Acts 01_06-11 The Kingdom and the Church

Read Acts 1:6-11 – One of the great debates in evangelicalism concerns the relationship between the church (believers between Pentecost and Rapture) and Israel. In simplest terms, amillennialists believe with Israel’s rejection of Jesus as Messiah, God formed the church to replace Israel. The church became spiritual Israel, and all OT promises to Israel are now realized spiritually in the church. Israel, as a nation, is replaced by the church. In effect, the church and Israel are one. There is no physical kingdom, only God’s rule in people’s hearts starting at Jesus’ first coming. History will move from time directly into eternity when Christ comes again. Promises of land and physical blessings for Israel are redefined as spiritual blessings.

Premillennialists, like me, believe that while Israel rejected Jesus as Messiah, that resulted only on their being put on the backburner – on the shelf for a time. The church, meanwhile, is created by God as His witness in the world until God takes believers from this age out of the world and turns His attention once more to Israel. The church shares the spiritual promises and blessings of Israel, but it does not displace Israel. Israel has a future, and the emergence of Israel as a nation after 2,000 years points to that possibility if not probability.

Listen to this: Rom 11:17) But if some of the branches were broken off (meaning Jews), and you, although a wild olive shoot (Gentiles), were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree [OT teaching to Israel] 18) do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” Some in Paul’s day were being arrogant about Gentile believers replacing Israel. But Paul will have none of it. His point is, the Gentiles of the church age don’t replace Israel; they are grafted in to share in the promises to Israel.

Jump to v 25: “Lest you be wise in your own sight, I do not want you to be unaware of this mystery, brothers: a partial hardening has come upon Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in (end of the church age). 26) And in this way all Israel will be saved.” God’s dealings with Israel are delayed, not canceled. V 29) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” So, if God promised it; God will deliver it. And while some OT promises to Israel were spiritual, many were also physical – the land of Canaan, a King on David’s throne, lions lying down with lambs – and they will be delivered just as promised. So, there is not only a spiritual kingdom, God’s rule in hearts starting with Christ’s first coming, but a 1000-year physical kingdom prior to a new heaven and new earth as described in Rev 20-22.

Paul summarizes at the beginning of this discourse: Rom 11:1: “I ask, then, has God rejected his people? By no means! . . . 11 So I ask, did they (Israel) stumble in order that they might fall? By no means! Rather, through their trespass (rejection of Jesus) salvation has come to the gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous.” Provoking Israel to jealousy would be meaningless if there were not a future for Israel and a physical as well as spiritual component to the kingdom. The kingdom is both spiritual and physical. So – with that lengthy introduction, let’s see how it applies to this text.

The Kingdom Postponed

After Jesus’ resurrection, 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during 40 days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” He was at pains to show He was alive for real – and He taught them of His kingdom – not the church, but His kingdom, pressing home how His life, death and resurrection were crucial to provide the forgiveness necessary to qualify one for entrance. He’d previously told them in Mt 5:20: “For I tell you unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Now He clarifies the only way to have such righteousness is not to earn their own but to accept His in their place by faith in His atoning death. Kingdom truth!

So, it is predictable they would ask Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” They still expect a political, territorial kingdom -- the Jewish expectation all along, as when in Mt 20:21 the mother of Jas and John asked Jesus to sit her two sons “one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” That’s a pretty physical description. And Jesus responded, “You do not know what you are asking,” (Mt 20:22), He did not say, “You misunderstand. There is no physical kingdom.” He didn’t say that! What He did say was, “to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father” (Mt 20:23).

So, the expectation of a political kingdom, lives on in the disciples, even after 40 days of teaching on the subject by Jesus– the perfect opportunity to clarify: “There is no political kingdom.” But that’s not what He did at all. He doesn’t correct their definition, only the timing. With the King on the scene – having provided for the spiritual aspects of the kingdom by His death and resurr, the disciples asked a perfectly logical question – is this when we get the full kingdom treatment? But rather than correct their expectation of what, Jesus merely addresses their expectation of when. There is no hint here that the kingdom is not both spiritual and physical – both “already” and “not yet.”

Clearly God’s kingdom has a spiritual center. That was true even in the OT in passages like Deut 10:16: “Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.” When Paul said in Rom 2:28: “For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart,” he wasn’t introducing a new concept. He was giving new expression to Jer 4:4: “Circumcise yourself to the Lord; remove the foreskin of your hearts.” Listen – while the physical aspects of the kingdom found greater emphasis in the OT, both spiritual and physical elements were there. And while the spiritual aspects get more play in the NT, both elements are there. The kingdom has always been about the rulership of God first in the hearts of His people, and then politically. It’s never changed nor will it because God never changes. Isa 14:24: “The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” The NT clarifies kingdom issues, but it does not change them; Israel does not suddenly become the church.

With Jesus still on the scene, the disciples didn’t get why delay. They didn’t yet realize the nation’s rejection meant Israel was put on the shelf for a time. Until Jesus actually left, they didn’t get that part of the program. So He tells them, 6) It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” He doesn’t say, “There is no political kingdom.” He just says, “The time isn’t now. There’s other things to be done first.” The Jews rejected, so a change has ensued. Jesus is announcing a delay, not a reinterpretation. It’s postponement, not a cancelation. Until when? Deut 29:29: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God.” When He says.

It’s like a student failing their first driving test. The near accident shows they are not ready for prime time yet. But later, they will be ready. Well, Israel failed their first test. But will Israel ever be ready? Yes! Delay is not forever. Zech 12:10: “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and please for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him as one weep over a firstborn.” When Israel repents as a nation, the delay is over. But until then, k is delayed.

