The
Gospel of the Kingdom
Genesis
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Now
lets just step back and zoom out for a minute because it is
unmistakable who it is we are talking about here. The word, written GOD
in your bible, is the Hebrew word Elohim, and it is absolutely,
positively plural. For instance, look at this verse:
Genesis
1:26 And God said, Let us make
man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
Compare
that with this:
Isaiah
48:16 Come ye near unto me, hear ye this;
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning; from the time that it
was, there am I: and now the Lord GOD, and his Spirit, hath sent me.
Compare
this information with these verses:
John 1:1 In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John
1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
Colossians
1:16 For by him were all things
created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or
powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Jesus
Christ is God manifest in the flesh. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. Jesus Christ said, "I and My Father are one." He said, "he that
hath seen me, hath seen the Father."
So we can see that before
anything was ever made that was made, there was always God. God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have always existed, but
creation had a beginning. It is also referred to in other places as
"the foundation of the world." For instance, look at:
Matthew
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
Prepared
for you?
This
verse, by
the way, clearly indicates that all along, God had planned, even from
the very beginning, to have a Kingdom on this earth. But not only was
there to be a Kingdom, there would also be a very specific King. Look
at what Nathan, the Prophet, had to say to David, King of Israel:
2
Samuel 7:12 And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with
thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out
of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
2 Samuel 7:16
And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before
thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.
Now this
prophecy made by Nathan to David is an UNCONDITIONAL PROMISE from God,
and together with this one, is very specific:
Psalms
132:11 The LORD hath sworn in truth unto David; he will not turn from
it; Of the fruit of thy body will I set upon thy throne.
This
prophecy is exactly what Peter is referring to in Acts Chapter Two,
when he preaches to the men of Israel on the Day of Pentecost, watch:
Acts
2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch
David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us
unto this day.
Acts
2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing
that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins,
according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
(That
is to say, on David's throne)
So it
becomes pretty plain then,
that it was always the intention of God that when he made planet Earth,
he formed it to be inhabited, that there would be a King, and a
Kingdom. But, a closer look at Genesis Chapter One and verse one, shows
that God not only created the Earth but also another place. Look at it
again:
Genesis
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
Two
locations.
The word
"heaven" is singular
here and it is one of two locations: Heaven, and Earth. Heaven is one
location and the Earth is another. We will look further at the Heavenly
part of God's creation later, but for now, let's concentrate just on
planet Earth. From what we have seen so far, we understand that God
made the Earth, he made it to be inhabited, and he also planned to have
a Kingdom on the Earth which would be ruled over by a King.
In
the book of Daniel, Chapter Two, the king of Babylon had a dream and
Daniel, the prophet, was called on to interpret the dream. In the
dream, King Nebuchadnezzar had seen a great image, and the image, it
turns out, represented all the kingdoms of the world, from that time
until the coming of the Lord. In the final days of the final kingdoms,
look what it says:
Daniel
2:44 And in the days of these kings
shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be
destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it
shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall
stand for ever.
Now just
a side note here: It is obvious that
all of these kingdoms the king saw in the dream, are literal, visible
and earthly kingdoms. How could anyone presume to "spiritualize" this
last one and make it be something other than what it is: A literal,
visible, earthly kingdom?
In the so-called "Lord?s prayer" in the
book of Matthew, Jesus Christ teaches his disciples to pray for this
very Kingdom to come. Look at it:
Matthew
6:10 Thy kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
From Matthew 25
we know who the King is, because in the context he is identified as
"The Son of Man." The "Son of Man," it turns out, is the son of David,
the son of Abraham. Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh,
refers to himself as the "Son of Man." Look at verse 31:
Matthew
25:31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy
angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
So
verse 31 identifies Jesus Christ as "The Son of Man" and we see that he
is definitely the King. The events happening here are an account of a
future judgment which will take place at the second coming of Christ.
In this passage, from verse 31 down to the end of the chapter, we see
that Jesus Christ is coming again, and we can see that there is a
judgment going on in association with the coming of the King.
We
also see that some of the people involved are allowed to enter the
kingdom and some are not.
