Thy Kingdom Come

Introductory remarks

Before we get to the text, some preliminary remarks are in order. Nick and I are committed to expository preaching. There will be times when we need to teach on various topics, and we have set up outlets for that purpose: our blogs on Substack are one of them and our teaching time is another. This time, amidst the consecration section of our service, is dedicated to the proclamation of God’s Word. And we wanted to hear from God on both sides of Christ: from both the Old and New Testaments. Therefore, Nick started a series in Joshua last week and I will be introducing the book of Acts this week. There are typologic and biblical theologic similarities between these two books which make them very complimentary to one another.

· Both demonstrate the establishment of a theocratic kingdom: the kingdom of God.

· Both begin with a change in leadership: Moses to Joshua, Christ to the Apostles.

· Both are concerned with taking the land.

o The land was taken at the end of Joshua; that promise was expanded in Acts to the entire world.

· Both demonstrate the fulfillment of God’s promises.

o Particularly, Genesis 3:15

We are excited to jump into these texts at the same time and look forward to what God has for us.

The Text

Read the introductions together to demonstrate that Luke intended them to be two volumes of the same story:

“Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:1-4

“The first account, O Theophilus, I composed, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:1-3

“And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to THE END OF THE EARTH.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 4-11

Theme: Christ came to establish a kingdom

1. Christ proclaimed a kingdom

2. Christ established a kingdom.

3. We pray for the kingdom to come in its fullness.

Christ proclaimed a kingdom

What comes to your mind when you hear the word “kingdom”? According to Collin’s English Dictionary, kingdom means, “...a country or region that is ruled by a king or queen.” Christ spoke about a kingdom throughout his entire earthly ministry, Luke 4:43 says, “But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.” In fact, every chapter of the book of Luke either explicitly mentions or somehow alludes to the kingdom. Is a kingdom what comes to your mind when you think about Christianity? About the Gospel? Do you know that the Bible is primarily concerned with the crown rights of King Jesus, the Christ, the son of the Living God? He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  When Christ came, he proclaimed “the good news of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 4:43) and after he arose, he spoke about “...the things concerning the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3). This was the purpose for which Christ was sent.

Christ says in Luke 10:8-11, “And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ “But in whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at hand.’”

Luke 11:20, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

Christ came to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. Why is a kingdom good news? Why is Christ proclaiming a kingdom? To see why the kingdom of God is good news, you first must see that there are two kingdoms. There is the kingdom of death, hell, Satan, the dragon. And there is the kingdom of life, heaven, Christ, the lion.

Luke 11:18, “But if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.”

Matthew 13:37-39, “And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.”

There are two kingdoms. One kingdom has its end in Hell and the other Heaven. In which kingdom are you? What we will see in the book of Acts is the establishment of Christ’s witness on earth regarding His kingdom. This world belongs to our king. Just after Christ ascended around AD 30, a period of forty years elapsed during which many people heard the good news about the new king, Jesus! The one who rose from the dead. He has brought peace from God to man. He has saved the world! At the end of that forty years, God judged Israel. He brought the Roman ruler Titus in, to destroy the Temple, and so signified the end of that age, the age of the Old Covenant, the age of one nation, the age of the blood of bulls and goats. With this exclamation point at the end of the age, the new age began, an age of a New Covenant, of all nations, and of the blood of The Lamb.

We are now in a period very similar to those forty years: We proclaim the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of grace. Your sins are forgiven in Christ. Thanks be to God! But if you reject Christ and His kingship, Christ will reject you. You will be cast out of His kingdom into the outer darkness. You will go with your father the Devil. In which kingdom are you?

Christ established a kingdom

But Christ did not simply proclaim a kingdom. He established it.

“I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal might! Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

If you turn to John 16:8-11, Christ says of the Spirit, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning...judgment...because the ruler of this world has been judged.” When the Spirit comes, the ruler of this world “has been judged.” The Spirit came when Christ ascended into heaven and sent Him to his Apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2. And we may read what took place in Heaven when Christ arrived in Revelation 12:10,

“Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

And back in John chapter 17:1-2, “...Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh...”

We can say that this is the climax of the entire Scripture for the seed of the woman has judged the ruler of this world as promised in Genesis 3:15. It is not so difficult to see that the kingdom is established when Christ ascends into Heaven.

