THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD By Pastor Art Watkins of Coden Bible Church (Coden, Alabama) April 19, 2011 It’s an undeniable fact that the Kingdom of God and all of its promises and blessings was promised to Israel throughout the Old Testament and in the Four Gospels. God gave the Kingdom of God to Israel as an inheritance. He promised them eternal life in the Kingdom of God and he also promised the ones who served him and suffered for him during their life time that they would also reign with him forever in the Kingdom of God. The Promises of the Kingdom Of God. The Kingdom of God is a literal, physical, visible earthly kingdom. The Kingdom of God is one of the greatest promises in the Bible for it meets every need of man. The Kingdom of God will solve every problem men have politically, environmentally, spiritually, religiously, physically, morally, and economically. You name the problem the Kingdom of God will solve it. ----In the Kingdom of God the bodies of the saints will be changed and made like unto Christ’s glorified body. 1 Cor. 15:49-56 ----In the Kingdom of God, God's throne will be on the earth. Psalms 132:11, Jer. 23:5, Isa. 42:4, Rev. 21:3 ----The government of His Kingdom will be a theocracy. God himself will reign in the person of Christ. Isa. 9:6-7 ----In the Kingdom of God his government will be pure and free from corruption. Isa. 11:4, Isa. 61:11, Jer. 23:5 ----In the Kingdom of God, war and crime will cease. Isa. 2:4, Isa. 9:6-7, Micah 4:3 ----In God's Kingdom the Devil will be vanquished from heaven and earth. Rev. 20:1-5, Rev. 20:10 ----In the Kingdom of God the creation and environment will be regenerated. Isa. 35:1-7, Isa. 51:3, Matt.19:28, 2 Peter 3:13 ----In the Kingdom of God the earth will become like the Garden of Eden. Isa. 51:3 ----In the Kingdom of God all physical infirmities and sickness will be healed. Isa. 35:3-6, Psa. 103:3, Jer. 30:17, Rev. 22:1-2 ----In the Kingdom of God the animal creation will be tamed. Isa. 11:6-9 ----In the Kingdom of God prayer will be answered without delay. Isa. 65:24, John 16:23 ----In the Kingdom of God great rapidity of growth will be seen in nature. Amos 9:13, Lev. 26:4-5 ----In the Kingdom of God hunger and starvation will disappear. Amos 9:13, Isa. 49:10 ----In the Kingdom of God the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. Isa. 11:9 ----In the Kingdom of God the Law of God and the Word of God will go forth from Jerusalem into all the world. Isa.2:1-7 ----In the Kingdom of God he will destroy all his enemies. Psa. 2:8-9, 1 Cor. 15:24-27 ----In the Kingdom of God the heavenly city New Jerusalem will be established upon the earth. Rev. 20 - 21 ----In the Kingdom of God all idols, false teachers, false religion, cults will be purged. Rev. 22:15 ----In the Kingdom of God sin, sorrow, suffering, sickness and death will be finally abolished. Rev. 21:4 These are just a sample of the many promises of the Kingdom of God. These promises give you an idea of what men preached when they preached the Kingdom of God. Throughout the Old Testament the prophets wrote about and preached the blessings of the Kingdom of God. Daniel the Prophet said in 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. Isaiah the Prophet said in Isaiah 9:6-7: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this. In the Four Gospels Christ and the Apostles continued to preach the promises of the Kingdom of God as the prophets. Luke 8:1 says that Jesus Christ: Went throughout every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, Luke 9:1-2 says that the 12 Apostles preached the kingdom of God. Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases. And he sent them to preach the kingdom of God, and to heal the sick. Most dispensationalists would agree that the main theme of the Old Testament and the Four Gospels is the Kingdom of God. They all agree that the Kingdom of God was Israel’s promise and inheritance. But, what many of them fail to see or will not see is that Paul preached the same Kingdom of God as the Lord and the Apostles and Prophets before him. And he clearly says over and over again that the Kingdom of God is the inheritance of the church today. Throughout Paul’s ministry he preached the blessings of the Kingdom of God. Luke who recorded what Christ preached, traveled with Paul and recorded what he preached also. Here is what Luke said about Paul’s preaching: Acts 14:22: Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. Acts 19:8: And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. Acts 20:25: And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Acts 28:23: And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out of the prophets, from morning till evening. Acts 28:31: Preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him. Paul not only preached the kingdom of God but he also wrote about the Kingdom of God in his epistles. See Eph. 5:5, Col. 1:13, 1 Thess. 2:12, Gal. 5:21, 1 Cor. 6:9, 1 Cor. 15:50, 2 Thess. 1:5. Important facts concerning the Church and the Kingdom of God. ----(a) The Kingdom of God Paul preached and wrote about was the same one Moses and the Prophets wrote about according to Acts 28:23. It was not some spiritual, invisible, cosmic kingdom as some teach. ----(b) Paul preached the Kingdom of God at the same time he preached the Gospel of Grace. In Acts 20:24-25 Paul said; But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God. And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. When Paul preached the Gospel of the Grace of God (24) he also preached the Kingdom of God (25). The Kingdom of God is a part of the Gospel of Grace for a very good reason. The Kingdom of God is the inheritance we receive when we believe the Gospel of Grace (Acts 26:18). ----(c) Part of the mystery of Ephesians 3 is that Gentiles like us would receive an inheritance in the Kingdom of God with the Jews to whom it was promised. Ephesians 3:6 says; That the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel. According to the mystery God revealed to Paul Gentile believers are now fellow heirs with the Jews we were once divided from in time past by the middle wall of partition. They are the Jews who are called the commonwealth of Israel with whom we are now one body with in Ephesians 2. Fellow heirs are fellows who have the same inheritance. God promised the Kingdom of God as an inheritance to the Jews and part of the mystery of Ephesians 3:6 is uncircumcised Gentiles now share in that inheritance with them. Their inheritance is now ours by faith alone in the Gospel of Grace, without becoming Jewish proselytes, keeping the law or works. That is why Paul preached the Kingdom of God with the Gospel of Grace. Part of the mystery is that we become heirs to the Kingdom of God by faith in the Gospel of Grace. The Kingdom of God is the future inheritance of the church and the highest position in the Kingdom of God is to reign with Christ according to 2 Tim. 2:12. ----(d) We have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God because the Kingdom of God is one of those spiritual blessings of Israel we now partake of in Romans 15:27. ----(e) We are also Abraham’s seed and being his seed we become heirs to the promises God made to his seed according to Gal. 3:29 and one of the greatest promises he made to the seed of Abraham was an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. ----(f) In Christ we are made nigh to the covenants of promise according to Eph. 2:12-13 and the Kingdom of God was one of the covenants God made with Israel. The only alternative to the Kingdom of God in the future is the lake of fire. This makes you wonder about these extreme dispensationalists who insist they are not “Kingdom Saints”. Every true believer in the Bible is a Kingdom Saint for the Kingdom of God is the one and only inheritance of all believers.