Now we’ve talked a bit about the Gospel of the kingdom. What is it? This gospel. It is using End Times prophecy to see people get saved.
I've talked about it before: My late friend Barry Smith who’s gone to be with the Lord – good friend, dear brother, hopeless Bible teacher as in Y2K, etc., great evangelist. Why? He preached the Gospel of the kingdom. He used prophecy to see people get saved.
Hal Lindsay in his personal life has lost the plot – we know that. But The Late, Great Planet Earth? A wild oversimplification of biblical eschatology admittedly, but a lot of people got saved through it. Why? He preached the Gospel of the kingdom. We have to use End Times prophecy to see people get saved.
Certainly events in the Middle East are shown in Zechariah 12; see what it’s coming to? Genetic engineering of human freaks just as it was in the days of Noah, demonoids becoming human. “Let us destroy those who are destroying the earth”, the environment? We have to use End Times prophecy to see people get saved.
Last Days – most of you know this before the tape, I’ve got to do it – Hebrews 1, very quickly…
God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son…
“Many portions” refers to the “paroch hashavuah” – “the election” – the annual liturgical reading in the synagogue of the Haftorah. It was written to Jewish Christians. Now the Last Days are in the Last Days. Remember, the rapture and resurrection have already begun, haven’t they? Jesus is the first fruit of the resurrection and the ascension of Jesus was the beginning of the rapture. We’re waiting for our role in it. We are waiting for our role in it, but the events have already begun. The rapture and resurrection began with the resurrection and ascension of Jesus; they were already under way, we're waiting for our role in it. Like the SAS and American commandos who parachuted in back of the German lines on D-Day before the actual invasion came to the beach. But the invasion did not begin on the beaches of Normandy, it began with paratroopers in back of the German lines. Well, it’s already begun. We’re waiting for our role in it. We’re already in the Last Days in the general sense. In the specific sense the Last Days are the events leading up to the Day of the Lord.
So we look at what is the Gospel and what is the Gospel of the kingdom? What are the Last Days? We’ll leave with this: The existing churches and denominations for the most part cannot preach the Gospel of the kingdom; they cannot do it. Because in order to preach the Gospel of the kingdom they would have to renounce too much of the false things they've already embraced. The Gospel of the kingdom involves scaring people, They’re into Rick Warren – “give a positive message”; they’re into psychology they’re into “don’t be negative”; they’re into” cheap grace”; they’re into Alpha; they’re into unbiblical approaches to evangelism. Preaching the Gospel of the kingdom is very different. It’s John the Baptist, “Repent, the kingdom is at hand”, (Mat 3:2) and of one more verse – and then we’ll close – (Mat 4:23)
Jesus was going throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness among the people.
Notice it was accompanied with signs and wonders. These signs follow. (Mark 16:20) It was not the signs. they follow. That’s the Gospel of the kingdom; that's the Gospel in the Last Days. We begin in
the next chapter.
