The Gospel of Luke (#74) "The Kingdom of God" August 18, 2024

Well, this morning, Pastor Jason will lead us in our New Testament reading, and today it's

Acts 24.

Now, last week we considered the almost

riot in Jerusalem after the Apostle Paul had been arrested, and of course

in order to save Paul from the mob, the Romans

escorted him to Caesarea, which was on the coast, a harbor built by

King Herod, by the way, and artificial harbor.

There was actually underwater concrete that they invented.

It was quite an elaborate port.

But Paul was in prison there, in jail, for two years, and here in Acts 24 we

read of how Paul is brought before the governor, and he was able to give a

testimony of Christ before Felix, and of course this was all

in the plan of God, purpose of God, in order to bring Paul to Rome, where he would testify the

gospel there.

So Acts 24.

Acts 24, and after five days the high priest

Ananias came down with some elders and a spokesman, one Tertullius.

They laid before the governor their case against Paul, and when they had been summoned,

Tertullius began to accuse him, saying, since through you we enjoy much peace, and

since by your foresight, most excellent Felix, reforms are being made for this nation, in

every way and everywhere we accept this with all gratitude.

But to detain you no further, I beg you in your kindness to hear us briefly, for we have found this

man a plague, one who stirs up riots among the Jews throughout the world,

and is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.

He tried to profane the temple, but we seized him.

By examining him yourself, you will be able to find out from him about everything of which we

accuse him.

The Jews also joined in the charge, affirming that all these things were so.

And when the governor had nodded to him to speak, Paul replied, knowing that for many

years you have been a judge over this nation, I cheerfully make my defense.

You can verify that it is not more than 12 days since I went up to worship in Jerusalem, and they did not

find me disputing with anyone or stirring up a crowd, either in the temple or in the synagogues or in the city.

Neither can they prove to you what they now bring up against me, but this I confess to you, that according to the way

which they call a sect, I worship the God of our fathers, believing everything laid down by the law

and written in the prophets, having a hope in God which these men themselves accept, that there will

be a resurrection of both the just and the unjust.

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

Now after several years, I came to bring alms to my nation and to present offerings.

While I was doing this, they found me purified in the temple without any crowd or tumult,

but some Jews from Asia, they ought to be here before you and to make an accusation

should they have anything against me, or else let these men themselves say what wrongdoing they found when I stood

before the council.

Other than this one thing that I cried out while standing among them, it is with respect to the resurrection of the

dead that I am on trial before you this day.

But Felix, having a rather accurate knowledge of the way, put them off, saying, when Lysias,

the tribune, comes down, I will decide your case.

Then he gave orders to the centurion that he should be kept in custody but have some liberty and that none of his

friends should be prevented from attending to his needs.

After some days, Felix came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, and he sent for Paul

and heard him speak about faith in Christ Jesus.

And as he reasoned about righteousness and self -control and the coming judgment, Felix was

alarmed and said, go away for the present.

When I get an opportunity, I will summon you.

At the same time, he hoped that money would be given him by Paul.

So he sent for him often and conversed with him.

When two years had elapsed, Felix was succeeded by Portius Festus, and desiring to do

the Jews a favor, Felix left Paul in prison.

Let's pray.

Our Father, it's encouraging to remember that you are over all things.

You are over all governments, all kings, all nations.

Lord, you are sovereign over all, and your hand guides and leads every man.

And, Lord, we thank you that you are faithful, that you are just, and that you are

accomplishing your will and your purposes in this world.

Lord, as we continue our service, as we worship you through the preaching of the word, we pray, Lord,

that we would hear what your word has to say, that you would teach us how to apply it to our lives,

and that we would walk in obedience to it.

We pray for Lars, that you'd give him clarity of thoughts and voice, and we pray that he would boldly proclaim your

word.

Help us now, Lord.

Thank you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

It's interesting, you read about Paul, who, just attempting to tell people

about the gospels, the way of salvation, we found this man to be a plague,

and a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world.

And, as our world increasingly becomes more like the Roman Empire of the first century,

increasingly, Christians are going to be seen to be the problem.

And we see that now in a measure, but it's probably going to get a lot worse before the Lord comes.

Well, today, we'll begin to consider a passage in which our Lord addressed the nature of the kingdom

of God.

Jesus Christ gave instruction regarding the kingdom, this most important teaching, both

to his Pharisee detractors, that's in the first two verses of our passage,

and then to his disciples, certainly the larger portion or share of this

passage.

And so, here is Luke 17, 20 through 37.

Now, when he, Jesus, was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered them

and said, the kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will

they see here or see there, for indeed, the kingdom of God is

within you.

Probably better translated is in your midst, referring to himself among them.

Where the king is, the kingdom is.

And then he said to the disciples, the days will come when you will desire to see one of the days of the son of man,

and you will not see it.

And they will say to you, look here, look there, do not go after them or follow them.

For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven,

so also the son of man will be in his day.

But first, he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation.

And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will also be in the days of the son of man.

They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark

and the flood came and destroyed them all.

And likewise, as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they

bought, they sold, they planted, they built.

But on the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.

Even so will it be in the day when the son of man is revealed.

In that day, he who is on the housetop, his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away.

And likewise, the one who is in the field, let him not turn back.

Remember Lot's wife.

Whoever seeks to save his life will lose it.

