Luke wrote two books in the Bible. The gospel account as well as the acts of the apostles. When we read the gospel of Luke, we realise the Kingdom of God is mentioned very often. In fact the synoptic gospels mention the kingdom very very often. It’s just that the gospel of Matthew calls it the Kingdom of Heaven while the gospel of Mark and Luke call it the Kingdom of God.

Both John the Baptist and Jesus began their ministry by announcing the Kingdom of God, because the Kingdom of God is the very message of the gospel. What is the meaning of gospel? Good news, glad tidings.

But the concept of gospel is not a New Testament invention. It is something that’s found in the Old Testament. Just like the word Christ. It didn’t begin in the New Testament. Christ means the anointed one. In Hebrew, it’s Messiah. So whether we talk about gospel or Christ, these are not New Testament terms.

Isa 52:7
The word ‘good news’ here is what we call the gospel. Glad tidings or good things. And Paul quoted this in the book of Romans. “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel/good news to us!” But wjat is the proclamation of the gospel? Proclaim salvation; your God reigns.

What is salvation? Your God reigns. The good news is that your God reigns. Why is this so? If you read v1-6, you’d realise prophet Isaiah is talking about the people of Israel being in bondage/captivity. He prophesied that their kingdom would be no more. But then he says, “There is good news. Your enemies, people who have taken away your kingdom and you as enemies, will never bother you again.” True enough, in 722BC, 10 tribes were taken away by Assyria, leaving 2 small tribes struggling for another 200 years. But they didn’t repent of their sins. So Isaiah said they would be taken captive as well. In 586BC, Babylon came to attack them. The kingdom was no more. The king was taken away. So on the throne of David, that God had promised a king would rule eternally, was empty. Even the temple was destroyed; razed to the ground with fire. God’s people were scattered all over the Babylonian empire, far and wide. And from that time on, they’ve always been under foreign rule. You may say, “Oh! During the time of Jesus they had a king! King Herod.” But King Herod wasn’t a descendant of David. Because it’s God promise that there would be an eternal king on David’s throne. Under his rule, the Kingdom of Israel would be forever. Not only was King Herod not a descendant of David, he wasn’t even a Jew! He was an Edomite, descended from Esau not Jacob! He also wasn’t a real king. He was like a governor. He ruled only one province of the Roman Empire of that time: Judea. The people were under Roman rule from the time of Babylon to the time of Jesus, which was about 600 years. After the Babylonians came the Persians, then the Greeks who did terrible things to their temple. They brought in their idols and sacrificed a pig on their altar. Next came the Romans. The Israelites were a group of people without a king. They were waiting for a king to be sent by God. When the Old Testament uses the term ‘the anointed one’, it refers to the king. So when they were waiting for the Messiah/Christ, what it means is that they were waiting for a God sent king to overthrow the foreign powers and restore the kingdom.

So the good news is: your God reigns. When John the Baptist came onto the scene and said, “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand!” Jesus did likewise. This proclamation is the good news itself. It means God has forgiven His people. It means: it is enough! My people have suffered enough under foreign rule! It’s time for Me to punish them for their cruelty. They shall be victors and I shall rule them by the anointed one the king.

In the gospels, we see the Kingdom of God appear so many times. Because the coming of the Kingdom of God IS the very gospel.

Luke 9:2, 6
Gospel means preaching the Kingdom of God. In Luke we see a very beautiful paradox. It’s a beautiful paradox because all the way we’ve been saying God will overthrow the Gentiles and deliver His people from the hand of the gentile rulers. But while He delivers His people from the hand of the gentile rulers and rules over His people, He will also rule over the gentile kingdoms. Having God as our king is an amazing thing. His benevolent rule will extend over all the nations; over all the Gentiles.

Actually, there’s no particular word in Hebrew or Greek in the Bible that means ‘gentile’. The word used instead is ‘nations’. Sometimes it’s translated nations sometimes Gentiles. Because in God’s eyes, the nations represent a group of people that don’t belong to Him. In fact in Psa 2, the nations refers to the whole world in rebellion against God. But Israel is different.

The Bible says Israel is not reckoned amongst the nations. It’s just like your beloved husband/wife; that special person in your life. Your husband is called Stephen. The rest? They’re just men. Your wife is Sarah. The rest? They’re just women.

It’s the same with God. “This is Israel my prince!” “The rest? Nations.” This is the message of the Bible to us. Luke 12 has an interesting phrase that caught the speaker’s attention.

Luke 12:32
We’ve talked about God’s kingdom. Now the nations and the little flock will be discussed.

Jesus tells a group of people, “Do not fear. Because it pleases your Father to give you the kingdom!”

Why does Jesus call these people a little flock? Because they’re short? They’re numbers are few? Because they’re weak? They’re a group of nobodies? And why give them the kingdom? And what does it mean to give them the kingdom, will they rule over people?

When Jesus says, “Little flock”, it’s in the setting of many large nations. Not to forget for almost 6 centuries, the Israelites nation were under foreign rule. These rulers were EMPIRES ruling over many nations.

This sermon will discuss nations, the next sermon will discuss the little flock.

