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I invite your attention today
in your Bibles to the book of Matthew 28, verses 18-20. Matthew 28, the
great commission which our Lord left to His Church to evangelize
and to carry out in this generation. Jesus came and spake unto them,
saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and earth. Go ye
therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them
to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo,
I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Our Lord
came the first time that he might suffer, pay the price for our
sin debt. he rose the third day from the
grave, ascended to the right hand of God, and there he now
sits upon what is known as the throne of David, with all power
and all authority given to him to execute the decrees of God
the Father. And he will do so until those
decrees are completed, when the last enemy that shall be destroyed
is death." And there in his work as a king-priest upon the throne
at the right hand of God, in his deity and in his humanity,
he is administering the application through the ministry of the Holy
Spirit of all the merits of his death and his sufferings and
his humiliation. He shall come again one day at
the end of the world. And it says, At that time he
shall conquer the last enemy of his people, which is the resurrection
from the dead. At which time then he will turn
over the kingdom to the eternalness of the Godhead, and eternity
shall be ushered in, and we shall be partakers of all the joys
of the benefits of knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Today's
message will be the ninth in the series on the subject of
the Lordship of Jesus Christ, and it will be the third within
that series on the subject of the Lordship of Christ and his
present kingdom of grace. It has been our contention in
this to show us from the word of God, both in the Old Testament
and in the New Testament scriptures, that the prophets foretold that
Messiah would have a kingdom. And this kingdom was inaugurated
at his first coming by his suffering, his death, and his resurrection
unto glory. He came to his throne by way
of a cross, and it was known and is known as a kingdom of
grace. It is a redemptive kingdom wherein
that he would overthrow the enemies of his people through his own
merits upon the cross of Calvary. In this three-part series within
the overall messages on the Lordship of Christ, we have seen that
Christ was promised a throne by the Godhead in Psalm 110,
rule at my right hand, and that Christ was shown by the Old Testament
prophets from their viewpoint that Messiah was to come to this
throne which God had promised him by way of a suffering cross
and an empty tomb. Isaiah 53 foretold the suffering
of the Lord. He was wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities, etc., etc. And Psalm 16 foretold
of his glorious resurrection and of his ascension to that
throne which the Father had promised him. That is, that he would sit
on the right hand of God in his resurrected glory. And it is
there, according to Mark chapter 16 and verse 19, he is presently
seated at the right hand of God upon his resurrection. We have
seen in this series of messages that God's proposed method of
conquering his enemies was to be first announced in the book
of Genesis in chapter 3, verse 15, where he said that from the
seed of the woman, that is, from the womb of Eve herself, there
would come forth one who would overthrow the effects of the
fall. And that this one Satan whom had conquered, or who had
conquered, Adam's creature, or rather God's creature, man, Out
of God's creature, man, would come one that would conquer Satan
and the effects of the fall. And we've seen this principle,
that in the fullness of time God sent forth his son, made
it a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under
the law. So the seed of the woman is the means in which God ordained
to overthrow the effects of the fall. This is ratified again
in the expression in Genesis 12 and verse 15, the seed of
Abraham. There would come someone from
Abraham who would be the one who would overthrow the effects
of the fall. 1 Chronicles chapter 17, it was
ratified again as the seed of David. And we've seen in the
previous messages that all three of these, according to the New
Testament interpretation of the apostles, is applied to the one
and only person, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
the one who is the promised Redeemer that will overthrow the effects
of the fall in the garden. Then also in the previous messages
we have seen that the commencement of this promised kingdom has
already begun in that it was promised that it would begin
to David while David's body sleeps in the earth, that the kingdom
would be established before David is resurrected. While David's
body is in the earth, Peter says in interpreting the Old Testament
scriptures, that the king would come to his glory. And then because
of his resurrection, Then he lives, all those that are joined
to him shall live also." And the Lord Jesus Christ said this
in his own earthly ministry. So the kingdom that was promised
by the prophets of Messiah has been established, and it is before
the saints are resurrected. Now today, let's begin the final
thoughts upon this present kingdom of grace. And this will be under
part number four of your outline in the bulletin. It will be our
principle today, or our purpose today, to try to show that the
