About this sermon
A Morning Instruction class on chapter 2 of Geerhardus Vos’s The Kingdom of God and the Church. Jesus spoke of the kingdom as present and also as still to come, and even John the Baptist and the disciples struggled to see how both could be true. The Old Testament prophets saw the Messiah’s glory and his humiliation together, like overlapping mountain peaks. Looking back, the church sees that the kingdom came with Christ’s first coming and will come in fullness at his return.
Sermon transcript
Alright, we do have some new faces here, so I’ll just kind of let everybody know what we’re doing. First of all, we do a quarter system at this church for Sunday school, or it’s called morning instruction, and what we are doing is reading this short little book called The Kingdom of God and the Church. by a theologian named Gerhardus Voss. The reason, we’re really just going to study what the concept of the kingdom of God is.
So we’re using this book. We really are just getting started in this. We’re reading the second chapter. which is really the first chapter. The first chapter is introduction. So we’re on the second chapter of this book here. You can get this book. It’s in the back. It’s just a few dollars and you can buy that. There’s also a reading schedule for anyone who would be interested in that. So please make use of that. I did find also that it’s available, at least the first five chapters are available online for free. And they’re not very long. It’s on Michael Horton’s, one of Michael Horton’s websites. So if you’d like to just get the first couple of chapters and read through that, that certainly is doable to do that for free even.
Now, what we’re going to talk about today is the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament. We’re going to talk about the Kingdom of God in the Old Testament. So, let’s begin. Let me just read one passage just to get things going here. As far as where we are, we’re going to talk about what the Kingdom of God is, its conception in the Old Testament, and how we ought to understand it in the New. So, I’m going to just read Exodus 19, 4 through 6.
Here now, this is God’s word. You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now then, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my possession among all the peoples, for all the people, all the earth is mine and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. And as in Exodus 19, and God says to the people that you, Old Testament Israel, are to be to me a kingdom of priests.
That’s very significant just on its own, in and of itself. to think of a kingdom of priests. Different ancient nations had different concepts. Sometimes they had an understanding of a separation where there was a king and there were priests. But God is saying, my plan is for you, the people of God, to be a kingdom of priests. Back then it was common for a kingdom concept, especially in other nations, to have a very strong king around them. And sometimes that king would take on God-like concepts, at least in the minds of the people. We wouldn’t say that they were divine at all, but certainly in Egypt, the people understood that the Pharaoh had a certain divinity to him. He was like a God.
We would say that I tell you what, I am missing a page, so pardon me for that. I’m going to just kind of break down what Yerhardas Voss has to say. And I’m just going to have to go a little bit somewhat from my memory. I do apologize for that. This is the deal, though. This is what happens.
How are we to understand the Kingdom of God when it comes upon the Earth? when Jesus comes. When Jesus comes, and really, when a certain man who comes right before Jesus comes, what are they talking about? They’re talking about the kingdom. Now, what do they say about the kingdom? What do John the Baptist say about the kingdom, and what does Jesus say about the kingdom?
This will make more sense very soon. What does John the Baptist say? What’s one of his most famous lines? John. Kingdom of God is at hand. So what is implied by that? Kingdom of God is at hand. It’s not here yet, right? I was just gonna say repent. Yes, repent, right? Because the kingdom of God is at hand. Now, why, why is it that we would think Jesus would say the kingdom of God is at hand and that John the Baptist would say that the kingdom of God is at hand?
When there’s a kingdom concept in the New Testament. Let me just ask you this, what I’m saying is, God says, let’s just say, this is our Old Testament time period, this is our New Testament time period, this is Jesus’ first coming, oh excuse me, this is Jesus’ birth, and his life and ministry, and then this is the cross. So we’ve got Old Testament concepts of kingdom, and we have New Testament concepts of kingdom.
We have, are there kings in the Old Testament? You only need to read your Old Testament once. I mean, there are lots of kings. Not only are there lots of kings, there are some really famous ones, but there are also Two books named kings. So this is not a new concept that they have here. The kingdom is present in the Old Testament.
But why is it then that Jesus comes along and he says, excuse me, we’ll back up. Why is it that John the Baptist comes along and says, the kingdom of God is at hand? Meaning, it’s not here yet. But it’s going to be very soon at hand. It means the same thing for them that it did for us. It’s just right around the corner. We could say that summer is at hand. It’s coming. It’s very soon. What are we to make of this?