Let us briefly look at Daniel 7:13-14,

“I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

Christ established a kingdom.

We pray for the kingdom to come in its fullness

We are awaiting the fullness of that kingdom to come in. And this is what Christ taught us to pray,

Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition? A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy Kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrates; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him for ever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.

Our purpose now, as God’s people is to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. We call those living in darkness, those dead and dry bones, to come and live in the light. To come and enjoy true life from our life-giving God. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is peace on earth from God toward men. Let us live in light of the good news of Christ’s kingdom.

There is one last point to which I would like to draw your attention to bring this to a close,

We see in Acts 1:3, Christ, “...speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God.”

And if you turn all the way to the end of the book, let’s see what we find there,

“And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, unhindered.” (Acts 28:30-31)

The book starts and ends with the same theme: the kingdom of God. And we, his messengers have the same message: There is a King in Heaven. He saved the world from the Dragon and He is calling you to true life. Will you become a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom?

So, to understand the book of Acts, we must understand that Christ came to proclaim the good news about His kingdom as seen in the book of Luke and just prior to His ascension. We also see that Christ did establish a kingdom when He ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to us, and now we pray to see it come in its fullness. The book of Acts is an account of the initial sending of the heralds of the new King. And the establishment of the Church as Christ’s continuing witness here on earth.

Christ proclaimed a kingdom, He established a kingdom, and we pray to see it come in its fullness. Amen!

Thy Kingdom Come – Speaking Notes

Acts 1:1-11

Introductory Remarks

· Expository Preaching

o Substack & Teaching time

o Preaching:

§ During Consecration

§ Hearing from God in His Word

§ Both Sides of Christ

o Joshua & Acts: Biblical-theological & Typological similarities

§ Establishment of a theocratic kingdom: the kingdom of God.

§ Change in leadership: Moses to Joshua, Christ to the Apostles.

§ Concerned with taking the land.

· The land was taken at the end of Joshua; that promise was expanded in Acts to the entire world: Acts 3, Acts 15, Acts 28.

§ The fulfillment of God’s promises.

· Particularly, Genesis 3:15 & 2 Samuel 7:12

· Read the text with the intro to Luke

§ “Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as those, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, handed them down to us, it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in orderly sequence, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty about the things you have been taught.” Luke 1:1-4

§ “The first account, O Theophilus, I composed, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over forty days and speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:1-3

§ “And gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” But He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to THE END OF THE EARTH.” And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.” Acts 4-11

Theme: Christ came to establish a kingdom

1. Christ proclaimed a kingdom

2. Christ established a kingdom.

3. We pray for the kingdom to come in its fullness.

Christ proclaimed a kingdom

· According to Collin’s English Dictionary, kingdom means, “...a country or region that is ruled by a king or queen.”

· Luke 4:43 says, “But He said to them, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose.”

· Every chapter of the book of Luke either explicitly mentions or somehow alludes to the kingdom.

o Is a kingdom what comes to your mind when you think about Christianity? About the Gospel?

o Do you know that the Bible is primarily concerned with the crown rights of King Jesus, the Christ, the son of the Living God?

o He is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. 

o When Christ came, he proclaimed “the good news of the kingdom of God.” (Luke 4:43)

o After Christ arose, he spoke about “...the things concerning the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3). This was the purpose for which Christ was sent.

The imminence of the Kingdom that Christ proclaimed:

· Christ says in Luke 10:8-11, “And whatever city you enter and they receive you, eat what is set before you; and heal those in it who are sick, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ “But in whatever city you enter and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your city which clings to our feet we wipe off against you; yet know this, that the kingdom of God is at hand.’”

· Luke 11:20, “But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

· Christ proclaimed an imminent kingdom, and it was established when He ascended. The kingdom has arrived!

The good news of the Kingdom that Christ proclaimed:

· Why is a kingdom good news?

· To see why the kingdom of God is good news, you first must see that there are two kingdoms.

o Death, hell, Satan, the dragon.

§ Luke 11:18, “But if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul.”

o Life, heaven, Christ, the lion.

§ Matthew 13:37-39, “And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man, and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are the sons of the evil one; and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is the end of the age; and the reapers are angels.”

· There are two kingdoms. One kingdom has its end in Hell and the other Heaven.

o In which kingdom are you?