Whoever loses his life will preserve it.

I tell you, in that night, there will be two men in one bed.

The one will be taken, the other will be left.

Two women will be grinding together.

The one will be taken, the other left.

Two men will be in the field.

The one will be taken, the other left.

And they answered and said to him, where, Lord?

And so he said to them, wherever the body is, there the eagles,

probably better, there the vultures will be gathered together.

The theme of the kingdom of God is a major teaching throughout the entire Bible, from the book of

Genesis all the way through the book of Revelation.

It's one of the major themes of Holy Scripture.

Our Lord Jesus, in giving instruction to guide his people in prayer, set forth our first responsibility

to pray for God the Father to be hallowed.

May his name be hallowed or glorified.

And then in the second prayer petition of the Lord's Prayer, he declares how we

may hallow God our Father, how we may glorify him.

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

God the Father is hallowed, that is glorified, when the kingdom of God is manifested in the world.

Now it's our intention to work through these verses carefully, but we're not going to do so today.

It's important to understand exactly what our Lord declared regarding the kingdom of God.

And this is not an easy passage.

It may appear to be at first glance, but we'll show next week, Lord willing, how it's

not all that easy to work it through.

And so to aid us in our understanding the teaching of this passage, we need to be informed about the nature

and the meaning of the kingdom of God set forth in God's word.

And so for today, in preparation to examine this passage, we desire to rehearse what the

Holy Scriptures teach regarding the promised kingdom of God, of which both the Jewish

Pharisees and Jesus' disciples anticipated and desired.

And so basically we're going to stand back, and I want to be able to give a synopsis

of the whole unfolding drama of the Bible, the word of God.

Now that's quite a task when you think about it.

How would you sit down and give a synopsis of what the Bible teaches?

Well, that's what our effort is this morning, with emphasis on the kingdom of God.

But first of all, understand that the kingdom of God is at the heart of the gospel

of salvation.

Very few people recognize this, and it's not proclaimed.

One could rightly argue that the kingdom of God is at the heart of the message of the gospel of salvation.

It could be said that the message of the gospel is the good news that God has inaugurated his promised

kingdom in the reign of Jesus Christ, and that sinners may be granted entrance into his kingdom

through repentance from sin and faith in him, faith in Jesus Christ.

In this kingdom, his people receive the forgiveness of sins.

They enjoy fellowship with the Lord and his people.

They live with joy and peace and in righteousness, both in this age and the age to come,

that is, eternity.

The heart of the gospel message is Jesus' Lord, and you can't say Jesus is Lord without

understanding the kingdom idea there.

Jesus is Lord over his kingdom.

That is, he is the once crucified but now risen and enthroned sovereign ruler over the promised kingdom of

God.

Jesus Christ is Lord over history.

They're not in control in Washington, D .C., you know, or there at the Hague in

Europe.

Jesus Christ is on his throne and ruling history.

And as we've emphasized all the time, he's doing two things.

He's saving his people, the ones that the Father has given him from eternity, and he's bringing judgment upon his

enemies.

And that's what played out in history.

That's what we're seeing now.

Charles Spurgeon concurred with this understanding that the kingdom of God is essential to a biblical understanding of the

gospel.

He wrote, the gospel is the word of the kingdom.

It's equated with that, the gospel.

And so it has royal authority in it.

It proclaims and reveals King Jesus, and it leads men to obedience to his sway.

And so Spurgeon said the gospel is the gospel of the kingdom of God.

And then similarly, Matthew Henry wrote, the seed sown, and he's referring to the

parable of the sower in Matthew 13.

The parables of the kingdom.

The seed sown is the word of God.

Here, Matthew 13, it's called the word of the kingdom.

Farmer goes out, sows seed, four kinds of soil.

It's the word of the kingdom, which is the gospel.

The gospel comes from that kingdom and conducts to that kingdom.

The word of the gospel is the word of the kingdom.

It is the word of the king, and where that is, there is power.

It is a law by which we must be ruled and governed.

The kingdom of God.

And so to enter the kingdom of God is to receive and experience salvation.

We are to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ and press people to turn from their self -directed

lives to believe and submit fully onto the Lord Jesus Christ.

I fear that much nominal Christianity, those who are Christian in name only, who believe themselves to

be Christian but are not, I believe much of that is a result of a gospel

message that has failed to emphasize the kingdom of God, but has reduced the gospel, so

-called, to a promise of God's forgiveness of sins only.

This truncated gospel is a message that promises to relieve the sinner of guilt, to escape

hell, and go to heaven.

People are told that if they simply believe and only believe on Jesus Christ as their personal

savior, they have salvation.

How many people believe that?

Well, little or nothing is said to them about the kingdom of God over which King Jesus reigns.

It's not widely proclaimed that one may only enter the kingdom through repentance from sin, surrendering his heart

and will wholly to the Lord Jesus Christ by denying himself in order to

become a disciple of Jesus Christ.

And so, as a result, there are many who have a form of Christianity, an external

form, while denying the power of their faith to transform their lives.

They wrongly think that they are truly Christian because they simply and only believe certain things about Jesus Christ.

But sadly, they do not order their lives as citizens of the kingdom of God under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

But this is what saving faith is according to the holy scriptures.

Now, again, it could be argued that the promised kingdom of God over which Jesus Christ is lord is the major theme of all of

scripture.

