{"id":19245,"date":"2019-04-10T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-04-10T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-065\/"},"modified":"2019-04-10T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-04-10T05:00:00","slug":"the-coming-kingdom-065","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/the-coming-kingdom-065\/","title":{"rendered":"The Coming Kingdom 065"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[89],"series_event":[470],"sermon_service_type":[474],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19245","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-acts","series_event-the-coming-kingdom","sermon_service_type-wednesday-evenings","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"The Coming Kingdom 065","sermon_date":"20190410","sermon_month":"4","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":6553,"sermon_slides":6554,"sermon_mp3":6555,"sermon_id":"41019224188083","series_or_event":470,"service_type":[474],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":89,"chapter_and_verse":"28:31","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Coming Kingdom\n\n4-10-19\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Acts 28:31\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lesson 65\n\nLet\u2019s open our Bibles if we could to Acts, chapter 1 verse 3.\u00a0\u00a0 As you know we\u2019re continuing on in our study of the kingdom, really dealing with passages that people use frequently to say that we are in the kingdom now.\u00a0 Our perspective is that we\u2019re not in the kingdom now, we\u2019re in the church age now.\u00a0\u00a0 As my friend Tommy Ice likes to say, if this is the kingdom I must be living in the ghetto section of town.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve been looking at passages in the Book of Acts, particularly Acts 2 and Acts 15, to argue that we\u2019re currently in the kingdom.\u00a0 Those are the passages that people typically go to in addition to the teachings from the life of Christ which we\u2019ve already looked at.\u00a0 And I know you guys probably won\u2019t believe me when I say this but I think the heavy lifting is over because we spent a lot of time in Acts because that\u2019s really where the battle is fought, Acts 2, and then last week a little bit in Acts 15.\u00a0 So after we get out of the Book of Acts we\u2019ll look at the passages in Paul, the general letters and Revelation.\u00a0 And I think we\u2019ll start to see things go a little faster, at least that\u2019s what I\u2019m hoping for.\n\nBut before we leave the Book of Acts\u00a0 you\u2019ll notice there at the top of the screen there are eight references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts.\u00a0 [Acts 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31]\u00a0 And so what I want to do, I just want to talk you through those passages real fast, then I want to show you how to handle them.\u00a0 And Kingdom Now theologians use these eight passages constantly.\u00a0 These are eight times where the Greek word basileia <\/em>or kingdom is found in the Book of Acts.\u00a0 So let\u2019s go through these fast.\n\nNotice Acts 1:3, \u201cTo these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 So Jesus is ministering between His resurrection and ascension, a forty day period, and He\u2019s talking to the disciples about things concerning the kingdom of God and people say aha, there it is, we must be in the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus was teaching that we\u2019re in the kingdom now.\u00a0 And so they\u2019ll use a verse like that to argue the point.\n\nJump down to Acts 1:6, \u201cSo when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, \u2018Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?\u201d\u2019\u00a0 And so people use that to say see, the apostles anticipated a spiritual kingdom between the two advents of Christ so we must be in the kingdom now.\n\nGo over to Acts 8:12, here\u2019s your third reference to kingdom or the Greek word basileia<\/em>, in the Book of Acts, Acts 8:12, \u201cBut when they believed Philip preaching the good news\u201d look at what it says here, \u201cabout the kingdom of God\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 This is Philip, the deacon, and the whole story of the conversion of the Samaritans and it says, \u201cBut when they believed Philip preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being baptized, men and women alike.\u201d\u00a0 So people say there it is folks, just like Christ early on is preaching the kingdom of God so we must be in it.\n\nGo over if you could to Acts 14:22, I just call these generic references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts.\u00a0 Acts 14:22 and notice what it says there, \u201cstrengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, \u2018Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now there I think it\u2019s hard to argue that that\u2019s speaking of the present kingdom because it says \u201cwe\u201d that would be Paul\u2019s converts there in Southern Galatia on the first missionary journey.\u00a0 It says, \u201cwe\u201d must go \u201cthrough many tribulations,\u201d \u201cThrough many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Now to me you go through the tribulation first then you enter the kingdom of God later so I think that\u2019s a clear reference to a future kingdom.\u00a0 But people still use that to say we\u2019re currently in the kingdom.\n\nAnd take a look if you could over in Acts 19 and notice verse 8, \u201cAnd he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God.\u201d\u00a0 So I believe this is, if I\u2019m not mistaken isn\u2019t the ministry of Apollos here in Ephesus.\u00a0 And he\u2019s speaking boldly about the kingdom of God and so people say well, all these New Testament writers believe we\u2019re in the kingdom now, in the church age.\n\nBut go one chapter to the right, to Acts 20:25, \u201cAnd now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face.\u201d So here\u2019s another example of, I believe this was Paul preaching the kingdom.\u00a0 So you can again see how people think that means if he\u2019s preaching the kingdom we must be in the kingdom.\n\nGo to Acts 28 if you could, there are two references to kingdom or basileia<\/em> in the last chapter of the Book of Acts, and notice verse 23 , \u201cWhen they had set a day\u201d now this is Paul at the end of the Book of Acts he\u2019s basically been two years confined in Rome, about A.D. 60-62 where he\u2019s going to write the prison letters, which would be Ephesians, Colossians, Philemon and Philippians.