Hebrews 12:28

Wherefore, receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace whereby we may offer service well-pleasing to God with reverence and awe: for our God is a consuming fire.

There is a marked resemblance in this exhortation with that of Peter who said,

Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness, looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day God? (2 Peter 3:11,12).

This appeal to the holiness of God and his burning wrath toward all evil issues in the declarations that "Our God is a consuming fire." People cannot fully understand what God is like, and any understanding of his nature should always include the concept of his love and sympathy for his human children. The emphasis here is upon another phase of God's character. Bruce said:

It is an aspect of the character of God revealed in the Bible that plays little part in much present-day thinking of him; but if we are to be completely "honest to God," we dare not ignore it. Reverence and awe before his holiness are not incompatible with grateful love and trust in response to his mercy.[19]

Of the utmost importance is the proper identification of the "kingdom that cannot be shaken," as mentioned here. It is the same as that church, against which the gates of hell shall not prevail (Matthew 16:18). Certainly this identification is of eternal consequence, and it is the prayer of this writer that the following discussion of it might aid some soul in arriving at such a certainty.

CONCERNING THE KINGDOM THAT CANNOT BE SHAKEN

The church of the New Testament and the kingdom of Christ are one institution, not two. Jesus himself used the terms "church" and "kingdom" interchangeably in his announcement at Caesarea Philippi (Matthew 16:18); and it is mandatory to view the Lord's words there as a reference not to two institutions but to one. Added to this is the fact that the entire reservoir of New Testament scriptures presents the church and the kingdom as coinciding and interlocking in all their details and characteristics. A careful attention to this, with a little patience, will prove the church and the kingdom to be one institution, in very much the same way that two triangles may be proved congruent by a proposition in plane geometry.

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Christ is the head Christ is king in of the church the kingdom (Ephesians 1:22). (Colossians 1:13).

One is baptized into One is baptized into the church the kingdom (1 Corinthians 12:13). (John 3:5).

The church is an The kingdom likewise everlasting is an everlasting institution kingdom (Ephesians 3:21). (Daniel 2:44).

The apostles are in The apostles are in the church the kingdom reigning (Ephesians 2:20). with Christ (Matthew 19:28).

The church is The kingdom is identified with the identified with the "washing of "times of regeneration," that regeneration," that is, the new birth is, the times of the (Titus 3:5). new birth (Matthew 19:28).

The Lord's table is The Lord's table is in the church in the kingdom (1 Corinthians 11:26). (Luke 22:29,30)

The word of God is The word of God is called the word of called "the word of faith, that is, of the kingdom" the gospel Paul (Matthew 13:19) preached (Romans 10:8).

The seven parables All seven of them of Matt.13 have are identified with been understood for the kingdom of ages as applying to heaven the church. (Matthew 13:19,24,31, 33,44,45,47 etc.)

The gospel of Christ The teachings of and his church are Christ are called called the the "mysteries of "mystery," kept in the kingdom of silence; etc. heaven" (Romans 16:25). (Matthew 13:11).

Christ's church is The kingdom is also called the "Israel identified as that of God" (Galatians 6:16). same "Israel of God" (Matthew 19:28).MONO>LINES>

Such a comparison may be extended to embrace every salient feature of the church and of the kingdom, and the result is always the same as that shown above. Only one other such similarity will be noted here; and, due to its importance, a little fuller discussion of it is included.

THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM BEGAN AT THE SAME TIME

The first Pentecost after the resurrection of Christ must be regarded as the birth of the church and the kingdom. The references regarding the establishment of the church of Christ on Pentecost are extensive, but one is enough to show the truth; it is Acts 2:41. It was the first occasion recorded where the gospel invitation was extended under terms of the great commission, where every person was invited to obey it, and where those who did so were added to the church. Note carefully this inspired utterance:

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and there were added UNTO THEM in that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41).

But AFTER THE DAY OF PENTECOST, concerning those who obeyed the gospel, it is stated that "the Lord added TO THEM day by day those that were saved" (Acts 2:47).

The argument here regards the words UNTO THEM (Acts 2:41) and TO THEM (Acts 2:47). The words belong in the second reference but not in the first, as a glance at the English Revised Version (1885) will show, since the words UNTO THEM in Acts 2:41 are italicized meaning that they simply do not occur in the Greek. Thus, if these two passages are studied without the humanly added words in Acts 2:41, they read as follows.

