Outline
Main Idea:
We must again begin to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom, the good news of the imminent return of our Lord to set up His literal kingdom upon the earth, to those in the church, at least here in the west, for we have forgotten this truth and are looking only at the kingdom of this present world system.
Introduction
Body
| I. What is the Gospel of the Kingdom? |
|---|
| A. Use of the Term Gospel |
| B. Use of the Term Kingdom |
| II. Why proclaim the gospel of the kingdom in this present day? |
| A. The Gospel of the Kingdom Was Proclaimed by our Lord. |
| B. The Gospel of the Kingdom Was Proclaimed by the Early Church. |
| C. The Gospel of the Kingdom Will Be Proclaimed in the Tribulation. |
| D. The Church Today Has Lost its True Hope. |
| E. There Are No Timetables, But It Is at Hand! |
Conclusion
Introduction
Matthew records our Lord's preaching ministry as follows: (Matthew 4:17) "From that time Jesus began to preach and say, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And (Matthew 4:23) "Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people." Then at the close of His earthly ministry before His crucifixion, He told His disciples this: (Matthew 24:14) "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
Have we been neglecting an important part of the message we are to proclaim to the world, the gospel of the kingdom? It is certainly not a major part, if a part at all, of most evangelistic messages of the church today. Now the immediate reflex response to my question is usually this:
"But wait a minute here! When Jesus preached He had not yet died and rose again. His message was to Israel and it was that their King had come. They were to get ready for Him. After He died and rose again, the message now went to the Gentiles. And that message had changed. Now it is and was believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved! We no longer are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom, but the gospel of faith in the finished work of Christ! In the Tribulation, after the church is removed, the message again will be of the coming kingdom."
I have myself taught this concept for years. It sounds reasonable and good. Yet while the premises are indeed true, the major conclusion, I believe, is flawed. It is certainly true that:
But I am convinced that the conclusion that we no longer are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom is an error! That conclusion simply does NOT follow from the premises. In examining this issue, we must first look at what the gospel of the kingdom means, that is, what is it? Then knowing this, we must ask, should this message be proclaimed today?
Body
The word gospel means good news. Except in Matthew, Mark and Luke, when the term is used alone, at the very least, it most often refers to the message of the New Testament concerning the life, death and resurrection of our Lord. It is the good news that we can be saved from our sin and failure and be accepted by the Creator through His gracious gift of life through the completed sacrifice of Jesus Christ for us. This is the kernel, the essential essence, of what we must rely upon if we are to be saved. It is the core of the message proclaimed by the early church and is the core, to be sure, of what we are to proclaim today. The Apostle Paul states this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-5a.
Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
Note that the apostle states that this was of first importance and that this was the good news by which these believers were saved. We can surmise then that there were other truths that he also proclaimed to these believers at Corinth. These other truths may not have been of first importance in that they were not essential to salvation, yet they no doubt were of secondary importance to living a successful and vital life for Christ.
The phrases that are used to describe the term gospel are used in various ways. The gospel of God probably signifies the good news from God. He is the one who brings good news to the world. The gospel of Jesus Christ probably means the good news about Jesus Christ just as the phrases; the gospel of His Son, the gospel of the glory of Christ and the gospel of the grace of God mean the good news about His Son, the good news about the glory of Christ and the good news about the grace of God. The gospel of your Salvation signifies the gospel that leads to or results in your salvation. The gospel of peace is the good news that produces or results in peace (with God). In Revelation, the gospel spoken of is described as one that is eternal.
In Matthew, Mark and Luke, when the term gospel is used by itself alone without another word describing it, it refers to the particular good news that the kingdom of God was at hand and was about to appear. Matthew three times, and Luke once uses the phrase, the gospel of the kingdom, meaning the good news about the kingdom. This is the message proclaimed by our Lord. When the term is used alone without a qualifying word or phrase in these three New Testament books, it is reasonable to assume that the good news refers to this message of the coming kingdom. That is the message they knew at that time.
The question must be asked, to what does this kingdom refer? Is it a literal earthly kingdom that was or will be established upon the earth, or is it a figurative kingdom, not existing upon this earth, but the heavenly kingdom existing outside the bounds of our physical universe, or one existing perhaps within the hearts of believers? Some have suggested that the phrase the kingdom of God refers, on the one hand, to one thing and, on the other, the phrase the kingdom of heaven refers to another. Yet a simple study of the Word of God refutes this idea. The phrase, the kingdom of heaven, is one heavily favored by Matthew and used by him. The other writers, as well as Matthew, on some occasions, use the phrase the kingdom of God. Matthew will use the phrase the kingdom of heaven; in the parallel account in Luke, Luke will use the phrase the kingdom of God. It is evident then that both phrases refer to the same thing. The kingdom of God means the kingdom belonging to or ruled by God, and the kingdom of heaven means the heavenly kingdom.
