Kingdom Overview

[0:00] Well, if you will open your Bible, please, to Daniel's prophecy, chapter 7. Prophecy of Daniel, chapter 7, and what we are going to engage this morning is a kind of overview of a subject that is the, not a, but is the principal subject of all of the Word of God.

[0:27] And that has to do with the reclamation, the restoration of that which was originally created that had since fallen into a state of disarray and confusion and sin and all of the problems that accompany our present fallen world.

[0:50] That is all going to be changed. It is all going to be reversed. It is akin to what the poet John Milton wrote about paradise and paradise lost and paradise regained.

[1:07] And as the book of Genesis opens, the chapter 1, I think the chapter ends with, and God saw all that he created and it was very good. And it was. Everything was ideal.

[1:18] But when you get to chapter 3, it didn't last because the proverbial apple cart was upset, big time. And as a result, that which had been pronounced very good was reduced to disaster.

[1:35] And as a result of that, we have all kinds of conflict, wars, disease, death, and everything else. God did not create those things.

[1:47] They are the result of the work of the adversary. But the time is coming when that's all going to be reversed. And the paradise that was lost is going to be regained.

[1:59] The question is, how is that going to be done? We are of the opinion, and when I say we, I'm talking about those who are of the premillennial position, which simply means we believe that the millennial reign of Christ of peace and prosperity and restoration will be fulfilled prior to, will be fulfilled as soon as Christ returns to earth to establish it.

[2:32] There will be no kingdom without the king. He will be the only one who is able to establish that kingdom. Men have their ideas and their fancies, and they are called utopia.

[2:46] They are called communism. They are called all kinds of things. Where man is supposed to achieve his ultimate goal and be able to outlaw all of these things that we've been talking about, disease and crime and everything else.

[2:59] And it's all going to come about if you put the right people in power. Baloney. We know there's no truth to that at all. It will come about when the right person is in power.

[3:13] And that person will be the Lord Jesus Christ. And we believe he will return prior to the establishment of that millennial reign. That's why it's called premillennial.

[3:26] And we occupy, and you need to know this, I've made the point before, but I want to drive it home because too many don't understand this or the implications. We who occupy this position are the minority.

[3:40] The vast majority of Christendom, which includes Roman Catholicism and most of Protestantism, is not on this page.

[3:58] They see what we call the millennium as purely a spiritual thing, and we are in it now.

[4:11] This is the millennium. But it is spiritual. It isn't literal. But Christ is ruling and reigning in the hearts of people. And as a result of that, every day, in every way, the world is getting better and better.

[4:27] We are on an upward progress. And yet the scriptures give the lie to that, and they say, No, we are not evolving. We are devolving.

[4:39] We had a good start. And then came the fall. And everything as a result of it is what we are living with today. The principle is death.

[4:55] That's the principle. But Jesus said, The time is coming when He will establish His kingdom, and He will build His church, and when He does, the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

[5:17] What is that all about? Hades is the place the scripture refers to as the place and the sphere of the dead, the departed.

[5:28] That's Hades. Not to be confused with hell. That's entirely different. That's Hades. The gates of Hades has to do with the place and position of authority that rules and reigns over death.

[5:45] And the reason it is referred to as gates is because it is a takeoff on the biblical concept of the position of authority. And in the Bible, this goes all the way back to Genesis, and we can see it even in the case of Lot, Lot, one of the sons, a nephew of Abraham, that eventually he wormed his way into the city of God, and we are told that Lot, Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom.

[6:15] What does that mean? That means he was occupying a position of authority there in the city of Sodom. He didn't have any business being there, but he had risen to a position of prominence where he was one of the leaders.

[6:31] And to be an elder at the gate was our equivalent as being a member of the town council or the city hall. It's where government was conducted.

[6:42] It's where contracts were signed. It's where people gave testimonies and all of the rest of it. And the gates of the city speak of the place and position of authority, where laws were made and sentences were handed out.

[6:58] And every city had gates because it had walls all around it to protect it. And the gate was the center of business and everything that was done politically in that city.

[7:10] So the gates of Hades is speaking of the authority that is behind Hades, and that is death itself. Death, the gates of Hades, Jesus said, will not prevail or overcome the church that I establish.

[7:31] And that church has never yet come into existence. We are not it. We are a church.