Luke 2:30-32
These were the words of an old man who had been waiting with most of the pious Jews for the one anointed king, to bring about the rule of God obey His people. He was revealed by God that he wouldn’t die until he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So when the parents of the Lord Jesus brought Him as a little child into the Temple, the moment the old man Simeon saw the little child, God told him it was the one. He took the child in his arms and said, “Now You’re letting your servant depart in peace.” “My eyes have seen salvation!” Seeing the newborn king was seeing salvation. This salvation had been prepared before the face of all peoples. This means salvation has to do with ALL peoples. The gospel is a light to bring salvation to all the Gentiles, so they’ll see the God of Israel is the only true God. The other gods and kings aren’t true because they aren’t eternal. The king of Israel is the king of kings. Jesus is to make the whole world/all the nations see this. When the nations see this, the light of the gospel also becomes the glory of Israel.

True enough, Israel is God’s prince and all the rest of the nations will have to bow to the king of Israel. That’s why it brought so much joy to this old man Simeon. All his life he was waiting to see God’s anointed king.

Luke 1:69-74
Twice, Zacharias’ said they would be saved “from the hands of the enemies”. But “those who sit in darkness will receive light” too. Because in actuality, the nations are oppressed too. The whole world is in darkness, lying under the sway of the wicked one. No nation is excluded. God frees us from the wicked one, takes away evil from our hearts. Because of that, we’re no longer in darkness and no longer under the shadow of death. God frees us from death and gives us eternal life. Why? Because His kingdom is forever. Since His kingdom is forever, so will we who dwell in it. The Gentiles will benefit from God’s rule too.

What do the nations mean to you now? Evil forces we must run away from? Suppose we’re in a country that oppressed religion, or just Christians, which is even worse. Do we cry out to God or shelter our children from them; the nations in rebellion. There’s much propaganda and things that corrupt human minds. Recently, a survey (reliability uncertain) says that more people are accepting of homosexuality and extramarital relationships in Singapore. The nations are trying to influence us. We can get into trouble if we say homosexuality is a sin/crime. We cannot teach our children a family can only comprise of mother and father. There’re also terror groups.

What do the Gentiles represent in your life? If they only represent Gentiles we can’t overcome or evil forces to flee from, what does that make you? A fugitive? An oppressed one? But Jesus has come! The gospel came 2000 years ago. Your God reigns! Is God reigning? Has the Kingdom of God come? That’s the question. The nations aren’t evil forces to run from. They’re the trophy God has placed before us to win. Jesus has said we are victors. Jesus came to overcome all difficulties.

Luke 18:31-33
At the time of Jesus, His people had been under oppression of the Gentiles for 600 years already. Jesus came into their lives and shares in the sufferings they had. Christ “will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. They will scourge Him and kill Him.” But the good thing is: “and the third day He will rise again.” Jesus will suffer like His people, even to the point of death. But the difference is that He will overcome death.

Luke 24:47
Because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is the opportunity for the remission of sins. Not just for Israel but to the nations. That’s why repentance and remission of sins is preached to all the nations. John the Baptist proclaimed to repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Then Jesus came and fulfilled the Kingdom of God.

“…should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem”
At Jerusalem, the Holy Spirit descended after Jesus ascended.

When Jesus sits at the right hand of God and sends down the Holy Spirit, He’ll stay there until all His enemies become His footstool. Our God reigns. You must submit to His kingdom for it reigns eternally.

The gospel isn’t us pleading, “Please believe. God so poor thing suffer for us.” The gospel is, “Our God reigns.”

The gospel is full of power. Not just word but word and power. After people have been converted to the king/Christ, when the numbers are fulfilled, what happens?

Luke 21:24
Jerusalem, where the source of the gospel comes, shall be surrounded by the Gentiles. All nations will have people who believe in Christ. After that, those who refuse to believe will come and attack Jerusalem, and take God’s people captive. But this isn’t the end of the story. This is so Jesus will come and show His full glory.

Luke 21:27-31
The Kingdom of God is coming. When Jesus appears, He will come in power and glory. In Revelations, it says all the enemies will become His footstool and be vanquished.

Psa 2:8-9
When Jesus comes again, the nations will be scattered by a rod of iron. They shall be shattered. And in every nation, there’ll be people who are faithful to Him. These are the ones who won’t be shattered. They’ll be the ones who remain and be in His kingdom.

Isa 19:22-25
God will strike His own people Israel and then later heal them. Just as He allowed them to be taken captive and then brought them back. He allowed the temple and kingdom to be destroyed, but these would be restored. But here we read He does the same thing to Egypt; He’ll destroy them and then restore them. When Jesus comes, the nations surrounding Israel will be punished. But as aforementioned, every nation will have faithful ones. This is how healing comes across the globe. Can you imagine God saying, “Blessed is Egypt My people, Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance?” They are all together with God, all blessed, because God is their King. This is the final end of the gospel.

This is the final outcome of the gospel. What should the nations represent to us? Yes evil forces. But evil forces we can overcome with the power of the gospel and light of God.

374: Lead On, O King Eternal
Let the king eternal lead us on. Remember that when the cross is lifted up, it is glory not shame. As we journey, the crown awaits the conquest. We have to conquer then can we receive the crown. Allow the Lord to lead. Forsake our weaknesses and fear.