The day before yesterday, we looked at, "Whose GOSPEL is it?"
Yestherday we though about, "Whose MYSTERY is it?"
Today, we will consider "Whose KINGDOM is it?"
‘Hyper-dividers’ also make 2 different kingdoms between Christ and God ....
and they think NEITHER is their inheritance.
They say that the kingdom of Christ is when Jesus reigns on earth for a thousand years (while God the Father remains in heaven).
They believe that the kingdom of God will occur when God the Father comes down to earth as the new Jerusalem descends, and then will He dwell among men:
Rev 21:2-3 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Some people think that Jesus will sit on David’s throne in the millennium, and thus IT is the kingdom of Christ:
Isa 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, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.
7 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.
'Mid-Acts-ers' also base the kingdom of Christ on Daniel's prophecy:
Dan 7:13-14 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
When the angel Gabriel announced to the virgin Mary of her conception of the Christ child .... he prophesied the kingdom of Christ:
Luke 1:31-33 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
‘Mid-Acts-hyper-dispensationalists’ make a DIVIDE ....
between the ‘appearing’ of Christ .... and the ‘kingdom’ of Christ.
They teach that Jesus will ‘appear’ at a ‘secret-mystery-rapture’ of what-they-call ‘the church, the body of Christ’ (meaning, ONLY those saints that have been saved during, when-they-think is, the dispensation of grace) .... even though Peter’s and John’s writings give NO indication that His appearing (1 Pet 5:4, 1:7; 1 John 2:28, 3:2) or Heb 9:28, is a ‘different’ appearing than Paul’s writings of His appearing (Col 3:4, 2 Tim 4:1,8; 1 Tim 6:14; Titus 2:13).
They say the ‘appearing’ (to them, the ‘rapture’) will occur 7 + ?# years BEFORE .... the kingdom of Christ (which they believe to be at what-they-call the 2nd coming of Christ [even though they teach that He has already ‘secretly’ come part-way, meaning, only to the clouds], when He comes all the way down to earth .... to set up His kingdom on earth and reign on the throne of David).
Recently in a message, I heard a ‘mid-Acts’ preacher reason that since ‘we know’ that ‘the quick and the dead’ are 2 different things (alive and dead) .... therefore, ‘we also know’ that ‘his appearing’ and ‘his kingdom’ are 2 different events. That kind of application is way wrong.
2 Tim 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ,
who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom;
‘Mid-Acts-hyper-dispensationalists’ really prefer to avoid ANY and ALL references of Paul preaching the kingdom of God .... because
1) John the Baptist, Jesus in His earthly ministry, and His disciples/apostles preached the kingdom of God .... and Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John all wrote of the kingdom of God. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ disassociate with ALL of them, claiming that PAUL had an exclusive, distinctive ministry and totally different gospel.
2) ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ see both the kingdom of Christ (His millennial reign on earth) and the kingdom of God (His coming to earth in the new Jerusalem) as BOTH in what-they-call ‘Israel’s prophecy-program.’
Luke recorded that Barnabas and Paul (Acts 14:14) both preached the kingdom of God. ‘Mid-Acts-ers’ don’t want to be called DISCIPLES either, because they believe 'disciples' (also 'Christians' - Acts 11:26) had to do with 'Israel's program':
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.
To the Ephesian elders, Paul said:
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.
In the very last chapter of Acts, Luke wrote of Paul:
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, (From where? From his own ‘exclusive, distinctive, different’ revelation that Jesus committed unto him? NO! He taught them about Jesus, the MESSIAH [which is, the CHRIST - John 1:41, 4:25] from the LAW and the PROPHETS!!!)
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 wrote several times of the kingdom of God (Rom 14:17; 1 Cor 4:20, 6:9-10, 15:50; Gal 5:21; Col 4:11; 2 Thess 1:5). He specifically said that we are called unto it:
1 Thess 2:12 That ye would walk worthy of God,
who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.
To SEAL up the matter,
just as Col 2:2 took care of the MYSTERY of God and of Christ ....
so Eph 5:5 UNITES the KINGDOM of God and of Christ TOGETHER:
Eph 5:5 For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater,
hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.
‘Mid-Acts-ers’ want NO PART of the kingdom of Christ -- OR -- of God because they think neither are ‘for them’ ....
even though PAUL preached "the kingdom of Christ and of God."
This is David Dowell, saying, "Think about it!"
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