[7:43] We are a church that is the body of Christ that is described in Ephesians chapter 3 and Colossians 1. But we are not the church that Jesus was talking about.

[7:56] And it was not built and it was not started in Acts chapter 2, which is commonly referred to as the beginning of the church. And it was a church. It was a church. It was a Jewish church.

[8:09] The word church, ekklesia, literally means a called out assembly for a common purpose. And that can make almost anything a church. But we have so defined the word that we always make it mean the same thing.

[8:23] And it doesn't mean the same thing at all. It can even mean a motley crowd that is bent on violence. It could be called a church. Well, you wouldn't call that a church. Well, technically speaking, it is a church.

[8:33] It's an ekklesia. So words mean things. And we need to understand that. And the church that Jesus is going to build, he said, the gates of Hades will not prevail against it.

[8:45] That is, they will not overcome it. And that literally means death will have no holes on that church. Now I ask you, does death have a hold on our churches today?

[9:00] Certainly does. I was telling someone the other day, I've had so many funerals over the last 50 years, I haven't even kept track of them. And that simply tells me that death is still reigning over this fallen world.

[9:19] But the time is coming when that's all going to change. That church, however, has not yet been established, but there's no question it will be. So Daniel chapter 7. And let us begin, if we may, with verse 23.

[9:30] This is prophetic, but it is going to be fulfilled in what we'll be talking about. Verse 23. I'm just jumping in here. This is the fourth beast. Will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms, and it will devour the whole earth and tread it down and crush it.

[9:55] This is tribulational content that is yet to come. As for the ten horns out of this kingdom, ten kings will arise.

[10:05] These will be ten geographical leaders throughout the globe. This is all future. And another will rise after them, and he will be different from the previous ones, and will subdue three kings.

[10:22] This guy will be the Antichrist. He will become the world leader and ruler during this time of tribulation.

[10:35] He will be different from the previous ones, and will subdue three kings. That is, he'll be victorious over them. And he will speak out against the Most High.

[10:48] And the Most High is the true God. And he will wear down the saints of the highest one. How's he going to do that? Through persecution and death and destruction.

[11:02] This will be during the time when the mark of the beast is front and center, and those who do not have the mark, of course, will be subject to tribulation and martyrdom and even death.

[11:14] He will wear down the saints of the highest one, and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law.

[11:25] This guy is going to change everything. And those who support him will be thinking, Aha! Utopia is on the horizon.

[11:36] And this man is going to bring it in. And it will be wonderful. He has all the answers. He has a solution to all the world's problems.

[11:50] They will be given into his hand for a time, that's one year, times, that's two years, add the two to one, and then half a time, add a half a time to the three, and you have three and a half years, or 42 months, that this is going to go on.

[12:13] And he's going to be making great strides, and make all kinds of changes and improvements, and men are going to be worshiping him. And we read in verse 26, But the court will sit for a judgment, and his dominion will be taken away, annihilated, and destroyed forever.

[12:40] That's the demise or the end of the Antichrist and his rule and reign for seven years, three and a half of which are going to be incredible.

[12:51] Then, verse 27, Then the sovereignty, the dominion, and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the highest one.

[13:15] These are believing survivors survivors of this time of tribulation, many of whom will be martyred during the reign of the Antichrist, and many will have been able to hold out simply because they survived, even though they rejected the mark of the beast and did not have the opportunity to buy or to sell.

[13:41] These will be people who managed to eke out an existence, some of them probably living in caves in the most deplorable conditions you can imagine, just to stay alive.

[13:53] They will be survivors of this tribulation period. His kingdom, the highest one, His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom and all the dominions will serve and obey Him.

[14:12] That will be the millennial reign of Christ. He will be ruling and reigning in righteousness during that time. So, I would ask you now to turn back, if you would please, in the New Testament to Matthew, Matthew chapter 19.

[14:40] Matthew 19, a very key passage. And this has to do with Jesus being confronted with the rich young ruler who is asking what must he do to have eternal life.

[14:56] He's not thinking about dying and going to heaven or anything like that. He's thinking about having a position in the kingdom. That was the concept of eternal life before the death of Christ. And the rich young ruler asked that question and Jesus told him to keep the commandments.