resurrected Christ is now fulfilling God's statement or promise to
Satan and to man that he would conquer sin. Christ has conquered
sin, and now death and hell are in his hands. He has the option
to exercise power over all that is in heaven and in earth. It's not something he is going
to assume one day, but he already assumes that prerogative. In the nail-scarred hands of
Jesus Christ and his pure side, he purchased a kingdom a kingdom
of gracious power and majesty that would have the ability to
overthrow the effects of sin, Satan, and suffering and death
itself. It's in the hands of Jesus Christ
today, and that he is now fulfilling that promise in that he is creating
a new creation. If any man be in Christ, he is
what? a new creation. Old things are
literally passing away, and all things are becoming new. You
look at a Christian, and that's just a little foretaste of what's
going to come out here in the future. God takes something out
of the miry clay and begins to work with it and shape it into
the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's what all of us have
been predestined to be as his people, is that we're going to
be like Christ one day. And he's working with us to bring
about that complete overthrow of the effects of sin and the
fall. And he's doing it now. Not that
he'll do it one day. He'll complete it one day, and
we'll see that in the upcoming messages. That is coming. But
he's already in the process of making the new creation, the
new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth what? Righteousness. Now then, let's look at four
hopes today. that are given to us in the Word
of God, that the resurrection of Jesus Christ, that is, his
present Lordship at the right hand of God, is the hope of man. And it grieves me, it saddens
me, but when I preach on the Lordship of Christ, that's one
subject that people gnash at. and gnarled their teeth. I have noticed I can preach about
God as a creator, I can preach about God and his providence,
I can preach about God performing miracles, preach about the love
of God, preach about nearly every subject in the Bible, and handle
it in such a way that it won't offend men. But there is one subject And
when I preach on, it changes the whole disposition of men. It's when God sits on his throne. And that's a clash. When God—I
don't know how you mean that. Brother Gable, that doesn't upset
me. Listen to what it means. When God exercises his sovereignty,
he does what he pleases. And that man will not have They
will have a God of every other position, but when God ascends
to his throne and says, I'm God, I'll not share my glory with
another, then you see people get mad. I preach this series
of messages on three different occasions in three different
churches. I did so most recently about four months ago in a church
in Florida. The pastor asked me to come and
preach on this subject. I said, Are you sure you want
this subject handled? It's the same messages which
I'm bringing here? He said, Yes. I got notice last week he's been
dismissed from his church over these very messages that I'm
preaching here. All three churches I've preached
this series of messages in, the pastors have lasted less than
six months. Now some of you may be enjoying
me, I hope you are. Not everybody enjoys what we're
preaching today, and these are in Baptist churches. So I'm not
going away and preaching something different in some other church
than what I am preaching right here in this series of messages.
But I'm saying that contemporary Baptist people will have a God
in all areas except when he ascends to the throne and he says, I'll
tell you what to do, I'll tell you what's right, I'll tell you
what's wrong, I'll tell you who I'm going to save and whom I'm
going to let go on to perish. I'll tell you this. I exercise
that right. That's my right." And then you
see people begin to gnash their teeth. That's not the God I worship,
they say. An individual told me one time,
I've never been afraid of God, he's a God of love. That person
hasn't got the beginning of wisdom, for the Bible says that the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Until we see God as
first our enemy, we will never love him as our Lord and Savior. So the idea, smile, God loves
you, that means nothing to the average person in the street. We can only know the love of
God in Christ Jesus our Lord, and God sent him into the world
to save sinful people, people who were enemies of God, and
God was their enemy, until we're brought to see God as our enemy.
We'll never appreciate the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ in his redemptive
work, and we'll never seek him out and bow down before that
throne. We might have him as a good teacher
or a messenger, something of that, but we'll never have him
as a Lord and a Savior. Now, let's look at this today,
because what I'm going to try to show is that it is this very
thing which men hate the most which is the very hope of man. That which men hate the most
is their only hope of eternal life. And that's the sovereignty
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if he's not sovereign,
you're not going to get out of the grave. Because man's free
will is not going to consent in that grave. When you go into that grave,
there's going to be nothing there that's going to concur and agree
with God before he gets you out of there. He's going to have
to get you out of there or you're going to stay there in your bodily
form. So my hope is built upon what?