Is it a literal kingdom to be established upon the earth or a spiritual kingdom residing in the hearts of believers? Those of us who believe that one must have a literal-historical approach to the interpretation of the Word of God will understand that the kingdom spoken of is a literal earthly kingdom that will be established upon the earth with Jesus Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords as its regent following the period known as the Tribulation. This being the case, there are a couple of questions that arise. First, if the kingdom was a literal kingdom upon the earth that was not going to be established during our Lord's first advent, but later after the church age and the Tribulation period, why did John the Baptist and our Lord both preach, repent the kingdom is at hand? If it was near then, two thousand years ago, and no kingdom was ever established on the earth, someone might ask, "Well, maybe it wasn't a literal kingdom, but just a spiritual one?" And also, what does it mean in John 18:36, where our Lord says, "My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews; but as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm?" This passage seems to say that the kingdom was not a literal kingdom to be established upon the earth.
In reply, it must be remembered that in the Old Testament and for the most part before the crucifixion of our Lord in the Gospels, the Church was a mystery; that is, it was not seen. It was a mystery that was not fully revealed until the time covered in Acts and in the Epistles of Paul. The historical timeline foreseen in the Old Testament upon the coming of Messiah was:
In the New Testament, it is revealed that there is something that intervenes between the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Messiah and the last seven years (Tribulation) before the kingdom is established. That something is the Church age. The flow of history then is thus:
In the Gospel accounts, John the Baptist speaks, having only the Old Testament vision of history. Since he was announcing the coming of Messiah, the kingdom was indeed at hand. So too, our Lord teaches and preaches from this perspective for the most part. It might even be argued that, in theory, if Israel as a nation had accepted their Messiah, Rome still would have crucified Him. He would still have died as a sacrifice for sin. There might then have been no church age, and indeed the Messiah would have ascended and then returned seven years later to establish the kingdom. From the viewpoint of the history of God dealing with Israel, the kingdom, the literal earthly kingdom, was indeed at hand.
The Old Testament reveals that Messiah would be cut off (be killed) with seven years left before the establishment of the Kingdom (Daniel chapter 9). Thus when asked about being a king, Jesus told Pilate that His kingdom was not of this world. He is telling Pilate He was not leading a rebellion against Rome. His purpose now (at His first coming) was to establish a spiritual kingdom by redeeming those who would be a part of His kingdom. It was not of this realm; that is to say, it would not be established by the might of man but by the death of a man. He does not deny that He would rule over a physical kingdom; He is just telling Pilate there is no physical kingdom now. There would be a period of time before the kingdom was established, at least seven years, but even our Lord, as a man, did not know when the Father was going to restore the kingdom.
Therefore the gospel of the kingdom is the good news that the kingdom of God, that kingdom which our Lord will establish upon the earth bringing peace and safety, justice and righteousness and balance and harmony in the natural realm, is close by. It is at hand.
The gospel or good news our Lord proclaimed was to repent and turn to God because the kingdom is at hand. It did not include what we usually consider to be the gospel message since this event was still future. For those that truly believed this message, there would be no issue or problem accepting the expanded message following His death and resurrection. Jesus told His hearers, just as John the Baptist had, that God was about to intervene in their world. He was about to establish justice and peace upon the earth. To prepare for this, they must repent, change their attitude and change their ways, for God was about to visit the earth!
The message was expanded following the death and resurrection of our Lord. The Messiah had come, but He had come to die as a sacrifice for mankind's sin. Now man, when he repented, could be cleansed, forgiven and justified. Not only was this available to the Jewish nation, but it was also now available to anyone who believed, Jew or Gentile. With Peter taking the message to Cornelius, and with the call of Paul as the apostle to the Gentiles, God revealed that the final seven years before the return of Jesus the Messiah to set up the kingdom was not going to immediately start, but that there would be a hiatus, a gap, an unspecified period of time known as the Church age, or the Age of the Gentiles when God would offer salvation to all peoples, tribes and nations. Following this period of time, God would start the clock again in the final countdown to the kingdom. This church age was an indefinite time period; no one knew how long it would and would last. As this age started, what then was the good news that was proclaimed? Did it cease to include the gospel of the kingdom, the good news that the kingdom was near at hand and concentrate only on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord? Some might be tempted to think this, but that is not what the Scriptures record!