Was John the Baptist ignorant of his Old Testament? Could someone in the crowd have said, hey, John the Baptist, don’t you understand the kingdom’s been around for a long, long time? Ever hear of King David? King Solomon? Kingdom of God is at hand. But there was a concept of kingdom.
So what are we to make of this? Well, this is what Gerhardus Vos says of it, and I do think that he is right. It is this, that yes, they had a concept of kingdom, in the Old Testament, they knew what the kingdom was in the Old Testament, but Jesus is doing something wholly new by his coming in the kingdom in the New Testament, and that is this.
Gerhard as Voss says, this is very significant, Jesus knew himself as at once the goal of history and the servant of history. Jesus is the goal, he’s the telos, he’s what it’s all been moving toward, and he’s also a servant. He is the master of it, but he’s the servant of it. He is serving history. He takes all of the history of the world. difficulties of sin, all these things, he brings them down upon himself.
The Old Testament knows of a kingdom as already existing at that time. It very much was the case that there was a kingdom. But, look what Luke 16, 16 says, it says, the law and the prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom has been preached and everyone is forcing his way into it. These are significant words that we’re hearing. The law and the prophets proclaimed until John. John comes right at about this time. Since that time, the gospel of the kingdom has been preached and everyone is forcing his way into it. Matthew 11, 13 says, for all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. the prophets and the law, they all had a kingdom concept.
They’re all preaching, they’re all coming until the time of John. There’s something significant about John. What could be significant about John? Does anyone remember really what Voss says about the significance of John? John is significant in this sense.
If somebody would read for me Matthew 11, 11. Ciel, would you read Matthew 11, 11? Truly I say to you, among those born of women, there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist, yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than me. This is a very significant verse.
Let’s think about it like this. We have John here. John is the most significant man ever to be born of woman. That is really a remarkable statement. But then he says this strange thing, but anyone who is the least in the kingdom is greater than John. He is, he stands on the top of the mountain, right? I mean, he is the greatest man ever to be born of Mary. But the most insignificant person in the kingdom of God, kingdom of Christ, is far greater than him. Now, I mean, we could think, think this is our Old Testament. He’s the greatest.
And anyone who is even remote, just, even someone who’s just a doorkeeper in this new kingdom that Christ is bringing is greater than him. I mean, to the point where, you know, we’re, some people are higher, some people are lower, at least on the way that Jesus is talking about this, that they’re greater. And what are we to make of this? Is it the case that we are greater than John?
Well, Jesus says yes, but in what sense? I mean, here’s a man who did some very significant things. He was an Old Testament prophet. God spoke through him. He was the one prophesied by Isaiah in Isaiah 40, you know, prepare the way for the Lord. And God is saying, Jesus is saying that you are more important than him, or you are greater than him if you’re in the kingdom of Christ. Is it simply the comparison of persons? No, it’s the comparison of kingdoms.
This kingdom that Jesus Christ is preaching about, this spiritual kingdom, is so great that the other kingdom almost falls by the wayside. Jesus almost never, ever even mentions the idea or talks about the idea that the Jews had a kingdom. That’s one of the things that Gerhardus Vos talks about in this book. Jesus never comes on and says, There’s that kingdom in the Old Testament and now there’s this kingdom that I’m preaching. He talks as if it’s non-existent. Why is that? Is it because Jesus didn’t know? No, he certainly did know.
It’s really what it has to do with is comparison. Let me just read second corinthians three just to get uh… a way that look at the way that god makes comparisons this is going to be just analogous to this second corinthians three this is the bible in your pew one forty one on the new testament it is in the pew Are we beginning to commend ourselves again, or do we need, as some, letters of commendation to you or from you? You are our letter, written in our hearts, known and read by all men. being manifested that you are a letter of Christ cared for by us, written not with ink, but with the spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts. Such confidence we have through Christ toward God, not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant. Not of the letter, but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
But if the ministry of death in letters engraved on stones came with glory, so that the sons of of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face fading as it was. How will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, how much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory? For indeed, what had glory in this case has no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if that which fades away was with glory, how much more that which remains is in glory.
