WHY THE WORLD NEEDS THE KINGDOM OF GOD 12
KINGDOM OF GOD BIBLE SEMINAR – 1B ______
WHY THE WORLD NEEDS GOD’S KINGDOM
KINGDOM OF GOD BIBLE SEMINAR – 1B
IT’S NO SECRET — OUR WORLD IS IN A TERRIBLE STATE OF AFFAIRS.
IT’S A PREDICAMENT OF OUR OWN MAKING — WITH NO SMALL HELP FROM SATAN THE DEVIL.
AS THE FULFILLMENT OF THE BIBLE’S END TIME PROPHECIES REACH THEIR FOCAL POINT IN THE MONTHS AND YEARS AHEAD …
… IT IS CLEAR THAT TIME IS JUST ABOUT UP FOR THIS PRESENT EVIL AGE.
AS JESUS CHRIST PHRASED IT IN MARK 1:15, “THE TIME IS FULFILLED.”
BUT HE ALSO OFFERED A MARVELOUS SOLUTION — HE WENT ON TO SAY “…THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND.”
INDEED, THIS OLD WORLD NEEDS GOD’S KINGDOM — AND IT NEEDS IT NOW!
ALSO EACH OF US — YOU AND I — NEED JESUS CHRIST AND GOD’S KINGDOM IN OUR LIVES — NOW AS WELL.
BUT, ALLOW ME TO POSE SOME IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
WHAT LIES IMMEDIATELY AHEAD FOR THE UNITED STATES AND ALL NATIONS?
WHY IS THE WORLD IN SUCH GREAT DISTRESS AND PERIL?
WHY CAN’T HUMANITY SOLVE ITS OWN PROBLEMS AND BRING PEACE TO THE WORLD?
ALSO, HOW WILL CHRIST INTERVENE TO PREVENT HUMANITY FROM ANNIHILATING ITSELF?
WHAT’S AHEAD WHEN JESUS CHRIST — AS KING OF KINGS OF THE COMING KINGDOM OF GOD — RULES THE WORLD?
FURTHERMORE, HOW CAN YOU AND I PERSONALLY CONNECT WITH THE KINGDOM OF GOD THROUGH ITS KING JESUS CHRIST?
AS WE PARTICIPATE IN THE SECOND HALF OF OUR KINGDOM OF GOD SEMINAR TODAY, LET’S COVER ISSUES THAT PROVIDE ANSWERS TO THESE AND OTHER IMPORTANT QUESTIONS.
THEY ALL INVOLVE AN UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT JESUS MEANT WHEN HE SAID THE “TIME IS FULFILLED.”
JUST WHAT DID JESUS MEAN BY THAT CRITICAL STATEMENT?
IN ESSENCE, HE MEANT THAT THE END OF MAN’S WAY OF DOING THINGS IS COMING SOON.
HE ALSO MEANT THAT THE TIME FOR USHERING IN A NEW AND WONDERFUL AGE — THAT WILL SOLVE ALL MANKIND’S PROBLEMS — IS NOW ON OUR DOORSTEP.
ADDITIONALLY, JESUS SAID THAT YOU AND I CAN HAVE A PART IN THAT AWESOME COMING TIME — LEADING TO ETERNAL LIFE IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
SO, LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT SEVERAL POINTS THAT SHOW US WHY THE WORLD — AND YOU AND I — NEED GOD’S KINGDOM NOW!
1) WHAT’S AHEAD FOR AMERICA AND ALL NATIONS?
ALSO, WHAT WAS SPECIFICALLY PROPHESIED IN THE BIBLE — AS AMERICA’S ROLE IN MODERN HISTORY?
OUR COUNTRY’S FOUNDING COLONISTS VIEWED AMERICA IN BIBLICAL TERMS.
PHRASES SUCH AS THE FOLLOWING WERE FREQUENTLY HEARD: “NEW ISRAEL,” “THE NEW PROMISED LAND,” “A CITY ON A HILL.”
AMERICA’S SYSTEM OF LAW IS BASED ON THE BIBLE AND BIBLICAL VALUES.
THESE VALUES ARE SUMMARIZED BY THE 10 COMMANDMENTS — AND EVEN TO THIS DAY — ARE PROMINENTLY DISPLAYED ON MANY UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.
FOR THE LAST CENTURY THE UNITED STATES HAS FUNCTIONED AS THE FOREMOST WORLD POWER HOLDING AT BAY THE FORCES OF TYRANNY — SUCH AS NAZISM, FASCISM, MARXISM AND RELIGIOUS EXTREMISM.