In the realm of biblical studies, efforts to describe what each book of the Bible teaches

by that author at that particular time, there's been a prolonged search for the major

unifying theme of all of scripture.

And although there have been many various proposals for the main theme of the Bible, it's agreed

that it is a difficult and many would argue even impossible task to

identify one predominant theme for there are many important themes or ideas that run through the course of the

Bible.

The idea of covenant, okay, for example.

The idea of Israel.

There are many different proposals.

But a good case can be argued that the kingdom of God is the major theme that permeates and unifies all

scripture.

And we've stated before that the biblical scholars agree.

They all agree this.

The kingdom of God was the primary subject of the teaching of Jesus during his earthly ministry.

That's what he preached on, the kingdom of God.

And George Eldon Ladd, who is a wonderful evangelical scholar, expressed it

in his classic book, his biblical theology, a theology of the New Testament.

Modern scholarship is quite unanimous in the opinion that the kingdom of God was the central

message of Jesus.

Central message.

Others have attempted to show that the kingdom of God is the major idea or thrust of the entire Bible.

We've mentioned Thomas Schreiner before.

Good man.

He was a bold conference speaker a few years ago.

Had a lot of time with him.

I really enjoyed it, got to know him.

But he wrote his biblical theology, which I highly recommend.

If you want to know what the Bible is about, the story of the Bible, this is the book.

The King and His Beauty.

And in his prologue, he acknowledged the difficulty of asserting one central theme of the Bible.

Nevertheless, he set forth the kingdom of God to be most prominent.

He wrote these words.

By now it's common consensus that no one theme adequately captures the message of the scriptures.

It's not my intention to dispute that hypothesis here, but he does.

For almost any center chosen tends to domesticate one theme or another.

I maintain that there are a number of different ways to put together the storyline, the theology, and the scriptures that are legitimate.

Here my focus in his book is one of the major themes in the narrative.

I intend to argue in this book that the kingdom of God, if that term is defined with sufficient flexibility,

fits well as a central theme of the entire Bible.

We would concur with that.

So given the importance of this subject and yet realizing the inadequate or errant teaching that many have received

regarding the kingdom of God, we desire to make the subject plain and clear.

So I would hope that one who perhaps just happened to attend this church this morning, who maybe knows nothing about the

Bible, nevertheless can be given an introductory understanding of what the whole

Bible is about.

By emphasizing the nature and importance of the kingdom of God.

So may the Lord help us in this effort.

What does the Bible teach regarding the kingdom of God?

It's important we establish in our thinking a historical theological context.

Understand it biblically.

The Bible is an unfolding story through history, the history of redemption of what God has

purposed to accomplish through Jesus Christ.

And so we should understand the beginning of the story, right at Genesis, Genesis 12 this

morning, if we're to recognize and understand clearly the climax or the finale of the story.

And so let's first consider the Old Testament record regarding the kingdom of God.

Then we'll speak of the realization of God's promises in Jesus Christ is recorded in the New Testament.

So what does the Old Testament say?

First of all, recognize the Old Testament presents God as king over all his creation,

specifically God, the father.

And so first we affirm the Holy scriptures to teach that God, the father has always been the king over

all that he has created.

The Old Testament clares that God is a king, that he rules over all his creation with absolute sovereign

authority.

The psalmist declared this reality in a number of places.

Psalm 103 19, the Lord has established his throne in heaven and his kingdom rules

over.

All.

God is king.

Psalm 47 for the Lord.

Most high is awesome.

He is a great king over all the earth.

God is king.

Sing praises to God, sing praises, sing praises to our king, sing praises for God is a king of

all the earth.

Sing praises with understanding.

God reigns over the nations.

God sits on his Holy throne.

God is the sovereign king over all that he has made.

Psalm 95 contain these words affirming that God, the creator is king.

He's king because he is the creator over all that he's made.

Well, come, let us sing to the Lord.

Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our salvation.

Let us come before his presence with Thanksgiving.

Let us shout joyfully to him with Psalms.

Why?

For the Lord is the great God and the great king above all gods.

Obviously he's not saying that there are such thing as other gods, but all pretended gods.

God is king over everything in his hand or the deep places of the earth.

The heights of the hills are also his.

The sea is his.

You know,.

The ocean was seen to be threatening and uncontrollable.

The place of death, the pagans used to worship Mott, the God of the dead, the God of the sea.

And yet here it's saying that God is sovereign, even over the chaotic seas.

By the way,.

That reveals Jesus in the New Testament speaks the word and the seas are calm, that Jesus Christ is Lord

over all things.

The sea is his for he made it.

See, he's the creator and his hands formed the dry land.

Oh,.

Come let us worship and bow down.

Let us kneel before the Lord, our maker.

He's king because he's the creator.

We also read in the Old Testament that when God had originally created the.

World,.

That everyone and everything he had created was in dutiful and joyful submission to God as king.

All creation, including Adam and Eve in the garden, were willingly submitted to knowing and doing

the will of God.

And so God had declared upon his creation of the heavens and the earth.

God saw everything that he made.

And indeed, everything was good.

Everything was compliant,.

Willing,.

Submissive to God, the creator, the king.

But of course, early in the biblical record, we read of our first parents in the garden of Eden, committing the first great act

of sin and rebellion when they transgressed the one law that God had given them in the garden of Eden.