As you
read further you will find that
those who enter the kingdom and those who are sent away to everlasting
punishment are judged on the basis of the treatment of a certain group
of people. They are identified as "these my brethren" by the King:
But
who are "the brethren"?
Matthew
25:40 And the King shall answer
and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it
unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Now
if we zero in on this subject, and take a close look at the internal
evidence of the bible, it will become very clear exactly what is going
on here. Let's go back to the beginning of the earthly ministry of the
Lord Jesus Christ, and let the bible speak for itself.
Matthew
4:23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues,
and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of
sickness and all manner of disease among the people.
Now let's
just lift out this phrase, "the gospel of the kingdom" and think about
it for a minute. The word gospel simply means "good message" or "good
news" If I ran up to you and said, "Have you heard the good news," what
would you say? You really couldn't say anything could you? You would
first have to say "which good news" or "what good news."
The
"gospel of the kingdom" is the same. It is very specific. It is the
message about the kingdom. It contains the good news about the
kingdom.. Look at what the Lord told his twelve apostles when he sent
them out to preach:
Matthew
10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
So we
know
from what we have seen so far, that Jesus Christ, while on the earth,
had a specific message for a certain group of people: Those for whom
the kingdom had been prepared. Remember the Lord had said:
Matthew
25:34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world:
The
bible tells us:
Romans
15:8
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the
truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:
God
is always true to his word. As a matter of fact the bible says that his
word is settled forever in Heaven. When Jesus Christ came to planet
Earth, the bible says:
John
1:11 He came unto his own, and his
own received him not.
Can you
believe it?
Now if
you
really want to understand your bible and what it is saying, from this
point on it is going to be necessary to just drop all of your
preconceived notions, your religious training, your denominational
thinking, and just believe the bible means what it says, as it says it,
where it says it. In other words, the plain sense of the bible makes
common sense.
People
say "well, I just can?t understand the
bible." I suspect that the problem is not in the average person really
being able to understand the bible, but rather it's the problem of
being able to BELIEVE the bible. God didn't give us a book that can't
be understood.
So the
issue is not can you understand it, but
can you believe it! Just read the verses and believe that they mean
exactly what they say.
We saw
in Romans that:
Romans
15:8
Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the
truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers:
Now it's
about to get real simple
here. When we define THE CIRCUMCISION and we find out just who THE
FATHERS are, we are going to learn what John meant when he said, "he
came unto his own." If I can show you the real truth of the Lord's
earthly ministry in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, it is going to change
your way of thinking!
In the
book of Genesis, we find the
account of creation. God formed the man out of the dust of the earth,
he made Eve, and he placed them in the Garden of Eden. Adam sinned when
he ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and was cast out
of the Garden.
Later,
in Genesis Chapter Six, the sons of God
took wives of the daughters of men and the result was, the human race
was wiped out, in the flood, except for Noah and his family. Then the
descendents of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah's sons, populate the earth.
The
whole earth was of "one language and one speech." Men got together and
attempted to build a tower up to Heaven. God came down, confused the
languages of the people and they were scattered over the earth.
And
then, in Genesis Chapter Twelve, God chose one man, and through that
man, a nation of people for his own purpose:
Genesis 12:2 And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy
name great; and thou shalt be a blessing
More promises:
God
chose Abram, changed his name to Abraham, gave him the sign of
circumcision, and made promises to him. The promises had to do with
land, the land of Palestine. They had to do with the promised "seed of
Abraham" and they had to do with inheriting the world. God then
confirmed those promises to Isaac, the son of Abraham, and to Jacob,
his grandson. Promises of land, a king, and a kingdom.
He
changed the name of Jacob to Israel who had 12 sons who were the
fathers of the 12 tribes of Israel. These promises, by the way, are
called "the covenants of promise." Unconditional promises were
made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and also to David, the King of
Israel, which we looked at earlier. God himself made these covenants,
these promises, with Abraham and with his descendents.
Later on,
another covenant was added. It required something on the part of the
people of Israel. It called for obedience. Look at the Conditional
Promises God made, through Moses, when he gave the Law to Israel at
Mount Sinai, the Law of Moses:
Exodus
19:3 And Moses went up
unto God, and the LORD called unto him out of the mountain, saying,
Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell the children of
Israel;
Exodus
19:4 Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians,
and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.