Nothing less than Jesus' blood and his righteousness, and I
want to show today this has been the hope of all of God's spiritual
people throughout the ages. Now first, let's go to the passage
which we have looked at somewhat extensively in the book of Acts,
chapter 2. And I want to show first that
this was the hope of David, was in the Lordship of Jesus Christ
to get him out of the grave. Acts 2, verse 22. The ye men
of Israel hear these words, Jesus of Nazareth, the man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs which God
did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know, him
being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God. You have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
That is, God exercised his option as sovereign God, and he allowed
men to crucify his own beloved son. And, beloved, he didn't
have to do that. But he decreed that it ought
to be done for sinners to be saved. But he's showing here,
that is, Peter in his preaching is showing that men didn't do
to Jesus something that they wanted to do without what, first
of all, God ordained it. God ordained the crucifixion
of his own son, but yet men were responsible for what they did.
It was the wicked heart and wicked hands that did it. And God raised
up having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible
that he should be holden of it." Now Peter stops his introductory
comments, and he quotes from Scripture for this statement.
For David speaketh concerning him, that is, the Lord. I foresaw
the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, and
I should not be moved. Therefore did my heart rejoice,
and my tongue was glad. Moreover also my flesh shall
rest," now watch those next two words, "...in hope." David saw
someone at the right hand of the throne of God that he said,
"'It gives me joy and meaning of life. I understand now the
ways of life. I understand what God is doing,
and I understand that when I die, my flesh is going to rest there,
but it's going to have a hope that that body is going to come
out of the grave one day. And it's going to rest entirely
in the one who's at the right hand of God to exercise his authority
over heaven and earth and bring my body out of the grave. So
David, while he was alive, could say, I could face death and having
my body covered up and having it going back to the dust of
the earth, I can face all that because someone at the right
hand of God is in control. That gave him a hope. Gave him
a hope. Because thou wilt not leave my
soul in hell, or Sheol, the grave here in this case, neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. That is, Christ's
body shall not disintegrate. David says, Thou hast made known
to me the ways of life. Understand the meaning of life
now. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.
Now Peter stops quoting, and he preaches or interprets what
David is talking about. And brethren, let me freely speak
unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried,
and his sepulcher is with us unto this day. That is, David
has since died. He's been buried, and his grave
is still there, his body is still in the earth. Therefore, he being
a prophet, David a prophet, and knowing that God has sworn with
an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, someone coming
out of David's body, according to the flesh he would raise up
who? Christ to sit on whose throne? David's throne, on his own throne. The throne of David and the throne
of Christ are one and the same, because whosoever is on the throne
has hope. They're in control. And isn't
that the problem with most of us? is that we want to feel like
we are in control, and when we lose control of our environment
and that which is over us, we lose hope. Is that not true? I find it to
be very true. Hence, that which gives hope
and meaning and optimism for the future lies in the hands
of Jesus Christ. He is the believer's hope. He
is David's hope. Now, when did Christ sit on his
own throne? Look at it, verse 31. He seeing
this before spake of the what? The resurrection of Christ. That
his soul was not left in hell, neither did his flesh see corruption. This Jesus hath God raised up,
whereof we are all witnesses, therefore being by the right
hand of God exalted, having received of the Father the promise of
the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this which ye now see and
hear. For David is not yet ascended
into the heavens." Now why is he bringing in that statement?
What What difference does that make, that David hadn't been
raised from the dead? Because the principle is that
the kingdom was to be established before David was resurrected,
not after David was resurrected. The kingdom which was promised
by God to the Son through the prophets was to be inaugurated
while the saints sleep in the earth, that is, their bodies.
Now those of you who are more advanced in the things of the
Bible and the views of eschatology, you know that the premillennial
system holds that the saints are not resurrected until the
coming of Christ, which all believers hold to. But the premillennial
system says that it is after the return of Christ that the
kingdom is established. The prophets show here, as interpreted
by the apostles, the kingdom promised by God to the Son was
to be established prior to the resurrection of the saints, not
after the resurrection of the saints. And this is what Peter
is showing out, that what is taking place on the day of Pentecost
has biblical validity. Now watch, David's not ascending
to the heavens. But he saith himself, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, that's God saying
unto his Son, until I make thy foes thy what? Thy footstool. You rule here at my right hand
until all of your enemies are brought to bow at your feet."
