“Mark 1:15 says “And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.” Christ’s ministry was the ministry of the fullness of times: Ephesians 1:10 says “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:” through Jesus’ death he has gathered in himself Jew and Gentile. Galatians 4:4-5 says “But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” And Ephesians 2:14 says “For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” The kingdom was near or at hand when Christ walked on the earth. Some would have you think that the kingdom was postponed because of the unbelief of Jerusalem at the time, but Jesus tells us something in the parable of Matthew 21 concerning the vineyard Matthew 21:40-41 saying “When the lord therefore of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those husbandmen? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons.” And Matthew 21:43 says “Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof.” In the next chapter he explains in another parable what happens to men in Matthew 22:7 who do not come to the marriage “But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.” Both parables tell us something: the husbandmen were destroyed and their city burned up in A.D. 70. The kingdom was taken from the Jews and given to the Gentiles. The kingdom began as a seed in the ground but has grown as a large tree! It has become the mountain that Isaiah talked about that all nations would flow unto. The kingdom is here! But the Kingdom is also at hand for those waiting on salvation. Receive the kingdom!”
-Anthony Booker
The GATHERING Place 