Exodus
19:5 Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all
people: for all the earth is mine:
Exodus
19:6 And ye shall be
unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words
which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.
Who are
these aliens?
We are
going to find much later in time that there
are some people on planet earth, people such as you and I, who
were "strangers from the covenants of promise" because they are ALIEN,
that is to say, they are NOT ALLIED with Israel. As in:
Ephesians
2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world:
There is a mystery
associated with these ALIENS that only comes about in a later
revelation Let's don't make the mistake of most of the
denominational religious system of the world, let's don't anticipate
revelation. Let's just stick with the bible and believe that it means
what it says, where it says it, as it says it. Way back in the book of
Genesis, in Genesis Chapter 17, God had given Abraham the sign of
circumcision as a token of the covenant. Let's read it:
Genesis
17:1 And when Abram was ninety years old and nine, the LORD appeared to
Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be
thou perfect.
Genesis
17:2 And I will make my covenant between
me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly.
Genesis 17:8
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein
thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting
possession; and I will be their God.
Genesis 17:10 This is my
covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after
thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
Abraham
was circumcised, Isaac, his son, was circumcised, and Jacob, the son of
Isaac, was circumcised. Jacob's name was changed to Israel. These are
the "fathers" of the nation of Israel. These are the people to whom the
promises were made.
Romans
15:8 Now I say that Jesus Christ was
a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the
promises made unto the fathers:
Jesus
Christ was a minister of
the circumcision. We now know who that is. By knowing who it is, we
also know who it is not. Jesus Christ was confirming promises which
were made to certain people. They are called the fathers.
There
is a well-known medical practice of physical circumcision today. It is
done by doctors in hospitals on baby boys and it is done for health
reasons and has nothing at all to do with the token of circumcision
given to Abraham in Genesis. It is a totally different thing and
doesn't signify a covenant or a promise of any kind.
But in the
case of the Lord's earthly ministry, it was very specific .Look at what
happens in Matthew Chapter Ten. The Lord chooses 12 disciples and he
names them apostles. He then gives them very specific instructions.
Matthew
10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not
into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter
ye not:
Matthew
10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the
house of Israel.
Now that's plain!
You can't get any clearer
than that. He not only tells them where to go, he tells them where not
to go. He tells them: Do not go to the Gentiles. Do not go to the
Samaritans. Do go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. He not only
tells them where to go and where not to go, he tells them what to say
when they get there:
Matthew
10:7 And as ye go, preach, saying,
The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
So we
now know what the Lord's
earthly ministry was, who it was to, and what it was about. How can
anyone read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and think that the message to
those people, in that place, at that time, is the message by which you
and I can be saved today. It won't work. The Sermon on the Mount, the
Beatitudes, the two or three gathering together and naming it and
claiming it will not work in the age in which we live today. Why?
Because that message, the gospel of the kingdom, in Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John was specifically to those people to whom the kingdom pertains.
People
who think that the ministry of Jesus Christ in Matthew, Mark, Luke and
John was to them are people who will not believe their bible. In your
bible, there is no record of the Lord dealing with ANY GENTILE
whatsoever, except one man and one woman. In Matthew 15, a Gentile
woman comes to the Lord to seek healing for her daughter and the Lord
tells her:
Matthew
15:24 But he answered and said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
Why
would a preacher or bible teacher try to force a Gentile world back
into the events of the four gospels, into the Lord's earthly ministry,
when it is clear from scripture that we are just simply not in there.
The plain sense of your bible makes common sense. Why scramble it up?
But
somebody is going to say, "Wait a minute now. I have read that and I
know that the woman's daughter was healed." And you are correct. But,
this woman was IN THE COVENANTS OF PROMISE. Remember that the covenants
of promise began with Abraham in Genesis Chapter 12.
Let's
read it:
Genesis
12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and
from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will
show thee:
Genesis
12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation,
and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a
blessing:
Genesis
12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.
