Gospel of the Kingdom vs. Grace: What Most People Miss

Hello and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick. An Oklahoma rancher and farmer, Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. Okay, and it's good to have everybody back, and we're just going to get right into the book because that 30 minutes goes too fast. It just seems as though it's gone before we get started. So I'm going to go right back where we left off in Matthew chapter 3. Again, for those of you joining us on television, you don't have any idea how much I was reluctant to start this because of all the, what I thought would be the flack. But in three and a half years, I've only had one call that was not what you would call complimentary, but that's the only one. So that's not bad, and the Lord's been real good. We've gotten nothing but good response. All right, so let's turn, if you will, to Matthew chapter 3. And remember in our closing remarks, we were talking about the baptism of repentance as it was proclaimed by John the Baptist, and how that it was a natural to the Jew. See, they didn't have any problem accepting this. I remember years ago when I was just a young deacon, and there were a lot I didn't know, and I asked, I was the only young one out of the whole bunch. The rest were all elderly fellows, as deacons I guess usually are. And I asked one of them one time, I said, well, you know, was there any hint of baptism before we get in the New Testament, and I can see him to this day. He's lost nothing in the Old Testament concerning baptism. Why, it was all back there in the Old Testament. That's what the whole idea of washing was amounting to. In fact, let me show you a verse. Hold your hand in Matthew. Go to Hebrews. I hope the people on our television audience realize that this is strictly an informal class. Our content is not edited. We just simply, you get what you see and hear, and that's it. But back to Hebrews, I might have to look just a second, I think it's chapter 9. Hebrews chapter 9, now the reason I'm bringing you here, what I said, that baptism was not something totally new and out of the blue for the Jew as John the Baptist came on the scene. Now in Hebrews chapter 9, and I think Paul wrote Hebrews, he's rehearsing the Day of Atonement, and he speaks of the High Priest, verse 7 for example, Hebrews 9, verse 7. But the High Priest, but into the second, that is into the Holy of Holies behind the veil, but into the second went the High Priest alone, once every year, never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the heirs of the people. The Holy Ghost, or the Holy Spirit, this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing." In other words, back in the time of Moses and the Law and so forth. Now verse 9, all of this that was taking place back in the Old Testament economy, which was a figure, or a symbol, or an illustration, it was a figure for the time then present as they were practicing their sacrificial worship, it was the figure for the time then present in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices that could not make Him who did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience. In other words, this whole sacrificial system in itself, that didn�t take away sin. The blood of animals couldn�t take away sin, but that�s not the point I want to make. It�s in now verse 10. All of these things, all of the pictures that were practiced, the sacrificial lamb, the sprinkling of the blood, the approaching of a holy God on holy ground, all of this was symbolic back then, and it all stood only in meats, and drinks, and washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of the Reformation. Now what Greek word do you suppose is translated washings? It�s baptism. So if the translators would have translated the Greek word baptism like they did every other place in the New Testament, this is how it would have read. All of these things stood only in meats, and drinks, and baptisms. Now that just clarifies it. The Jew was perfectly aware of what John was doing. It was indicating a cleansing, even though the water couldn�t do it. Don�t ever get that idea. The water couldn�t take away sin, but it was a symbolic gesture indicating a need for a spiritual cleansing. Now while you�re back here in Hebrews, just come back to the left just a little bit and stop at the book of Ephesians. What a difference this makes! Ephesians 5, and I�m just going to jump in at verse 26 if I may. I don�t like to use this one verse, but for sake of time I�m going to here. Now the apostle Paul writing to the Gentile churches that were involved in this encyclical letter to the Ephesians, he writes in Ephesians 5 that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by baptism. This is our cleansing vehicle tonight. It�s the Word that cleanses, and water baptism even though it was so appropriate for the Jew because he was so used to all that. Yet we cannot claim that baptism has any kind of a cleansing effect today because it�s the Word that cleanses us. That�s how people can twist the Scriptures and it becomes quite easily done. Let�s come back to Matthew 3. He�s preaching repentance and baptism because the King and the Kingdom are on the scene. The King is now ready to fulfill the covenant promises of being their King. Now John comes down to verse 11, and he says, John 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that