The kingdom of God cannot fail because it was prepared for His own from the foundation of the world. Christ said, “But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right, Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25:31-34). Our text encompasses God’s eternal purpose. Paul said, “This was in accordance with the eternal purpose which He carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and confident access through faith in Him” (Eph. 3:11, 12).

The Divine purpose relating to the kingdom existed in the mind of God before the creation of the world. Therefore, the creation of the earth and man were for the fulfillment of His eternal purpose. The Lord God, before the creation of His earth and man, determined to have for Himself a kingdom. Therefore, the sovereign God, who spoke through Isaiah the prophet, said, “Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it” (Is. 46:9-11).

God does not perform His work accidentally; He possessed a predetermined intention. It has been said that predestination is providence in intention, and providence is predestination in execution. We cannot believe in one without believing the other; they constitute two parts of the whole. A god who could create what he is unable to control is not the God of the Bible. This universe is held together by the controlling power of God. Such control, however, would be blind without a predetermined intention. Paul said, “For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church [assembly]; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven” (Col. 1:16-20).

The God of the Bible does not undertake the accomplishment of determined intention without His perfect knowledge embracing all things relating to it. God’s perfect knowledge saw the failure of human responsibility. Man has failed in every age. Adam failed in human responsibility. Noah failed with the sword of authority, because he was unable to govern himself. The Israelites broke the law that was given to them; the priesthood offered strange fire. Failure was written over kingship in Israel. Power caused Nebuchadnezzar to be lifted up with pride. Local assemblies have weakened and will continue to weaken until Jesus Christ stands outside the assemblies (Rev. 3:14-22). Paul said, “Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal, The Lord knows those who are His, and Everyone who names the name of the Lord is to abstain from wickedness. Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor. Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. But refuse foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they produce quarrels. The Lord’s bond-servant must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged, with gentleness correcting those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive by him to do his will” (II Tim. 2:19-26).

There is failure with man regardless of the depth of his spiritual condition. However, there is no failure with God, because both the kingdom and assembly are in His eternal purpose. Since the kingdom is the hope of all believers, Jews or Gentiles, God shall accomplish His purpose concerning the kingdom. As the kingdom is God’s purpose, all knowledge of His kingdom must be derived from Him. As the wisdom of this world cannot be understood without studying its philosophers, so the wisdom of God cannot be acquired without considering what the Lord has said.

There is progress of doctrine in the New Testament, but this progress by the Spirit through the apostles was only a clarification of Old Testament truths by means of their fulfillment. The progress of doctrine in the assembly is something different from the progress of doctrine in the New Testament. It has to do with man’s apprehension of the truth of God as revealed in both the Old and New Testaments—the original truth in both Testaments. When the last book of the New Testament was written, any further revelation of God’s mind and purpose ceased because God’s objective message was completed. This is expressed in Jude’s letter. He said, “Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).

In this day of blasphemy, lukewarmness, and indifference, we are seeing how few want the completed revelation of truth. Nothing is superfluous in the sphere of truth. Jude 3 states three important facts: (1) This is God’s final gift of objective truth. (2) It is once-for-all given. (3) It is given to the saints of God. Saints are to struggle in behalf of God-given truth. Giving up any part of truth makes a saint guilty of a breach of allegiance to Christ. Giving up any part of Scripture to please oneself, or in order to keep the company of its opposers, results in giving up other parts of truth. The Bible is the one and only standard. It is essential to maturity (II Tim. 3:16, 17), and it is not continuing to be written.

Eschatology is the most controversial of all the Biblical sciences because the differing views of prophecy touch all the other sciences. Therefore, truth is hard to come by, because interpretation of the Bible can be difficult for the following reasons:

1. Every person lacks understanding of some parts of Scripture.

2. Every person is prone to impose his own opinions formed beforehand.

3. Some present truth with a little error.

4. Others are denominationally blinded; they will not investigate anything that does not carry their religious label.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.

Copyright ã   2005

This sermon has been written, preached and copyrighted by W. E. Best. While the author retains his copyright to this material, you are invited to copy the sermons or portions of them for your use. But you are specifically forbidden from changing any of the material and from selling it for any financial recompense.  We do not charge for getting out God's Word and we will not support others who do so.