\u00a0 It says, Acts 28:23, \u201cWhen they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he\u201d that\u2019s Paul, \u201cwas explaining to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the Law of Moses and from the Prophets, from morning until evening.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s Paul at the end of his ministry he\u2019s recording the Book of Acts, boldly preaching the kingdom so people say we must be in the kingdom.\n\nAnd then you go to the very end of the chapter, very end of the book, and how does the Book of Acts end.\u00a0 Paul, in prison in Rome, and it says, \u201cPreaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness unhindered. \u201c\u00a0 \u00a0[Acts 28:31]\n\nSo I just took you through the eight references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts and people think all of these mean we must be in a spiritual form of the kingdom now.\u00a0 I have three responses to how I think people are misusing these generic references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts but let me read to you this quote from Alva J. McLain because he deals with this issue.\n\nAlva J. McLain, I think correctly, says, \u201cThe term \u2018kingdom\u2019 (in the Greek it\u2019s basileia<\/em>) occurs eight times in Acts\u201d we just went through the passages, \u201cas referring to the divine rule. . . . In the Book of Acts this \u2018kingdom of God\u2019 appears as something future, the term being used, as James Orr has observed, \u2018in an almost exclusively eschatological sense.\u2019 The Old Testament prophecies of the Messianic Kingdom, occasionally quoted by the apostles (cf. Acts 2:25\u201336; 3:22\u201336; 13:22\u201339) are used to show the regal rights of Jesus the Messiah. But nowhere do they ever assert that the Kingdom has been established.\u201d\u00a0 See, it\u2019s one thing to preach about the kingdom of God, it\u2019s another thing to say that the kingdom of God has been established.\u00a0 Part of Christian teaching involves teaching about the future, right?\u00a0 What area of theology do we call that?\u00a0\u00a0 Anybody know the name.\u00a0 It starts with an e -- eschatology.\u00a0 So if someone stands up like myself, I\u2019m teaching the Book of Revelation on Sunday and I teach you about eschatology, I teach you about the Book of Revelation, am I saying automatically that the Book of Revelation is happening now?\u00a0 I\u2019m not saying that at all. So Paul could make all kinds of statements and these apostles could make all kinds of statements about the kingdom and it doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re in the kingdom.\n\nSo \u201cThe Old Testament prophecies \u2026 are used to show the regal rights of Jesus the Messiah. But nowhere do they ever assert that the Kingdom has been established. In passages about which there can be no dispute, this is a matter which belongs to the future when the King returns from heaven (cf. 1:6\u201311; 3:19\u201321; 15:13\u201316).\u201d\n\n\u201cThe passage in 14:22,\u201d I had you look at that a few minutes ago, \u201c\u2018we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God,\u2019 is sometimes used to prove a present Messianic Kingdom established on earth in the church. But such a use would prove too much\u2026. \u00a0But in the Old Testament prophetic picture of the coming Messianic Kingdom, as every intelligent Jew understood, a period of terrible tribulation always precedes its establishment on earth. . . . Therefore the passage in 14:22 is in complete harmony with the historical situation and the progress of revelation\u2026..\u201d \u00a0\u00a0The argument advanced by some, that since the apostles throughout the Acts period preached \u2018the things concerning the kingdom of God\u2019 (19:8), therefore the kingdom must have already been established, is not very good logic. Most of us preach and teach many things in the Christian faith which are not yet realized in experience. No sensible person would argue that because the apostles continually preached the resurrection of the dead, therefore, it must have already taken place.\u201d\u00a0 [Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 424-26.]\n\nSo we talk about a resurrection, right, as Christians, as our hope.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think we\u2019re saying by teaching that that we\u2019re in resurrected bodies now because you guys really don\u2019t look like you\u2019re in resurrected bodies from where I stand, and I doubt I look like I\u2019m in a resurrected body either.\n\nSo just kind of by way of summary let me just give you three points about these sort of generic references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that in not one single passage was the kingdom ever defined.\u00a0 So therefore if the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is not defined in any of these references how do you think we should fill in the meaning of that word?\u00a0 The Old Testament.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve carefully developed in this class, haven\u2019t we, what the Old Testament reveals about the kingdom.\n\nRemember we went through Isaiah 2:1-4, Isaiah 11:6-9, Isaiah 65:17-25, among many, many other passages and there we learned that the kingdom is a time period when Jerusalem is the spiritual center of both spiritual and political authority.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period of perfect justice.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period of world peace.\u00a0 It\u2019s a time period when even the animals are getting along with each other, wolf and lamb are dwelling together.\u00a0 And animals are actually getting along with people to such an extent that a child will be able to put his or her hand into the cobra\u2019s nest and not be harmed.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And it\u2019s a time period that we have universal spiritual knowledge of God spread all over the planet.\u00a0 That\u2019s what the kingdom is.\u00a0 So when I run into these references in the Boo of Acts that says Paul went around preaching the kingdom I\u2019m not really free as a Bible reader to just dump into the expression \u201ckingdom\u201d any meaning I choose to do.