II. The Kingdom Proclaimed

Jesus is saying, “The timing is the Father’s; but here’s your mission.” And what is that? “Be my witnesses, starting in Jerusalem to the Jews; in Judea and Samaria – to the hated half-breeds; then to the ends of the earth, telling everyone about me. You’re my witnesses, guys, to the whole world.” That’s their mission – take the gospel everywhere. This is also the outline to Acts, as Luke shows how this gradually happened. Now several things to note.

First, they are witnesses, not CEO’s, salesmen, results-oriented managers, or entertainers. They are witnesses to the good news. That’s their job – tell the story. They cannot change hearts, but they can share the gospel. They cannot control decisions, but they can share the good news. They are His witnesses, not His kingdom-builders. He’s been teaching them about the kingdom. He is the King and the kingdom is coming, but they are not the builders; they are the heralds – sharing that the King has come, has died and risen again to provide forgiveness for all who will enter His kingdom. They are to witness to that.

That simple message turned the Roman empire on its ear with no advanced strategies or clever methods. Paul says in I Cor 2:2: “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified . . . .” That was the apostolic message – the new life available thru Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Bearing witness, like Paul in Acts 20:25 where he’s “gone about proclaiming the kingdom” and Acts 28:31 where while in prison, Paul was “proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the LJC with all boldness and without hindrance.” To preach Christ is to preach the kingdom for He is the King. To know Him is to have kingdom life, eternal life.

The disciples proved to be faithful witnesses. That’s our call, too, but, often with best intentions, we lose the vision in fruitless attempts to be relevant and irresistible. We do audience surveys to see what the audience wants to hear. We suit the message to felt needs rather than speaking truth to real needs! Michael Horton says, “I think the church in America today is so obsessed with being practical, relevant, successful and even well-liked, that it mirrors the world." His point is what do we have to offer if we look just like them?

Amazingly, a secular writer in New Yorker magazine agrees: “The preacher, instead of looking out upon the world, looks out on public opinion, trying to find out what the public would like to hear. Then he tries his best to duplicate that, and bring his product to a marketplace where others are doing the same. The public, turning to our church culture for help, discovers there nothing but its own reflection.” No wonder we have megachurches on every corner. We look just like their concert or night spot or social club. They like us because we have become them – but along the way we lost the only thing of value we have to offer -- the gospel.

If we are to be witnesses to the “ends of the earth,” we must guard the message, and every believer must be involved in making Jesus known locally and worldwide – by going, giving, praying or all three. Our mission is global; our vision must be global. That’s why we continually highlight the needs of our missionaries – so we can give and pray and support them.

And we must not despair that the task is too big. Jesus says, “But you will receive power when the HS has come upon you.” The mission is ours, but the power and the results are His. Jesus didn’t send us to save anyone. Jettison that load! He sent us to be witnesses – to tell what we’ve learned and experienced of Jesus. That’s our mission. The results are up to the HS. We’re not called to form PACs or Moral Majority rallies. We’re called represent Him by our lives and by our words, leaving the results up to the HS. Jesus told his disciples in Lu 12:12: “For the HS will teach in that very hour what you ought to say.” Depend on Him. That’s a pressure free way to live.

A few years ago at a NRB convention in DC, Pres Reagan spoke, ending by quoting Jn 3:16. The crowd rose up and applauded long after he left. Then Chuck Colson rose to speak, a man who knew the limitations and seductions of political life. He commended Reagan’s speech, but then he added, “But we must remember that the kingdom of God is not going to arrive on AF1.” It arrives as a gift from a loving Father to His children, and it is our privilege, by the power of the HS, to witness to the life-changing message of the King.

III. The Kingdom Promised

We’re out of time, but note v 11: “Men of Galilee, 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 saw him go into heaven.” I think the moment the angels said that a whole bunch of light bulbs came on. Suddenly all those parables about a Lord going away for a time and returning to reward faithful followers made sense. Until this very moment no one really understood the King would leave and come a second time! It hadn’t clicked. But as they watched Jesus ascend into heaven, the penny dropped, the rubic’s cube aligned, the puzzle suddenly made sense. He’s gone for now, but He’ll be back. That why, even as they watched him go, they also Lu 24:52, “Worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy.” Not regret – joy. It all made sense. The kingdom is delayed, but He’s coming again. It’s all going to come true, and it starts now with His rule in our hearts. He’ll be back – same as He left. He’s coming in the clouds; He’s coming bodily; He’s coming to rule and reign.

Conc – Louis Talbot left Australia as a young man to come to America to get educated. He promised, “Mother, if God spares me, I will come back to you.” She waited for years with no results. Talbot once said, “Suppose someone had said, ‘You expect your son back? Surely you don’t think he meant a personal, visible, bodily return. He must have meant he’d always be there spiritually, or he’d return thru his gifts and letters and the money he sent.’” Then Talbot said, “But she’d have said, “No, that’s not it. He said he’d come back where I could see him and hear him and hold him.’” And Talbot continued, “And one day, I did come back. I walked off that gangplank, grabbed my mother and said, “Mother, here I am.” That’s Jesus’ promise.

He’s building His church today, but that makes us members of something even bigger – the kingdom of God. One the King is coming. All the disciples hoped for and more is coming with Him. Political rulership, yes. But also the overturning of all the results of sin and evil; the righting of every wrong and the healing of every wound. He will “wipe away every tear,” “death shall be no more,” neither “mourning nor crying, nor pain.” It’s the return of Eden; it’s the kingdom of God. And all who love Him will be there. Let’s pray.

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