Don't you eat of that tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

And the Bible teaches that all of creation suffered in Adam's one sin.

He represented all of humanity, you and me.

He was standing in our place.

Prior to Adam's sin, all of God's creation existed in harmony and in accordance with the will of God.

All things were in willing submission to God.

But upon Adam's fall, sin's effects permeated all of God's creation.

And so not only did man become cursed of God, but all the earth as well.

Man's sin resulted in the creation's fall as well.

As Romans 8, 20 says, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its

own will, but because of him, God who subjected it.

When man fell, God cursed the world too.

And the earth as well.

That's why weeds spring up instead of fruit.

The effects of sin became all encompassing and all corrupting.

And with that one sin of Adam, he plunged the whole human race into sin.

And so from then onwards, no person or no thing was willingly subjective to the

rule of God.

The whole of God's creation fell and was in rebellion to its creator, to its king, God

almighty.

God's authority was in no way threatened or diminished when that happened.

Due to the world falling into sin, for God continued to reign over all.

We read that in the Psalms.

He continued to reign over fallen man and a creation,.

However,.

That resisted and defied his will.

Fallen man,.

Due to that first sin, became sinners who desire and intend to be as gods themselves.

That's what's in your heart when you were born into this world.

I want to be the determiner of my own life.

I am law.

I am God.

You made yourself a God.

And that's what sinners do.

I'm going to determine what I want to do.

According to my will, when I want to do it.

And that is sin.

It's rebellion against God, who is our Lord,.

Our creator.

And this,.

Of course, defiance, living in rebellion to God and his world results in man's own

ruin and deserve damnation.

There's room in God's universe for only one God, and it's not you or me.

It's his son, Jesus Christ.

But God continued, nevertheless, after the fall is the sovereign king over his creation.

Again, the psalmist declared, but our God is in heaven.

He does whatever he pleases.

And so in no way was God's sovereign control curtailed or diminished.

It continued even after the fall of the world of mankind into sin.

God is king over all his creation.

He rules over all, even over all his fallen world.

God is sovereign.

Well,.

We thankfully,.

However,.

See in the Old Testament, the promise of the kingdom of God, the mediatorial kingdom

of God.

I put that in parentheses.

We'll explain what that means.

God had originally created this world and particularly human beings as a kingdom over which he ruled as king.

In the beginning, God created all things good.

All things were in compliant submission to its creator king.

God created man to be his co -region.

Adam and Eve were to rule over creation on behalf of God

within his kingdom, God's kingdom.

But when Adam and Eve sinned, the human race lost its lofty position and place in God's kingdom.

Mankind through Adam became a race of rebels.

Before the fall of man into sin, all people, all things were in lovingly subjection to God as

king.

After the fall, no one and nothing was in subjection to God, the creator, its rightful

king.

The human race was lost to the kingdom of God, excluded from the garden, from the paradise of God,

in which they had lived a blessed existence in fellowship with their God.

And so through Adam's sin, all people became the citizens of another kingdom, which is the kingdom

of Satan.

A kingdom of darkness over which the devil reigns.

And so through Adam's sin, the human race became subject to the devil.

Since Adam's fall into sin, the devil has ruled over the fallen world in which mankind lives.

The devil rules, God overrules.

So the devil rules over all fallen human beings as they are subjects of his kingdom.

He influences them to do evil by coercing them, enticing and tempting them, controlling them as

his subjects who do his bidding.

And in this kingdom, fallen people serve the devil.

And this is an important principle.

How do people serve the devil?

We're not talking about witchcraft or devil worshipers like that, but every non -Christian

serves the devil in this way, by purposing to live for themselves.

That was what the devil tempted Adam and Eve to do.

You live for yourself.

You will be as God, determining what's right and wrong.

You take of that tree, you'll not die.

And that's how the devil controls people.

He entices you to do your own will, not God's will.

And so, the devil is the ruler of this age.

He's the prince of the power of the air.

He rules over the fallen kings of the earth through history.

He has his fallen angels influencing, controlling his subjects through deception and subterfuge, through manipulation,

false reasoning that's contrary to the will of God.

The whole world lies under the control of the wicked one.

The devil is said to have great authority and influence in the fallen world through principalities and powers.

They should be understood as a hierarchy of fallen angels or demons through which he influences and directs fallen

human authorities who are in positions of influence and power.

He leads them about to do his will.

They think they're doing their own will.

But thankfully,.

It is the purpose of God to glorify himself in history through the recovery and restoration of a people

from their sin to reestablish a kingdom in which his people would love him, trust him,

obey him, and rule over his creation on his behalf.

Those in Christ are made a kingdom of priests.

We're kings and priests because God wants his people to rule with him.

We're co -heirs with Christ.

The whole story of scripture is that of God redeeming and restoring his fallen creation unto himself.

And so God purposed to establish a mediatorial kingdom and thereby bring all of

creation back, as it were, into a willing submission to its true God.

And so by the term mediatorial kingdom, we're saying that God purposed to restore the creation of himself through an

intermediary or a mediator, Jesus Christ, who would affect the

restoration of all things into a right and holy relationship with God.

As one once wrote, man was excluded from the kingdom of God at his expulsion from

paradise.

His restoration to that kingdom has been the grand end of all God's subsequent

dispensations.