\u00a0 You see, that\u2019s what people do, they grab some passage that\u2019s not defined because the Bible is expecting the reader to interpret it from what\u2019s already been revealed in the Old Testament and they\u2019re just pouring their kingdom now theology into the passage and they try to develop this idea that we\u2019re in a spiritual from of the kingdom now and Jesus is reigning in our hearts and that\u2019s what the kingdom is.\n\nAnd you see you would never do that with any other doctrine of the Bible would you?\u00a0 For example in the New Testament when you see the word \u201credemption\u201d and that word redemption is not defined how in the world do you figure out what it means?\u00a0 Well, I think with redemption you\u2019ve got to go back into the Old Testament and I\u2019m thinking of one specific part of the Old Testament that defines redemption beautifully.\u00a0 Anybody know what I might be thinking of?\u00a0 It involves ten plagues and a Passover lamb.\u00a0 The Book of Exodus, that\u2019s where redemption is defined, where God releases His people from bondage through a spotless Passover lamb.\u00a0 So when you run into the word \u201credemption\u201d as applied to Christ that\u2019s what you ought to be thinking of because God, when we interpret His Word expects us to interpret it according to things that He\u2019s already previously set up, defined, and established.\n\nSo the better you know the Old Testament the better you\u2019ll understand the New Testament and the better you know the New Testament the better you\u2019ll understand what the Old Testament is about.\u00a0 The Bible is meant to be read that way; we can\u2019t just come into concepts undefined and dump into those concepts any meaning our preconceptions determine.\u00a0 We\u2019ve got to define it according to what prior revelation says.\u00a0 And that\u2019s not what\u2019s happening as people are using these kingdom now passages.\u00a0 I mean, the only way you could get a kingdom now theology out of those eight passages is to basically drive a wedge between the Old Testament and the New Testament.\n\nThe second general point that I\u2019ll make about these generic references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts, these eight references, is teaching (and I\u2019ve already made this point a little earlier, and Alva J. McLain in the quote I read to you made the same point also).\u00a0 \u201c\u2026teaching things unrealized does not make them realized now.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, just because you teach the kingdom doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re in the kingdom any more than just because you teach the resurrection of the believer means that we\u2019re in resurrected bodies now.\u00a0 Part of Christian doctrine is teaching about things past and things future.\u00a0 Things future is what we call eschatology but that doesn\u2019t mean that the eschaton has just started because you\u2019re teaching about it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the mistake people are making with these kingdom now interpretations in Acts.\n\nSo again Alva J. McLain said, \u201cThe argument advanced by some, that since the apostles throughout the Acts period preached \u2018the things concerning the kingdom of God\u2019 (19:8), therefore the kingdom must have already been established, is not very good logic.\u201d\u00a0 In fact, I think he\u2019s being very nice when he says that.\u00a0 I think he should say it\u2019s very poor logic and it shouldn\u2019t even constitute proper Bible study.\u00a0 \u201cMost of us preach and teach many things in the Christian faith which are not yet realized in experience. No sensible person would argue that because the apostles continually preached the resurrection of the dead, therefore, it must have already taken place.\u201d\u00a0 [Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 424-26.]\n\nAnd one other quick point I\u2019ll make about these eight references in the Book of Acts is this: the word kingdom, or basileia<\/em> is used eight times in the Book of Acts.\u00a0\u00a0 Not that may seem like a lot but it\u2019s quite small in comparison to the number of times the word \u201ckingdom\u201d appears in the prequel to the Book of Acts, which is the\u00a0 Gospel of Luke.\u00a0 So if\u00a0 you go back just for a minute to Acts 1:1, you have to remember that Luke and Acts really is one volume; our Bibles break it up into a prequel and a sequel but both of them were put together by Luke, written to Theophilus about Jesus.\u00a0 Luke basically demonstrating what Jesus did in His earthly ministry to reach out to everybody, including the Gentiles.\u00a0 And then that saga continues as Jesus continues the same ministry of reaching out to the Gentiles but this time through the church as Jesus is where? At the right hand of God the Father.\n\nSo Acts is what Jesus did through the church; Luke is what Jesus did in His earthly ministry in His incarnation.\u00a0 But other than that basic division the Book of Luke and the Book of Acts are meant to be understood in harmony with each other.\u00a0 And you see that very clearly in Acts 1:1 where Dr. Luke says to Theophilus, the one he\u2019s writing to, \u201cThe first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, [2] \u00a0until the day when He was taken up to heaven,\u201d etc.\n\nSo he\u2019s talking about his first account and what would his first account be?\u00a0 The Gospel of Luke, the prequel, The Book of Acts being the sequel.\u00a0 So when you look at both books together, and that\u2019s very important to do because they\u2019re meant to be understood as a unit, what\u00a0 you discover is the word \u201ckingdom,\u201d basileia<\/em>, is\u00a0 used eight times in the Book of Acts.\u00a0 It seems like a lot until you figure out how many times it\u2019s used in Luke\u2019s Gospel, it\u2019s used actually forty-five times in Luke\u2019s Gospel.\u00a0 So it\u2019s used in Luke\u2019s Gospel more than five times as much as you\u2019ll find it in the Book of Acts.\n\nSo the big question is why is the word basileia<\/em> so frequently used in Luke\u2019s Gospel and then you get into his sequel in the Book of Acts and the word is\u00a0 used just eight times?\u00a0 And the answer to that is we have taught a concept here called The Offer of the kingdom, right?\u00a0 You guys remember the offer of the kingdom idea?\u00a0 That Jesus, when He was on the earth said \u201cRepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.\u201d [Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17]\u00a0 And first century Israel had an opportunity while He was here offering them this to take Him and enthrone Him on His terms and if they had done that the kingdom would have materialized.