Now
let's examine the case of the
Syro-Phonecian woman, the Gentile woman. If you check the parallel
accounts you find that this woman is a Greek, a Cannonite, a Gentile.
You will notice that in verse 22 this woman, identified here as a woman
of Canaan is begging the Lord:
Matthew
15:22 And, behold, a
woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him,
saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil.
Lord,
what an attitude!
Now
pay attention to the Lord's attitude toward the woman, and also that of
the disciples:
Matthew
15:23 But he answered her not a word. And
his disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she
crieth after us.
The Lord
refuses to talk to the woman and the
disciples tell him to send her away. Why? It has nothing to do with
this woman's moral character. It was an issue about the Lord's ministry
at that time:
Matthew
15:24 But he answered and said, I am not
sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
In
connection with the Lord's earthly ministry, we already know, from
Romans 15:8 that His ministry was to the circumcision and that he was
confirming the promises made to the fathers.
Matthew 15:25 Then
came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
Matthew
15:26 But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's
bread, and to cast it to dogs.
The
children: The lost sheep of
the house of Israel. The bread: The gospel of the kingdom. And the
dogs: This Gentile woman! But this woman is not just an ordinary
Gentile woman. She knows something about those promises. Watch:
Matthew
15:27 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which
fall from their masters' table.
Obviously,
this woman knew about
the covenants of promise. She knew that Israel was the nation chosen by
God to be exalted above all nations. She knew that as a Gentile in the
kingdom, as in those inheriting the kingdom in Matthew 25, prepared FOR
THEM, that she was entitled to be blessed based on the promises made to
the fathers.
Genesis
12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee,
and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed.
She
called him Lord. She referred to him as
the son of David. Look at this verse:
Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the
days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous
Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment
and justice in the earth.
No
doubt, this woman knew the Hebrew
scriptures and knew that she could be blessed by blessing Israel. She
obviously knew that THIS was the Messiah. Now look what the Lord said
to her:
Matthew
15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O
woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her
daughter was made whole from that very hour.
The bible says that
the just shall live by faith. The bible says that Abraham was justified
by faith. This woman had great faith, but what about Israel? Do you
know what the Lord said to the Jews; "except ye see a sign ye will not
believe." The bible says, in 1 Corinthians 1:22, the Jews require a
sign.
So, the
Jews, before they would believe, had to see a
sign. That's what the signs, the signs of healing, raising the dead,
casting out devils. that's what they were all about. The Jews require a
sign. But, even with all the signs, most of Israel was concluded in
unbelief.
Now in
the case of the only other Gentile the Lord
had any dealings with, the situation was the same. The Centurian had
great faith. He had blessed the seed of Abraham. His disciples told the
Lord that he was "worthy" because he had built a synagogue for the
Jews, as in Luke:
Luke 7:5
For he loveth our nation, and he hath
built us a synagogue.
No doubt he
attended it himself. Knowing the promises, he also was in the covenants
of promise and in line for the blessing based on the fact that he, too,
had blessed the seed of Abraham.
So the gospel of the kingdom, then,
was good news to those to whom the kingdom pertained: It was to Israel
and to those who blessed Israel. Let's look one more time at two
important verses:
Genesis
12:3 And I will bless them that bless
thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families
of the earth be blessed.
Matthew
25:34 Then shall the King say
unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the
kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
Aliens
are not allies
You and
I were not there. Look at what the bible
says in Ephesians:
Ephesians
2:11 Wherefore remember, that ye
being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision
by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands;
Ephesians
2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise,
having no hope, and without God in the world:
Now the time past
that Paul refers to here would definitely include the time of the
Lord's earthly ministry in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. How do we know
that? Because the Lord said, "Go not in the way of the Gentiles," he
said, "I am not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
So
we see, then, that "crumbs" fell from the table, so to speak, to some
Gentiles in the earthly ministry of the Lord. But these were not just
ANY Gentile. These were Gentiles who were "in the covenants of promise"
by virtue of the fact that they blessed the seed of Abraham. They
blessed Israel, and according to Matthew 25, when the Kingdom
comes. when the Son of Man comes, in His glory, there is a kingdom
prepared FOR THEM in which the whole nation of Israel will be the
priests of the Lord, and those Gentiles in the Kingdom will worship God
through the nation of Israel, just as the prophets had said:
Isaiah
61:6 But ye shall be named the Priests of the LORD: men shall call you
the Ministers of our God: ye shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and
in their glory shall ye boast yourselves.
