A Gospel Seldom Preached

A few weeks ago, I heard a sermon that surprised and delighted me. The minister approached his subject with care to not offend his hearers. He spoke of how we often preach about salvation by grace, election, perseverance, and other teachings in the Scriptures. As he progressed, one knew he thought something important was missing from modern preaching.

After a lengthy introduction, he asked a rhetorical question: “How many sermons have you heard about the kingdom of God, sermons that defined the kingdom, explained its history, showed God’s plan for its future, etc.?” I suspect most of the congregation would have answered like me—not one. (His hints that we were about to hear one startled me.)

The preacher continued with a lament: “I wish an older brother had sat me down when I was a young minister and said, ‘Son, your job is to preach the kingdom.’” His reason for this complaint was apparent. John the Baptist preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” (Matt 3:2). And, when our Lord Jesus began His public ministry, His message was the same as John’s: “From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt 4:17).

So, the minister said, the first two New Testament gospel preachers proclaimed the kingdom. But he was just beginning to count, for he then noted Jesus’ charge to His twelve apostles: “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matt 10:7). Next, “the Lord appointed seventy others also,” and said,

Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, eat such things as are set before you. And heal the sick there, and say to them, “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, “The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you. (Luke 10:8–11)

The minister made a simple summation point: The first eighty-four preachers in the New Testament had the same topic—the kingdom of God.

He continued, shifting to another approach, using the book of Acts. This book, he said, is the history of the church of God during the period between Jesus’ ministry and the fall of the temple in AD 70. He asked, “What were the apostles preaching in their generation?” To answer, the minister began reading in the first chapter, where Luke says,

The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God. (Acts 1:1–3)

A few days later, Philip preached to the Samaritans “the things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).

Later, Paul confirmed his converts, “exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, ‘We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). Afterwards, Paul preached at Ephesus: “He went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God” (Acts 19:8). When he left the Ephesians for the last time, he said: “Indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more” (Acts 20:25).¹

At the end of Acts, Paul is in prison in Rome in the early-to-mid AD 60s. Here is his message to the Jews there:

When they had appointed him a day, many came to him at his lodging, to whom he explained and solemnly testified of the kingdom of God, persuading them concerning Jesus from both the Law of Moses and the Prophets, from morning till evening.… Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him. (Acts 28:23, 30–31)

The minister concluded that from beginning to end, the book of Acts shows the apostles preached the kingdom of God. Their teachings about the church, election, predestination, heaven, and other vital subjects found their place in the overall message about the kingdom. Why do we not hear sermons like this today?

This sermon reinforced conclusions I had reached in my studies of biblical prophecy. I knew the Lord Jesus called the message He and the apostles preached the “gospel of the kingdom” (Matt 24:14).

I suspect the church is not preaching this gospel today because we’re uncertain about what the Bible teaches about the kingdom. Our views are mushy, ill-defined, and tentative, and we can’t preach what we’re unsure of.

I also believe most sincere ministers and Christians bemoan this situation. We want to preach and hear the kingdom message that Jesus and the apostles announced.

A few weeks after hearing the sermon I’ve described in this post, I read the following paragraph by Kenneth H. Good:

The perfect eschatology [or framework of prophecy] has not yet been written.…But I say … that if and when it is, it will doubtless partake of elements from all three (or four) of the eschatologies composed to date.²

Good’s four primary options are amillennialism, postmillennialism, historic premillennialism, and dispensational premillennialism. None of these frameworks have provided the certainty needed for preaching the gospel of the kingdom.

I’ve written a book that proposes another prophetic model—inmillennialism. It’s not the “perfect eschatology,” but I think it’s a step in that direction. As Good predicted, it contains elements from all the other prophetic models, but not by design. This model arises from a simple explanation of two extended passages—the Olivet Discourse and 1 Corinthians 15. Dr. Tom J. Nettles says, “This book must take an important place in the literature concerning the kingdom of God.…”³

If you’re interested in a better understanding of the gospel of the kingdom, consider reading a free PDF summary of inmillennialism here, or purchasing the book here.

May the Lord revive the apostolic preaching of the kingdom of God.

1. The image in this post is The Preaching of St. Paul at Ephesus by Eustache Le Suer (1616–55). The file is here and is in the public domain (PD-US).
2. Kenneth H. Good, “A Dispensational-Premillennial View of Eschatology,” in The Fourth International Baptist Conference (Toronto: Toronto Baptist Seminary and Bible College, 1988), 98.
3. Michael A. Rogers, Inmillennialism: Redefining the Last Days (Tullahoma, TN: McGahan Publishing House, 2020), xvii.