Not to be confused with dispensationalism, but throughout all of the history of mankind, this has been the purpose of

God.

In bringing about this mediatorial kingdom of Jesus Christ.

This restoration, according to the divine plan, was to be accomplished through a mediatorial kingdom

of which the God -man Christ Jesus should be king.

And under this kingdom of the mediator, the universe should no longer be governed immediately by God, that is directly

by God the Father, but immediately through the God -man, all power in heaven and earth

being given unto him.

So the first promise of this mediatorial kingdom that would come into being in history is found in

Genesis 3 .15, in which God promises that the devil would be defeated and mankind

would be restored to God.

Way back, right after Adam and Eve's fall into sin.

And so this verse, Genesis 3 .15, is commonly called the first gospel, or first

message of the gospel.

It's called the proto -first, in priority, evangelium, the first gospel.

It's the first promise of the gospel in the Bible.

It's the promise of God's voice to the serpent.

God telling the serpent what's going to happen.

That his authority as the devil would be deposed and a promised son of the woman would ascend to become king

over the restored kingdom of God.

It further set forth a veiled prophecy of Jesus Christ's death on the cross, by which he would

secure the great victory.

And so God declared to the serpent, I will put enmity between you and the woman,

between your offspring and her offspring, the devil's people, God's

people.

He shall bruise your head.

See, this offspring of the woman is going to, and that head speaks of his rule, his

authority.

He's going to destroy the serpent's authority.

You shall bruise his heel.

That speaks of Christ dying on the cross.

That's what the serpent did on the cross.

But Christ wins the victory through that death on the cross.

And so all of biblical history is the unfolding plan and purpose of God to bring about the defeat and

subjugation of the devil and his kingdom by the promised offspring of the woman.

And so here's the first hint of Christ becoming victorious over the devil and his forces through Christ's own suffering and

death upon his cross.

And so as history began to unfold, as we read in the book of Genesis, people from the

fallen human race returned unto God through faith, faith alone.

We read in Genesis 4, to Seth also a son was born, and he called his

name Enosh.

And at that time, people began to call upon the name of the Lord.

So early in history, God preserved for himself individuals and some families here and there.

But when he called Abram, which we read about in Genesis 12, when he called Abram and Sarai to leave

their pagan roots and travel to a land that he would one day give to him, God made known that he would save a people through

faith.

Abram believed God and obeyed God.

He left his homeland and his family, his people, and traveled to Canaan.

God would form that people into a nation, Israel, and establish that nation before him in a

place that they could live before him in a state of rest and peace, the promised land.

God had promised Abraham that one of his descendants, his seed, would come to remove

the curse of sin and restore his people to God.

And later, after God had constituted Abraham's physical descendants into the nation of Israel at Mount Sinai,

God promised to bring his people into the promised land where they could live before him in a covenant

relationship with him.

The ethnic, physical descendants of Abraham were greatly privileged and blessed.

Israel would be a manifestation of a form of the kingdom of God in history.

It was a type, it prefigured the kingdom of God established by Jesus Christ.

And later still, God caused kings to arise in Israel who would lead his people in victory over their enemies to

enable them to live before God in peace and security.

Of course, the Old Testament is a record of their failure, isn't it?

But the mediatorial kingdom of God in the Old Testament was largely in the form of God's promise

as taught and illustrated through types and shadows that pointed to the coming of Jesus Christ,

the promised king over the inaugurated kingdom of God.

Everything in the Old Testament promised, pictured, foretold, foreshadowed what we

enjoy in Christ.

Yes, a form of the kingdom of God was seen in ancient Israel.

Israel was a political entity comprised of a physical ethnic people, the Jewish people.

Israel was to invade and conquer the land that God had promised.

Israel was to displace the Canaanite peoples of the promised land to establish a theocracy in which they

lived under the authority of the law of God with God as its rightful king.

He's to rule over them according to his laws.

However, it would prove itself not to be the mediatorial kingdom in which all its citizens would live in

joyful submission and compliance to God and his law.

Israel was never that way.

Nevertheless, Israel did set forth in the land in some ways what the promised kingdom should be and would be

like one day under Jesus Christ.

God had given to Israel his moral law, even the Ten Commandments, to order its national life.

And in addition, God gave to Israel ceremonial and civil laws by which the people could serve God in a manner that

foreshadowed the true worship of God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, they all testified of me.

But as we said in the Old Testament, the kingdom of God was in the form of promise.

A kingdom that God had revealed would one day be inaugurated.

The coming kingdom of the Messiah would be an expansive kingdom reaching far beyond the physical borders of ancient

Israel.

Read Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel.

The promised Messiah's kingdom would even encompass the entire world, the Gentile world too.

Of course, later in Israel's history, God raised up David as a king over Israel.

And it was through David that the nature and expanse of the promised Messianic kingdom came to be understood more clearly.

David too was a type of Jesus.

King David was the type.

Jesus Christ is the anti -type, to which the type foreshadowed, anticipated.

And so as the gradual decay and disintegration of Israel unfolded in history, that's the entire record of the Old Testament,

the hope and expectation of the coming son of David and the establishment of his kingdom came to be the forefront

of Jewish expectation.

But in God's promise of the mediatorial kingdom of the coming Messiah, God declared that he would deliver his people

from the control and power of evil forces that had enslaved them.