There are several passages in Acts that should be considered. First, after our Lord's resurrection and before His ascension, He spent much time teaching the disciples about the kingdom. It is, therefore, still an important topic about which He wishes His disciples to understand many things. Acts 1:3 states, "To 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."
When Philip preached to the inhabitants of a city in Samaria, his message included both good news about the kingdom and the good news of Jesus Christ. Acts 8:12 tell us, "But 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."
Part of the apostle Paul's message, both to Jewish audiences and Gentiles, included the good news about the kingdom of God. To Jewish audiences, Acts 19:8, "And he entered the synagogue and continued speaking out boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God." Also, Acts 28:23, "When they had set a day for Paul, they came to him at his lodging in large numbers; and he was 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." To Gentile audiences, Acts 28:31, "preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all openness, unhindered."
There is no doubt that during the Tribulation period, the finished work of the Lord on the cross will be proclaimed, for there is no salvation apart from believing this message! But the message of the kingdom will also be proclaimed to the entire world. Jesus speaking to His disciples about the Tribulation times, says in Matthew 26:13, "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come."
If this message, namely that the kingdom of God is at hand, was the message proclaimed by our Lord, was preached by the early church following the death, resurrection and ascension of our Lord to Jews, Samaritans and Gentiles alike and will be heralded to all the world during the Tribulation Period, why do we think it so unimportant that we seldom include this in our preaching today?
Probably one answer to this is we have become so attached to this present world system that we no longer consider the coming kingdom as relevant. We, in the western church, have pinned our hopes to the system in which we live. It is, for us, all in all, a pleasant system. We are comfortable; indeed, compared to the rest of the world, we are quite wealthy. While we complain about our health system, taxes and other things, it is certainly better than much of the world. We have plenty to eat, too much for the most part. We have comfortable homes in which to live. We stay warm, or cool as the case may be, dry and well-fed. While we may wish for a lot of other stuff, what more do we need? The message of a coming kingdom tends to fall deaf on the ears of those that have few needs.
This message would do well and does in those places where poverty and injustice exist. When one cannot place any faith or trust in the current kingdom or political system, when there is nothing but war and strife, hunger, disease and death, the message of the coming kingdom of justice, peace, and righteousness will ring out loud, and it will be heard. We in our country do not hear it because we are not really interested in it. It has little appeal. We do not see it because we are blinded by what we now have. We have invested in our world system, and that then is where our interest is. As a result, the message of the good news of the kingdom is not proclaimed.
But we must proclaim it not only where it will be welcomed, away out there, but here in our country as well. Although the ears around us are, for the most part, deaf, and the eyes of those around us are blind, the wake-up call must be given; the warning must be stated. Speaking to the church in the days just prior to the rapture and the beginning of the Tribulation, our Lord Himself says this in Revelation 3:17-22:
"Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness will not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me. He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
The system to which we are vitally attached, the system in which we have placed our faith, the system of which we have chosen to be a friend rather than God, is about to disappear. Terrible times are right around the corner, and the true kingdom is at hand. We must repent and believe the good news, the gospel, not only of our Lord's death and resurrection for us but of the coming kingdom and our glorious savior!
Those who have set dates for our Lord's coming or those who have set timetables have harmed and hindered the cause of preaching the good news of the coming kingdom. When the dates pass, and the kingdom has not come, or the seven years that immediately precede it, many who had doubts have those doubts and disbelief strengthened. The gospel of the kingdom then has become the object of a joke, scorn and ridicule.
We cannot set a date. We must not attempt to do so. We do not know the day or hour of our Lord's return. The Word of God makes this abundantly clear. Matthew 24:36 states, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." It may come today or tomorrow, or twenty-five years from now or even further down the road of history. We simply do not know the day or hour of His return for us. But we can know that it is close, that it is at hand. Hebrews 10:24-25 indicates this. "and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."
We do indeed see that day drawing near. We can see that time is growing short. The kingdom is at hand. And as we see this day drawing near, we must be encouraging one another, and we must loudly proclaim not only the finished work of Jesus Christ our Lord but also the good news that His kingdom is at hand!
Conclusion
The gospel of the kingdom is the good news that the kingdom of God, that kingdom which our Lord will establish upon the earth bringing peace and safety, justice and righteousness and balance and harmony in the natural realm, is close by. It is at hand! For those who are oppressed, those who suffer for the name of Jesus Christ, and those imprisoned for their faith, this is a message of hope. Salvation is coming! There is light at the end of the tunnel! The new dawn is about to break! For those who are comfortable and have placed their hope and trust in the world system in which they live, it is an exhortation of warning. Changes are coming! Repent and believe the good news of the coming kingdom!