\u00a0 I mean, people say well hypothetically could that have happened?\u00a0 I believe it could have happened; I believe it was a sincere bona fide offer.\n\nBut you see, when you get to Matthew 12 there\u2019s a whole shift that takes place because it\u2019s very clear that they\u2019re going to reject the offer.\u00a0 Once the offer is rejected the kingdom is no longer the focus anymore, it\u2019s now the coming church.\u00a0 And so that\u2019s why the number of references to kingdom\u00a0 starts to dramatically get curtailed at that point, to the point where it\u2019s only mentioned eight times in the Book of Acts and no longer in the Book of Acts does it say the kingdom is at hand.\u00a0 Paul is just making some general statements about the kingdom yet future.\u00a0 And to under\u00adstand why there\u2019s such a steep decline between 45 references in Luke and 8 references in the Book of Acts you really can\u2019t understand that unless you understand this offer of the kingdom framework that we\u2019ve been presenting.\n\nSo Dr. Toussaint I think has it right on this and he says, \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0 difficult to explain why Luke does not use the term if the kingdom is being inaugurated.\u00a0 He employs it forty-five times in the gospel. . . . One would expect Luke to use the word if such a startling thing as the inauguration of the kingdom had taken place.\u201d\u00a0 And here\u2019s the main thing I wanted us to see.\u00a0 \u201cThe fact that Luke uses kingdom only eight times in Acts after such heavy usage in his gospel implies that the kingdom had not begun but was in fact<\/u>, \u201cpostponed.\u201d\u00a0 [\u201cIsrael and the Church of a Traditional Dispensationalist,\u201d in Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism, ed. Herbert W. Bateman (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 242]\u00a0 What\u2019s his last word there? \u201cpostponed\u201d which is the model we\u2019ve been teaching.\n\nSo when people throw these eight verses at you from the Book of Acts and try to make you think we\u2019re in the kingdom now because of those eight verses it\u2019s very helpful to remind yourself that eight is a very small number compared to forty-five. And you\u2019ll notice that in Acts it never says it\u2019s at hand; Paul\u2019s just making some generic statements about the future, much like we would mention the future resurrection today without arguing that we are in the future resurrection.\n\nSo I like this offer of the kingdom approach because it answers so many questions.\u00a0 The kingdom is offered by John the Baptist, Matthew 3:2, Jesus, Matthew 4:17, the twelve apostles, Matthew 10:5-7 and they keep saying \u201crepent for the kingdom is at hand.\u00a0 It\u2019s offered by the 70, Luke 10:1 and verse 9, and you\u2019ll see that offer being consistently extended to first century Israel\u00a0 until you get to Matthew 12:24.\u00a0 Once\u00a0 you hit Matthew 12:24 it\u2019s a pivot and there are certain books of the Bible where a massive pivot occurs and you want to be sensitive to where the pivot is.\n\nFor example, there\u2019s a massive pivot in Numbers 13 and 14.\u00a0 In fact, if you have Numbers 13 and 14 in your study Bible\u00a0 you should write on the top pivot with three exclamation points after it because if you didn\u2019t have Numbers 13 and 14 in your Bible you couldn\u2019t even explain what\u2019s happening in the rest of that particular book because that\u2019s the switch between the generations.\u00a0 You remember how God\u2019s hand was on that first generation that came out of Egypt and all the miracles God did for them and how He sustained them in the wilderness and how He parted the Red Sea and how He gave the manna from heaven and they saw the ten plagues and this, by the way, demon\u00adstrates that miracles don\u2019t always produce faith.\u00a0 This is the same crowd that got to the southern border of the land of Israel to a place called Kadesh-Barnea, they look into the land and what do they see in the land?\u00a0 \u00a0Giants, and they fall into fear and it\u2019s at that point God says He\u2019s not working with that generation anymore.\u00a0 And He puts His hand now on the next generation that will come because that generation, other than Joshua and Caleb, was filled with basically people that wouldn\u2019t trust the Lord.\n\nSo that explains why in the Book of Numbers you have two census.\u00a0 Why do we call it the Book of Numbers?\u00a0 Because there\u2019s a lot of numbers in it; you\u2019ve got a census of the generation coming out of Egypt, chapter 1 and then you have another census, chapter 25, of the next generation that\u2019s going to enter Canaan and you say to yourself, why do you have two census\u2019s here?\u00a0\u00a0 And the answer is the pivot in Numbers 13 and 14.\u00a0 You see that?\n\nAnother example of a pivot would be the Book of Second Samuel, you go through Second Samuel, I don\u2019t know, 1-10, and David is winning, winning, winning, winning, winning.\u00a0 He even brings Jerusalem Israeli control.\u00a0 And then\u00a0 you get to numbers 13 and he\u2019s losing, losing, losing, he\u2019s under divine discipline, he loses his throne, a number of things are happening.\u00a0 So why the change?\u00a0 Well, there\u2019s a pivot right there in 2 Samuel 11 and 12.\u00a0 What happened there?\u00a0 The whole Bathsheba incident which involved first adultery, then murder.\u00a0 So if you didn\u2019t have chapters 11 and 12 as the pivot chapters you wouldn\u2019t understand why he\u2019s winning early in the book and under discipline in the second part of the book.\u00a0 So there are certain places in the Bible where there\u2019s a massive pivot and I can\u2019t think of a bigger pivot than Matthew 12.\n\nIf you don\u2019t understand Matthew 12 you have no understanding as to why the kingdom is offered, offered, offered, offered faithfully to first century Israel and then you get beyond Matthew 12 and the offer \u201crepent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand\u201d is never even mentioned and why all of a sudden there\u2019s references to a coming church.\u00a0 I mean, why the distinctions between the who halves of the book?\u00a0 The answer is Matthew 12, and if\u00a0 you want a verse, if you don\u2019t want a chapter give me a verse where the pivot happens, in verse 24 where they (the religious leaders attribute Christ\u2019s miracles to who?