THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, the Ascension of our lord into heaven is one of
the absolute affirmation of the accomplished work that the Father gave him to do and
the glorious affirmation of his kingship. Our Lord was always King. Even when He
became flesh, having human nature but without sin. He was always the Lord and King
of all creation (Colossians 1:16). When He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the
womb of the virgin Mary, He was the King of kings and Lord of lords.

But we see thus far in his life makes no effort whatsoever to seek the honor what
was his due. As a matter of fact, one time in his public life after he had worked miracle,
the people were so thrilled and so grateful that they wanted to crown him king right
there. And what the gospel say? He hid himself. As soon as they saw him coming to
give him royal honor, he fled. But even then, he was the King of kings. Finally when he
was dying on the cross, the King gave his last drop of blood for his own people. He
very clearly refused this honor, taking instead the absolute opposite.

After our Lord Jesus rose from the dead, he continued to appear openly,
throughout Palestine? No, He showed himself only to the select few. This was to
prove himself to them, that he was alive and is raised from the dead. As stated in the
Apostles Creed: “On the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into
heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God, the Father Almighty; From there He will
come to judge the living and the dead. . .”

The ascension day of the Lord Jesus Christ, where He ascends in heaven, and
He is glorified forever; He sits at the right hand of God the Father. He ascended by his
own power, as God and as a man. He has to leave his apostles and go to the glory in
heaven in the presence with the Father, the glory that he had before the world existed.
Having said this, it is my privilege in the Lord to share his word with you under the
subject: “THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.”

Our message from the Holy Word of God this morning is but a continuation of the
sermon message last Sunday. And if you still remember, we talk about “The
Resurrection of Christ/The Lord is Risen”: His Equipping Provisions on Mission” John
20:19-23
 He appeared to his disciples, “Providing the gift of Peace; He Provides his
enabling Power through the Holy Spirit; and Stating the Purpose of Proclaiming the
Gospel.”

Jesus appeared on their midst out of nowhere as they were gathered together in
their hiding place, locked up inside and were in great fear.

The risen Lord built their confidence not upon themselves but unto Him, by
showing his hands and his side. Proving, that he was indeed, Jesus, the One who were
with them and was crucified, died, buried and was resurrected. He has come back to
life. He is risen.

Well, that was just the brief summary, and I think, enough to awaken your senses
and will be able to remember the Word of God as the Holy Spirit works with in you.

More so, that you will be inspire all the more to trust the Risen Lord and by doing
his will with more courage and of great joy.

Prior to the ascension of the Risen Lord, for forty days, He made more
appearances among the disciples and of many believers with them. For instance Paul
said in 1 Corinthians 15:1-7 (read).

On this event, it is being affirmed by many witnesses. So, if somebody will ask
you, did Jesus really rise from the dead? Did someone, really seen him and touched
him and talk with him? The answer is yes, in accordance to the Scripture. If you are
going to ask me now, if the Lord is risen from the dead and was ascended into heaven?
My answer is absolutely yes, in accordance to the Scripture, I do believe! The disciples
had to believe that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and as a glorious King, He
ascended into heaven. And, not only them, but also all of us believers of all time. As
preachers and witnesses of the Kingdom of God/the Kingdom Gospel, we must have a
complete confidence that Jesus is alive.

A clear understanding of the Kingdom Gospel is a must and badly needed by the
disciples. And I think, this is one of the primary reason, Jesus stayed and appeared to
them in a glorified body for forty days.

And also, as witnesses of the Gospel of the Kingdom, it is a difficult task much
more it could not be done by self prowess or man’s ability but they need a special power
to be upon them to do the ask for them.
 So to begin with, let us take this one at a time, trusting the illuminating and
enlightenment fo the Holy Spirit in accordance to the Scripture written by Luke in the
second volume of his book – Acts 1:1-11.

First and foremost, we observe that the person being address by Luke is a dear
friend of him and his name is Theophilus – means “Lover of God”. And true to his
name, he was so desirous to know more of the truth about God. The way Apostle Luke
address him us, “Most excellent” is indicative of being a prominent person, of having an
influential position in the government. The title reserves only to a high ranking officials.

The believers were with Jesus for forty days now from the day of his resurrection
until this last day for his ascension. And during this period, there was only one subject
that the Lord Jesus teaching them. It is about the Kingdom of God. They needed a
crash course on this kingdom and not only them but as well as us believers who belong
to his kingdom.

So, the first thing that I would like us to know is . . .

I – UNDERSTANDING THE GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD

What is the meaning of the word “Gospel” Gospel means “Good News”
Example: A COVID – 19 patient found positive, but after a week, he was discharged
from the hospital for he was totally cured and free from a deadly virus. He was saved
from death. Everybody were happy. That is good news.

How about “Kingdom of God” – The basic meaning of the word Kingdom in the
Bible is: “God’s kingly rule, his reign, his action, his Lordship, his sovereign governance.
When you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord – You are saying in effect that
Jesus is King – To have a kingly rule or sovereign governance over your life – You are
willingly and voluntarily submitting your lives to Jesus as your King and are willing to
obey his command being the Lord of your life.