[15:12] And by the way, why didn't Jesus say, well, I'm going to go to the cross and die for the sins of the world. You just put your faith and trust in me and everything will be okay.

[15:24] Would that have been true? Well, yeah. It would have been true. But why didn't Jesus tell him that? Because Jesus was functioning and operating under the kingdom motif.

[15:35] Not the grace motif. Not at all. grace, the grace that will come through the finished work of Jesus Christ will not be available until Jesus accomplishes it.

[15:47] And that's on the cross. But that's future to this. So he is operating and functioning under, guess what? An Old Testament dispensation.

[16:00] But you say, but this isn't the Old Testament. This is the New Testament. This is Matthew. Listen, fellas. The Old Testament law and everything connected with it continued right on through the ministry of the earthly ministry of Jesus and he functioned under the Mosaic law.

[16:22] That's important to understand. And it's a confusing point because people think that when you come to the New Testament, ah, here is Jesus and everything is changed. No, it isn't. The change is potential and here is Jesus but it's just the birth.

[16:39] And Jesus in a cradle never saved anybody. It is the substitutionary death of Christ on that cross that is going to provide the means for salvation.

[16:53] But that is not at all in play here. Jesus knows all about it. And he's even going to tell the disciples that that's what's going to happen to him and they will have none of it and they even rebuke him for saying that.

[17:06] But we of course know that's what's going to happen. So let's get on here. Matthew 19. Jesus gives these commands and he tells this young man do these things and this young man says, well, I've done all of those things.

[17:18] And Jesus said, well, in connection with the kingdom which is coming and which I have authority to establish, what you need to do then is divest yourself of all of your goods and give it to the poor and come and follow me.

[17:35] What is that all about? It is amazing what preachers do with this passage. Some actually have the audacity to say, Jesus didn't really mean that.

[17:47] What he meant was that this young man should have that kind of an attitude. Jesus was telling him that he needs to have an attitude of generosity.

[17:58] Baloney. He's telling him he needs to do what he told him to do because this is not the grace dispensation. This is the law.

[18:09] This is the completely different thing. And the young man says, well, I'm not going to do that. And he went, and when you read on in this same passage, guys, Peter and the apostles are standing there and they're hearing Jesus tell this guy this.

[18:26] And when the rich young ruler leaves sad because he had many possessions and wasn't willing to give up those possessions, Peter comes up to Jesus and says, we heard what you just told him.

[18:41] Jesus said, yeah. And Peter says, we did that. We already did that. What are we going to get as a result?

[18:54] What's the payoff? Is there a salary that comes with this job of being a disciple? Are there benefits? And look at what Jesus tells him. In verse 28, Jesus said, truly I say to you that you who have followed me, meaning, of course, his disciples, in the regeneration, that means when everything is regenerated, made new, this is regening, if you will, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne.

[19:41] Well, now, where is that? Common perception is Jesus is on his throne now in heaven.

[19:52] Well, he is. He has sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high. That's where he is. He is on the throne in heaven.

[20:04] Is that this throne? Could there possibly be more than one throne? Hey, there is a heavenly throne Jesus occupies now. And when Stephen is stoned in Acts chapter 7, the text tells us that Stephen, looking up to heaven, as the stones were raining down on his body, Stephen saw Jesus stand in heaven as if to welcome the first martyr, Stephen, into his presence.

[20:51] And Stephen cried out, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. What was he doing? He was doing the same thing Jesus did on the cross.

[21:06] Father, forgive them. They don't know what they're doing. And Stephen prayed for those evil men, the Sanhedrin.

[21:17] these were the political, religious shakers and movers of Israel who were physically carrying out this execution of the man whom they had set up by bribing witnesses, non-existent witnesses to testify against him that he had blasphemed God.

[21:41] And Stephen cried out, lay not this sin to their charge. that was Jesus in heaven on the throne. So we are told in verse 28, in the regeneration when the Son of Man and Jesus almost always speaks of himself in the third person, he could have just as easily said, in the regeneration when I sit on the throne.

[22:06] But he always speaks in this third person. When the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne and that's not the one in heaven, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

[22:24] And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for my name's sake, shall receive many times as much and shall inherit eternal life.

[22:38] Many who are first will be last and the last. And all that means is many of the people whom the world puts in the first place condition, they're going to be the last.