\u00a0 Basically to Satan.\u00a0 It says this, \u201cBut when the Pharisees heard this, they said, \u2018This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul the ruler of the demons.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 Once they do that the offer is withdrawn and now we see hints of a coming interadvent age and we hints of a coming church age etc.\n\nSo the reason why the kingdom is mentioned forty-five times in Luke but is mentioned 8 times in the Book of Acts is because of this pivot.\u00a0 And most people when they, I don\u2019t know, quote verses to support their theology will just toss a verse at you but they won\u2019t give you the big synthetic picture that we\u2019re talking about here and they won\u2019t tell you that there\u2019s a massive pivot that\u2019s happened.\u00a0 That\u2019s why there\u2019s only eight references to the kingdom in Acts 45 in Luke\u2019s Gospel.\n\nSo Matthew, you remember, is kind of organized chiastically. What does that mean?\u00a0 The things in chapters 1 and 2, the themes anyway, are repeated in chapter 28.\u00a0 Similarly the themes in chapters 3 and 4 are sort of repeated in chapters 26 and 27.\u00a0 And that\u2019s kind of a common way the\u00a0 Bible organizes material and when you get into the middle that\u2019s the pivot.\u00a0 So the pivot in Matthew\u2019s Gospel is Matthew 11 and 12 dealing with first century Israel\u2019s rejection of their King.\u00a0 And that shifts (we\u2019ve already gone through this so I won\u2019t belabor it) but that shifts Christ\u2019s whole ministry from a public ministry to Israel to a private ministry to the disciples.\u00a0 And why does that happen?\u00a0 Because of that pivot that takes place in Matthew chapter 12.\u00a0 So what am I trying to say here about these eight generic references to the kingdom in the Book of Acts?\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to say three things as to why these don\u2019t teach a present manifestation of the kingdom.\n\nNumber one, they never define what the kingdom is, which means we have to define them by how the phrase or concept is used in the Old Testament and the more you go that direction the more you see that the kingdom has to be a future reality\u00a0 rather than a present one.\n\nNumber two, all of these statements, the only thing they\u2019re really saying is, in other words teaching about the kingdom is not the same thing as saying we\u2019re in the kingdom.\u00a0 So B, teaching about the unrealized does not necessarily make it realized in the present.\n\nAnd number three, you have to factor in the fact that the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is used forty-five times in Luke\u2019s prequel but only eight times in Luke\u2019s sequel because of a massive pivot that happens in the ministry of Christ in Matthew 12. \u00a0So having said all that these eight references that I have at the top of the screen do not teach in any way, shape or form that we are presently in the kingdom.\u00a0 \u00a0[Generic References to the Kingdom in Acts:\u00a0 Acts 1:3, 6; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31]\n\nSo guess what folks?\u00a0 We\u2019re leaving the Book of Acts.\u00a0 Can you believe it?\u00a0 And we\u2019re moving on to some passages that are used in the writings of Paul to teach that we\u2019re in the kingdom and there\u2019s the passages we\u2019re going to look at.\u00a0 Don\u2019t worry, we\u2019re not going to look at all of them tonight, we\u2019re just going to look at two of them, \u201cwalk worthy of the kingdom,\u201d 1 Thessalonians 2:12 and number two, Paul\u2019s statement about kingdom power, 1 Corinthians 4:20.\n\nSo let\u2019s go over if we could to 1 Thessalonians 2:12, what does it say there: Paul writes to the Thessalonian Christians and he says, \u201cso that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.\u201d So you can see what kingdom now theologians do with that, we\u2019ve got to walk worthy of the kingdom.\u00a0 So in their minds that means the kingdom is what?\u00a0 Some kind of present reality.\u00a0 However, don\u2019t just focus on the word \u201ckingdom\u201d or basileia, focus on the word \u201cglory\u201d which is the Greek word doxa.\u00a0 The last word I believe helps interpret the first word; \u201cglory\u201d helps interpret \u201ckingdom.\u201d\n\nNow as we mentioned before, are we currently gloried.\u00a0 No we\u2019re not.\u00a0 Our glorification in the Bible is always presented as a future reality.\u00a0 So therefore don\u2019t you think I ought to interpret the word \u201ckingdom\u201d by that vein?\u00a0 If kingdom and glory go together because it looks like they do in this passage, and \u201cglory\u201d is future then what else must be future\u2026 \u201ckingdom.\u201d\u00a0 And Im comfortable with that because the interpretation there is consistent not only within the verse but it\u2019s consistent with everything we\u2019ve presented in this class going back 64 weeks, that the kingdom is a future reality.\u00a0 This is where people are getting very fuzzy in their thinking and they\u2019re coming up with interpretations of this and other things that are out of harmony with the rest of Scripture.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve got an interpretation of the kingdom or any other subject for that matter, that contradicts everything else the Bible has to say on that subject it\u2019s kind of time to get on your knees before the Lord and be humble and say well Lord, I may have this wrong, because God\u2019s Word internally will never contradict itself because God can\u2019t lie!\n\nSo if I\u2019m seeing something in the Bible like contradiction the problem isn\u2019t with God, the problem is probably with my interpretation of it.\u00a0 And that\u2019s something you can use to kind of rein in your private Bible study because you may come up with some wild ideas about all kinds of things and\u00a0 you want to not just look at one verse on the subject,\u00a0 you want to explore what every\u00a0 verse of the Bible has to say on the subject.\u00a0 And if your interpretation is right all the verses have to harmonize at the end of the day.\n\nSo you\u2019ll notice that I\u2019m interpreting the word \u201ckingdom\u201d consistently with what we\u2019ve presented thus far and I\u2019m also interpreting kingdom consistently with the word \u201cglory\u201d which in Scripture is always portrayed as a future reality.\u00a0 If glory is future then the kingdom must be future as well.\u00a0 So I like to put up a few quotes, I\u2019ll try to cut them back, my wife has been telling me \u201cdon\u2019t put up those long quotes, everybody falls asleep\u201d which may be true.\u00a0 I don\u2019t fall asleep, I\u2019m really excited by this stuff.\u00a0 And one of the mistakes you make as a teacher is you think everybody is excited about the things you\u2019re teaching because you are.\n\nBut this is just two sentences.\u00a0 Where\u2019s my wife, is she in here?\u00a0 There she is, so this passes the censorship test right here, even though it\u2019s an 1870 quote.\u00a0 And the reason I give you these quotes is I don\u2019t want\u00a0 you guys to think I\u2019m just stark raving mad and making things up.\u00a0 I\u2019m trying to show\u00a0 you that this view that we\u2019re presenting of the future kingdom is consistent with a large body of Bible interpreters.\n
