Acts 1:6
"When they therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom again to Israel?"
What’s on their mind? The Kingdom. When Israel could live at peace and prosperity. In Matthew 19, Peter said, "Well now we left all. We left our fishing nets; we left our families to follow you. What are we going to have therefore?" What was Jesus’ answer? "You twelve," that’s why Peter was in such a hurry to fill Judas’ slot. He says, "You twelve are going to sit on twelve thrones ruling the Twelve Tribes of the Nation of Israel."
Are these Pie in the sky? Fictitious words? No! That’s exactly what was ahead of them and it still is, because the Kingdom is still coming! When the time of the Gentiles is fulfilled....
Hebrews 6:1b
"…not laying again the foundation; of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God."
Alright, we’re just going to stop with that first phrase "not laying again the foundation." Have you ever stopped to think what that really means? Or put it into everyday life? If you’re going to build a home and you’ve got the foundation laid, what are you going to do, tear it up and pour another one? Of course not. You’re going to start building.
But see, what were those people doing? They were trying to tear up the old foundation and just go back where they were before in the dead works of self effort and the works or materialism of and external religion of their past. Remember that the primary subject of the Epistle of Hebrews are the Hebrews. Not exclusively. My, there’s so much in here for us but the primary subjects here are Hebrews who were still steeped in the Judaism of their past. They had recognized Jesus and His Messiahship. They had believed Who He was. They had embraced the Gospel of the Kingdom. But that had all been changed because of the mysteries or secrets revealed to Paul but not yet fully understood by the others. As Peter reveals to us as found in 2 Peter chapter 3 starting with verse 15 where he too has a warning, like those we'll see later in this Epistle to the Hebrews:
2 Peter 3:15-18
“And account the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given to him has written to you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction. We therefore, beloved, seeing we know these things before, beware lest we also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from our own steadfastness. But grow in Grace, and the Knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever. Amen.”
That’s as far as they’d gotten. And Paul is trying to move them now to progress towards this further revelation which, of course, is now not just for the Hebrews, but now it’s for the whole human race, both Hebrew and Gentile. And that is this Gospel of the Grace of God.
Now allow me show you the term before we go further. I can come back to Hebrews so just hold your hand here in Hebrews. Come back with me to Acts chapter 20 verse 24. Paul of course, refers to this Gospel of his in various forms. He’ll call it my Gospel, the Gospel and the Gospel of Grace. He’ll call it that Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. He’ll call it the Gospel of Christ. But here in this verse, I like this one, because he calls it what we call it. Here in Acts 20, this is toward the end of his ministry as well and he said:
Acts 20:24
"But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God."
Can we get it any plainer? I don’t know how. And that is not the Gospel of the Kingdom. The Gospel of the Grace of God is that God has now through the person of the Son, died the horrible death of the Cross. Shed His blood, was buried three days and three nights in the tomb, and arose victorious over everything. That’s the Gospel of the Grace of God, remember that Grace means its a done deal and is the benefit of our benefactor. God picks up where we as humans don't have the ability or strength to accomplish what is required. He takes our having to work for a thing out of our hands as the Hebrews proved it impossible for man to do any thing required of God. And now it makes it possible for anyone to become a believer. Not just the Hebrews, not just the Gentiles, but rather the whole human race.
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