The Kingdom of God (Part 6: Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God)

Below is but a small measure of revelation that my father had received from the Lord. I hope this will be a blessing to you. All that is written below are the words of my father.

The Kingdom of God 

In loving memory of my father
Robert Louis (Bob) Padgett
July 28, 1931-May 22, 2023

(Part 6: Preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God)

In our previous message we spoke about character refinement as being one of the requirements to enter the kingdom of God. In this message we want to focus on the commandment for all believers to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. We should first point out the difference between preaching and teaching. Then we will try to clarify the basic two ways that we can preach the true gospel, which is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the good news.

1 Corinthians 1:17, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."

1 Corinthians 1:23, "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;"

Colossians 1:27-29, "To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:"

Those verses give a priority order - the first is to preach Jesus; then warning every man; and then teaching every man in all wisdom. So we preach the Person of Jesus ... who He is. That clearly takes precedent over teaching doctrine.

Sadly, popular evangelism of today preaches an "easy believe-ism" gospel that has adulterated the requirement to preach the gospel. This new "gospel" has been adjusted to make it easy to take the step of faith a sinner is more comfortable with. Rather than demand too much of them, the requirement is now weakened to only "believe Jesus died for your sins", along with a prayer to "ask Him into your heart". They are asked to believe only slightly more than what all demons believe (James 2.19), a travesty of the real challenge sinners should be faced with. 

All agree we are saved by faith; but the important question is faith in what? Is it merely to "believe Christ died for our sins" as this new "gospel" claims? No, this is a serious misrepresentation of the call to believe and what we put our faith in. This simplistic reduction of the gospel to the lowest common denominator strips it of its power. If we are to be a disciple of Christ as the Lord intended, the radical call of the gospel cannot be escaped. The command of the gospel is to exercise faith and "believe on the Lord Jesus Christ" when a sinner decides to repent.

Certainly, to believe "propositional truth" about Him is necessary; He died for our sins, rose again from the dead and other fundamentals about who He is. We must put our trust in Him, not in facts about Him. Let me repeat ... we must put our trust in Him, not in facts about Him.

Any gospel is really not the true gospel unless it calls for a sinner to commit to being "betrothed" to Christ; and be faithful to that pledge until the "marriage". Life in Christ is to be an ongoing journey where we go "from faith to faith" (Romans 1.17) as our dependence on Him grows ever stronger. That is, we increasingly take bigger steps to trust Him to guide us in the pathways of life, to provide for our needs, and to care for and support us in times of difficulty. To believe in Christ really means to rely upon Him to save us fully from the world, the flesh and the devil. Eventually the faith we have by grace should trust Him to supply all we need; a lifelong quest that requires us to keep on growing in experiential knowledge of the Lord.

Therefore, in presenting the gospel to a sinner, the challenge to them must be more than an invitation to "ask Jesus into your heart". Primarily it is the call to repent and surrender to the claims of Christ as Lord and Savior first; to make the commitment to follow Him and obey His commandments. It is a call to become a disciple (one who is teachable and willing to learn from the master) and is one that should be settled before the call to put faith in Christ. Only repentance can rescue both non-Christian and Christian from the extreme wickedness and rebellion that has made inroads in the last several generations.

Now, to be "born again" is to be translated out of the "power of darkness, and ... into the kingdom of his dear Son" (Colossians 1.13) to become a registered citizen. But mere knowing about our citizenship is not enough if we are to fully experience the Life of this heavenly Kingdom. Even if we are a legal resident, we must be aligned with its values and live in harmony with those dynamics that govern it, to truly experience all its benefits. We qualify to be recipients of its blessings only when we carefully observe its laws and comply with its codes of behavior. The "commandments" Jesus refers to are in fact all precepts and "laws" governing the kingdom and laid out in what men call the sermon on the mount.