And he would do so even as he brought them into the promised kingdom of his son, the mediatorial Messianic kingdom,

which is the kingdom of God of the New Testament.

So through the salvation that God would accomplish on their behalf, he would secure their willing and joyful

obedience and compliance to his government over which he would enthrone the son of David, Jesus Christ.

And so within the kingdom of the Messiah, there would be both Jews and a multitude of Gentiles from

every tribe and nation.

And Isaiah foretold that in so many wonderful ways.

And so that's basically the Old Testament leading up to preparing the way, preparing the people

for the coming of the Messiah, the promised king.

Well, in the New Testament, however, we read of the realization of God's promise of his kingdom in Jesus

Christ.

The Bible makes it abundantly clear.

When Jesus Christ was born, it was the fulfillment of God's promise of the long -expected kingdom of

God.

The opening verse of the New Testament signals this event when Matthew declared the book of the genealogy of

Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

He was the promised one.

The angel Gabriel declared to Mary, the child that she would bear was the promised son of David who would

inaugurate the promised kingdom of God.

Gabriel announced to Mary, don't be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God.

And behold, you'll conceive in your womb, bring forth a son.

You shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called the son of the highest.

And the Lord will give him the throne of his father, David.

And he will reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there will be no end.

The promise of the kingdom of God.

And Jesus was that promised king.

And Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was inspired by the Holy Spirit to declare these words.

Blessed be the Lord, is the Lord God of Israel.

He has visited and redeemed his people.

Has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David.

As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets who have been since the world began, since Genesis,

that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who aid us to perform

the mercy promised to our fathers, to remember his holy covenant, the oath which he swore to our father

Abraham to grant us that we be delivered from the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear.

See, in the kingdom.

In holiness and righteousness before him all the days of our life.

And so with the presentation of the Lord Jesus in the gospels, the gospel of the kingdom of God is

announced.

John the Baptist announced the kingdom is at hand.

Jesus announced the kingdom is at hand.

The long -awaited promise of God, of the mediatorial kingdom of God had arrived in the life and ministry of

Jesus of Nazareth.

And so we read of our Lord's ministry.

Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogue, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, the good news of the

kingdom.

It's arrived.

Healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people.

And later we read similarly, then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching

the gospel of the kingdom and healing every sickness, every disease among the people.

And later still he declared that after his departure from this world, his gospel of the kingdom would continue to be

proclaimed throughout the world.

He told his disciples in this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations,

Gentiles, and then the end will come.

And so the point we wish to make is this.

The kingdom of God of the New Testament that God inaugurated through the ministry, death,

resurrection, and enthronement of the Lord Jesus is the promised kingdom of David of the Old Testament.

And I want to tell you, very few people teach that.

They teach the kingdom, the messianic kingdom of David is going to be for physical

Jews and an earth, you know, in a future thousand -year Jewish millennium.

No.

The New Testament declares that all the promises of the Messiah, the messianic kingdom, are

realized through Jesus Christ.

And it was brought about by his life, his death, or resurrection, his resurrection from the dead, his ascension into

heaven, and he's enthroned at the right hand of God the Father now, sitting on the promised

throne of David, ruling over the people of God, over the world.

Jesus declared in John 17, the Father has given him authority over all flesh, all humanity, so

that he might give life to those whom the Father had given him.

Jesus has all authority in heaven and earth.

He's not going to have any more authority at the second coming.

His authority will be revealed and manifest then.

But he has all authority in heaven and earth now.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

And so the church of the New Testament is the promised Israel of the Old Testament under the new covenant.

The church did not replace Israel.

We are commonly falsely accused of teaching replacement theology.

No, the church didn't replace Israel.

That's a false charge.

The church is promised Israel of the kingdom of the Messiah.

We are.

Privileged and blessed to be the citizens of the kingdom of God, living in the kingdom of the son of David,

foretold and foreshadowed in the Old Testament.

What God had brought before his people through the coming of Jesus Christ was not what the Jewish people were

anticipating or desired.

Their expectations are far removed from that which God inaugurated through Jesus Christ.

The Jewish people of the New Testament days expected a restored earthly political kingdom with physical

borders ruled over by a son of David.

That's what the Pharisees were looking for.

That's what they were asking Jesus, when is the kingdom going to.

Appear?

But what God had promised ancient Israel was a kingdom that was spiritual in nature.

The reason for this was because the real problem that brought an end to Israel's kingdom in the Old Testament was a spiritual problem.

They thought the problem were the Babylonians or the Assyrians.

No, the problem was them and their sin.

God was using Babylon and Assyria as his instrument of judgment.

It was their sin that had alienated them from the life enjoyed by those who know God and live before him in

his kingdom.

And so the Old Testament record of the physical enemies of Israel, their defeat of Israel, their subsequent oppression that

all Israel had experienced were God's just punishment upon Israel for its sin.

For Israel had violated, transgressed the Mosaic covenant with God and therefore God's promise

of a restored kingdom of David would be spiritual in nature, not physical.

God having brought a remedy to their backsliding and rebellion causing them to love him and serve him in faith and

obedience.

The Messiah would restore believing Jews to the promised kingdom, believing Jews only.

But he would.

Also deliver believing Gentiles from their sin, bringing them into his kingdom.

As our Lord declared this in the Gospels, I say to you that many will come from the east and west that's

Gentile, the world and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.

