Premillennialism Pt. 6:
The Kingdom Of Christ: Fulfilled!
Prepared by Nathan L Morrison for Sunday November 2nd, 2014
Text: Mk. 1:14-15
Intro
I. The New Testament speaks often of “the kingdom of Christ” (of God, of Heaven).
II. Gabriel told Mary the kingdom would be fulfilled in Christ! (Lk. 1:30-33):
A. “Call His name Jesus”: “Salvation is of Jehovah” – Mt. 1:21; Jn. 1:29
B. “He will be great”: All authority given Him – Mt. 28:18; Eph. 1:20-21; Is. 9:6
C. “The Son of the Highest”: Immanuel = “God with us” (Is. 7:14). Left his place with God to be with us – Phil. 2:5-8; Jn. 1:1-4, 9-14
D. “God will give Him the throne of His father David”: Head and King over His eternal spiritual kingdom – II Sam. 7:12; Ps. 132:11 (Acts 2:30-33); Is. 9:6-7; Mt. 21:9, 15-16; Mk. 11:9-10; Lk. 19:37-40
E. “He will reign…forever…of His Kingdom there will be no end”: No end to His Kingdom! (Dan. 2:44; 7:13-14, 27; Mt. 12:28; Mk. 9:1; Heb. 12:28)
III. This was foretold in O.T. prophecies: John the Baptist’s job was to prepare the people!
A. Mt. 3:2: When John the Baptist was preparing the way for the Messiah, he announced the “kingdom of heaven” was at hand.
IV. After John was imprisoned Jesus began saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” (Mk. 1:14-15)
A. Mt. 6:10: As Christ taught His disciples to pray, He spoke to His Father and prayed, “Your kingdom come.” (Not fulfilled yet, still to come so they were to pray for it.)
B. Mt. 6:33: Jesus taught His disciples to “seek first the kingdom of God.” (6:25-32: If kingdom not yet here, how can one seek it first to have necessities of life added to them?)
C. Mk. 9:1: Jesus also said some in His audience would “not taste death until they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.” (Cannot refer to later kingdom!)
D. Mt. 26:29: In instituting the Lord’s Supper, Jesus said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.”
V. What is the “kingdom” that the angel Gabriel, John the Baptist and Jesus spoke of?
A. “Kingdom”: basileia (G932: bas-il-i'-ah): “royalty, i.e. (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm (literally or figuratively): kingdom, + reign.
1. This word is used to refer to kingdoms both physically and figuratively.
2. Also used to describe church and heaven: Mt. 3:2; 16:18; 7:21; I Cor. 6:9
B. The word is defined by Thayer as “royal power, kingship, dominion, rule.” (J.H. Thayer, Thayer’s Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament)
VI. Old Testament prophecies concerning the kingdom of Heaven point to the days when Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled!”
I. The Prophecy Of Joel
A. About 800 years before Christ, God raised up a prophet by the name of Joel to deliver a message of doom to the nations and a promise of glory for Jehovah’s cause.
B. Joel 2:28-32:
1. Although other Old Testament prophets hinted at the coming of the Holy Spirit, Joel is so clear in his prediction of what happened in Jerusalem in Acts 2, that he is often called the “prophet of Pentecost.”
C. Acts 2: The fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy:
1. Acts 1:4-11: The promise of Holy Spirit by Christ to His apostles.
2. Acts 1:12: The apostles returned to Jerusalem.
3. Acts 2:1-4: The Holy Spirit fell on the apostles.
4. Acts 2:5-11: Men from every nation were present.
5. Acts. 2:14-24: Peter said Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled.
a. Acts 2:22-23: The signs and wonders were fulfilled by Christ, perhaps also indicating the darkness and blood were upon His death.
b. Acts 2:33: God did pour out His Spirit.
c. Acts 1:12; 2:5: It happened in Jerusalem.
d. Acts 2:38-41: Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. (Acts 22:16)
D. The prophecy of Joel had been fulfilled on the day of Pentecost!
II. The Prophecy Of Isaiah
A. Is. 1:1: More than 600 years before Christ came into the world, during the time when Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah ruled over Judah, God raised up a prophet by the name of Isaiah.
B. Is. 2:1-4: A prophecy concerning the rule of Christ and the establishment of His kingdom.
1. Something would happen in the “last days.”
a. Many teach that “last days” refer to end times. It could mean that.
b. However, it could also mean the days of fulfillment, when that which is before prophecy changes and gives way to the new (fulfillment).
c. Could also refer to church period – living in days before Christ’s return.
2. The “Lord’s house” would be established.
3. “All nations” would flow to it.
4. The law would go forth from Jerusalem (Zion).
5. Men would turn their “swords into plowshares.”
C. The fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy.
1. Gal. 4:4; Mt. 3:1-2; Mk. 1:14-15; 9:1: Christ came at the proper time.
a. How do we know it was the proper time then and not at end of time?
b. Dan. 2:44: Daniel’s prophecy told when the “proper time” for the kingdom would be: In the days of the kings of the 4th kingdom: Rome!
c. Not the end of time, but the days of Rome: “The time was fulfilled!”