The Lord added in that day about three thousand souls (Acts 2:41).

The Lord added TO THEM day by day these that were saved (Acts 2:47).

Thus, the statement of the Holy Spirit is that God aggregated, or added, the souls on Pentecost, in the sense of forming them together for the first time as a body; hence, he did not say God added TO THEM, there being no THEM to which they could have been added on that day. But ever afterward, the saved were added TO THEM. One may indeed be thankful for the candor of scholars who so frequently add the words "to them" in Acts 2:41, where they do not belong, but who also write the words carefully in italics that the student may discern the truth. The whole subject of the establishment of the church on Pentecost is a large one and does not fall within the objective here, the principal reliance being upon the generally accepted conviction that the church began on Pentecost.

That the kingdom of God began on Pentecost is proved from necessary inference deriving from a number of passages. Christ prophesied that the kingdom would come with power during the life span of himself and his apostles, saying, "Verily I say unto you, there are some here, of them that stand by, who shall in no wise taste of death, until they see the kingdom of God come with power" (Mark 9:1). The phraseology used by the Lord suggests that some would taste of death before the kingdom was established, that being fulfilled in the death of Judas and also of Christ. Judas and Christ both tasted death before that memorable Pentecost arrived. It is thus incorrect to think of the kingdom being established at any other time in history, except the lifetime of the apostles. How about the speculations that it was set up in 1914? Should it be concluded that the advocates of such notions are correct and that the holy Head of our blessed religion is wrong?

Pinpointing the actual date of the kingdom's beginning is possible by a study of a series of references to the kingdom BEFORE the day of Pentecost, and another series of references AFTER Pentecost, the first series invariably speaking of the kingdom in the future tense, and the second series always using either the past or present tense. Thus, in Mark 9:1; Matthew 19:28; 3:2; 4:17; 10:7; 26:29, to name only a few, the kingdom is always spoken of as a future institution. Even such examples as "The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:30), and certain others referring to the kingdom's being preached, are not statements that the kingdom was in existence; but they have reference to the fact that "the kingdom" was then manifest in the person of the king, Christ, or that its principles, or mysteries, were being promulgated. The apostles well understood that the kingdom was not set up before the resurrection of Christ, or they could not possibly have asked Jesus, after his resurrection, "Lord, dost thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" (Acts 1:6). Therefore, it is upon the most solid grounds that one may conclude that the kingdom was not set up until after Christ's resurrection.

After Pentecost, all references to the kingdom are in the past tense, or present tense, making it to be an institution in existence. Note the verb forms in the following: (1) Christians have been "translated" into the kingdom (Colossians 1:13). (2) The author of Hebrews, in the verse at hand, speaks of "receiving" a kingdom thus making it a present fact. (3) The apostle John said of himself and other Christians that Jesus "made us to be a kingdom" (Revelation 1:6). A little later, John said, "I, John, your brother and PARTAKER with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS" (Revelation 1:9). Note the present tense of the verbs. The kingdom is just as much a reality when John wrote, as are the tribulation and patience. All three ARE IN Christ!

Searching the entire field of time between the references to the kingdom as future, and those making it already a fact, is there any specific time, event, or place designated in the scriptures as "the beginning"? The answer is affirmative. Acts 11:15 has a firm reference to the day of Pentecost as "the beginning"; and it is all but conclusive that the "beginning" of the kingdom, or church, is meant. What else, if not the kingdom or church, began on Pentecost?

The fact that the exact date of the beginning of the kingdom cannot be more definitely determined should not be discouraging, because, as the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek, Jesus Christ fulfilled the type also in this, that the exact date of the beginning or ending of his priesthood is obscured and undetermined. (See notes under Hebrews 7:17). Some of the same veil of secrecy also lies on the beginning and ending of Christ's kingship, that too being a perfect analogy between the type and the antitype.

The nature and extent of the kingdom of Christ are manifested in the entire sweep of Christianity through the ages of probation, "throughout all ages, world without end" (Ephesians 3:23). It is a spiritual kingdom, "not of this world," yet in it. Christ is the only head of this kingdom, either in heaven or upon the earth (Matthew 28:18-20); nor is his kingdom ever to be thought of as giving place to another. Even the "everlasting kingdom" (2 Peter 1:11) is in no sense another kingdom, but only an extension and fruition of the present kingdom, at which time Christ will "deliver up" the kingdom to God (1 Corinthians 15:24).