Another word named for the kingdom of God.

But the sons of the kingdom, that would be the Jewish people, will be cast into outer darkness because they

refused to believe on their king, Jesus.

And they'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

All true disciples of Jesus enjoy the spiritual and internal blessings of God for being in a

new covenant relationship with him.

The reason is that the son of David would secure the obedience of his citizens through their conversion and by

imparting to his people the Holy Spirit who would ensure their faith and obedience to their king.

And moreover, the enemies from which God would deliver his people were not political enemies.

The physical powers of Rome that ruled over Palestine.

The deliverance that Jesus would accomplish was from the principalities and powers which the devil employed to keep his

people enslaved in their sin and powerless to escape.

Jesus would set his people free from the bondage of sin and the devil, enabling them to live before him

in faith and love.

And obedience.

Jesus told some of the Jewish leaders who wrongly thought they had salvation.

Jesus said to those Jews who believed him, if you abide in my word, you're my disciples indeed, no

true disciples.

And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.

They answered him, we're Abraham's descendants.

We've never been in bondage to anyone.

Which is a ridiculous comment.

How can you say you'll be made free?

Jesus answered them, most assuredly, say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

A slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever, therefore if the son makes you free, you

shall be free indeed.

And so the freedom that God offers in his kingdom is a freedom from the tyranny of Satan, the tyranny of sin.

We're still plagued with sin, but Christ is your Lord now, not sin.

You used to serve sin and fight against God, now you fight against sin in order to serve God.

Everything changed when you were converted.

And the spiritual freedom in which the disciples would live before God in faith and liberty of conscience is a blessing

enjoyed by those who entered the kingdom of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

So our Lord taught his disciples throughout his earthly ministry the true nature of the kingdom of God.

It was not a physical, political nation as once existed under King David.

It would be a spiritual kingdom in which people are set free inwardly to love and serve God.

In the parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13, our Lord both corrected and instructed his disciples as to the true nature

of the kingdom.

When our Lord first told his disciples the parable of the sower, it prompted their question.

Then the disciples came and said to him, why do you speak to them, that is the Jewish people in parables?

He answered, to you, his disciples, it's been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven.

In other words, the kingdom of God.

But to them, unbelieving Jews, it's not been given.

For to the one who has, the more will be given.

He will have an abundance, but from the one who has not, even that which he has will be taken away.

And so it was through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross that the Lord Jesus fully and finally defeated the devil

and his forces.

He bruised his head.

He dethroned the devil.

The devil is still prince of the power of the air, but he has no authority over the Lord's people.

The Lord delivers his people from the kingdom of Satan and translates them into the kingdom of his dear

son.

And so the Lord Jesus broke the devil's authority over his people, thus setting them free, enabling them to come unto

Jesus Christ in repentance and faith.

And we read of this in Paul's letter to the Colossians, in which he wrote of the work of God the Father in saving his people.

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the son of his love

in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.

That's the kingdom of God.

And in Colossians 2, Paul wrote of the believer's union with Jesus Christ in his life, death, and resurrection.

Thus they were set free from the principalities that bound them.

You being dead in your trespasses in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he's made alive together with him,

having forgiven all your trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was

against us.

The law can no longer condemn the true Christian, which was contrary to us.

He's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers.

They can still trouble you and plague you, but they cannot ultimately defeat you or overpower you.

Christ protects you and preserves you.

He's taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross, having disarmed principalities and powers.

He made a public spectacle of them triumphing over them in it.

And that happened when he died on the cross in obedience to his Father.

And so under letter D, through his cross, Jesus stripped the devil of his power to prevent God's elect

from the nations, the Gentile nations from coming to salvation.

For the Lord Jesus to bring salvation to his people, he had to deliver them from the power of the devil who ruled over them.

And so in our Lord casting out demons out of people, he declared it was proof that he was inaugurating

the kingdom of God that God promised to Israel.

You can read in Matthew 12 about this.

One brought to him who was demon possessed, blind and mute, he healed him.

People began to ask the question, could this be the son of David?

Could this be the promised Messiah?

Of course, the Pharisees responded, no, no, he's casting out demons by the power of

the prince of demons, the devil, the ruler of demons.

But Jesus knew their thoughts and he went and explained to them, no, it was the kingdom of God.

That's.

Seen these demons defeated.

He himself was the king over the promised kingdom of God.

And so after Jesus declared the present reality of the promised kingdom of God, the Lord Jesus spoke of the necessity

to restrict and restrain the devil to set his people free from their sin, enabling them to become citizens of the kingdom

living under him.

And so our Lord spoke of the necessity to first bind the strong man before he could come

in and spoil the devil's house.

He had to go in first and bind the strong man.

Then he could spoil the house and make a spoil of the devil's house.

And so in order for Jesus to become the savior of his people, he had to first strip the devil of his authority and his ability

to keep his people in bondage.

And that's what Jesus did on the cross.

He, in effect, deposed Satan's authority.

When our Lord was raised from the dead, he ascended, was enthroned in heaven, thereby vanquishing the devil as his conquered enemy.

The devil was cast into the world, and he's ferocious, and he's tearing up, doing everything,

but he cannot prevent the elect from coming to salvation in Christ.

Jesus has all authority over him.

Read 2 Corinthians 4.

