The other day, Judy told me that she had been looking at our church web-site, and she spotted a mis-spelling.
On the opening page, which has been floating around cyberspace for several years;
In order to access our monthly calendar, people were asked to click on our “mont-ly calendar.”
Amen?
That little oversight reminds us how easy it is to do the same thing with the Word of God.
We have looked at the scriptures so many times that we often read with our memories instead of our eyes.
Even in publically reading before you, I inadvertently reverse word orders and skip other words, because I am reading with something other than my eye.
And then there are those words and phrases which we mentally define, and paraphrase, as we read.
For example, in these three verses:
We understand that Paul had been boldly preaching the gospel in the Ephesian synagogue for 3 months,
he decided not to return and began preaching Christ in the school of Tyrannus.
But have you noticed that the word “gospel” cannot be found here in the inspired text?
Instead of “the gospel of Christ,” Luke mentions the “Kingdom of God.”
And he didn’t say that the Jews opposed the “gospel,” but they rejected something he called “that way.”
I realize that I have dealt with these subjects before, but I’d like to touch on them again.
Just as we need to train our eyes to spot mis-spellings . . .
Just as the prospector needs to train his eye to spot the glitter of gold at the bend of the river . . .
We need to train our hearts and our eyes for some of the precious lessons of the Word of God.
A lot of people think that Biblical references to the “kingdom of God” are talking about the days after Jesus’ second coming, when He will establish His Millennial Kingdom.
I’d venture to guess that many of us still think that way.
But, even though the Kingdom of God includes that thousand year reign of Christ on earth, the Bible very clearly shows that it is much, much more than that.
The Kingdom of God is a huge subject taking up a large portion of the New Testament.
The word “ecclesia,” or “church,” doesn’t have nearly that many references.
The Book of Matthew speaks of the Kingdom more than 50 times and only seven chapters have no mention of it at all.
In his epistles to the churches Paul speaks of the Kingdom of God more than 10 times.
And if we misunderstand the Kingdom of Christ, then we will misunderstand the Christ of the Kingdom.
It is a very important Biblical subject which is almost thoroughly ignored by the average saint of God.
And then there is the phrase “the way” which is another way of talking about the kingdom of God.
Luke once wrote that Saul desired letters from the High Priest “that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.”
Then later when he was giving his testimony before the Roman government Paul said,
In studying about Apollos in the last chapter we learned
He spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John.
And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard,
They took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.”
And in Acts 24:22 – “And when Felix heard these things, having more perfect knowledge of that way, he deferred them.”
It’s very likely that as you listened you didn’t catch the references there to the “Kingdom of God.”
Notice once again Acts 28:23 – “And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the KINGDOM OF GOD, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening.”
Remember that Paul was in bonds and unable to get out of his house without a guard.
In other words he had no guarantee that he’d ever be able to preach the gospel to these people again.
Do you think that he failed to tell them about the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus?
Do you think that he only told them things about the second coming and the establishment of a future kingdom?
Those Jews were probably already firmly convinced in an up-coming Messianic Kingdom.
To “persuade” is to teach with passion and enthusiasm, in order to convince others.
Perhaps he took some verses out of the Psalms which prophesied about the sacrifice of the Saviour.
Maybe he referred to the Old Testament sacrifices and types just as he did in the Book of Hebrews.
I think that you can be sure that Paul preached rousing gospel messages.
He could talk about aspects of the Kingdom of God which he had already experienced.
He could talk about aspects of the Kingdom of God which they had not yet experienced.
“And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,
Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.”
I have come to see that we are terribly mistaken if we sever the gospel of Christ from Kingdom of Christ.
And here in Acts 19 we have a description of Paul’s ministry in Ephesus.
Acts 19:8 – “And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God.”
Are we to believe that Paul didn’t preach the gospel to those people?
What did those people need to hear about the future Millennial Kingdom that they hadn’t heard a hundred times before.
Paul knew from his experiences in other synagogues that his time with these people was going to be very limited, so I guarantee that his precious minutes with them were not wasted teaching and preaching on non-offending doctrines which they already firmly believed.
In Acts 20, when Paul was on his way to Jerusalem and passing by Ephesus, for what he believed was his last visit, he gave a summary of his earlier ministry.
“And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit unto Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there: Save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions abide me.
But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the GOSPEL of the grace of God.
And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the KINGDOM OF GOD, shall see my face no more.”
What did Paul say was the ministry which he received of the Lord Jesus?
It was to “testify of the GOSPEL of the grace of God.”
He had gone everywhere “preaching the KINGDOM OF GOD.”
Verse 12 says, “But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the KINGDOM OF GOD, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.”
Are people supposed to be baptized as some sort of sign of their SPECIAL PARTICIPATION in the coming Kingdom of Christ?
These were later published in book form, and it is well worth the time and effort to read.
Bro. Keener meticulously described about two dozen points which help to define that Kingdom.
It is both spiritual, physical and mysterious, and it is, at this time, a mixture of good and bad.
And they are characterized by the principles of the Sermon on the Mount;
“The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,
To whom also he shewed himself alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the KINGDOM OF GOD:”
Because this kingdom is what it’s all about.
I’m not talking about the day when Jesus Christ returns to earth, overthrows the minions of Satan, and sits down on David’s throne in the New Jerusalem.
Although all of these things will one day be a part of this kingdom.
Then in Acts 1:6 they asked if these aspects of the Kingdom were going to take place right NOW.
And the Lord answered by saying, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.”
Yes, there will some day be a time when the lamb shall lay down in peace with the lion, and the child shall play above the nest of the asp.
Yes, Satan will be bound and then locked away for a thousand years and finally to be cast into the lake which burns with fire and brimstone.
These and a hundred other things about the Kingdom are not only important, they are wonderful,
But infinitely more important is YOUR personal relationship to the King of all kings, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Not only is it important that there is a WAY to serve this King,
and are you now walking up the narrow way that leadeth unto life?
Are you clinging to the One who is the Way, the Truth and the Life?
There is a Kingdom, and Jesus Christ is the King.
The rule in this kingdom is righteous; perfect and complete.
There are moral laws which have been laid upon the subject of this Kingdom,
And there will be judgment enacted upon the lawbreakers.
To be more specific: “The soul that sinneth, it shall die.”
The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.
Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.
Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.
Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.”
Furthermore, Christ is not the King only if we WANT Him to be King.
He is King – period.
If we choose not to bow before Him then we shall suffer the consequences of our ongoing rebellion.
And this is where the gospel – the good news – comes in.
The good news is as much the gospel of the Kingdom as it is the gospel of salvation.
We are ALL law-breakers by nature, and the proof is abundantly clear by our personal history.
There is a posse out looking for us, and it will find us on the day of our death.
It is to this aspect of the kingdom that the apostles and their children are supposed to be “witnesses in all Judea and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.”
And it was this aspect of the kingdom which “divers” of the synagogue rejected – that Jesus is the Christ, the King.
And it’s this aspect of the Kingdom that I want to lay before you this morning.
If you are not living in direct submission and service to the King of Kings;
If you have not and are not continually kissing the Son because you love Him and want to Honour Him;
Then these things are proof of your continued rebellion and your lost condition.
You need a new heart; you need to be born again.
Kneel before the cross of Christ and pledge Him your heart, your soul and your life.
Repent and put your trust in the King.