2. Mt. 16:13-19; I Tim. 3:15: He established His house.
3. Mt. 28:19-20; Acts 1:6-8: All nations would flow into it.
4. Lk. 24:57; Acts 1:4-5: Preaching began at Jerusalem.
5. Jn. 18:36: The peaceful nature of the kingdom: not to engage in physical battle. (Eph. 6:12)
- The kingdom of Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled when Christ established the church!
III. Rev. 20 & the Rest of the N.T.
A. Rev. 20:4: There is no mention of a 1,000 year reign of Christ on the earth!
B. Christ is reigning now from heaven!
1. He has all authority in heaven and on earth – Mt. 28:18
2. He is Lord of all – Acts 2:36; 10:36; I Tim. 6:15; Rev. 1:5
3. He is Lord of the living and the dead – Rom. 14:9
4. He is head over all things – Eph. 1:20-22
5. Angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to Him – I Pet. 3:22
6. He is truly the ruler over the kings of the earth – Rev. 1:5 (I Tim. 6:15)
C. His kingdom (reign) was always intended to be spiritual, not physical
1. He resisted when people tried to make Him an earthly king – Jn. 6:15
2. He said that His kingdom was not of this world – Jn. 18:36
3. His kingdom was not to come with observation, but to be “within you” – Lk. 17:20-21 (NKJ); NAS: “in your midst” – The King had performed miracles confirming Who He was and He was in their midst and they did not comprehend or choose to accept Him as their King! John had prepared the way
4. His apostles taught that kingdom was spiritual in nature – Rom. 14:17
5. One is baptized into the kingdom (the church) – Acts 2:41, 47; I Cor. 12:13; Col. 1:13, 18 (citizen of Heaven – Phil. 3:20)
D. Lk. 24:44: Jesus said the things spoken of Him in “the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms” were fulfilled.
1. Leaving two prophecies to come: The destruction of Jerusalem (Mt. 24:1-35: fulfilled in 70 A.D.) and His 2nd Coming (Jn. 14:1-6: No one knows the hour of that return – Mt. 24:36).
E. Christ’s 2nd Coming is not to establish His kingdom, but to deliver it to God (I Cor. 15:22-54)
1. When Christ comes and the dead are raised, that is the end – I Cor. 15:22-24
2. He will deliver the kingdom to God, when He has put to an end all rule, authority and power – I Cor. 15:24
3. He reigns now, and must do so until all enemies are put under His feet – I Cor. 15:25
4. The last enemy to be destroyed will be death, which will occur when the body is raised from the dead – I Cor. 15:26, 51-54
F. The N.T. (including Revelation) teaches that Christ is reigning now from heaven!
Conclusion
I. Premillennialists teach that Christ is not now on David’s throne. (Acts 2:30-35)
A. They claim He is not reigning over His kingdom.
B. Premillennialists say Christ will not receive His throne until He returns to this literal earth to reign over a literal kingdom. (Mk. 9:1: Jesus said people of that day would see it.)
C. In other words, they dethrone Christ now and say He will reign on His footstool, the earth. (Is. 66:1)
II. The kingdom came in the days of Christ and was fulfilled on Pentecost.
A. Mt. 3:2: John the Baptist said, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand!”
1. John proclaims to men everywhere that the “last days” spoken of by the prophets was upon them and was nearing their close. (Mk. 1:14-15)
2. The Jewish nation would be forever changed with the fulfillment of this prophecy – Mt. 21:43: Jews no longer select group, open to all: Acts 10.
B. Mk. 1:14-15: Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled!” (Joel 2:28-32; Is. 2:1-4; Dan. 2:44; Mk. 9:1)
1. It is always exciting when something you look forward to finally arrives!
2. For some the build-up hype are better than the event, and they are let down.
3. For others, the build-up pales in comparison to that which they awaited!
4. The Jews and still some today were disappointed in Jesus’ “kingdom.”
C. The church is the spiritual kingdom John the Baptist & Jesus proclaimed – Mt. 3:2; 4:17
1. It is a kingdom of heaven because its origin, its end, its king, the character and destiny of its subjects, its laws, institutions, and privileges, are all heavenly!
2. A citizen of the church (kingdom) is a citizen of heaven – Phil. 3:20; Col. 1:13
3. The church fulfills the prophetic rule of God: without any national limitation, so that participation rests only on faith in Jesus and obedience to His gospel.
III. Those still waiting for and teaching the kingdom of Heaven is coming one day in the future will be waiting till it’s too late for them, for Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled!” (Mk. 1:14-15)
IV. Rev. 3:20-21; 22:17: Christ has an invitation for you to share in His glory!
V. Have you obeyed the gospel that you may become a citizen of heaven?
VI. If you are not a Christian, you need to be. Repent and be baptized into His name!
VII. If a Christian in error, don’t wait till it’s eternally too late. Repent and be renewed!
VIII. Whatever your requests, let them be made known NOW while we stand & sing!
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Premillennialism Pt. 6: The Kingdom Of Christ: Fulfilled