Now, Peter is saying, that is taking place right now as I am
preaching here on the Day of Pentecost. Christ has suffered
according to the prophets. He has been buried and has been
in the grave for three days according to the prophets, and he has been
raised from the dead as the prophets said he would be. And he has
ascended to the right hand of God, as the prophet said he would
be, and he has inherited a redemptive kingdom wherein he shall overthrow
the effects of Satan, sin, suffering, disease, and death." Peter says
it's fulfilled right now, and we should, instead of looking
for something to come out here as our hope, we should see that
the hope of David has found fulfillment. David's hope that he would go
into the grave that his body would not be left there, but
while he slept, one would be raised from the dead, whose name
was Messiah, and that that Messiah would ultimately raise David
from the dead. That was David's hope. Now then,
secondly, this same hope of the lordship of Jesus Christ to raise
the dead was the hope of Paul. It wasn't Paul's hope when he
was Saul of Tarsus. When he was Saul of Tarsus, Paul's
hope, as he interpreted the prophets, was that God would send his Messiah,
and that his Messiah would overthrow the armies of Rome and reestablish
the kingdom which he believed the prophets promised to Israel,
and that the Israelites would rule as the worldwide leaders
of a worldwide empire. This was Saul of Tarsus' way
of interpreting the prophets. Thus it was an earthly, temporal,
political kingdom that Saul, as a devout Pharisee, saw in
his interpreting the prophets would be established upon the
appearance of Messiah, and that he would sit on the earthly throne
of David in Jerusalem as king over all. But when he became
Paul, he changed his outlook on prophecy. He became a Christian. It is a Jewish hope that looks
for a restored political kingdom to Israel. It is a Christian
hope that is to be found elsewhere. Now, what was Paul's hope? Let's
go to Acts chapter 24. Paul had to defend his hope because
he got in trouble with his fellow countrymen, and they accused
him of being a heretic, a false teacher, someone who was deceiving
people. Acts 24, verse 14. I'm going to begin in verse 10. He's defending himself before
Felix. Then Paul, after that the governor
had beckoned unto him to speak answered, Forasmuch as I know
that thou hast been of many years a judge unto this nation, I do
the more cheerfully answer for myself." That is, Paul says,
I don't need a lawyer, I'm going to answer for my own defense.
And I believe you are a judge who knows the issues, so I'm
going to speak to you. Because that thou mayest understand
that there are yet twelve days since I went up to Jerusalem
for the worship. And they neither found me in
the temple disputing with any man, nor raising up the people,
neither in the synagogues nor in the city." That is, they cannot
prove I was an insurrectionist. I didn't go up there as a troublemaker
to rant and rave and disrupt the temple and everything. Neither
can they prove the things whereupon they now accuse me. Paul was
being accused by his fellow kinsmen or his countrymen. He is now
preaching what he used to destroy. You talk about changing churches,
it's all changed. He changed from a persecutor
and murderer of Christians, now to a defender of the faith, and
so he knew all the arguments Brother Jim was going to be using
against him, because he was using those very ones against Jesus
and Christians. And he says, now here are the
charges which I'm being charged with, verse 14. But this I confess
unto thee, that after the way which they call heresy, so worship
I the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written,"
now notice, in the law and in the prophets. Now what is Paul
saying? I'm going to defend myself, and
I'm going to do so on a biblical basis. I'm not here teaching
some new thing. I'm here teaching what the prophets
and the law said was to come to pass. So I'm not originating
some new fantasy or some new religion. I'm here basing my
religious beliefs on the way I interpret the Old Testament
Bible. That's the only Bible they had
at that time. Now, what was the hope of Paul? Verse 15. and have hope toward
God, which they themselves also allow," that is, you have a hope,
"...that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just
and the unjust." Now what was Paul's hope? It was in the resurrection. of the Lord Jesus Christ at the
right hand being able to raise the dead. That was where his
hope lay at now. He used to persecute that way,
but now then he promotes that way. The hope of David, the Lordship
of Jesus Christ to raise the dead. The hope of Paul, the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead gave Paul a hope in the world
to come. Now then, let's go thirdly. What
is the hope of Israel? What's Israel's hope? Would you for a moment all become
Israelites, physically, in your thinking? I'd like to have a
whole church full of Abraham's descendants right here. All Jews
today. And you don't believe in Jesus.
