [Tim LaHaye, ed. Tim LaHaye Prophecy Study Bible (Chattanooga: AMG, 2001), 1163.Illustrated Bible Commentary (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1999), 1202.]\n\nSo to disbelieve that Matthew 28:18-20 is talking about a spiritual form of the kingdom, number 1, the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not there in the passage.\u00a0 Number 2, the present age doesn\u2019t mirror kingdom conditions.\u00a0 Number 3, you have to change the Old Testament definition of the kingdom.\u00a0 Number 4, there\u2019s a big difference between exercising authority and being granted authority.\u00a0 Number 5, Christ\u2019s limited authority is explained in the passage.\u00a0 He\u2019s propelling the church to fulfill the great commission.\u00a0 And then number 6, the kingdom is headquartered in Jerusalem so why would He send them out of Jerusalem?\n\nSo what we just walked through are all the passages that kingdom now theologians use in the life of Christ to argue that we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 There\u2019s a lot of passages we looked at.\u00a0 The study is going to go a little faster now, believe it or not, because there\u2019s fewer passages in Acts and\u00a0 Paul and the letters in Revelation.\u00a0 But I\u2019ll take you through those passages too and show you that all of them don\u2019t say that we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 So that\u2019s sort of the direction we\u2019re going in and so next week we\u2019ll start looking at the Book of Acts, particularly Acts 2.","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