The Kingdom That Never Came

Unfortunately, it is clear from the writings of Paul that most, if not all, of the churches that he had founded or mentored eventually turned away from the Gospel of Grace that he preached and placed themselves back under the Law or Gospel of the Kingdom (Galatians 1:6), and have done so ever since, e.g., finding the church in the Old Testament, the Gospels, and the other writings of the Twelve.

Sadly, with that in mind, and the fact that the kingdom never came, in their ignorance, following the writings of Augustine, specifically, his work, The City of God, early 5th century, they began to spiritualize and allegorize the texts to make them say what they wanted them to say. As a result, the church became Israel, we are now living in the kingdom, the pope is Christ's vicar on earth, and Rome is the Holy City, etc. Unfortunately, the Protestant Reformation did little to change this theology other than to reject the authority of the pope and gravitate from amillennialism to postmillennialism. Neither interpreted the Bible literally and both led to preterism. Dispensationalism was not lost, but purposefully left.

Dispensationalism is the Only Answer

The timeline never changed for the apostles. As per Daniel's prophecy and many others in the Old Testament, their expectation and hope was that Israel would eventually repent nationally, the Tribulation would begin as per the prophecies of Daniel's Seventieth Week spoken of in Daniel 9:24 and Matthew 24:15, and culminate with the Christ's Second Coming, the establishment of the kingdom, and them sitting on twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel just as they were promised  in Matthew 19:28. This is reflected in all their writings without exception. This apparently remained a hope until the eventual destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and the death of John: the last apostle. One would do well to remember this when they are reading anything between Hebrews and Revelation. They were always addressing the believing Jews and preparing them for the tribulation that they fully expected to come in their lifetimes. 

Paul, on the other hand, had turned to the Gentiles and the establishment of the church: The Body of Christ. As such, the apostles were teaching the Gospel of the Kingdom that required repentance and baptism, while Paul was teaching the Gospel of Grace that required only belief in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. As I mentioned earlier, failure to see this transition is the reason for so much confusion in the church today, e.g., baptismal regeneration, amillennialism, postmillennialism, preterism, replacement theology, much of the Pentecostal movement, the loss of salvation, etc. In my opinion, it is only through the lens of the dispensational view that these issues can be remedied.

Spearman, H. Dwayne. The Book of Acts Rightly Divided (pp. 7-8). Directional Bible Ministries. Kindle Edition.