Jesus links the "commandments" to the kingdom of heaven (God), not to the old covenant that was passing away. To teach the Mosaic law takes us back to what is now "obsolete and ... has vanished away" (Hebrews 8.13) is to sow real confusion among "new covenant" believers. Jesus declared "all foods clean" (Mark 7.19). As citizens of a new realm of God, one that has new governing precepts with higher ethical and moral standards, we do not go back to the old; either to observe "the feasts", the "Sabbath" or the dietary restrictions of the old covenant. But also notice that Jesus wants us to know these precepts (commandments) are not to be broken or dismissed as irrelevant; even if they seem radical and impossible to observe, we cannot set them aside as many seem to have done.

I am not sure that I have ever heard anyone preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Why? Well, repentance is not a popular message. I am sure that some in my lifetime have preached the same message that Jesus, Paul, and others preached. But I do not recall ever hearing it through a man. That message was preached by Jesus to the chosen people of God. I have never heard anyone preach the true meaning of "repent" as it applies to the charismatic community. Neither do I recall ever reading anything about the repentance the Lord is looking for from us as believers in Christ.

The word, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand," is the first word of the kingdom of God. All of the "Old Testament" prophets preached repentance. To whom did they preach that word? to the chosen people of God. John the Baptist and Jesus preached, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." To whom did John the Baptist and Jesus preach that word? to the chosen people of God. Today, many charismatic/Spirit-filled believers seem to believe, "That word does not apply to me because I am already saved." How tragic! Human nature has never changed.

Jesus said, in Luke 4:43,

 "I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent." 

That states a purpose and a vision. The Lord Jesus is calling us to identify with that same vision and purpose in our life. The same driving purpose should be found within all Christian evangelism.

Yet, strangely, the phrase "Gospel of the Kingdom of God" is absent from the lips of nearly all contemporary attempts to "preach salvation." That should tell us that something is seriously amiss in mainstream Christianity.

When asked to define His kingdom, Jesus in Luke 17:20-21 said, 

"The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, See here! or See there! For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you"

"Within you" is not the best translation. The better translation is "in your midst." Jesus was speaking to the Pharisees at the time. He surely was not saying that the kingdom of God resided within the Pharisees' hearts. The Pharisees opposed Jesus and had no relationship with God.

There are three possible interpretations of Jesus' words in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom of God is in your midst: (1) the kingdom of God is in your midst in the person and presence of Jesus; (2) the kingdom of God is essentially inward, within man's heart; and (3) the kingdom is within your reach if you make the right choices. We believe all three are true. Jesus was inaugurating the kingdom as He changed the hearts of men, one at a time. The kingdom of God begins in seed form when we are born from above. Whether that seed grows into the kingdom of God depends on the degree with which we get rid of the weeds, feed and water it.

Scripture speaks about preaching Jesus Christ (Acts 5:42), preach the gospel (Acts 16:10), preach the word of faith (Romans 10:8), preach Christ crucified (1 Corinthians 1:23), and preach the kingdom of God (Acts 28:31). They do not represent five different gospels. We believe that the kingdom of God is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is nothing and no one outside of Christ who is acceptable in the sight of the Father. The gospel is the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the good news.

Many preach a renewed evangelistic activism. Who can argue with evangelism? It is very scriptural (although if you stop and think about it, perhaps only 1% of the Bible is devoted to what most folks call "evangelism" or attempts to "save" non-believers). Moreover, evangelism only extends the predominant religion of the day. Acts, Chapter 8, is one of the very few places where evangelism is mentioned. The reason is because the Bible was written primarily for believers, not non-believers. The editor of one of the foremost charismatic magazines, in an October 2008 article called, "Back to the Pure Gospel," states that, "Evangelism, pure and simple, is God's heart." The author exhorts us, "Let's keep the main thing the main thing." By "main thing" he clearly implies that evangelism is the main thing that we Christians should focus on. Although he does not exactly define the word, he seems to equate "evangelism" with the type of ministry and content of sermons preached by Billy Graham. We have always appreciated the ministry of Billy Graham; but again, if you think about it, we are sure that only a very small percentage of those who have gone to Graham's crusades were non-Christians. In fact many years ago I read that Billy Graham himself admitted that only a very small percentage of those who came forward to his altar calls became disciples of Christ. By implication, the author of "Back to the Pure Gospel" defines the "pure gospel" the same way as "evangelism".