Are all people submit to the sovereign rule/governance of the King who is Jesus?
None submit/acknowledge Jesus as King. All are enemies of the King because of
man’s sinful nature. All are in rebellion against the King by trespassing his law. Man’s
heart is always in enmity against God. The verdict of the King –all are guilty. For all
have sinned, therefore all are sentenced to death and will suffer under the judgment of
the righteous King. How then a guilty sinner receive a pardon from the sovereign King?
It was proclaimed by the King himself during the inauguration of his earthly ministry
(Mark 1:15). It is a heavenly proclamation of a Good News/Gospel. The time is fulfilled
– the King has come now; the Kingdom of God is at hand – He has come to sovereignty
rule our lives; Repent, meaning, “change your mind/heart”; believe/trust Me to
control/manage your life; trust Me, surrender your life and I will grant you not only a
conditional pardon but absolute pardon. It is as if you have not sinned against me. I will
remember your sin no more. How it could be? It is because the King himself died on
your behalf, to pay the penalty of your sin. So that you will be totally free! Sin and
death and Satan has no power at all to enslave you again. Jesus the King, conquers
death, sin and Satan. This is the good news, the Gospel of the King. Jesus is the risen
King that saves according to the predetermined plan of God for the world, to save a
people for Himself, protect and preserve to the end until the establishment of a new
earth and a new heavens under his perfect absolute kingly rule. In Luke 17:20 (read).

When God reigns within us there is peace; “The Peace of God who surpasses
all understanding will guard your hearts and mind in Christ Jesus.”

This is the Gospel of the Kingdom that all believers must have to affirm. It is not
whatever we formulate but it is a message from above proclaimed by Jesus and is given
to the Apostles and passes down to us. This is the Kingdom Gospel, the gospel that
can’t be toyed or make fun with or altered. There is one and only one Gospel of the
risen and ascended King, and we must understand it and guard it so to keep it pure;
and be bold and confident in proclaiming or telling others as Jesus did.

Jesus told the disciples to wait for the promise of the Father and that. . .

PROMISE FULFILLED

Jesus ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of
the Father. In the gospel of Luke, it is clearly stated first by Jesus, chapter 24:49, “And
behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the City until you
are clothed with power from on high.”

The power that they needed to be very bold and confident in evangelism was the
Holy Spirit. I will not deal long on these for I have enough time dealing these last
Sunday’s message. Just remember, we could not do it by our own. Do not rely upon
self but trusting the Holy Spirit alone through you and in you.

John the Baptist’s ministry is to prepare the hearts of the people to be ready to
hear the powerful, authoritative preaching of the Lord Jesus about the Kingdom of God.
John would be preaching very would be similar message of that of Jesus calling on
people to repent heartily not just by submitting to water baptism out of hypocritical
religious showmanship. John the Baptist sternly rebuke these religious people
(Matthew 3:7-8).

Jesus did not baptize with water like John did. John’s water baptism was a
prophetic picture of the full Holy Spirit baptism Jesus would administer to his followers.
John’s baptism was called baptism of repentance and pictured the real baptism, which
would follow coming from Jesus.

John’s message after his death was continued by Jesus to call on people to
repent. Call them to go and sin no more and teach them to live lives in accordance with
the teaching of the Scripture.

The Kingdom of God which was the message of John the Baptist and of Jesus
during his earthly ministry was reemphasized by Jesus to the disciples as well as to
other believers for them to understand. Jesus taught them for forty days prior to his
ascension in heaven.

THE SECOND POINT THAT I WOULD LIKE TO SHARE WITH YOU IS

II – SERIOOUS MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE GOSPEL

The serious misunderstanding among the disciples distract the Gospel of the
Kingdom of God. These was revealed on the question, they ask to Jesus. “…Lord, will
you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” (v. 6).

When Jesus taught the disciples of the Kingdom of God, they could not get it
straight. They thought something else what Jesus meant.

In the mind of the Jews are being preoccupied as they were the chosen people of
God and their understanding was that they were destined for special privilege and a
dominant nation among the nations of the world. So, they were full of excitement,
thinking that this is now the day in the human history that God would establish the world
sovereignty of which they longed for.

There are three things that they have in their mind when Jesus told and taught
them about the Kingdom of God and these misunderstanding leads to a serious
distraction in proclaiming the Gospel of the Kingdom as intended by God.
 1. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A POLITICAL KINGDOM
Let us examine the content and intent of their question to Jesus.
“Lord, will you at this time restore . . .” the verb RESTORE, means, “set up
again, bring it back to its original position or condition; that is existed before
the fall.” The disciples were thinking that God was going to . . .
a. Restore Israel back to a global superpower
b. Restore things back to the way Jews were during the time of David and
his son Solomon when Israel was the authority geographically and
politically.