And then he goes on. So here he is, analogous. He doesn’t talk about kingdom, That’s why it’s an analogy. We talk about, was there glory in the Old Testament, in the Old Testament covenant? Yes, there was. It was really glorious. I’d like to fill up this whole board with just like, the glory of the Old Testament. Amazing, powerful. When the New Testament comes, he says that the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, was a ministry of death, written on stones, but it was glorious because of Moses’ shining face.
But, let’s just say, on its own, it’s glorious. But when you compare it with the glory that is now, the ministry of the Spirit, it is fading away to the point where what we can say is that it’s just getting smaller and smaller when we compare it with the exceedingly great and grand, glowing, growing glory of the kingdom of Christ. So much to the point where this is getting to the point where it’s just, there’s, it’s nothing left. It had glory, but when you compare it with this, it becomes almost as nothing. Now obviously, I mean, Paul would not say that, he would not discount the Old Testament or anything like that, but comparison of glory One so outshines the other that it is as if the other one had just a little spot of glory.
Why? Because the increase of his government will have no end, Isaiah says. It continues to grow. No end, Isaiah says. What we ought to understand, I think, is that While this glory is growing and this glory is shrinking, this glory, the kingdom of Christ, is continuing to grow even throughout eternity. Now, there are two ways that the kingdom grows. Two ways. One, I’m not allowed to talk while I write because then I misspell. That’s what we’ve learned in the past. So there are two ways that the kingdom grows. It grows in quantity.
God is adding. Oh, in the temples, like the Egyptian temple where they kill off a whole bunch of people, they sacrifice them, and they build upon that, and they build upon that. There are dead people in the temples of the other nations, right? What he’s saying is you are living stones being built into this great end times temple.
Quantity is growing. But will that always be the case? No, there’s a time period in which quantitatively, numerically, the kingdom is not going to be growing anymore. And when will that be? When Jesus comes back. After Jesus comes back, no more people are going to be added to heaven. That’s it. But will the increase of his government and the glory of the same quit? Will it stop at that point? No. It’s going to continue to grow.
How? Qualitatively, and glory, I think it’s very clear what the Bible is saying. So, with that in mind, with this analogy, how ought we to understand the fact that Jesus pretty much never, except for one or two instances which will qualify in a moment, Jesus talks as if the kingdom is new, the kingdom is unknown, that were no kingdom. Everybody clear on that? Okay. Now, we ought to understand the Old Testament concept of a kingdom. Actually, let me back that up. the ancient Jewish understanding of kingdom.
Do you think that people were disappointed when Jesus came and preached the kingdom and they didn’t see any differences? They didn’t see any changes. They were still under Roman rule. I mean, some of them are in denial about it. I mean, it is an insult. It is a kick in the face to the Jewish people between the Testaments and also in the New Testament time period to have another nation ruling over them. I mean, imagine, they’re listening to these stories of Exodus and, you know, how great it was when God delivered our people. Here we are, we’re in bondage to the Romans. They had some freedoms. It wasn’t total slavery, but they weren’t happy about it.
So this guy comes on, Jesus, almost seemingly ignoring the concept of a kingdom, and he’s saying, kingdom is new. Kingdom is almost here. And eventually, even in his preaching, he begins to change it, his concept from The kingdom is almost here to the kingdom is here. We have Matthew 12, 28, where Jesus says, if I cast out demons, the kingdom has come upon you.
And then you saw him casting out demons. It’s very simple. Logicians would say, if P Therefore, don’t be scared off by this. This is very simple. Jesus is saying, if I cast out demons, then the kingdom has come. I do cast out demons, therefore, the kingdom has come. So the kingdom is now, Jesus is saying. The kingdom is now. And if you’re one of those Old Testaments, or a Pharisee or a Sadducee or someone like that, you’re thinking, not impressed, you know? Big deal. What’s the big deal? Okay, you’re casting out demons.
We’re still under bondage. We’re still under bondage to the Romans. So even John seems to have doubts. What does John ask when he’s in jail? Probably his life is threatened. We’re not sure if it was threatened at that point. And he sends a message to Jesus. He sends some people to go ask him a few questions. And what does he ask them?
Yes. Are you the one or are we to look for another? Yes. Is that what you were gonna say? Are you the one or are we to look for another? I mean, here, you talk, the kingdom’s here. You’re the one I’ve been preaching about, I think, but I think I’m about to die here, and we’re still under bondage. I’m not sure. Maybe somebody else. I’m starting to have doubts.