If we look at the gospel only in terms of what Christ has done for us, we start down the slippery slope of a man-centered Christianity. The popular theology for many long years has been (and still is) a me-centered theology where self is king. That is a message that tickles the ears but leads nowhere. That is a message of salvation for me, my faith, healing for me, deliverance for me, blessings for me, prosperity for me, gifts for me, ministry for me, the baptism with the Holy Ghost for me, the so-called rapture for me, and heaven for me once I finish my course on earth. Paul had something to say about that.

8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8-9

The me-centered gospel is one of the "other" gospels that Paul warned against. It is popular because it emphasizes what I "get."

The word "gospel" occurs 104 times in the New Testament, but not once in the Old Testament. Scripture speaks of "the gospel" (about 56 times); "my gospel" (Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25, and 2 Timothy 2:8); "our gospel" (2 Corinthians 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, and 2 Thessalonians 2:14); "the gospel of peace," "the gospel of God," "the gospel of the grace of God," "the gospel of Christ," "the gospel of Jesus Christ," "the gospel of our Lord Jesus," and "the gospel of the kingdom of God." All of these verses speak of the same gospel, for there is only one gospel. Of course, we need to ensure that "the gospel" becomes "my gospel" (personal) first and then "our gospel" (corporate).

Paul three times speaks of "my" gospel (Romans 2:16, Romans 16:25, and 2 Thessalonians 2:8). Let us consider one of the three occurrences of the phrase "my gospel." 

25 Now to Him That is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

26 But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: Romans 16:25-26

If we read some of Paul's epistles, we might superficially get the impression that he was a rather egotistical man. The above is one such verse. How dare any one speak of "my gospel" when it is the gospel of Jesus Christ? But we believe that Paul was quite the opposite of egotistical. We believe he had the humility of Christ worked within him. In the above verses, Paul was simply saying that the gospel of Jesus Christ or the gospel of the kingdom of God had become very personal to him. Therefore it became "his;" it was a part of him ... the word had become flesh within Paul. God's message of the kingdom of God is designed to become personal to each one of us. The Word must become flesh within us.

Paul also speaks three times of "our" gospel (2 Corinthians 4:3, 1 Thessalonians 1:5, and 2 Thessalonians 2:14).

Do you find it interesting that the Apostle Paul here so identifies with this Gospel that he attaches the personal pronoun "our"? Not only is the gospel of the kingdom of God to become personal to each one of us, but the gospel must become real to the Church as a corporate body.

Paul said, "Woe is me if I preach not the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:16). Many preach what Christ has done for us. Few preach Christ. 

Jesus introduced a new relationship to God, whether the people were ready for it or not. The history of the human race is that they have never been ready for what the Lord was going to do. I seriously doubt that WE will be "ready" for what God will do the next time. Let's not be too hard on Nicodemus, for our lack of understanding may be as bad or worse than his was.

After a person has established a relationship with Jesus, he has become eligible to participate in the quest for citizenship in the kingdom of GOD.

That strikes squarely at the root principle of our human lives ... the very nature we were born with (the axe is laid to the ROOT of the tree). The process is controlled entirely by the individual, in proportion to our co-operation with the Spirit of God. When He touches an aspect of our life, if we respond favorably, the process continues. One "NO" from us, and the process stops. 

It invariably takes place within the inmost confines of the heart of the individual believer, and is observable ONLY by the resultant adjustment of the life.

It is worth striving for. It is available only to believers after they have established a relationship with Jesus. Anyone can be a Christian (salvation) without progressing on to attain to the kingdom of God stature. But "WHY?" The real tragedy is in missing the kingdom.

The Kingdom of God is a condition entirely within the heart of every individual believer, not just an earthly government which endures for a thousand years. We must forget about those things that resemble our earthly governments, for, as Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 17:20-21 And remember, we are in the world but not of the world.