It would take the working grace of the Holy Spirit for them to overcome these
way of understanding. It would take God’s working grace to the Gentiles before these
Jews could get that straight.

2. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR ETHNICALLY RESTRICTED KINGDOM

The disciples question is not for god to restore the Kingdom. Notice, will you
at his time restore the kingdom to Israel? Literally, restore the Kingdom to us
Jews? They implied that Gentiles are welcome to be with the Kingdom of
God but they would come through their kingdom. They seriously
misunderstood what was Jesus mean that God’s Kingdom is not the kingdom
of Israel but a Kingdom of God. One could come and is accepted only
through the blood of Christ. Meaning, by believing in Jesus’ death and
resurrection.

3. THEY WERE LOOKING FOR A GEOGRAPHICALLY RESTRICTED

KINGDOM

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? The disciples mind
set of understanding is that Israel’s capital City Jerusalem, where the temple
was located and which was the center for worship. But notice again; Jesus
did not answer their question the way they might expect. Notice further, that
Jesus answer did not deny the existence of an earthly kingdom. There is a
literal earthly kingdom when Jesus return. We need to understand, for all
who live prior to the return of the King Jesus, his Kingdom is spiritual. Luke
17:21 (read). This kind of thinking or understanding really distract the
proclamation of the gospel of the Kingdom of God. There will be a time when
God sets up a literal earthly kingdom at the return of Christ. All the way, the
disciples, mainly Jews, were thinking Israel while God is thinking all tribes and
tongue and nations. . . that was the big mistake or misunderstanding on the
question they asked, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to
Israel?”
 The Disciples’ misunderstanding of the gospel had to do with the fact that the
kingdom of Israel during the reign of king David and his son Solomon as glorious as it
was, still was not God’s ultimate goal for his people. God is going to restore His
Kingdom and it is going to be far greater than any kingdom this world has ever known.
His purpose for sending Jesus Christ and his purpose in continuing Christ’s work
through this Jewish disciples is to begin a new people, a people made up of Jew and
Gentile, a new Israel. The Israel of God is not national Israel.

To restore this Kingdom completely is to restore things back to pre-fall status.

They thought that meant to restore the kingdom of Israel, but God intends something
much greater. He intends things to be back the way they were on planet earth prior to
the fall under the sovereign governance, kingly rule of Jesus. He is the King, who is to
come, no longer riding on a donkey but crowned King on a valiant horse whose scepter
is in his mighty hand.

God would use Jews to begin the mission. These Jewish disciples needed help.
They needed to see things the way God saw them. They needed power to go and
complete the mission and they will be called . . .

III – THE KING’S WITNESSES

I search the meaning of the word WITNESS. The Bible dictionary shows me the
meaning. WITNESS - to affirm that one has seen or heard or experienced something,or
one knows it as learned from divine inspiration or revelation, in Greek “Martureo” that
derives an English word “Martyr”, again I look the meaning of the word “Martyr” – is a
person who is killed (in action) because of religious belief.

Applying it to what Jesus had said to the disciples, when He said, “But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”

The King’s Witnesses has an enabling power of the Holy Spirit in them to do the
work that has been commissioned to them with courage and boldness to affirm what
they have seen or heard or experienced with the Lord Jesus. His Person, his teaching,
his works. As disciple, they had seen the miracles performed by Jesus, healing power,
casting out demons, control nature, raise the dead, his suffering, his death, his
resurrection and his ascension but prior to that they have been taught about the
Kingdom of God by Jesus as he was slowly taken up into the air until cloud took him out
of their sight.
 The King’s witness are willing to sacrifice, offer his life to death. In fact by
definition, they were considered already as dead. Witness/Martyr one who is ready to
be killed or one who is killed as he stand faithful to his belief that Jesus is the King and
will continue to courageously proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom despite of suffering
and or persecution in obedience to his calling, a faithful witness.

A King’s Witness; they have to bring the Gospel of the Kingdom from Jerusalem,
Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth. All tribes, tongue and nations has to know
the Kingdom Gospel.

Don’t just stand and keep looking up.

As Jesus finished speaking about their task, he was lifted up to the sky and taken
back to heaven. While they are still looking up trying to get their last glimpse of Jesus,
the two men speak to them saying, “Why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus,
who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way, as you see him go
into heaven.”

Does implying that the disciples have work to do. Christianity is not a religion of
theory or speculation. They do not concern themselves with events that will take place
in the future. But the time they need to redeem is the present.

Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, don’t get caught up in endless end-times
speculation. We must be concerned with the present. Are you presently, being a solid
Gospel Witness of the Kingdom of God to your family and friends? Are you obeying
what the King of kings and Lord of lords require from you to do?

Don’t be caught gazing up into the sky daydreaming but get busy and do the
work God has for you. All God’s plan will come to pass just as He has determined. Be
a powerful Witness for the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, to the praise of his glorious
Name! Jesus our Blessed Redeemer and Great King. Amen!