[22:51] And many of those of whom the world regards as the last, they're going to be first because God has a different standard than what man has.

[23:02] And the contention that I want to leave with you now that our whole premise is built upon is that what Jesus is saying here has never yet been fulfilled.

[23:15] It is true he is seated in heaven at the right hand of the majesty on high. But the time is coming when Jesus is going to leave that throne and come down to earth.

[23:30] And that is described in Revelation chapter 19 and we won't go there now but that will be for later. And all I want to point out to you at the present time has to do with this kingdom that is going to be established is going to be very, very literal.

[23:49] It will be earthly, it will be headquartered in Jerusalem, Jesus Christ himself will personally be there and he will be ruling with a rod of iron.

[24:02] That's simply another way of saying it's going to be a kingdom of absolute justice and equity and there will be no deception, there will be no corruption, all of those things will be done away because he will be on the throne executing judgment.

[24:19] And we are going to have responsibilities the likes of which I can't describe because I don't know. But I know one thing, we're not going to be loafing, we are going to be productive and we will have a glorified body, we will all have bodies over which Hades and the gates of Hades will have no control and no authority.

[24:43] We will have glorified bodies like the body that Christ had when he came forth from the tomb. Now I want to give you a brief description of this and I can't find a better one than that which was offered by Dr.

[24:56] Dwight Pentecost who taught systematic theology at Dallas Seminary for many years before the Lord called him home and he wrote an outstanding volume that has become kind of like a go-to volume for the subject matter and it has to do with the title is Things to Come and it's about yea thick and it is a magnificent volume right up there in the caliber of George Nathaniel Henry Peters and the Theocratic Kingdom and his volume set.

[25:26] So what we're going to look at is a brief description of what this kingdom is going to be like when it is established and how utterly different it will be from anything that man is able to contrive.

[25:42] I'll just give you a bird's eye view. I made copies of this and distributed them at grace and I'm sorry I don't have copies with me but I'll bring some copies next week and you can have them for your own reference and it is remarkable.

[25:58] He begins this article by saying much scripture is devoted to stating the untold blessing and glory poured out upon earth through the beneficence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the kingdom.

[26:13] Many of these have been alluded to previously but an outline of the conditions on the earth will show the greatness of the kingdom and we just saw that in Daniel 7 27 where that phrase the greatness of the kingdom is used and it will be let me put it this way fellows this earth is going to be refurbished and replenished and regenerated and this earth is going to be as good as God can make it.

[26:45] It's going to revert back to the way it was when Genesis tells us that God looked upon all that he created and it was very good.

[27:00] If you think it's very good now you've got another thing coming because we see all kinds of ruin and corruption and disease and death and injustice and everything all around us but when Christ rules with a rod of iron that kind of nonsense will not be put up with.

[27:17] It will be a righteous kingdom that has never existed and I want to emphasize something because I want you to understand the implications of this and how important it is.

[27:30] What we are talking about is not endorsed and not believed by most of Christendom. You get that? What we have just depicted is completely contrary to the Roman Catholic interpretation of the kingdom and the time to come.

[27:52] and out of the Roman Catholic interpretation came Martin Luther and Martin Luther was a sheer genius in many ways theological doctrinal genius and he was one of the most significant people that ever lived but he brought baggage with him also from Rome part of which was infant baptism and baptismal regeneration and the concept of the kingdom.

[28:26] He brought those things with him and when Lutheranism began what was going to come out of Lutheranism? Once it was established who picked up on it eventually?

[28:38] England! And what was that? That was the church of England when Henry VIII rebelled against the authority of the Pope because he wouldn't grant him an annulment so he could marry a woman that he wasn't supposed to be marrying King Henry VIII said okay I'm taking all my people I'm taking all of England out of the Roman Catholic Church and he was excommunicated by the Pope and the Anglican Church which is the Church of England under the authority of the new king and he appointed an archbishop of Canterbury that occupies that office to this day not the same one of course but it's the same office the archbishop and he became for all practical purposes the Pope and who is the church?

[29:33] Who is in Great Britain who is the head of the church? Anybody? The king. Yeah Queen Elizabeth she's the head of the church she's the head of the Anglican Church so what did the Anglican Church embrace doctrinally when it comes to eschatology and things to come?