Zechariah 8:23 Thus
saith the LORD of hosts; In those days it shall come to pass, that ten
men shall take hold out of all languages of the nations, even shall
take hold of the skirt of him that is a Jew, saying, We will go with
you: for we have heard that God is with you.
Is it any wonder
then, that when Peter, one of the 12 apostles to Israel, writes to the
believers in the Jewish Pentecostal Church he uses the very same words
Moses used in the Book of Exodus:
1 Peter 2:9 But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called
you out of darkness into his marvellous light;
Are you a
priest?
But did
you know, that nowhere in your bible is there a
reference to people such as you and I being priests of the Lord? Or a
holy nation? The books of Genesis through Malachi, the 39 books we
refer to as the "Old Testament" contain the record of God's dealings
with planet Earth. By the end of the 11th chapter of Genesis we find
the entire Gentile world just totally cast off, and in Genesis Chapter
12, God chooses one man, Abraham, and through him, a nation of people,
the nation of Israel, to fulfill his purpose for planet Earth.
Throughout
the Old Testament, beginning at Genesis Chapter 12, to the end of
Malachi, God deals with the people of earth through His chosen people,
the people of Israel. The only way a Gentile is involved is through the
nation of Israel. Gentiles are blessed, or cursed, in the Old
Testament, based on their treatment of Abraham and his descendents, the
people of Israel.
If you
blessed Israel, you were blessed. If
you cursed Israel, you were cursed. The Egyptians cursed Israel. God
cursed the Egyptians. The Babylonians cursed Israel. God cursed the
Babylonians. The Assyrians, the Medes and Persians, the Romans, and so
on down through history:
Genesis
12:3 And I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all
families of the earth be blessed.
So the
Lord, preceded by John
the Baptist, came to Israel and for three years preached the gospel of
the Kingdom. He chose twelve Apostles and they preached the gospel of
the Kingdom. The gospel of the Kingdom was the good message, the good
news, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Look at the verses:
Matthew
3:1 In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of
Judaea,
Matthew
3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand.
Matthew
4:17 From that time Jesus began to
preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
And the Lord told the twelve:
Matthew 10:7 And as ye
go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
Important
notice:
Now
there is a very important fact about the gospel of
the kingdom that you need to know. This gospel, this good news, cannot
possibly be the gospel of your salvation. Because the gospel of the
Kingdom, preached in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John DOES NOT INCLUDE the
fact that Christ died for anyone's sins. And we know that our very
salvation depends on the fact that Christ died for our sins:
1
Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
1
Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
To show
you what I mean, look at what happens in Matthew 16. This is shortly
before the Lord is betrayed. Peter has just been given the keys to the
kingdom of Heaven, and the power to bind and loose:
Matthew
16:21 From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how
that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders
and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the
third day.
Now
watch Peter's reaction:
Matthew
16:22 Then
Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee,
Lord: this shall not be unto thee.
There is
another account of
the same situation in the gospel of Luke. Please note that in verse 34
Luke says three different times, in three different ways that they
didn't know, they didn't know, they didn't know:
Luke 18:31 Then
he took unto him the twelve, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to
Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning
the Son of man shall be accomplished.
Luke 18:32 For he shall be
delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully
entreated, and spitted on:
Luke
18:33 And they shall scourge
him, and put him to death: and the third day he shall rise again.
Luke
18:34 And they understood none of these things: and this saying was hid
from them, neither knew they the things which were spoken.
Now
these are two clear witnesses that the earthly ministry of Jesus
Christ, the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom, is NOT the gospel
of your salvation. It does not include the fact that Christ died for
anybody's sins. But let's try one more time. After the resurrection of
Christ, in the Gospel of John:
John
20:1 The first day of the
week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the
sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
John
20:2 Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other
disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away
the LORD out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
So
Peter and John run to the tomb, John outruns Peter and looks in. Peter
gets there and goes in:
John
20:8 Then went in also that other
disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
But
WHAT DID they believe?