In fact, you believe he's a deceiver and imposter. I'd like to talk
to you. Let me ask you first, do you have a spiritual or a
religious hope? You would say, yes, we do. If
you're Orthodox, not many Orthodox Jews around today, but if you're
Orthodox, I would say, would you tell me what your hope is?
Our hope is in Messiah. Well, who is this Messiah, I
ask? And you would reply, we don't
know who he is, he hasn't come yet. I say, well, what will happen
when he comes? He will fulfill our hope. Well, explain to me
what you have a hope of. Well, in this present life we
have a hope that we as a race shall once again be reestablished
to worldwide prominence. That we shall be reestablished
to the nation of Israel and Palestine. All of that land shall become
ours. And we shall have a king who shall rule over all the other
kingdoms of the world, and we shall be the dominant world empire.
And if we are Pharisees, or we believe in the Bible, not a Sadducee,
then we believe that after we die we shall have an eternal
state of bliss in the world to come. And all this will come
through Messiah. All right, now that is your hope. as a devout
Jew, as an Orthodox believer of the Old Testament scriptures.
Now then, I would now ask you a question. Do you believe that
your hope is yet future, or that your hope has already appeared?
Do you believe that the prophets, what they spoke of, has come
to pass, or is it yet to come to pass? And you would say it
is yet to come to pass in the future. Our Messiah has not yet
come. Now then, it's incumbent upon
me, then, to try to come back biblically and to show you that
Messiah has come and that his name is Jesus, and that I must
now first agree with you there is to be a Messiah. Secondly,
I must disagree with you over who it is. And thirdly, I must
disagree with you, as Orthodox Jews, as to the nature of your
hope of the kingdom. I want to show to you now the
way the Apostle Paul argued in his own defense that he did this
very thing, and the result was he got his head chopped off.
He would say, we have the same Bible, I've got the same Bible
as my Orthodox brethren, but we don't interpret that Bible
alike. They, my brethren in the flesh,
look for the hope of Israel under Messiah in the restoration of
an earthly, temporal, political kingdom. I, as a spiritual believer in
Jesus Messiah, look for the hope of Israel to be the same as that
which David had, and it is in the resurrection of the dead. Now then, let's see if that can
be shown. Acts chapter 26, verse 1. Paul's now before Agrippa. He's having to defend himself
in Roman court. Then Agrippa said unto Paul,
Thou art permitted to speak for thyself, and Paul stretched forth
his hand and answered for himself. I think myself happy, King Agrippa,
because I shall answer for myself this day before thee, touching
all the things whereof I am accused of the Jews, especially because
I know thee to be expert in all customs and questions which are
among the Jews, wherefore I beseech thee to hear me patiently. My
manner of life and my youth, which was at the first among
mine own nation at Jerusalem, know all the Jews." That is,
I'm not a stranger to the Jews. They know me. They've known me
from a child. "...which knew me from the beginning,
if they would testify that after the most straightest sect of
our religion I lived a Pharisee. And now I stand and am judged
for the," what? What does it say? The hope of
the promise made of God unto our fathers. That's the issue.
Here's what they're charging against me. They're saying I
am undermining the Jewish hope. The promise which God made to
our earthly fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, they are charging
me as being a deceiver and having departed from that promise. That's
the charge that's laid against Paul. Unto which promise are
twelve tribes instantly serving God day and night? What's the
next three words? Hope to come. The tribes of Israel
were all looking for their hope to be yet future. They didn't
see it in Christ Jesus. Look on. For which hope's sake,
King Agrippa, I am accused of the Jews? Why should it be thought
a thing incredible with you that God should raise the dead?" Now
here he's going to bring in the resurrection question as the
essence of the hope. I verily thought with myself
that I ought to do many things contrary to the name of Jesus
of Nazareth. Which thing I also did in Jerusalem,
and many of the saints did I shut up in prison, having received
authority from the chief priests. And when they were put to death,
I gave my voice against them, and I punished them often in
every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme, and being
exceeding mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange cities,
or into the Gentile cities which they fled." Saul says, I know
what I'm talking about here because I used to be on the other side
of this issue. Here's my credentials, here's what I did, unto the people
whom I am now identified with. Whereupon as I went to Damascus
with authority and commission from the chief priest at midday,
O King, I saw in the way a light from heaven above the brightness
of the sun shining round about me and them which journeyed with
me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice
speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul,
why persecutest thou me? It is hard for thee to kick against
the priests. When I said, Who art thou, Lord?
