Text: Matthew 4:23
The Announcement
- Jesus came preaching the gospel of the kingdom (Matthew 4:23)
- This had been planned for a long time (Daniel 2:44; Isaiah 2:2-4)
The Kingdom at Hand
- The establishment of the kingdom was close (Matthew 3:2; 4:17)
- If we are still waiting for the kingdom, as some claim, then was Jesus wrong?
Establishment
- The kingdom is the church (Matthew 16:18-19)
- The kingdom would come in the 1st century & come with power (Mark 9:1)
- The power would come with the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:4-5,8)
- The Holy Spirit came on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4)
- Christians in the 1st century were already in the kingdom (Colossians 1:13)
Law
- “The law will go forth from Zion” (Isaiah 2:3)
- First gospel sermon preached in Jerusalem on Pentecost (Acts 2:14,40)
- Those who received the word & were baptized continued in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:41-42)
- The apostles’ doctrine came from Christ (John 14:26; 15:26; Matthew 28:18-20)
Becoming Citizens
- Jesus explained how in giving the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-47)
- Peter explained on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:37-38)