You and I were designed to be God's messengers to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom of God in our world today just as Jesus proclaimed this message in His day on earth. You have probably heard the phrase that "he is so heavenly minded that he is no earthly good." Well the truth is the exact opposite. Unless we are heavenly minded we will be no earthly good. You cannot pass on that which is not real to us. We must minister out of experience.

Now some may say, "But brother, I am not a preacher. Well I could say the same thing. I have heard several men of God who can and have preached dynamic words. I have never been able to preach like those few. We know from 2 Peter 2:5 that Noah was a preacher of righteousness.

Genesis 6:9, "These are the generations of Noah: Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God."

Genesis 6:22, "Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he." 

Genesis 7:5, "And Noah did according unto all that the LORD commanded him."

But the ONLY recorded scripture where Noah ever opened his mouth was when he prophesied over his three sons (Genesis 9:25-27). There is NOTHING recorded in scripture that even hints that Noah may have preached to anyone in the sense that we today think about preaching. So Noah was a preacher of righteousness because of his LIFE ... his ACTIONS ... his obedience to God ... his walk with God, NOT because of his words!

Like Noah, we must be safely in the Ark (Christ). We also need to have our faith increased ... to become a great person of faith as Noah was.

Another great lesson for us is the suffering that Noah patiently endured. As Noah was in the process of building the ark, he must have been laughed at, jeered, made fun of, and ridiculed on a daily basis.

No one had seen rain at that time. All of the other people could only see with their natural eyes. But Noah believed the Lord. Furthermore, Noah and his family and all of the animals were shut up in the ark for seven days before the rain came (Genesis 7:10). The people must have REALLY laughed at Noah during those seven days!

Moreover, Noah was in the ark for about one year and 17 days. (Compare Genesis 7:10-11 and Genesis 8:14.) In addition to Noah and his seven other family members, there were two unclean beasts and seven clean beasts of every kind in the ark, as well as seven of each kind of fowl. That was a lot of animals! The ark had one window and one door, which was shut. There were NO comforts of home that we take for granted today. The ark had NO air conditioning and no air circulation; the ark had NO refrigerators to hold the food for Noah and his family and all of the nimals. God sovereignly kept the food from spoiling for more than one year. 

Just think about having to feed all of those animals for more than a year. Just think about being shut in with all of those smelly animals for more than a year. Just think about the waste products that every living thing in the ark must have produced during that time period. Just think about not being able to take a bath for more than a year! In the natural realm, the stench must have been almost unbearable! But Noah had heard the word of the Lord! And Noah patiently endured and was saved.

Further, have you ever considered that some of the animals in that ark were mortal enemies of each other? But just as the Lord sovereignly closed the mouths of the lions when Daniel was in the lions' den, so the Lord caused all of those animals to be at peace with one another. As long as Noah and his family and the birds and animals were in the ark, they were at peace with each other. But when they stepped out of the ark, they all reverted back to their natural, self-seeking ways.

Likewise, we today must endure suffering of all different types. If you really hear the word of the Lord and are obedient to Him, you may, like Noah, be ridiculed by the world. You will be different. You may even be persecuted by professing Christians who do not see what you see.

We are fools for Christ's sake... 1 Corinthians 4:10

But in the process you will reap a crown of glory! All of us must count the cost!

Finally, we ALL need to be preachers of righteousness by our lives to a lost and troubled world. We sometimes have a stereotype view of a pastor or a preacher as someone who stands behind a pulpit and preaches sermons. But we speak MUCH more loudly with our lives and our actions than we ever do with our words. If you are a believer who is making an attempt to live your life as the Lord would desire, then believe me, MANY non-believers are watching you ... watching the actions of your life. People in the world are watching us as Christians. Non-believers, particularly, are little impressed by our words, but our lives speak volumes to them.

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:16

Note that verse says "see your good works," NOT "hear your good words."

In our next several messages we will continue on the topic of the Kingdom of God. We will share a few thoughts about the Kingdom of God from a few of the parables that Jesus spoke. After that we will return to look at Romans 14:17 in some detail. The kingdom of God is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. Then we want to consider the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven as set forth in the Sermon on the Mount.