K ING ’S BUSINESS PROPHECY SECTION
The KingiJom of God in the Acts _
by Rev. Herbert M. Fox,
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Pastor, Riverside B ib le Church, Riverside, California
G eorge N . H . P eters is the author of a work en titled, The Theocratic Kingdom . In it there are some 2100 pages with approximately 750 words on each page, which would amount to over one and a half million words. Of these one and a half million words, Dr. Peters said, “ This work is far from being exhaus tive. Here are on ly presented outlines of that which some other mind may mould into a more attractive and comprehensive form .” It is, therefore, not to be expected that I shall be able to give any comprehen sive treatment of this subject within the compass of the limited space allotted to me. In the Old Testament there are hundreds of ref erences to the Kingdom of God. In the N ew Testa-? ment there are 69 references to the Kingdom of God and 25 to the Kingdom of Heaven. The first reference to a kingdom of any kind in the Bible is found in Genesis 10:10 where it is written concerning Nimrod that, “ The beginning of his kingdom was Babel.” It is well known that the first intimation in the Scrip tures of Jesus Christ and His Kingdom is in Genesis 3:15 in the statement, that the Seed of the woman should bruise the serpent’s head. The first direct ref erence to Jesus Christ as King is discovered in I Sam uel 2:1.0, “ The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in nieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” His anointed is none other than His Messiah, His Christos, His Christ. Israel was dissatisfied with the theocratic rule of God over them all through the period of the Judges, and asked for a king like the other nations. This re quest greatly displeased Samuel, but he was instructed, “ They have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me that I should not reign over them.” Accordingly, God rejected their king, Saul, and chose David with whom He made a covenant recorded in II Samuel 7:8-17. A ll through the rest of their history the mes sage of their poets and prophets centered in this pre dicted kingdom. The fact of the Kingdom and the Person of the King are everywhere set forth. The fact of the Kingdom is seen in such passages as Dan iel 2:44, while the Person of the King is revealed in Isaiah 7:14; 9:6, 7. The New Testament opens with the statement, “ The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the Son of David . . .” (Mt. 1 :1 ). Then follow , in the first 16
twelve chapters of Matthew, the ministry of John the Baptist announcing the kingdom; the ministry of Je sus announcing the kingdom; and the ministry of the disciples announcing the kingdom. The Jews under stand the message, but they reject it. Then in chapter 13 comes the revelation of the kingdom in mystery form , followed b y the record of the ministry, betrayal, death, and resurrection of the King. The rest of the N ew Testament completes the details of the prophecy until in Revelation we see the King enthroned. In chapter 11:15 we read: “ The kingdoms o f this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and o f his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever. Mark, Luke, John, Acts, the Epistles, and the Rev- elation say much about the Kingdom of God. A re the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God the same? Does similarity indicate sameness? Because certain things are identical in some aspects, does that mean they are the same? No. W e must give attention to distinctions. W e are used to this in other realms. Your television, radio, magazine, newspaper, will quickly inform you that you must intelligently dis tinguish between soaps, tooth pastes, automobiles, ap- pliances, and a hundred other products. The means of entrance into the Kingdom of Hea ven is given to Us in Matthew 5:20 in the words of our Lord Jesus. “ For I say unto you, that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.” On the other hand, entrance into the Kingdom of God is set before us in the words of our Lord Jesus recorded in John 3:1-16 where new birth through simple faith in Jesus Christ is laid down as the sole condition. In Matthew 8:12 ; 24:50-51; 25:28-30 the children of the kingdom are cast out. Such a statement would be impossible concerning those who were in the Kingdom of God, because by virtue of faith in Jesus Christ and new birth in Him, they are given eternal life, and a position of eternal acceptance in Him. Again, it is possible to have good and bad in the kingdom of heaven as indicated by the parables of the wheat and tares, and the good fish and bad. The Kingdom of God may be defined, then, as that which includes all intelligences in heaven or on earth who are w illingly subject to the will of God. The Kingdom of Heaven embraces any sort of an empire that God may have on earth at a given time. It is THE KING'S BUSINESS
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