John
20:9 For as yet they knew not the
scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
Later
that same day, the Lord began to appear to his disciples. He appeared a
number of times in different places. He confirmed his resurrection the
bible says by many infallible proofs. And Luke also says:
Luke
24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand
the scriptures,
Luke
24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead the third day:
Luke
24:47 And that repentance and remission
of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at
Jerusalem.
But why?
Now we have been told the facts in
detail. We know the historical facts, that Christ was betrayed, that he
was crucified, that he was buried, and three days and three nights
later, he rose from the dead. But nowhere, in Matthew, Mark, Luke or
John, have we been told the WHY of the cross of Christ. It is just not
in there. The gospel of your salvation is not in Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John.
Instead, the disciples have been told that
repentance and
remission of sins should be preached, in his name, beginning at
Jerusalem. Remember that this is the same message that first began to
be preached by John the Baptist:
Mark 1:4
John did baptize in
the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission
of sins.
If you
compare what John said in Mark Chapter One, with
the words of Peter in Acts Chapter Two, you will find that Peter is
saying EXACTLY the same thing that John the Baptist said at the very
beginning:
Acts
2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be
baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission
of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
The
difference in Peter's preaching is that IF Israel WILL repent, and be
identified with their Messiah in water baptism, then they will receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost. In other words, The Comforter, the unction,
the anointing the Lord had promised them. It was the gift of power. It
was the power to perform miracles and signs and wonders. Why? Because
the Jews require a sign. But most important. it was the power to suffer.
Look
at what Luke writes in the book of Acts:
Acts 1:5 For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence.
Acts 1:6
When they therefore were come
together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time
restore again the kingdom to Israel?
Acts 1:7 And he said unto
them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the
Father hath put in his own power.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive
power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria,
and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
The word "witness"
here, is the word MARTYR. The Lord had told these men that they would
suffer. And they had the power to suffer, to love not their lives unto
death, to endure to the end. It is important to remember that the Lord
had told these men:
Matthew
24:13 But he that shall endure
unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Matthew 24:14 And this
gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness
unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
The gospel of the
kingdom then, is a witness, it is a testimony, it is the announcement
of the Kingdom. It is for those to whom the kingdom pertains. The
gospel of YOUR salvation is a different thing.
Now the message
in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John had been, "repent, for the kingdom of
Heaven is at hand." In the book of Acts, Peter's message to Israel is
repent. But did you notice that he does not say "the kingdom of Heaven
is at hand." Why? Because of what the Lord said:
Acts 1:7 And he
said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons,
which the Father hath put in his own power.
The name is changed:
So
Peter preaches the gospel in the book of Acts. He preaches the same
message which was preached by John the Baptist, by the Lord Jesus
Christ, and by himself and the twelve before the Lord was crucified. It
is the gospel of the Kingdom but it doesn't have a date. Peter does not
say the Kingdom is AT HAND. So his message has a new name. Go to
Galatians:
Galatians
2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that
the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel
of the circumcision was unto Peter;
Peter's message is now
called the gospel of the Circumcision. We already know who that is.
Circumcision was a covenant God made with Abraham and with his
descendents, the 12 tribes of Israel. The Day of Pentecost in
Acts Chapter Two is a Jewish Holy Day. It is one of THREE days in every
year that ALL the men of Israel were required to show up.
Deuteronomy
16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD
thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened
bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and
they shall not appear before the LORD empty:
The last day of the
Feast of Weeks is the Day of Pentecost. The word Pente means fifty. It
is fifty days after the Passover. So, who was in Jerusalem on the Day
of Pentecost?
Acts 2:5
And there were dwelling at Jerusalem
Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now in the
next few verses there are at least 15 nations these devout Jews are
from. There are no Gentiles in town. Verse ten mentions strangers from
Rome, Jews and proselytes. The proselytes would be Gentiles, but they
would be Gentiles who had become Jews. They had converted to the Jewish
religion, had been circumcised, and became Jews and they called
themselves Jews, and they called Abraham father.
