THE KINGDOM OFFERED,
BUT NOT RESTOREDfrom
ROMANS 9Maurice M Johnson
Los Angeles, California
July 21, 1968Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. Paul says, "Don't think because I'm bringing out that Israel's unsaved, that God's program with Israel stalled and become nullified."
Not as though the word of God ...
Here's where Earle Grove (thank God for the ? ) and homer Ruyle followed suit, in Ft Worth, right here. Earle Grove wrote me a letter one time, and he said, "Your doctrine, Romans 9, is absolutely pernicious." That was where he branched off and began to teach and study to try to prove that God ... that the Lord Jesus when he was on earth never offered the kingdom to flesh and blood twelve tribe Israel. And he branched off in Romans 9. "And that teaching ... that teaching that the Lord made a bona fide offer of the kingdom to twelve tribe Israel," he said, "that's horrible. Why just suppose that the Jews had received Christ as the king. Then Christ would have had to make the offer good. He'd have had to establish the twelve tribe flesh and blood kingdom. And then what would have happened... in the ? Then there wouldn't have been any church, if Christ [made] a bona fide offer." He just waxed fervent and sort of... I guess, elegant, trying to prove that if Christ ...
And gave this is as an illustration one time. He said, "Suppose I were to make an offer to a crowd of children, and I say I'll give some candy, red peppermint candy, to every child, every boy that'll come here and then come up to me, and say something and" (I don't remember all the details of his yarn, but anyway, I mean like this) and he said, "suppose of the 500, 100 come up." And I said, "Nope, you didn't want to come." And the... 100 said, "We came." "Well I don't care. You didn't all come." He said, "I would have been ... I'd be unfair and, see. And now starting out brother Johnson," he used to call me brother Johnson, "this doctrine that the kingdom was with the hands of actual flesh and blood Israel, kingdom, Messianic, Davidic kingdom, ? with that. Christ was absolutely unfair to these Jews who did receive Christ because there were several that did. They did."
I quoted this morning. I started to give this this morning, I said this morning... the apostles, "Lord, we've forsaken all. We've turned our back on everybody and everything else. We've turned our ... our back on all offers to be prominent in dowry. And we followed Thee as the king. What are we going to get?" And everybody had a fine argument. I got ? Just ? I was lying awake thinking about it after I got that letter from Earle. I thought, "Now, that must be answered. I think I know I have the answer, but that must be answered Biblically, and I want the Biblical answer." And this thought flashed through my mind, "Wait a minute, where is that scripture that tells about the disciples saying, "Lord, we've forsaken all. In fair ? , what are we going to get?" And Christ said, "Fear not little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom". But it's not going to be today. Not going to be tomorrow."
And I was starting to quote this, morning, the time ran out or I ran away with it somehow, from the 3rd chapter of Acts... the 1st chapter of Acts when the Lord said, "John truly"... Turn to that and look at it right now. We'll come back to Romans, I think, in a little bit. Turn please to Acts the 1st chapter. The risen Christ is about ready to leave the world, this earth, and go back to the glory, set down at the right hand of the Father. Look at Acts 1:5,
John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the holy Spirit not many days
from now,
not many days hence. When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
"This when the kingdom is going to be restored to Israel? This when we're going to get what we forsook everything for?" Matthew said, "Why Lord, we've forsaken all to come and follow You. What are we going to get now?" They're repeating that question.
Lord, wilt thou at this time
"when we get baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence, is that the time You're going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" The Campbellites and the man I was waiting for this morning and the Roman Catholics and the Jesus Only, there's a lot of people that teach that the church is the kingdom, they have an awful time with that passage. Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?
And he said, "It's not", look at it,
It's not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. But ...
Now by the way, Bullinger teaches, Bullinger, that very able extreme dispensationalist, he teaches that this is nothing but a Messianic something that happened in Acts 2, not the church which is Christ's body ... Somebody came up to me prior to meeting ... close of meeting this morning, "You're still contending for that? have you finished that book?" And ... I said, "I'm reading it. I'm studying it, but I'm not racing through it."
Now this is a very important subject. Nearly all professing Christians think that the church which is Christ's body began at Acts 2. Well ... and Bullinger said that's awful false doctrine. Cornelius Stam's crowd, they say that's awfully false doctrine. All right, what did begin in Acts 2? The disciples asked the Lord... Acts 1:5 ... then He said, "You're going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence." "Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? Will that be the restoration of the Messianic, Davidic kingdom?" And he could have easily said, "No! It'll not be at all." But he didn't say that. He said, "It's not for you to know the times or the seasons." he said, "You are going to be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence. Not going to tell you what it is now. I'm not going to tell you what's going to happen, what it is, what's going to happen. Now." ... and he explains it of course later ... "not for you to know the times or the seasons, but you'll receive power."