Report from John Hepp, Jr., January 2012

“The Four Gospels:  The Kingdom Offered & Postponed.”  That is the name of a writing (71 pp.) I just finished and got posted on my website.  Please look at it and give me feedback!  It shows the crucial Gospel teaching about the kingdom of God that drew near at Messiah’s first coming.  Here I will list the sections of my study, then quote three excerpts from the Synopsis:

• Synopsis (2 pp.), a bird’s eye view of Gospel teachings about the kingdom.
• “Important Considerations,” which include reasons it is so important to understand the kingdom, also a biblical definition of it.
• Studies of the kingdom in each Gospel, including comments on many passages.
• Conclusions (7 pp.) by categories.
• Appendixes on Acts 2, Acts 10, and Psalm 110.

The kingdom that drew near was God’s long-suspended kingdom over Israel.  No one had to define it because they all knew how the prophets had described it.  Israel would be restored, liberated, and made the head of the nations.  The ruler would be King David’s descendant sitting on David’s throne.  The capital would be Jerusalem.  The nations would live in justice and peace.  Even deserts would blossom and the curse be forgotten.  Every­body agrees that this was how Israel understood the re-offered kingdom.  Even the angelic announcements and Spirit-filled speeches of Luke chapters 1 and 2 reflected their hopes.  So did John the Baptist.  …  [But now I will skip to the parables in Matthew 13 et al.]
 
The kingdom being announced would not begin immediately but after an additional period of preparation. After that, the Son of Man would come to establish it, glorious as predict­ed.  This meant that the King would come not once but twice.  But why the delay?  Jesus later clearly revealed some reasons.  Above all, He would suffer and die, then go to heaven until His time to rule.  While waiting to rule, He is building His kingdom assem­bly, the church (Greek ekklesia), as He promised.  He does this by “baptizing” disciples in God’s Spirit.  …
 
Why didn’t God reveal these “secrets” to His ear­lier prophets?  Why did Jesus explain them only to disciples? There is one main answer to both questions:  to give Israel an uncluttered choice.

 
Improved website.  My son Brad is in charge of managing my website.  We were getting the files into HTML and giving instant access to Scriptures cited.  We have delayed that while adapting to WordPress, which facilitates better searches, drop-down menus, etc. Try them!
 
Next writings.  Now I am getting back to studies in Romans and Revelation that were nearly ready before I switched to the Gospels.  Surely they should not take much longer.  Watch for this flag on the HOME page:  NEW, FOR REVIEW.  Any comments at all (especially negative) will be welcome!
 
Yours for His glory,
John Hepp, Jr.

Report from John Hepp, Jr., July 2011

We should define the kingdom as the prophets did in both Testaments. And we should find out what our Lord’s titles mean by Bible usage, not by our tradition. Such matters constantly affect our interpretation of God’s Word — as in my two writings I mention here.

Prayerfully consider reviewing one or both of my following writings before I post them. Both are designed for ordinary Bible students, not experts.

1. “Survey of Romans,” ready now, 91 pp., about half appendixes and endnotes.
2. “The Coming of Jesus’ Eternal Kingdom according to the Book of Revelation,” ready in about two weeks, 65 pp. now. (For excerpts, see the end of this letter.)

The Romans survey gives my matured insights, including some teachings you may not hear often:

• The purpose of Romans is not to present the gospel but to explain why it works.
• The gospel summaries in Romans 1:3-4 and 10:9-10 are different from what is usually preached nowadays.
• Jesus’ gospel titles Christ and Son of God were both acquired as a human being. (This does not question His eternal divinity but pays attention to all the Scriptural evidence.)
• The judgment discussed in Romans 2 is a real one, not hypothetical. In it Jesus will really judge those who “do evil” and those who “do good.”
• Only those who “do good” will get eternal life, which is the same as immortality.
• Saving faith includes repentance from sin and submission to the Lord Jesus.
• Believers are not under the law, but only they truly keep it.
• An essential reason believers are secure is that they are really being transformed.
• The certain hope of believers is to take part in (inherit) “the world to come” (Heb. 2:5).

How would you review one of these writings? By reading it and marking whatever is not clear or convincing, then telling me. I can print it for you and mail it. Or — more easily — I can send it to you attached to an email, for you to print out or read online. You would then send me any comments or suggestions separately or attached to the file.

East Texas is like an oven in this heat and drought. But I am thankful that I can still walk on the track, water and cut my own grass, write in comfort, and often see friends when lonesome.

Yours for His glory,
John Hepp, Jr.

Will you review all or part of my “Survey of Romans” or (Survey of) Revelation? If so, tell me how to send it/them, johnhepp@kingdominbible.com, or 903-963-7277.

Excerpts from “The Coming of Jesus’ Eternal Kingdom 
according to the Book of Revelation”

[From four pages of General Introduction to give the kingdom setting for the book]

This capstone book, the final message of Scripture, was passed on to us by Jesus the Messiah through the apostle John (Rev. 1:1). It tells the relentless march of events that will lead to His coming and kingdom. Near the end, in 20:1-6, it provides an account of Jesus’ kingdom being inaugurated.