You know, the devil's blinded them, but the Lord turns on the light just like when God said, let there be light in Genesis

1, God says to the unsaved soul, to the non -Christian, let there be light.

And all of a sudden, there's illumination by Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit.

I understand.

I see.

I see the kingdom.

I see Jesus as Lord, I believe.

That's the work of the authority and power of Jesus Christ as king over the kingdom of God.

Well, it's with this binding of the devil, of course, that took place on the cross that introduces us

to the whole doctrine of the millennium.

And this is where it gets sticky, and we don't have time to address it next week, of course,

because even though I believe what we've presented is a clear presentation of the promised

kingdom of God, the Messianic kingdom, good, well -intentioned Christian people are all over

the map in their understanding of the Messianic kingdom.

I would.

Advocate, for those of you in the know, an amillennial view.

We'll present that biblically.

We have good friends that are post -millennial.

Christ will come after a future age of glory, but most of the

evangelical world, good, godly people, believe that Christ is going to come back before a thousand year

Jewish millennium.

And we repudiate that.

It's only been around for about 150 years and only popular for the last hundred years,

but that's not what the Bible teaches.

And so in contrast to what we set forth and affirmed today regarding the present kingdom age of the Messiah's

reign, most evangelicals do not believe what we've affirmed today.

They would see me as teaching falsehood to you.

Incredible.

They do not believe that the kingdom of God that was promised to King David was inaugurated by the risen and throne Lord

Jesus.

Rather, they understand the restored kingdom of David to be a physical

nation to ethnic Jewish people in a future earthly

thousand year kingdom.

And so this is how the whole matter of the kingdom comes into view.

How do you view the kingdom?

Did Jesus Christ inaugurate the kingdom when he was crucified, risen, ascended, and

thrown in heaven as we would advocate Jesus is Lord?

Or was the offer of the kingdom to Israel withdrawn when the Jews

crucified Jesus and it was postponed throughout this church age, but

God will once again go back to the Jews during the future tribulation

and promise an earthly kingdom of Israel in the world.

That's what they advocate.

We would argue no.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ was inaugurated by the Lord Jesus in

fulfillment of the promises of the Old Testament.

Jesus Christ currently in his kingdom is bringing his people back into willing

submission to God as the king over all the world.

God the Father sent Jesus to create and form this mediatorial kingdom and everybody in

this kingdom is being brought back under God the Father.

And one day, according to 1 Corinthians 15, after the resurrection, after the final judgment, Jesus is going to take

the kingdom that he formed and present it back to God the Father.

I've accomplished what you sent me to do.

Here's your creation once again in loving submission to you.

And that's how we'll exist and live in eternity as all those who refuse

to bow the knee to Jesus and confess him in this life as Lord and Savior will be cast off into eternal

damnation.

A horrendous prospect.

And so in history, Jesus Christ is bringing God's creation into a willing submission to God through his reign

over the mediatorial kingdom of God.

Christ was sent on a mission.

He was to bring back his creation, God's creation, into a willing submission to God as Father.

And this is the nature of salvation.

God is in Christ reconciling the world to himself.

As Paul wrote, it pleased the Father that in Christ all the fullness should dwell, and by him to

reconcile all things unto himself by Christ, whether things on earth, things in heaven,

having made peace through the blood of his cross.

And you, Christians who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now he's

reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and blameless and

above reproach in his sight.

If indeed you continue in this faith, grounded and steadfast, not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you

heard.

And so, we are ambassadors of another kingdom, a spiritual kingdom.

We're citizens of another kingdom, the kingdom of God.

We enjoy that kingdom now.

It's been inaugurated in a measure.

And so there's the present reality of the kingdom of God.

And yet there's a future more full realization of the kingdom.

It hasn't yet come.

And that will be revealed at the second coming of Jesus Christ.

And after the judgment, he will say to you as a Christian, one of his sheep on his right side,

come, inherit the kingdom that the Father prepared for you from the beginning.

And we'll go off into eternity and enjoy the blessing as citizens of

this kingdom, loving, serving God, enjoying one another's fellowship and company through eternity.

Amen.

So that's the Bible in a synopsis, okay?

I would hope that you consider these matters.

And I hope it has kind of set the stage that now when we come to

Luke 17, verse 20, the Pharisees ask, when will your kingdom come?

We've got a little bit of context by which we can understand what their request was and why

Jesus responded to them in the way that he did.

The kingdom of God does not come with observation.

It doesn't come with signs.

It's even in your midst.

And he was speaking about himself principally as the king of the kingdom of God, standing right before them.

And they could have entered that kingdom had they believed on him, as we do as Christians.

Let's pray.

Thank you, Father, for your word and for the unfolding history of redemption that

we have, our God.

And your Bibles help us to understand it more clearly and fully so that we might be

better servants of you, our God, to be fellow helpers of you, fellow workers of Jesus Christ,

faithful ambassadors of the kingdom in which you have placed us, that you would use us, our

God, to see many others, our God, delivered from this fallen world,

delivered from the fallen kingdom of the devil and brought into the kingdom of your dear Son, our

God, in which we rejoice.

And which.

Gives us peace and rest in him.

And so help us, our God, help us to have this biblical theme of the kingdom of God upon our

hearts.

Jesus Christ is Lord.

And we thank you and praise you for this reality, this truth.

In Jesus' name, amen.