[29:57] Amillennialism not premillennialism amillennialism which says this is the kingdom this is the spiritual rule and reign of Christ Jesus is ruling and reigning from heaven and well then what do you do with 2 Corinthians 4 that talks about Satan being the god of this age what's that all about?

[30:22] Well what that is about is true he is the god of this age and this is why you see so much orneriness and craziness and killing and corruption and everything else going on because he's having his heyday you see the distinction here and out of the church of England came the Methodists John Wesley and what did they bring with them?

[30:48] Same theology regarding eschatology the doctrine of last things things to come and out of Methodism came the Nazarenes and Presbyterians well Presbyterians didn't come out of Methodism that's a different thing under John Knox but all I'm saying is this guys this was the party line for almost 2,000 years well when did things change?

[31:23] Not until the 1800s you mean to tell me that the church has had the wrong view of the last things for 1800 years? Yes that's exactly what I mean to tell you well that can't be well let me give you another situation you will not find anything more clearly taught in the New Testament particularly in the Apostles Paul's writings than the subject of justification by faith that you are saved by placing your faith and trust in Jesus Christ as the propitiation for your sins plus nothing that's called justification by faith do you realize that was the position for the first 200 plus years after the death of Christ justification by faith and the

[32:25] Apostle Paul preached it everywhere he went and the Apostles preached it to what happened justification by faith fell upon hard times and the reason it did was because men could not would not get into having a right standing with God without making some human contribution you have to do something you have to be good you have to keep the law you have to be baptized you have to do this you have to do that was not the program under John the Baptist or what not John but under Paul the Apostle and those who were his colleagues Timothy and Titus and Epaphroditus and all of those guys they preached justification by faith and eventually that was lost and who rediscovered it Luther

[33:26] Martin Luther and he was immediately branded a heretic and he revived that justification by faith and it still has fallen upon heart and guys let me tell you something justification by faith whereby a believing sinner without any merit or deserts of his own can come to faith in Jesus Christ have all his sins forgiven and be assured of heaven simply on the basis of believing let me tell you something that is still a hard sell that is still contrary to the way people think well you have to do something you have to be baptized you have to join the church you have to be good you have to go to confession you have to pray a lot you have to you have to be better than you are bad you have to do good things you have to get the charity all the rest of the stuff no why do we insist on justification by faith alone and I want you to get this anything that you can or that anyone can add to believing on Jesus

[34:51] Christ alone for your salvation anything that is added depreciates detracts denies the finished work of Jesus Christ and suggests well Jesus did it most but you have to do something too well you do you have to believe well anybody can do that that's the whole point anybody can do that nothing in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I claim that's it that means you do not get one smidgen of credit you don't get one ounce of glory but you get all the benefits now that is such a deal that is amazing

[36:02] John Newton understood that and that's why he wrote amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me once was lost but now I'm found was blind but now I see what did you do to see John I just looked to the cross and the man who died on that cross was there in my place I am crucified with Christ I don't deserve it but I am so grateful so thankful that after all he's done for me how can I do less and give him my best after all he's done for me why do we labor and serve

[37:05] Christ and why do believers go to mission fields and sacrifice why are people willing to give up their life for this truth it is simply out of a sense of gratitude and appreciation we serve him and we love him out of a spirit of thanksgiving and gratitude not because I'm doing this and doing that because I hope I hope I hope I've done enough I hope I've been good enough I hope I've prayed enough I hope I've gone to church enough nonsense there isn't any peace in that therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work there is no security and no comfort in a maybe so salvation salvation it is only in a no so salvation and we know we are saved and the world doesn't understand it if you tell the world you tell somebody well

[38:19] I know I'm going to have you know what they think immediately well you must think you're really something you must think you are so good that you know you're going to heaven what a braggart what what pride what no no the whole point we know we're going to heaven because of what Jesus did not because I'm worthy or deserving or good enough my security is not in my performance it's in his performance guys if this truth that has been around it has been around since since he hung on the cross and said it is finished it's been around since then and it's been lost and underground and denied and resurrected and preached again and we still have the same problem convincing people well it just can't be that's just too good to be true well it is true and it is good and it is what justification by faith it means being declared righteous by God solely on the basis of your believing in him and as I said the objection is well anybody could do that that's the whole point that's why it's called good news anybody can do that first and foremost you have to arrive at the knowledge of a need if you don't think you have a need you're not going to be interested in a savior you're going to think