The message
preached by Peter in the Book of Acts is the gospel of the
circumcision. It is to the circumcision. It is to Israel. It is about
the Messiah. It is a murder indictment against the nation of Israel,
and it offers remission of their sins if they will repent, that is to
say, change their minds about this man, this Jesus of Nazareth, the son
of David, the heir to the throne of David, the King of Israel. Watch:
Acts
2:14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and
said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem,
be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
Acts 2:22 Ye
men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of
God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him
in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know:
Acts 2:36
Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath
made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.
Acts
2:40 And with many other words did he testify and exhort, saying, Save
yourselves from this untoward generation.
When Jesus Christ
came, the bible says he came unto his own. Remember the wise men?
Matthew
2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod
the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Matthew
2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen
his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
Jesus Christ
was a minister of the circumcision, he was confirming the promises made
to the fathers. But Israel rejected their King. They said away with
this man. We have no king but Caesar. Crucify him. Let his blood be
upon us and our children. And Christ was crucified:
Matthew
27:11 And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him,
saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
sayest.
Matthew
27:29 And when they had platted a crown of
thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand: and
they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of
the Jews!
John
19:19 And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the
cross. And the writing was JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.
It
was a mystery:
So
Christ died, he was buried, and he rose from
the dead. They didn't understand why. On the Day of Pentecost 12 men
were baptized with the Holy Ghost. They began to speak in the languages
of all those men, those devout Jews, out of every nation under heaven.
They testified the wonderful works of God. And Peter offered repentance
to Israel. He preached the restoring of the kingdom. He preached the
fulfillment of prophecy. Just as the father of John the Baptist said:
Luke
1:68 Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and
redeemed his people,
Luke
1:69 And hath raised up an horn of
salvation for us in the house of his servant David;
Luke 1:70 As
he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the
world began:
So
Peter, in the Book of Acts, preached exactly the
same thing:
Acts
2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto
you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his
sepulchre is with us unto this day.
Acts 2:30 Therefore being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of
the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up
Christ to sit on his throne;
The
gospel of YOUR salvation is not
in Peter's message. Let's just believe our bible and not be confused by
a blinded religious system. Listen to Peter preach in the Temple in
Jerusalem:
Acts
3:13 The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of
Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye
delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was
determined to let him go.
Acts
3:14 But ye denied the Holy One
and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you;
Acts
3:15 And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead;
whereof we are witnesses.
Acts
3:17 And now, brethren, I wot
that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Acts
3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all
his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Acts
3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be
blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence
of the Lord.
Acts
3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which
before was preached unto you:
Good
news, just not yours
Now
look carefully. This is not the message that Christ died for your sins.
This is Peter telling the people of Israel that if they will repent,
change their minds about their Messiah, if they will be converted, that
there is a future day when Jesus Christ will come again and that their
sins, Israel's sins, will be blotted out, and their kingdom will be
restored. Watch the next verse:
Acts
3:21 Whom the heaven must
receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath
spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Are
you involved in the restitution of ANYTHING where Israel is concerned?
What did the mouth of the holy prophets speak? They spoke about the
land, the land of Israel. They spoke about the Kingdom. They spoke
about the King. On the day the Lord ascended into Heaven, the
disciples watched him go:
Acts
1:10 And while they looked
stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel;
Acts
1:11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee,
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up
from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him
go into heaven.
Peter is
preaching the second coming of Christ.
Peter is preaching the restoring of the Kingdom to Israel. Peter is
preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of the circumcision to
the circumcision. You and I are not there. That message will not save
you, or anybody, today. You were NEVER TOLD to repent and be baptized
for the remission of sins.
Your
good news, the gospel of
YOUR salvation, is not in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, or in the Book of
Acts. The message of your salvation is not the gospel of the
Kingdom, it is not the gospel of the circumcision. The good news about
your salvation was a mystery at that time. It was a mystery revealed to
Paul. Paul says:
Galatians
1:11 But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
Galatians
1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by
the revelation of Jesus Christ.