He said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. But rise and stand
upon thy feet, for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to
make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou
hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto
thee. delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles,
unto whom now I send thee, to open their eyes, to turn them
from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God,
that they may receive." Now what is it, my hearers? Forgiveness
of sins. That's Israel's need. That's
all mankind's need. That should have been Israel's
hope. to have their sins forgiven, and inheritance among them which
are sanctified by faith which is in me. Whereupon, O King Agrippa,
I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision, but showed first
unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem, and through all the
coast of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent
and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. For these
causes the Jews caught me in the temple and went about to
kill me. Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto
this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none
other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say
should come." That is, I'm still abiding by the Bible. I'm still
going by the book. I'm still preaching from what
the book says. Now, what did the book say? Verse
23, that Christ, Messiah, should suffer, and that he should be
the first that should rise from the dead and should show light
unto the people and to the Gentiles. That's what the prophet said
Messiah would do. That's the kind of a kingdom
he promised, he was promised, is a kingdom wherein Israel might
obtain forgiveness of sins. Isn't that blessed? Israel's
hope in Messiah is not a political restoration to the land of Palestine. Israel's hope in Messiah is the
forgiveness of sins and acceptance with God, and that Jesus is God's
Messiah. That's the message I would speak
to all of you who are my Jewish hearers this morning, or putting
yourself in the Jewish place. I cannot give you any hope. outside of Messiah, and the messianic
hope is not a restoration to an earthly temporal position
in the Middle East. It is the eternal justification
of God on account of your sins, wherein you may be accepted through
the suffering, the death, the burial, and the resurrection
of God's appointed Messiah, and His name is Jesus. If you reject
Him and refuse Him, there is absolutely no biblical hope which
I can hold out unto you. and you still look for your day
to come in the future, I say now by the authority of Paul
and the Apostles, if you do not embrace Christ now, you shall
have no hope in the future. For God does not have one plan
for the earthly Jew and another plan for the Gentile. All must
come before this person of Jesus Christ to receive forgiveness
of sin. And Paul said that's all based
on the Bible and what the prophets should say. So he said, what
I'm being charged with by my Israelite nation is destroying
their hope. But the hope's in the resurrection
from the dead. And Jesus has been raised from
the dead. Now then, let's look over. in
Acts 28. You say, well, Pastor, we still
have a question or two. Are you sure that Israel's hope
is not one thing and that there's another hope for the Gentiles?
Well, let's let Paul again, who knew the issues. He'd been on
both sides of the question. Acts 28, verse 20. Paul is now imprisoned in Rome. The charges have been made against
him. He never has got a thorough hearing in court. For this cause, verse 20 of Acts
28, therefore have I called for you, to see you and to speak
with you, because that for the what? What does your Bible say? The hope of Israel I am bound
with this chain. Paul says, the charge that's
being leveled against me involves what Israel's hope is. Wouldn't
it be something, Bill, if Paul would go just a little bit further
and tell us what that hope means? You know what? He does. He does. He doesn't leave it up to us
today to interpret that hope. He tells us what the Christian
interpretation of Israel's hope is. Now look what it is. Verse 21, they said unto him,
We neither receive letters out of Judea concerning thee, neither
any of the brethren that came showed or spake any harm of thee,
but we desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest. For as concerning
this sect," that is, this breakaway element from Judaism which we
know as Christianity, "...we know that everywhere it spoken
against. And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to
him and to his lodging." That would be a great way to be a
preacher, wouldn't it? Be in jail, and people come to
hear you preach. I preached in jails to jail people,
but I've never been in jail and had people come to hear me preach.