Well, we don’t want to just talk about John the Baptist and his understanding about it. The disciples, what do they ask him in Acts chapter one? I mean, he is crucified, he’s raised from the dead, and he’s about to ascend into heaven, and what do they ask him?
David. No, I just told you the other day. I, yes, I’ve been preempting this for him. No, no, it was different conversation. They say to him, are you now going to bring about the kingdom? That, that honest question. And he, you know, Jesus, Are you serious? The kingdom is here. But it’s a spiritual kingdom. See, the Old Testament Jewish understanding, excuse me, I need to qualify that.
The Jewish understanding and their misunderstanding of the Old Testament was of a future reign of a Messiah literally over the nations. That’s what they understood. Not only that, some of them had a view that the kingdom would be a literal 1,000 year reign over the nations. Does that sound familiar? That’s what their understanding was, that the Messiah is going to come and he’s going to reign 1,000 years and all these other nations, the Romans, even the Assyrians, who, I mean, they’re pretty much gone by that point, but the Assyrians who took over, our brothers in the north, all these nations, the Philistines, all these who molested our people for all these years, for all these centuries, our king is going to have dominion over them. And this one man, this one zealot in their mind, coming along and preaching that a kingdom has come, and they probably thought he’d done a few magic tricks, you know, one of the Roman magic tricks. magistrates, forgive me, I think it’s Pilate, says, you know, I’ve heard things you can do, maybe you can show me some miracles, you know, as if Jesus, his kingdom was just simply about magic tricks.
But no, the understanding of Jesus and the understanding of John, aside from his doubts, are that the kingdom is a spiritual kingdom and it is great and glorious and it is growing constantly. Now, that is why it is the case that the kingdom was a familiar concept to the people at that time.
That is why they didn’t need to qualify it but it was seen as new. This is something that certain scholars who maybe are not as conservative as people in this church would look at this and they would assume that Jesus is just confused. That’s often the understanding of liberal scholarship is that they think that the apostles or Jesus were just a little bit confused, didn’t understand all that he could have, that Jesus never talks about the Old Testament as if it were a kingdom and talks about it as new. What we have is simply a way of solving that, and that is the greatness of the new kingdom.
What is more real, that which is spiritual or that which is physical and material. Obviously, that which is spiritual is more real. Now, we don’t wanna have a Greek concept that when we are resurrected, we will be resurrected in a physical body. Jesus is resurrected, we’re told, a life-giving spirit in a physical body. So Jesus is physical. I mean, heaven will not be people becoming angels with harps on clouds or anything like that.
We will be in the culmination of the kingdom. What we ought to see and we ought to understand from all of the biblical testimony is that the kingdom comes This is the time of Jesus’ birth, his death, and all the things that come with it. Resurrection, ascension, session at the right hand of God, Then we have this age that we are in, which is just the church age after the apostles and everything, but there is the second coming. And which goes on, which brings about the eternal state. So we would say that Jesus brings about the kingdom in two senses.
He comes along and he was born as what? He’s born a king. I mean, that’s what the birth narratives tell us in Matthew and in Luke, Jesus is born a king. a king to the point where Herod was afraid that he was going to take over his kingship. Why? He had a literal understanding of kingship, just like the rest of the Jews do. Thousands year reign, possibly. That was something that he was afraid of.
So here the kingdom comes. The kingdom is here. It has been here. from that time, but it will come once again, or not even once again because it never leaves, at the second coming of Christ. We could say that we have, we witness in our Bible from the testimony of it, that we have the kingdom consummation, excuse me, the kingdom consummation and the kingdom inauguration. Inauguration, consummation.
Is the kingdom that is now deficient in any way? No, it’s not, not at all. But even though it’s not deficient, there’s going to be something greater added to it, namely the eternal state and seeing of Christ the resurrection, all these things coming together. So it’s very simple, Vossian concept, Voss, the writer that we’re dealing with, is the concept of already and not yet. Is the kingdom here? Yes, it’s already here. Is the kingdom not here? Not yet, not in its full consummation. Is it sufficient? Yes.
Everything, the kingdom is glorious now, it’s increasing in power, glory, all those things, but it is not yet what it will be. It’s going to be even greater than. We might say that it might that this time period, after the Second Coming, is going to… I mean, God may tell us, we don’t know, that that segment, that aspect, that time period of the Kingdom, is growing in glory, showing that this one… I mean, if this one’s glorious, how much more glorious that will be?