[40:19] I don't have any needs and any needs that I might have I can meet on my own thank you God will accept me because he is a loving forgiving God and I don't understand I don't claim to be perfect I know I don't claim to be perfect but I think I'm just as good as everybody else and I'll make it if anybody else makes it and this is the way people think and they do not see themselves as undone and unworthy before a righteous and a holy God who loves you God demonstrated God demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us you mean Christ died for sinners yes because that's all there were it wasn't anybody else

[41:25] Paul goes on to say for scarcely for a righteous man somebody who is described as righteous in the community there are some who would be willing to die in that person's place if they were called upon to do so and we know that that happens that happens and for a good man some would be willing to die but God but God commended his love demonstrated his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners totally unrighteous with nothing to commend us God loved us and Jesus went to the cross to prove it and he made a payment that we could never make and it is available extended to us and all you have to do is receive it that's why it is called a gift the gift of God not of works not of works salvation is not of works by grace through faith that not of yourselves it is the gift of

[42:36] God not of works so that no one can boast I've often said one thing you will never see in heaven is any braggarts nobody is going to be walking around in heaven with their chest stuck out and say I want you to know how I got here I not only tithed I gave 25% that's how I got here and someone else well I got here because I was better than most people and I got here because I was outstanding and I got here because I died in the war and I got here because none of that no braggers in heaven everybody is going to point to the lamb and say I am here because of him because of him he who loved me and gave himself for me that's why I'm here I tell you guys this is the most glorious message that anyone could ever preach but we we are very delicate where we preach it and how we say it because we don't want to offend anybody how would you offend them you know the very first step many people find offensive we talked a little bit about this a moment ago you have to arrive at a felt need

[44:12] I don't need that I am good enough the way I am I am better than most people surely God will accept that God has just one standard guys just one standard perfection absolute perfection and someone comes back and says well that's not fair it's not fair that God should expect something from us that we can't provide that's not fair nobody's perfect right but God's standard is perfection so what he did was he provided a perfect sinless son to pay your price that you couldn't pay and because of who he is he was able to die on behalf of all humanity he who knew sin was made to be sin for us so that we might be made the righteousness of

[45:31] God in him fellas that is your legal standing it isn't your practical standing your practical standing is you are a sinner saved by grace and you still have your problems you still have your voices you still have your vices you still have things you know you shouldn't do but you do them anyway you still have the capability of sinning we all do we all do and anybody who thinks they don't have the capability of sinning is somebody going to live forever because death is only the wages of sin someone who sinless isn't going to die but what's the death rate it's the same as it's been since genesis 3 death rate is one per person and we're all sinners and we're all going to die but your legal position your legal position the position that God accepts is one of perfection so that

[46:37] Paul writes to the Corinthians in that fifth chapter second second epistle in the fifth chapter that we might be made made made the righteousness of God in him don't leave out the in him because that's everything we become the you mean to tell me that God looks upon you and me and sees us as completely righteous that's exactly what I mean to tell you that's your position and fellas if that's not your position you're sunk you're slated for rejection you're sunk Jesus and what he did is everything and make no mistake about it he isn't most of it he's all of it in the Lord have I righteousness what's our righteousness

[47:54] Isaiah says all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags human righteousness just won't cut it that's why Jesus came to do for us what we couldn't do for us why would he do that why would he do that why would he do that God so loved that's why he did it it's called Calvary love and it's the best good news the world has ever heard or ever will hear this is ours not only to believe but to proclaim and it is such an extraordinary message that many reject it out of hand because they just don't understand it or they think well it can't mean that it can't mean that it can't be that good you have to do something you have to it's just it fellas I've told you before that one of the consequences of the fall is that we think and we reason with a warped intellect with skewed logic that's how we reach so many really stupid ridiculous conclusions about a whole lot of things that later when we find out about it they embarrass us that we ever believe that what's wrong with us when our first parents fell everything about them fell including their thinking skills and their intellect and they pass that on to us and that's what we're born with so when we tell people that you can be justified on the basis of the finished work of Christ through believing in him they use their skewed logic and their flawed reasoning and they say well that doesn't make any sense you've got to be better than that you've got to be good you've got to do this you've got to do that you've got to be deserving on and on and on that's the skewed logic and faulty reasoning that reaches that conclusion and most of us operated with that and it takes usually takes repeated presentations of the gospel before it ever gets through our thick fallen heads that this is