2
Timothy 2:7 Consider what I
say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
2
Timothy 2:8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised
from the dead according to my gospel:
Let's read carefully:
Notice
what Paul doesn't say. He does not say, "remember that Jesus Christ was
raised from the dead." He also doesn?t say, "remember that Jesus Christ
was raised from the dead, according to THE gospel." Instead he says,
"remember that Jesus Christ, of the seed of David was raised from the
dead ACCORDING TO MY GOSPEL." And the reason for the resurrection of
Jesus Christ ACCORDING TO PAUL'S GOSPEL is a different reason than
Peter gives for the resurrection of Jesus Christ, according to Peter's
gospel.
Genesis
1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth.
The
earthly purpose of God is Peter's ministry and
Peter's message. It is contained in Prophecy. It was never a secret. It
was spoken by the mouth of all the holy prophets since the world began.
You and I are not involved in THAT program. Peter's ministry and
Peter's message was long ago, nearly 2,000 years ago, set aside for a
new ministry and a new message, the message given to the apostle of the
Gentiles, the Apostle Paul:
Ephesians
3:1 For this cause I Paul,
the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,
Ephesians 3:2 If
ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me
to you-ward:
Ephesians
3:3 How that by revelation he made known
unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Ephesians
3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the
mystery of Christ)
Ephesians
3:5 Which in other ages was not
made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Romans 16:25 Now to him
that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the
preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery,
which was kept secret since the world began,
The fact that
Christ died for OUR sins and was raised for our justification was not
the subject of Peter's ministry or message. It was a mystery revealed
to Paul and to Paul alone.
Key
instructions:
Knowing
this
fact is all important to a believer today if he is to be established in
his faith. If he is to know what God has said directly to him. It is
important to know where to look in the bible in order to find the
gospel of YOUR SALVATION.
While all of the bible is for us, it is
NOT ALL written UNTO US. Neither is it all about us. After the totally
different message which is especially for us today was revealed to
Paul, God had Paul to write the following verse:
2 Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
Before the Lord
from Heaven revealed the Mystery to Paul, a division was not necessary,
since God was only dealing up to that time with His earthly people.
Now, that purpose has been set aside so that God has turned to dealing
with a higher, a heavenly calling, and His heavenly people. Not the
nation of Israel, but the Church, the Body of Christ.
God's
spokesman for today is the Apostle Paul, the apostle of the Gentiles.
It is through Paul that we learn that God would have US to be saved, by
grace alone through faith alone. Through Paul we learn that God does
not require us to bring him an offering or sacrifice today. But, wonder
of wonders, He provided a gift for us. Listen to Paul:
1
Corinthians 15:1 Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel
which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye
stand;
1
Corinthians 15:2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.
1
Corinthians 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;
1
Corinthians 15:4 And that he was buried, and that
he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
The
good news delivered by Paul is that Jesus Christ was delivered for our
offenses and was raised again for our justification and that God,
through Jesus Christ has reconciled us unto himself. The wages of sin
is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus, our
Lord.
Today,
God doesn't ask you to go anywhere, do anything, or
even say anything, but simply turn your "case" over to the Lord and to
trust totally and completely in His finished work. It is "not by works
of righteousness which we have done, but according to HIS MERCY he
saved us." To be saved is to BELIEVE ON the Lord Jesus Christ.
Knowing
what God has said directly UNTO US and ABOUT US results in our being
established in the faith. It causes us to know what is the hope of our
calling and how exceeding great and precious the promises are that are
ours in Christ.
It keeps
us from trying to claim promises that
are not ours, to pray for a "kingdom" that is not ours to pray for, to
fear curses that God never placed on us, to try to seek "anointings"
that we never had, and that we don't even need, and to fulfill
commissions that were never given to us to fulfill.
The Gospel
of the Kingdom is a message for those to whom the Kingdom pertains. It
has been set aside for now, in order that God could introduce The
Gospel of the Grace of God for us today. (Acts 20:24)
Knowing
this great truth is a sigh of relief for people who sincerely want to
be saved from the wrath of God, to be established in their faith, and
who are willing to study that they might be approved of God, without
fear of being ashamed when standing before the Judgment Seat of
Christ. Remember that the rewards passed out there are for all eternity.
2
Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that
needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.