But we don’t know. But we ought to say this, that when we think of the kingdom, we ought to understand it in these two ways. One, that it comes in two ways or two installments. But the way that the Old Testament prophets speak of it is as one kingdom. The kingdom is one. It may have come in different forms. with different concomitant events, but the kingdom is now. It’s one kingdom.
Now, the way that we ought to understand our Old Testament when we read it is we ought to be able to look back on our Old Testament and see the things that they did not see. The Old Testament prophets were looking into the future, and they’re seeing glory. But they’re also seeing humiliation. They’re seeing their Messiah being king over all the nations, but then they’re seeing somebody, Psalm chapter 22, Isaiah 53, humiliated.
But after these events have taken place, that’s when they’re seeing, they’re able to see all of these things coming about. They’re seeing that he’s born in Bethlehem, that he was tested in the wilderness. Out of Egypt I called my son. We’re seeing these things. We see his death in a number of places in the Old Testament. We see his second coming. In the Old Testament sense, these things are unqualified. The prophet has a vision, has a dream, has something, and they’re seeing this. And one seems to see glory, one sees humiliation. What are we to make of this? Are there two messiahs? No, not at all. Are there two different people? No, it’s the same person. But we’re seeing the life of Christ played out in our Old Testament. And we can understand this, we ought to understand this, how much greater it is to be in this kingdom, because they did not fully understand.
Turn with me, if you would, we just have a few minutes left, 1 Peter 1.10. If you ever don’t think that you’re blessed to be one of God’s people, and you forget how blessed you are to be in the Kingdom of Christ. Remember these words, 1 Peter 1, starting at 10 on to 12.
As to this salvation, the prophets who prophesied the grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, seeking to know what person or time the Spirit of Christ went in them Christ and the glories to follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, and these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look. There your Old Testament prophets are, inspired by the word of God, prophetic utterances speaking the word of God. I mean, these men were called up into heaven. I mean, that’s not just Paul. All the prophets, in order to be a prophet in the Old Testament sense, you had to be called up into heaven and stand in the counsel of God. That was how they became prophets and sent back down. Even with that, they’re looking ahead and they’re, as this says, trying to discern to understand what manner of person or what was going on at that, what’s going to happen.
But we have the ability, with our Bible, with the Holy Spirit, because we’re post-Pentecost, to have, we could say, a Holy Spirit hermeneutic, or a pneumatological hermeneutic. That’s just a fancy word for Holy Spirit. a Holy Spirit hermeneutic to compare Scripture with Scripture. That’s the way that the Word of God works. We compare God’s Word with God’s Word, and then we’re able to see these great concepts.
We are able to see the kingdom, this spiritual grown kingdom, and the Old Testament prophets did not have full clarity of it, 1 Peter is saying. Not only that, the Jews of Jesus’ time just missed it because they were looking for a literal kingdom. We’re not looking for a literal kingdom. We enter into that kingdom, the kingdom of Christ, by repentance and faith.
Understanding the great redemptive acts of God in Christ. all for His glory, the glory of the Father, all for our good. All these things happen for the good of God’s people. So, praise God that greater is He who is in this kingdom, the kingdom of Christ, than anyone else who came before. For we understand God’s saving acts, and his redemptive acts and his kingdom better than Isaiah on his deathbed, it seems. Certainly better than John the Baptist on his deathbed. These things that we take for granted are amazing. Greater are those who are in this kingdom. That’s not really flattery to us, per se. It’s just amazing, the kingdom as it grows. Any thoughts, questions, jokes, dilemmas, anything? All right, we just have a minute left. If nothing, then we will end early. Yes, Doris? I’m thinking of Hebrews 11. What does it say?
And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive it with promise, since God had provided something better for us. But apart from us, they should not be made perfect. I don’t know if we’re talking about the whole kingdom thing. We’re not separate from them, but apart from us, they should not be made perfect.
And we’re going to, with them, with the Faith Hall of Fame, we’re all going to be resurrected. I mean, the kingdom, ultimately all those of the Old Testament are going to come. They’re going to enter into the kingdom consummation at the second coming, apart from us. You have another thought on top of that? Okay, more thoughts are good. All right, let’s pray. And we’ve got about 20 minutes before we begin.
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