Sermons
Great Expectations Part 6
Great Expectations 6
The Kingdom Now and In the Future
Lk. 4:16-21
Introduction:
1. John the Baptist came preaching the kingdom of God at hand.
2. People were being baptized by him confessing their sins and repenting in preparation for the coming of the kingdom.
3. Jesus too announced the kingdom. “Repent and believe in the gospel,” He said (Mk. 1:15). But He seemed to go further. After reading Isa. 61:1-2, in His hometown of Nazareth, He said, “Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing” (Lk. 4:18ff). Later, He would say, “The kingdom of God has come upon you” (Matt. 12:28;Lk. 11:20).
4. While John proclaimed its coming, Jesus proclaimed its presence. God was intervening in history. It had been predicted. It was anticipated. It was happening!
5. Jesus’ presence was inaugurating the Kingdom of God. It was evident in the miracles, the preaching of the gospel, sight for the blind, and freedom for the oppressed (cf. Matt. 11:2-6). God was on the scene bringing life to the dead.
6. Men should abandon everything and follow the King (Lk. 18:22; Matt. 19:27ff; Mk. 10:28ff). The rewards are great in the present age and in the age to come eternal life (Mk. 10:30).
7. But then Jesus died and was taken into heaven. Was this the end of the kingdom? Were all the prophetic expectations evaporating? Was the excitement of the moment to be engulfed in a cloud of disappointment?
Discussion:
I. Drawing their teaching from the teaching of Jesus, the disciples in Acts did not see it that way. They saw the kingdom reaching new heights in present reality.
A. They preached King Jesus seated at the right hand of God (Acts 2:34-36).
B. They healed the lame “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 3:6) and interpreted this
as God’s predicted activity breaking into the history of mankind to save us (Acts
3:16, 18, 22, 25; 4:11-12).
1. It is evidenced in their prayer and their mission to speak the word of God with
boldness (Acts 4:24-30). Their prayer indicates that they saw God’s sovereign
rulership over all the Gentiles, the peoples, the kings of the earth and the
rulers.
2. For them, the resurrection was the ultimate evidence (Acts 3:15; 4:2, 10).
C. They did not see themselves as bringing the kingdom into existence. This was
the work of God. They saw themselves as preaching submission to the King. It
was upon the basis of faith, repentance and baptismthat people could enter the
kingdom.
1. It was not the signs and miracles themselves that were so important, but the
rule of God in the affairs of men (cf. Lk. 10:20).
2. They saw God’s rule over Satan (Matt. 12:28; Lk. 10:18; Rev. 20:2; Acts 5:3;
19:11ff).
3. They saw God’s rule over sin and preached forgiveness (Mk. 2:10; Acts 2:38).
4. They saw God’s rule over those who rebelled and spoke of judgment (Matt.
7:24-27; 21:43; 22:1-14; Acts 17:30-31).
D. Stephen’s sermon in Acts 7 presents Jesus as the culmination of God’s work
through Israel’s history.
1. He is stoned when he saw “the Son of Man standing at the right hand of
God” (7:56; Dan. 7:13ff).
2. This “Son of Man” identification “at the right hand of God” resulted in their
rushing upon him.
3. Stephen is proclaiming King Jesus!!
E. Philip in Acts 8:12 was “preaching the good news about the kingdom of God
and the name of Jesus Christ.”
F. In Acts 17:7 Paul and Silas were proclaiming Jesus as the Christ. Their
opposition said they were saying, “There is another king Jesus.”
G. Paul wrote of being transferred from the kingdom of darkness and into the
kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13-14).
H. John recorded the living creatures and elders at the throne of God saying, “You
made these to be a kingdom and priests to God” (Rev. 5:10).
II. The apostles and N.T. writers saw the kingdom of God as a present reality AND as a future reality.
A. Again, their teaching was like what Jesus taught. In many of the parables He
taught a future reality of the kingdom.
1. The parable of the wedding feast (Matt. 22:1-14).
2. The parable of the virgins (Matt. 25:1-13).
3. The parable of the tares (Matt. 13:24-30; 36-43).
4. The parable of the dragnet (Matt. 13:47-50).
5. The parable of the talents (Matt. 25:14-30).
B. Paul refers to the kingdom of God in a future sense (2 Tim. 4:18; 1 Cor. 6:9; Gal.
5:21; Eph. 5:5; 1 Cor. 15:50).
C. James, Peter, and John may not use the word “kingdom” in a future sense but
the language they do use reveals an understanding of a future kingdom. James
refers to the coming of the Lord (4:7). Peter does the same (2 Pet. 3:3ff). John
too refers to His coming (1 Jn. 2:28).
Conclusion:
1. N.T. revelation sees the kingdom as a present reality.
2. N.T. revelation sees the kingdom as a future reality.
3. What this means is that we are caught up in the tension between the present and the future. We are currently battling the forces of the domain of darkness (Col. 1:13; Eph. 6:10ff).
4. We are waiting with Great Expectations for the culmination of history in the glorious victory of our King in the future (1 Cor. 15:20-26).
5. Entrance into the kingdom is available through faith, repentance and baptism. It involves total commitment.
6. As citizens in the kingdom our mission is to invite others to join the kingdom in exalting our King, and God’s intervention in the history of mankind.
7. We look forward to the future when the dominion of our King reaches its culmination in the final resurrection and the new heavens and new earth.
