Summary –
By tracking God’s mighty deeds of the past, we can draw some conclusions about the advance of God’s Kingdom throughout the centuries. Acts 3:19-21 is the most concise biblical summary of the coming of the Kingdom of God. It is a story with two historical parts. The first consists of “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord” (v. 19). It is this first part that we have been tracing in the “Glory Through Time” teaching. They appear like waves of revival through the centuries. God has called the Church to pray for these “times of refreshing,” which manifest the Kingdom of God. The second part is end-time promise: that Jesus is coming back “to restore all things” (v. 21). In both periods, the Kingdom of God consists of presence plus pattern. The pattern we have traced is the seven-part pattern we are calling the “by my Spirit” pattern, as over against the seven-part pattern we have called “power and might Christianity.” As the Kingdom of God has been moving in a predominantly westerly direction, the “by my Spirit” pattern has emerged again and again through time. Today, God is once again inviting His people to return to the original pattern of the Kingdom of God: “Not by power, nor by might, but by my Spirit, says the Lord” (Zech. 4:6).
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