    \n \t
  1. R. Craven writes, \u201c\u201cThe preposition in the Greek is \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2.\u201d Now what preposition is he talking about, \u201cso that you would walk in a manner worthy of God who called you into,\u201d that\u2019s eis, \u201cinto His kingdom.\u201d Craves says: \u201c\u201cThe preposition in the Greek is \u03b5\u1f30\u03c2. but since believers on earth are not yet in glory<\/em>,\u201d see, he\u2019s not just looking at the word \u201ckingdom\u201d he\u2019s looking at the word \u201cglory\u201d at the end of the verse, \u201cthe whole expression is manifestly proleptical, \u201c now this is why I praise the Lord for Dr. Jim McGowan because he looks over my slides and he actually added at the bottom a definition for proleptical because not everybody would understand that definition, would they?\u00a0 Do you guys use the word proleptical a lot at your dinnertime conversations?<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nSo he writes, \u201cproleptical, the presentation of something in the future as if it already existed or had occurred.\u201d\u00a0 So you can present something and it\u2019s a future reality but you\u2019re absolutely certain it\u2019s going to happen even though it\u2019s a future reality, that\u2019s \u00a0proleptical.\u00a0 So that\u2019s how the word \u201cglory\u201d is used there and that\u2019s how the word \u201ckingdom is used there.\u201d\u00a0 So the preposition in Greek is eis <\/em>but since believers on earth are not yet in glory the whole expression is manifestly proleptical.\u00a0 And then Craven quotes an English I think that\u2019s what the \u201cE.V.\u201d stands for, a Bible translation. Whatever it is it gives the translation of eis<\/em> as not into but unto. See that.\u00a0 \u201cSo that you would walk in a manner worthy of the glorify of God who calls you unto His kingdom and His glory.\u201d\n\nSo rather than teaching that we\u2019re in the kingdom now, as now many theologians use that passage, what it\u2019s saying is walk worthy of the kingdom that you\u2019ll enter into one day.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019re called salt and light.\u00a0 Why are we called salt and light?\u00a0 Because we\u2019re representing kingdom values in whose world?\u00a0 The devil\u2019s world.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we\u2019re called in the New Testament \u201ca peculiar people,\u201d we\u2019re called \u201ca peculiar people\u201d because we\u2019re walking not consistently with the values of this world, we\u2019re working consistently with the values of the next world.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we are called, 2 Corinthians 5:20 \u201cambassadors of the kingdom. [2 Corinthians 5:20, \u201cTherefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.\u201d\n\nWhat\u2019s an ambassador?\u00a0 If I\u2019m America\u2019s ambassador to Iran I\u2019m representing American values on Iranian soil.\u00a0 And that\u2019s who we are.\u00a0 So just because I\u2019m an ambassador and representing kingdom values now does that mean we\u2019re in the kingdom?\u00a0 No it doesn\u2019t!\u00a0 So that\u2019s how to understand 1 Thessalonians 2:12, we\u2019re to walk in a manner worthy of the coming kingdom.\u00a0 In other words as you live your life on this earth in the devil\u2019s world you want to represent God\u2019s values and sort of give the world a foretaste of what\u2019s coming without saying that that means we are currently in the kingdom.\u00a0 Because if we\u2019re in the kingdom there\u2019s no more need for ambassadors, is there.\u00a0 The job of an ambassador is done at that point.\n\nSo what 1 Thessalonians 2:12 is doing is it\u2019s teaching that a knowledge of the future, watch this now, a knowledge of the future shapes one\u2019s behavior in the present.\u00a0 See, a lot of people will tell you eschatology has no value to the Christian.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t more strongly disagree with that sentiment.\u00a0 Eschatology, things yet unrealized, have a tremendous value to the Christian because they show you what priorities matter to God.\u00a0 Once I see what priorities matter to God as revealed in His plan of the future I can organize my life accordingly.\n\nNotice 2 Peter 3:10-11, tell me if this is not an eschatological statement here.\u00a0 \u201cBut the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.\u201d\u00a0 People say well do you believe in global warming?\u00a0 Yes I do, in this sense, this whole world is going to be burned by fire God says.\u00a0 And you know, it\u2019s sort of interesting, evolution says the exact opposite, doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0 Everything started off with a big bang, right?\u00a0 And now everything\u2019s sort of cooling off.\u00a0 The poor evolutionist, because he doesn\u2019t read the Bible, has it 100% wrong.\u00a0 What the Bible says is everything started off with no light, no sun, \u201cthe Spirit of God was \u00a0moving on the waters,\u201d Genesis 1:2.\u00a0 [Genesis 1:2, \u201cThe earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.\u201d]\n\nThings started off cold and how are things all going to end up?\u00a0 Hot!\u00a0 So it\u2019s interesting to me that man\u2019s philosophies occur in God\u2019s word almost at every place, including how things started and how things will end.\n\nBut we know that God is going to take this whole world and burn it by fire and you\u2019ll notice Peter doesn\u2019t just stop the sermon there.\u00a0 All right, church is dismissed, everybody can get out now and beat the Baptists to the cafeteria.