Page 23 - TH130 Kingdom of God A4 Final

Historical Approaches to the Kingdom

In time, however, Pentecostal scholars began to see that some of the
teachings of dispensationalism were opposed to the Pentecostal teachings
of the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, and modern-day
miracles. For instance, dispensationalists teach that the Jews rejected
Jesus’ offer of the kingdom of God; therefore, the promise of David’s
restored kingdom has been put off until the Millennium. The fulfillment
of Joel’s prophecy of the outpouring of the Spirit (Joel 2:28–29) has also
been delayed until the second coming of Christ. Therefore, according
to dispensationalist teaching, Pentecost was only a temporary blessing
of power to the early church. Dispensationalists say that the power of
Pentecost is not available to the church today. Pentecostals strongly
reject this view.

Other Assemblies of God theologians, such as Ernest S. Williams and
Stanley Horton, closely identified the kingdom of God with the church.
They said that the church is “spiritual Israel” and the Spirit is active in
the church today.

Contemporary Pentecostal Thought

In recent years, evangelicals and Pentecostals have shown more
interest in the kingdom of God. Some Pentecostal scholars have written
about how the teaching of the kingdom of God affects missions. In 1966
Pentecostal missiologist Melvin L. Hodges wrote about the importance
of the Kingdom in a New Testament theology of missions:

The church is the present manifestation of the kingdom of God
in the earth, or at least the agency that prepares the way for the
future manifestation of the Kingdom. Its mission, therefore, is
the extension of the church throughout the world.… It is the Holy
Spirit who gives life to the church and imparts gifts and ministries
as well as power for their performance. (33)

For most Pentecostals this was a new way of thinking about the
kingdom of God.

In 1985, Paul A. Pomerville wrote that the biblical theme of the
kingdom of God provides a theological underpinning for Pentecostal
theology. According to Pomerville, the kingdom of God represents the
dynamic reign of God in the world. It is God’s supernatural breaking into

::: 15 :::