That's what they did to Paul. He's in jail, and now people
are coming to hear what he has to say about the hope of Israel.
Now look what he's going to say. What's he going to testify? To
whom he expounded and testified thee what? the kingdom of God. Do you see that, my hearers?
What is the hope of Israel? The kingdom of God. And what kind of a kingdom is
that? Look on. Persuading them concerning
Jesus both out of the law of Moses and out of the prophets
from morning till evening. He was diligent. All day long
he preached unto them that the hope of Israel was the kingdom
which the prophets had foretold about Messiah, the kingdom of
God. Verse 24, some believed the things
which were spoken, and some believed not. They didn't like the way
Paul was interpreting the Bible. Some did, some didn't. And when
they were not agreed among themselves, they departed, after that Paul
had spoken one word. Well said spake the Holy Ghost
by Isaiah the prophet unto our father, saying, Go unto this
people, and saying, Here ye shall hear, and shall not understand,
and seeing ye shall see, and not perceive. For the heart of
this people is wax gross, and their ears are dull of hearing,
and their eyes have they closed, lest they should see with their
eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart,
and should be converted, and I should heal them. Be it known
therefore unto you that the," what? I'm asking these questions
because I want your answers. The salvation of God. What's the kingdom of God? It's
salvation in Jesus Christ. What's the hope of Israel? The
kingdom of God involving a Savior who can save them from their
sins. Now Paul said, that's what I'm in jail for. It's the way
I'm interpreting the Bible and I'm called a religious heretic.
for preaching that the kingdom has now been established, and
it's not something future. Be it known there unto you that
the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, that they
will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed
and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two
whole years in his own house and received all that came in
unto him." That's quite a jail ministry. preaching the kingdom
of God and testifying those things which concern the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lordship of Jesus Christ
in his present kingdom is the hope of Israel. And Paul says,
I'm willing to die for it. Now I submit unto you then that
to interpret the Bible in such a way that there is a future
hope for a present-day Jew outside of Jesus Christ is to put yourself
into the same camp of Zionism and not Christianity. If there is a Jew today in the
synod of Abraham, I say to you, your hope is in Messiah. And that hope has already come,
it's not something which is yet future. Quickly, Acts chapter
13. Beginning in verse 22, Paul's
sermon in Antioch. The theme, justification by faith. And when he had removed him,
that is Saul, king of Israel, he raised unto them David to
be their king, to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have
found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which
shall fulfill all my will." I must handle this passage of scripture
because some who are knowledgeable in the word of God will say,
but Pastor, you're overlooking the Davidic covenant. You're
overlooking the covenant God made with David now. You're leaving
something out of the Bible. You haven't covered that. All
right, Paul's going to handle that, too. A man after mine own heart which
shall fulfill all my will. Verse 23, of this man's seed
hath God, according to his promise, raised unto Israel a Savior,
Jesus. God promised David a Savior,
and he's Jesus. Look on, "...when John had first
preached before his coming the baptism of repentance concerning
to all the people of Israel. And as John fulfilled his course,
he said, Whom think ye that I am? I am not he. But behold, there
cometh one after me whose shoes of his feet I am not worthy to
loose. Men and brethren, children of the stock of Abraham, and
whosoever among you that feareth God, to you is the word of this
salvation sent." For all they that dwell at Jerusalem and their
rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the
prophets, which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled
them in condemning him." They're still reading the prophets and
they're misinterpreting them, Jim. That's what Paul is saying. They're reading the prophets
every Sabbath day, but they're not hearing what the prophets
are saying. Why? Because they're looking
and interpreting the prophets as a kingdom in an earthly temporal
reign, rather than in a kingdom of grace preparing them for a
new world on the other side of the resurrection. They misinterpreted
the prophets. And though they found no cause
of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be
slain. And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him,
they took him down from a tree and laid him in a sepulcher,
but God raised him from the dead. He was seen many days of them
which came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are witnesses
unto the people, and we declare unto you glad tidings." That's
the gospel, is it not? How that the promise which was
made unto the fathers Watch it, God hath fulfilled the same unto
us, their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again. I submit to you that is clear
and concrete, that the promise which God made through the Hebrew
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, Moses, and David, he has now
fulfilled that promise. when he raised up Jesus from
the grave. As it is written in the second
Psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And
as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no
more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will
give you the sure mercies of David. What did God promise David? The earthly-minded Jews said
that he would raise up Messiah and David to sit on an earthly
kingdom in Jerusalem. Paul, the spiritually-minded
individual, says that David believed that he would raise up the Messiah
and that he would raise him up also. And there's the hope of
David, the sure mercies of David, and it's the hope of Israel.