The witness of the kingdom established

· Book of Acts is the establishment of Christ’s witness on earth regarding His kingdom. This world belongs to our king.

· Just after Christ ascended around AD 30, a period of forty years elapsed during which many people heard the good news about the new king, Jesus! The one who rose from the dead. He has brought peace from God to man. He has saved the world!

· At the end of that forty years, God judged Israel. He brought the Roman ruler Titus in, to destroy the Temple, and so signified the end of that age:

o The age of the Old Covenant, of one nation, and of the blood of bulls and goats.

o The age of a New Covenant, of all nations, and of the blood of The Lamb.

· We are now in a period very similar to those forty years:

o We proclaim the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of grace.

o Your sins are forgiven in Christ. Thanks be to God!

o But if you reject Christ and His kingship, Christ will reject you. You will be cast out of His kingdom into the outer darkness. You will go with your father the Devil. In which kingdom are you?

Christ established a kingdom

· But Christ did not simply proclaim a kingdom. He established it.

o “I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which He will bring about at the proper time—He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal might! Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:13-16)

· John 16:8-11, Christ says of the Spirit, “And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning...judgment...because the ruler of this world has been judged.”

o When the Spirit comes, the ruler of this world “has been judged.”

o The Spirit came when Christ ascended into heaven and sent Him to his Apostles at Pentecost in Acts 2.

o And we may read what took place in Heaven when Christ arrived in Revelation 12:10, “Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night.”

o And back in John chapter 17:1-2, “...Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, even as You gave Him authority over all flesh...”

o We can say that this is the climax of the entire Scripture for at the cross, the seed of the woman judged the ruler of this world as promised in Genesis 3:15.

· After the Cross and the resurrection, the kingdom is established when Christ ascends into Heaven.

o Daniel 7:13-14, “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And came near before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory, and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations, and men of every tongue Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not be taken away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.”

· Christ established a kingdom.

o This fulfilled the promise of God in 2 Samuel 7:12, “When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up one of your seed after you, who will come forth from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom.”

o Peter testifies to this in Acts 3:18-26, ““But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. “Moses said, ‘THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BROTHERS; TO HIM YOU SHALL LISTEN to everything He says to you. ‘AND IT WILL BE THAT EVERY SOUL THAT DOES NOT HEED THAT PROPHET SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.’ “And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also proclaimed these days. “It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.’ “For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.”

We pray for the kingdom to come in its fullness

· We are awaiting the fullness of that kingdom to come in. And this is what Christ taught us to pray,

o Q. 191. What do we pray for in the second petition? A. In the second petition, (which is, Thy Kingdom come,) acknowledging ourselves and all mankind to be by nature under the dominion of sin and Satan, we pray that the kingdom of sin and Satan may be destroyed, the gospel propagated throughout the world, the Jews called, the fulness of the Gentiles brought in; the church furnished with all gospel officers and ordinances, purged from corruption, countenanced and maintained by the civil magistrates; that the ordinances of Christ may be purely dispensed, and made effectual to the converting of those that are yet in their sins, and the confirming, comforting, and building up those that are already converted: that Christ would rule in our hearts here, and hasten the time of his second coming, and our reigning with him for ever: and that he would be pleased so to exercise the kingdom of his power in all the world, as may best conduce to these ends.

· We proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God.

o We call those living in darkness, those dead and dry bones, to come and live in the light. To come and enjoy true life from our life-giving God.

o The kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is peace on earth from God toward men. Let us live in light of the good news of Christ’s kingdom.

· Begins and ends with the kingdom

o We see in Acts 1:3, Christ, “...speaking about the things concerning the kingdom of God.”

o Acts 28:30-31, “And he stayed two full years in his own rented quarters and was welcoming all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching concerning the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, unhindered.”

o There is a King in Heaven. He saved the world from the Dragon and He is calling you to true life. Will you become a citizen of Christ’s Kingdom?

Summary

1. Christ came to proclaim the good news about His kingdom as seen in the book of Luke and just prior to His ascension.

2. Christ did establish a kingdom when He ascended and sent the Holy Spirit to His Church.

3. Now we pray to see it come in its fullness.

The book of Acts is an account of the initial sending of the heralds of the new King. And the establishment of the Church as Christ’s continuing witness here on earth.

Christ proclaimed a kingdom, He established a kingdom, and we pray to see it come in its fullness. Amen!