\u00a0 NO!\u00a0 He gives an application, verse 11, \u201cSince all these things are to be destroyed in this way,\u201d what does it say?\u00a0 \u201cwhat sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,\u201d [2 Peter 3:11]\n\nWell, my goodness, look at that, my knowledge of the future, that God is going to take this whole world and destroy it by fire should change my priorities in the present, shouldn\u2019t they?\u00a0\u00a0 Because if I\u2019m reading my Bible correctly there\u2019s only two things that are going to survive this fire.\u00a0 What would those be?\u00a0 The Word of God because \u201cthe grass withers, the flower faces, but the Word of our Lord stands forever.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 4:8]\u00a0 Jesus said, \u201cHeaven and earth will pass away but My Word will never pass away.\u201d [Mark 13:31]\n\nSo God\u2019s Word will never be destroyed by fire, and what other thing won\u2019t be destroyed by fire?\u00a0 The souls of men and woman because in Ecclesiastes 3:11 it talks about how God has set eternity into the hearts of men.\u00a0 [Ecclesiastes 3:11, \u201cHe has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.\u201d]\n\nSo everything is going to be destroyed, my lawn, which is so immaculate, is going to be destroyed.\u00a0 My home, we just had our cleaner come and meticulously clean all the dust off of everything, is going to be destroyed.\u00a0 The dishwasher and dishes that I\u2026 well, maybe I don\u2019t do it completely, right Anne?\u00a0 That we or she faithfully loads and cleanses daily, that\u2019s all going to be destroyed.\u00a0 So if all that\u2019s true then why am I so wrapped up in these little things?\u00a0\u00a0 I mean, I\u2019m not saying go home and don\u2019t empty your dishwasher, I\u2019m saying the dishwasher, the lawn, the scratch on your car at the mall that you\u2019re mad about because someone opened their door and put a dent in\u00a0 your new car, all these kind of things that we get to upset about, all that\u2019s going to burn.\n\nAnd by the way, everybody is looking for safe investments today.\u00a0 The truth is there\u2019s only two save investments, the Bible and people.\u00a0 The more time you spend trying to understand this Book and more importantly even going beyond that trying to live according to this Book, trying to organize your life according to this Book, sacrificing a Wednesday night when you could be doing 10,000 other things. The more time you spend in this Book trying to understand it and apply is an eternal investment, do you understand that?\u00a0 It will survive the fire.\n\nAnd then the more you pour yourself into a person, even a person that irritates you and ticks you off and rubs you the wrong way, the more you show respect to them, courtesy, turn the other cheek, you know, not be bitter all these kinds of things, the more you disciple somebody, the more you pray for somebody, that\u2019s the investment that\u2019s going to last.\n\nNow how would I know that unless I understood eschatology?\u00a0 It\u2019s only your knowledge of eschatology that tells you want\u2019s important and what\u2019s going to last.\u00a0 And I say to myself, wow Lord, those are two pretty important things and God says you\u2019re right, now organize your life in the present according to the values that I\u2019ve revealed about the future.\u00a0 Do you see that? \u00a0And that\u2019s how to understand 1 Thessalonians 2:12, which says to walk worthy of the kingdom.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 [2 Thessalonians 2:12, \u201cso that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.\u201d]\u00a0 It\u2019s not\u00a0 saying we\u2019re in the kingdom, it says walk worthy of the kingdom values.\n\nAnd then one more, look real quick at 1 Corinthians 4:20, and notice what this says, \u201cFor the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.\u201d\u00a0 So people use that to somehow argue that we\u2019re presently in the kingdom.\u00a0 But what you\u2019ve got to do with verse 20 is\u00a0 you\u2019ve got to harmonize it with verse 5, same chapter, verse 8, same chapter.\u00a0 Don\u2019t just grab a verse and rip it out of its context, look at the whole chapter.\u00a0 And if you go back to verse 5 tell me if this is talking about the present or the future, or both. [1\u00a0 Corinthians 4:5] \u201cTherefore do not go on passing judgment before the time, but wait until the LORD comes\u201d is that the second coming?\u00a0 That\u2019s future isn\u2019t it?\u00a0 \u201c\u2026who will bring to light the things hidden in darkness and disclose the motive of men\u2019s hearts and that each man\u2019s praise will come from God.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s talking about a future return of Christ and a future judgment shaping our values in the present.\n\nThen you have 1 Corinthians 4:8, Paul sarcastically says, \u201cYou are already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us\u2026,\u201d see, this is Corinth buying into Kingdom Now theology very early on in church history.\u00a0 And Paul is sort of sarcastically dealing with them.\u00a0 \u00a0\u201c\u2026and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you.\u201d\u00a0 Now he\u2019s being sarcastic but he\u2019s talking about a future reign in comparison to their mis-guided idea that they were reigning currently.\n\nNow verse 20 will start to make sense, \u201cFor the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power.\u201d [1 Corinthians 4:20]\u00a0 So if it\u2019s a future reality in verse 5, if it\u2019s a future reality in verse 8, what do you suggest we do with the word \u201ckingdom\u201d in verse 20?\u00a0 \u00a0Make it a what?\u00a0 A future reality.\n\nStanley Toussaint says: \u201cThere is no verb in the Greek text,\u201d so you go through 1 Corinthians 4:20 in Greek and you won\u2019t see a verb there, so therefore it\u2019s up to the Bible translators to supply the verb which typically will be italicized in your English Bible.\u00a0 What do you do when you see italicized words in your English translation?\u00a0 You say to yourself, well that\u2019s not a word found in the original Greek text so who put it in there to smooth over the translation?\u00a0 The translators did. So that\u2019s what Dr. Toussaint is talking about.\u00a0 And generally the translators do a pretty good job; sometimes I think they royally mess things up as in Genesis 4:1, which we don\u2019t have time to go into right now.