cometh after me, speaking of Christ, is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit, and with fire. In other words there are two alternatives, and it begins here. You�re either going to be baptized with the Spirit, or you�re going to be baptized with the lake of fire. Those are the only two alternatives. We�re either saved, or we�re lost. Now you say, well the Holy Spirit baptism, where do you find it? Come back with me now to I Corinthians chapter 12. Now remember back here in chapter 3, again what were the verb tenses? Present, past or future? Future. John says that he will at a future time. Present John is baptizing in water, but he said he at a future day will baptize with the Holy Spirit. Alright, more future than most realized. Now in I Corinthians chapter 12, I think this is where we pick it up. I Corinthians 12. I Corinthians 12. I Corinthians 12. I Corinthians 12. I Corinthians 12. As the body is one, and has many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body. In other words the simple analogy is, if you hurt your toe, where do you hurt? All over. Because the toe is a part of the body, and the nerve endings are all connected. Now what�s the next word? All, not just the chosen few, but every believer. We are all baptized into one body. Now what body? The body of Christ, which is like to the human body. The source of all of our experiences and emotions and thinking and all that is in the mind, but nevertheless the mind is in control of every facet of the body and responds to it. Now so is the body of Christ. Every believer is connected to the Head. Do you realize that Paul never uses the illusion that we as church age believers are sheep, and Christ is the shepherd? Never! You show it to me, but I don�t think you will. There�s never that illusion, because this is so much greater to be an intrinsic member of the body connected to the Head, and that in turn is what gives us our position then in Christ as a believer tonight. We aren�t just like a sheep out there under a shepherd. No, we are part and parcel of the Head and the body. Now that makes all the difference in the world, and we dare not diminish any of these things, because this is what Paul does in the book of Ephesians and Philippians and Colossians especially. He takes us into this higher plane of the Christian experience that you won�t find anywhere else in Scripture. It�s just that we are there with Christ, we are in union with Him, and the Head is in Heaven, and we�re left as ambassadors here on the earth until one day we will all be with Him and complete all that. Now let�s go back quickly to Matthew. Now then we have those choices. We can either become a believer and experience the baptism of the Spirit, or we can reject it and one day we�ll be placed into the Lake of Fire for the lost. Now you say, where do you get that? Verse 12 of Matthew 3. Well, then you come to the baptism of Jesus, and we covered that I think sufficiently in our last program. The only other thing I�d like to point out now is that at the baptism of Jesus, you have two instances of all Scripture where you have all three members of the Trinity in one place, and here they are. Verse 16 of Matthew 3. And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending on Him like a dove, and a voice from heaven saying, �This is My Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased�. So you have all three of them right here in just one instance. Now let�s go on into chapter 4, and I�ll come back to His temptations in our next program. The people who sat in darkness saw great light, and to them who sat in the region and the shadow of death, light is sprung up. Now we�re not talking about physical light such as the floodlights or the sunlight, we�re talking about a spiritual light. Now let�s come back again to Isaiah 49, and I want to come in at Isaiah 49. Remember what Matthew just said, �The people were sitting in darkness, but they see a great light.� Isaiah 49, verse 6, and he said, �It is a light thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will also give thee for a light, not only to the Jew, but also to the Gentiles, that thou mightest be my salvation, how far? To the end of the earth.� Now it�s going to start with Israel. You all know the verse in John�s Gospel, that He came unto His own. He came to the nation of Israel, but even though they rejected it, His salvation is going to extend to the ends of the earth. Now I told you the other one is in Isaiah 60, verse 1. Isaiah 60, verse 1. And the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. Ephesians 2, verse 2, "...for behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people, but in spite of that spiritual darkness, but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and His glory shall be seen upon thee, and again the Gentiles shall come to thy light." Who is the light? Oh, we used to sing the chorus when we were kids, the light of the world is what? Is Jesus. Indeed He was. Alright, now come back quickly with me to Matthew chapter 4 again, now verse 17. Matthew 4, verse 17, "...so from that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Same message that John the Baptist began. John is going to slip off the scene and end up in prison, and Jesus picks up the same message. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, because He was the King. He was ready to set up the kingdom in fulfillment of these Old Testament covenants. Now then, what was this message called? Well skip across the page to verse 23, and I want you all to see this one. I hope the camera gets on the verse, I want our television audience to read it. Matthew 4, verse 23, "...and Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues..." Now who went to synagogues? Jews or Gentiles? Jews! Oh there might have been an occasional proselyte Gentile, but it was Jews. "...and preaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom." Now let me show you another one. Turn on over to chapter 9, verse 35, and again I want this on the screen if possible. Jesus went about all the cities and villages of Israel, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom. Now in association with that gospel of the kingdom, what do you have? Finish the verse, "...healing every sickness, and every disease." Not just some of them, but all of them. In another place it says, "...and He healed them all." All of them, not just a few, not just the one with the most faith, but He healed them all. Now then, what kind of a response did this gospel of the kingdom bring out of the believers of that gospel? Now let�s do some real quick Scripture chasing. Turn with me now to Matthew chapter 16, and we�ll drop down to verse 13. So when Jesus came into the borders of Caesarea Philippi, again that�s up in northern Galilee, He asked His disciples, the twelve, �Whom do men say that I the Son of Man am?� And they said, �Some say you�re John the Baptist, some Elijah, others say you�re Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.� He said unto them, �But whom say ye that I am?� And Simon Peter answered, and said, �Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, who died for me, and rose from the dead.� It doesn�t say that does it? But that�s what everybody likes to think, because that�s our gospel. See that Christ died for me, that He was buried and He rose from the dead, that is our gospel. But that wasn�t the gospel of the kingdom, that�s the gospel of the grace of God. See the difference? So the gospel of the kingdom precipitated this kind of a confession, �Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.� What did that mean? He is the Messiah coming to fulfill the third part of that covenant, the King Redeemer, the prophet and priest. Let�s look at a few more, we�ve got a few minutes left here, but they�re going fast. John�s Gospel chapter 11, come down to verse 23. Now here we have the account of course of Lazarus, and Mary and Martha have been all uptight. They know that Jesus knew about his condition, and they can�t understand why He rose from the dead. But anyway, by the time Jesus gets back Lazarus is dead, and Jesus said in verse 23, �Thy brother shall rise again.� Now He�s comforting the girls, Martha and Mary, and Martha said unto Him, �O I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day.� And Jesus said unto her, �I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?� Now look at Martha�s answer. And she said unto Him, �Yea, Lord, I believe thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God, who should come into the world, and die for me, and be raised from the dead.� No, it doesn�t say that. What was her confession of faith? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now let�s go to Acts chapter 8. Here we have the Ethiopian eunuch, and I�m quite sure that he was a proselyte, because you see up there in verse 27, he was returning from Jerusalem where he had been worshiping. Now you all know I hope geographically where Ethiopia is, down into Africa, just around the Mediterranean Sea and then down. He�s been to Jerusalem to worship, but I want you to come all the way down to verse 35. Now Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus. And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water, and the eunuch said, See here is water, what doth hinder me to be baptized? Now that rings a bell. What has been part and parcel of the gospel of the Kingdom? Repentance and water baptism. Now compare all of these confessions, Peter, Martha, and this proselyte. Now look at his confession in verse 37. Ephesians 5a. When Philip said, If thou believest with all thy heart, thou mayest be baptized, then he answered, and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who died for me, and rose from the dead. Now you see how easy it is to put something into Scripture that isn�t there? That wasn�t his confession. All he believed was that Jesus was who he claimed to be, the Messiah, the Son of God, the King of Israel. Now let�s look at one more. Acts chapter 9. Now here we have the conversion of Saul, and I�ve got to cut all this short, but you know the account on the way to Damascus, and how as he approached the house of Ananias, he had been warned that he was going to be the apostle of the Gentiles. But Saul is going to be converted under the Gospel of the Kingdom, because that�s all that�s been revealed. Nothing else has been revealed as yet. You pick it up then in verse 20, where Saul has now been baptized appropriately, he has now been fed, and he�s got his strength back, and he goes straight down to the marketplace to the synagogue. And in the synagogue he preached Christ, that He is the Son of God, who died for the sins of the world, and rose from the dead. No, that He is the Son of God, period. That�s the Gospel of the Kingdom.