Wherefore, he saith also in another psalm, Thou shalt not suffer
thine holy one to see corruption. For David, after he had served
his own generation by the will of God, fell on asleep, and was
laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But he whom God raised
again saw no corruption, be it known unto you therefore." What's
the conclusion? Men and brethren, that through
this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins, and
by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you
could not be justified by the law of Moses. Lest that come
upon you which was spoken of in the prophets." The prophets
not only foretold a Messiah who would suffer, they not only foretold
a Messiah who would be raised from the dead, they not only
foretold a Messiah who would sit at the Father's right hand
in a marvelous kingdom, but they also foretold that the masses
of Israel's people would be so dense in their thinking they
would not see. the work of the Messiah, and
hence they nailed him to a cross. Jesus came preaching the forgiveness
of sin and turning the cheek to the Romans, and the Jews said,
No, no, that's not our Messiah. I submit unto you that the hope
of Israel is to have their sins forgiven, just as the prophets
said that they would. Now, one more passage very briefly
and we close, and that's, What is your hope? What's the hope
of the believer? Colossians 1, verse 27. What is your hope and mine? The
hope of David, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to raise the dead.
The hope of Paul, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to raise the
dead. The hope of Israel, the Lordship of Jesus Christ, to
raise the dead. What's the hope of the believer?
Colossians 1, verse 27. to whom God would make known
what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, would you cleanse it for me? The hope
of glory. I have a hope this morning, Brother
Pete, that Jesus Christ is dwelling in my life, that my sins have
been forgiven. that I've been given a heart
that loves him and wants to serve him, even though I'm yet sinful
and imperfect, I want to serve my Lord. Do you? And that holds out a hope to
me that every man, as John says in his little epistle, that hath
this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure, so that every
person who has this hope wants to be sinless like the Lord Jesus
Christ is presently sinless. And when the day of glorification
comes for me, I shall have my hope fulfilled. And when is that
coming day of glorification? In the day of the resurrection,
and that occurs at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I submit unto you that our
hope as Gentiles is the Lordship of Jesus to raise the dead. It's
David's hope, the Lordship of Jesus to raise the dead. It's
Paul's hope, the Lordship of Jesus, to raise to dead. It's
all of Israel's hope, if they have eyes to see and ears to
hear, is the Lordship of Jesus Christ to raise to dead. I submit
unto you all of my hearers who have rationality this morning
and are mature enough to discern the things which we've spoken
of, that your hope of the world to come in an accepted state
with God lies in the gospel. And to miss the gospel is to
miss the way God has promised he's going to overthrow the effects
of the fall. He's not going to overthrow the
effects of the fall by the Jews going back to Palestine. In fact,
they passed an edict here two years ago, an official government
edict over there now, that if any natural-born Jew becomes
a Christian, they can no longer have citizenship. in that land. You say, who are those people?
They're anti-Christ. That's what Paul calls them in
his epistles. Any man who loves not the Lord
Jesus Christ is anti-Christ. And Paul says, if any man love
not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be what? Anathema. Oh, this is the same Paul that
said, O that my brethren, my kinsmen, according to flesh,
might be saved. that I, myself, would be willing
to be accursed in their place that they could be saved. This
is the same one that says if they reject Jesus Christ, they
are under the wrath of God. Now, you're not a Jew today,
but you are a Gentile. But I submit unto you, that's
your same hope. And to miss Jesus Christ is to
miss God's way of overthrowing the effects of the fall of man
and sin in this world. Let's stand together.
His Present Kingdom of Grace (3)
Series Lordship of Christ
| Sermon ID | 414201913217767 |
| Duration | 56:39 |
| Date | |
| Category | Sunday Service |
| Bible Text | Matthew 28:18-20 |
| Language | English |
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