\u00a0 [Genesis 4:1, \u201cNow the man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, \"I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.\u201d]\n\nToussaint says \u201cThere is no verb in the Greek text so it must be supplied. That Paul is anticipating the future is seen in verse five and eight of the same chapter.\u201d[ \u201cIsrael and the Church of a Traditional Dispensationalist,\u201d in Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism, ed. Herbert W. Bateman (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 246.] \u00a0There\u2019s no verb so we\u2019ll have to supply it in the translation and Toussaint says let\u2019s put it in the future because verse 5 is a future reality and verse 8 is a future reality.\n\nAlva J. McLain says, \u201cTo interpret 1 Corinthians 4:20 as a present kingdom of the saints would make Paul contradict what he had already written in verses five and eight.\u201d\u00a0 [Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 435.]\u00a0 So you come up with an interpretation that\u2019s in harmony with the rest of the chapter.\u00a0 Do you see that?\n\nBeyond that 1 Corinthians 4:20, I\u2019m just trying to explain, as with all of these passages, why this passage does not teach kingdom now theology. \u00a0\u201cFor the kingdom of God does not consist in words but in power,\u201d what\u2019s the Greek word for power, dunamis<\/em>, where we get the word dynamite, or dynamic power and that word in and of itself should tell you that that\u2019s probably talking about something future because the word dunamis<\/em> is used typically of a future reality.\u00a0 It says, for example in Hebrews 6:5, \u201cand have tasted the good word of God and the powers\u201d dunamis<\/em> \u201cof the age to come.\u201d\u00a0 So you ought to be comfortable with interpreting \u201cpowers\u201d 1 Corinthians 4:20 as something future because the word can mean that, as demonstrated by Hebrews 6:5.\n\nAlva J. McLain writes: \u201cThe same Greek term is used to describe the great public miracles which, according to Hebrews 6:5, belong to \u2018the age to come, i.e.,\u2019 the Kingdom age.\u201d\u00a0 [Alva J. McClain, The Greatness of the Kingdom: An Inductive Study of the Kingdom of God as Set Forth in the Scriptures (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1959), 435]\u00a0 So I\u2019m very comfortable with putting \u201ckingdom\u201d in the future because number one, the context of the whole chapter.\u00a0 Number two, the word dunamis<\/em> or power can be used in that futuristic sense.\u00a0 And number three, and I hope you\u2019re picking up as I\u2019m going through this basic Bible study habits, because these principles that we\u2019re going over don\u2019t just apply to the Kingdom, they apply to anything you study in God\u2019s Word.\u00a0 Number three, when you go through 1 Corinthians you\u2019ll find that the word \u201ckingdom\u201d is always used in the future.\u00a0 It\u2019s always used in the future elsewhere but it\u2019s probably used in the future in chapter 4.\u00a0 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, \u201cOr\u00a0do you not know that the unrighteous will not\u00a0inherit the kingdom<\/u> of God?\u00a0 \u00a0Do not be deceived;\u00a0neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor\u00a0effeminate, nor homosexuals,\u201d whoops, who put that in there, how did that get by the PC police,\u00a0[10]\u00a0\u201cnor thieves, nor\u00a0the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers,\u201d you\u2019ll notice that homosexuality is just like all these other sins, and I don\u2019t want to start going off on that, but there\u2019s a big move in our culture, as\u00a0 you know, to normalize homosexuality outside the church and now sadly within the church.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026 nor swindlers will\u00a0inherit the kingdom<\/u> of God.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice that the kingdom there is future.\n\n1 Corinthians 15:24, \u201cthen comes the end, when He hands over the\u201d what?\u00a0 \u201ckingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power.\u201d We\u2019ll be looking at that passage next week but there \u201ckingdom\u201d is a future reality.\n\n1 Corinthians 15:50, \u201cNow I say this, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom\u201d so the kingdom is an inheritance.\u00a0 What is an inheritance?\u00a0 It\u2019s something legally that\u2019s yours that you\u2019re not enjoying yet because it\u2019s a future reality.\u00a0 \u201c\u2026inherit the kingdom of God; nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.\u201d\n\nSo why am I interpreting 1 Corinthians 4:20 in a futuristic sense?\u00a0 Number 1, that\u2019s how the whole book interprets the word \u201ckingdom.\u201d\u00a0 Number 2, that\u2019s how this chapter interprets realities, as future realities.\u00a0 And number 3, the word \u201cpowers\u201d or dunamis<\/em> fits very well with a futuristic understanding of the kingdom.\n\nSo having said all of that what in the world is Paul talking about in 1 Corinthians 4:20?\u00a0 \u201cFor the kingdom of God does\u00a0not consist in\u00a0words but in power.\u201d\u00a0 Basically what he\u2019s saying is allow the power of the coming kingdom to influence your behavior in the present.\u00a0 Toussaint says, \u201c\u201cPaul\u2019s ministry could demonstrate the authority of that future kingdom.\u201d\u00a0 [\u201cIsrael and the Church of a Traditional Dispensationalist,\u201d in Three Central Issues in Contemporary Dispensationalism, ed. Herbert W. Bateman (Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1999), 246.]\n\nSo I\u2019m kind of looking at it through the lens of 2 Peter 3:10-11.\u00a0 [11] \u201cSince all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,\u201d\u00a0 I know what the kingdom is going to be like, I know what the kingdom priorities are going to be, and all Paul is saying here is live your life according to those coming priorities.\u00a0 He\u2019s not at all indicating that the kingdom is established in the first century.\n\nSo that takes us through two of Paul\u2019s writings that are sometimes misconstrued to teach a future kingdom.\u00a0 So next well look at another one, 1 Corinthians 15:23-28 so if you want to do some reading this week in preparation for that, that would be some good verses to read because we\u2019ll be going into that one next week.\u00a0 So, I\u2019m finished talking.","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t