[50:15] God's truth wow nothing like it in the world well they didn't get to this lineup so I'll bring copies of it next week and guys at Grace have already gotten them or should have a few weeks ago but I'll see that the rest of you get them now any questions or comments anybody I think we're probably ready here well yeah yeah the thief on the cross was about as undeserving as you could get and you could be sure of one thing he was on that cross because he deserved to be in fact he probably deserved a lot more and he said but this man speaking of Jesus this man has done nothing amiss and he made that he made that statement to Jesus he said Lord remember me when you come into your kingdom and Jesus said verily I say unto you this day you will be with me in paradise and I'm not exactly sure where that is some think it's just a synonym for heaven and that may very well be but it's an unusual word that is used there for paradise and but that's a different study and a different thing anything else that anybody

[51:42] Dan but this is a historical perspective I just wonder when Mark Luther you know nailed the nine to five pieces on the door of that if there others had to know and probably with his wife's a catholic church selling the gold and his money you know his catholic church at that time was pretty corrupt and so he was ordained by the five probably to have the intestinal 42 do that yeah yeah when when Martin Luther came to the reality of justification by faith you know it's found it's found in Paul's letter to the Romans about being justified means being declared righteous doesn't mean that you are righteous it means you are declared righteous it means that's your legal standing and and when when he said that that that is such a magnificent thing that means that you got a practical standing and you got a legal standing and your legal standing is what determines your eternal destiny and your practical standing fellas you do not grow or mature or develop in your legal standing because that's a result of the work of

[53:08] God and this is good as it can be but what do you grow in you grow in your practical standing you go in your practice that's where you grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ you grow with your understanding with your appreciation with your obedience with your service with your love for Christ those are things that you grow in you don't grow in your standing your official standing that's perfect it's settled it's a done deal you realize that not even God can improve upon your legal standing because not even God can make perfection more perfect perfect is perfect and you reach the end so it's a well all I can say is guys this is the gospel of the grace of

[54:11] God I've never gotten over and I trust you never will get over it either it's just the most wonderful speechless is what well I guess I can't say it left me speechless because I did have something to say didn't I how well did the apostles Jesus apostles get the grace message do you think and how long I don't know the question is how long did it take the apostles in the new testament there to get the grace message after the ascension of Christ I don't know my guess is that there were some who got it and some who didn't because human nature being what it is but the point that I think really needs to be made that is overlooked by most of Christendom is that you've got the gospel of the kingdom that John the

[55:11] Baptist began preaching that Jesus preached and the twelve preached and it is what we were talking about earlier the gospel of the kingdom when things are going to be made right and then you've got the gospel of the grace of God that comes along with who with Paul with Paul and Paul had a hard sell because who was he trying to sell this message to the Jews and the Gentiles everybody the Jews were a tough audience because they were already deeply saturated into the law of Moses and what's the law of Moses performance base performance base performance base you get that sell what you have the kingdom message give to the poor and the message of grace is Jesus has already done for you what you couldn't do just believe in him that was a hard sell to the

[56:16] Jews and you know what the principal thing they accused Paul of he teaches against the law of Moses well what he was saying was hey the law of Moses was great there wasn't anything wrong with it that's just the problem there wasn't anything wrong with it there was wrong with all the people who were trying to keep it and nobody could nobody did and Jesus on that Paul the apostle on that first trip in Antioch a different Antioch this is Antioch in Pisidia and he says that by him Jesus this one who was crucified by him listen to this now you are justified by all things for all things for which you could not be justified by the law of Moses and when he said that in that synagogue you can see those

[57:18] Jews looking at each other and saying did you hear what he said did you hear what he said and it caused a big dispute and guess who heard him gladly guess who heard him gladly the Gentiles the uncircumcised the goyim the dogs and they said you mean you mean we can come into a right standing with God simply on the basis of believing and we don't have to be circumcised and Paul spelled it out and the rest is history