[From the discussion of the title in 1:6 implying that the church is already the kingdom]

The answer is that the title is proleptic-calling us now what we will be in the future. Jesus Himself is given a proleptic title in the preceding verse (1:5): “the ruler of the kings of the earth.” Eventually He will rule all the kings, but not yet. Revelation itself speaks of that activity as future: He “will rule all the nations with an iron scepter” (12:5).

[From the introduction to Part II: Judgments Leading to the Kingdom, chapters 4-19]

Will the church miss these judgments? We have seen that the entire Book of Revelation is designed for the churches. Yet, the words church or churches are not used again after Revelation 3 until the last chapter. Why not? Some answer that the true church will not be on earth during the tribulation judgments-but will already be raptured and trans¬ferred to heaven. That is called the pretribulation Rapture view, that the Rapture (a) will occur before the tribulation and (b) will take the church away. How important that would be for both the church and the world! How important it would be to relate it in this book designed for the church! But how perplexing for those who teach a pretribula¬tion Rapture not to find it in the early chapters. (In fact, it is in no chapter as they picture it!) They can only infer that it must take place there.

[From the introduction to chapters 6-18, judgment from heaven on earth]

A nesting pattern. It helps a lot to understand that these three main series of judgments are not parallel but consecutive. As seen in Chart C, the last seal consists of the seven trumpets, and the last trumpet consists of all seven bowls. Saying it another way, the trumpets are “nested” in the last seal, and the bowls are “nested” in the last trumpet.

[From the introduction to 21:1]

The “new heaven and new earth” (21:1). ”I am making everything new” (21:5). Let us consider what is so labeled and what this newness means. We must not misunderstand God’s intentions. He will never decide that a material world is too “unspiritual” or unworkable. He will not give up on everything He has made and completely discard it. Not even if there is rebellion after a thousand year reign. Instead, He will finally purify and restore it all. That is certainly what Isaiah meant in his many prophecies of the kingdom.

Report from John Hepp, Jr., April 2006

Nature of My Ministry
In the Past. After graduating from Dallas Theological Seminary in 1956, I served awhile as interim pastor in a Hispanic church in Dallas. Later my wife Billie and I were asked by Central American Mission (now CAM International) to help begin a Bible School in Puebla, Mexico. By early 1959 we had moved there, where we worked in Spanish for twelve school years. That school (Instituto y Seminario Biblico) continues today.

In 1971 I accepted a call from TEAM to develop a Bible school curriculum in English, called LIT International (Leadership Instruction & Training). On college-entry level, LIT was carefully designed for self-study by students abroad who have learned English. Hundreds have studied LIT courses in India, Trinidad, and elsewhere. The first courses were nearly all based on existing texts; later we began to write our own texts. From Van, Texas I have written and/or edited all the extant courses. I continued this project until recently, even after it was transferred to Source of Light Mission and after I retired from TEAM. Currently LIT’s future is in doubt.

In the Present. Billie was taken to be with the Lord on February 6, 2006. I had the privilege of ushering her through her final illness and death, which glorified the Lord, as she wished. Every day now finds me deeply grieving my loss.

However, I must consider why the Lord left me behind. Probably one reason was for me to finish writing more Bible studies that show the unity of God’s revelation. Therefore, I have just finished my Survey of Romans while teaching that epistle to some teachers. It is available on the website my son Brad has set up: www.kingdominbible.com. I chose that title because the kingdom is the Bible’s major theme in both testaments. My general study of the kingdom (to be revised soon) shows how it ties the Bible together. I understand the kingdom the same way George N. H. Peters, Alva McClain, and Stanley D. Toussaint do. This view comes from the Bible itself, not from modern theology, which is often “christoplatonic” (Randy Alcorn’s word).

Fairly Recent Modifications of My Doctrinal Views
In general my theological framework has not changed; it is built on “literal” (normal) interpretation of Scripture. In details, however, I have modified and sharpened many views, as every constant Bible student and writer will do. Consider the last part of each of these three examples.

• As promised, God will give the nation of Israel a glorious and eternal future. First they will repent and Messiah will baptize them in the Spirit, as He does us now. Echoing the Old Testament, that baptism was promised for Israel in all four Gospels and Acts. In our case it makes us part of Messiah’s body, the ekklesia, which will rule with Him forever. Will it do the same for Israel? Of course!
• In Isaiah 65 and 66 “new heavens and new earth” describes even the first stage (the millennium) of the coming eternal kingdom. Therefore, we must not assume that it refers only to the perfected stage of that kingdom (that is, after the millennium) in 2 Peter 3 and Revelation 21.
• The Book of Romans was not written to present the gospel to the unsaved. That is done quite well in the four Gospels and Acts. Instead, the theme of Romans is the power of the gospel —not what it is but why it works!