INDEED, FOR MANY DECADES AMERICA HAS BEEN A BASTION OF FREEDOM AND OPPORTUNITY FOR THE ENTIRE WORLD.
EVEN THOUGH IT HAS MANY FAULTS, AMERICA NEVERTHELESS HAS BEEN — AS ABRAHAM LINCOLN SAID: “MAN’S LAST BEST HOPE.”
ALTHOUGH AMERICA MAY HAVE BEEN MAN’S BEST HOPE — IT WILL BE SHOWN NOT TO BE GOD’S BEST HOPE.
THE BEST THAT AMERICA IS OR HAS EVER BEEN — WILL BE SHOWN TO BE “DUST ON THE SCALES” — COMPARED TO WHAT IS COMING WHEN JESUS CHRIST RULES IN THE KINGDOM OF GOD ON EARTH.
BUT WHY IS AMERICA OF PARTICULAR NOTE AT THIS TIME IN HISTORY?
AT EVERY CRITICAL HISTORICAL JUNCTURE GOD HAS IDENTIFIED KEY NATIONS IN THE BIBLE.
FOR EXAMPLE, EGYPT AND ISRAEL AT THE EXODUS IN 1400 B.C.
ALSO, ASSYRIA, BABYLON, EGYPT, THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL (THE “LOST” 10 TRIBES) AND THE HOUSE OF JUDAH (ANCESTORS OF THE JEWS) …
… WHEN GOD PUNISHED ALL THE ISRAELITES WITH CONQUEST AND CAPTIVITY IN THE 700’S TO 500’S B.C.
ALSO IN THE SCRIPTURES, GOD IDENTIFIED THE ROMAN EMPIRE, PARTHIAN EMPIRE, GREECE, JUDAEA, EGYPT AND OTHERS AT THE TIME OF CHRIST AND THE APOSTLES — A.D. FIRST CENTURY.
EVEN TODAY, AMERICA IS ONE OF THE KEY NATIONS PROPHETICALLY IDENTIFIED IN THE BIBLE.
LET’S BRIEFLY REVIEW SOME VITAL BIBLICAL BACKGROUND.
THE BIBLE CONTAINS A HISTORY OF THE DESCENDENTS OF ONE MAN — ABRAHAM.
ABRAHAM HAD TWO SONS.
ISHMAEL — THE FATHER OF THE TRIBES THAT BECAME THE MODERN ARAB NATIONS.
ISAAC — THE FATHER OF ESAU AND JACOB.
NOW, SPEAKING OF JACOB (ALSO KNOWN AS ISRAEL) — HE HAD 12 SONS.
ONE OF THOSE SONS — JUDAH, THE FATHER OF THE MOST OF THE ISRAELIS AND JEWS TODAY …
… RECEIVED THE PROPHESIED “SCEPTER” OR RULERSHIP THROUGH THE DESCENDENT LINE OF KING DAVID — ON THROUGH TO JESUS CHRIST.
ANOTHER SON OF JACOB WAS JOSEPH.
JOSEPH HAD TWO SONS.
EPHRAIM — THE ANCESTOR OF THE BRITISH NATIONS.
MANASSEH —THE ANCESTOR OF THE UNITED STATES.
GOD’S GAVE THE NATIONS THAT DESCENDED FROM JACOB (ISRAEL) NUMEROUS BLESSINGS — AND HE EXPECTED MUCH FROM THEM AS A RESULT.
LUKE 12:48 … FOR EVERYONE TO WHOM MUCH IS GIVEN, FROM HIM MUCH WILL BE REQUIRED; AND TO WHOM MUCH HAS BEEN COMMITTED OF HIM THEY WILL ASK THE MORE.
THE MORAL AND SPIRITUAL EXPECTATIONS GOD DESIRED OUR CONTEMPORARY NATIONS — HAVE SADLY NOT BEEN FULFILLED.
THE RESULT?
THE DESCENDENTS OF THE MODERN DAY NATIONS OF JACOB (ISRAEL) ARE ENTERING INTO A TIME OF GREAT TRIAL, SUFFERING AND DISASTER.
THE BIBLE CALLS THIS COMING PERIOD “THE TIME OF JACOB’S TROUBLE.”
JEREMIAH 30:4-7 NOW THESE ARE THE WORDS THAT THE LORD SPOKE CONCERNING ISRAEL AND JUDAH. FOR THUS SAYS THE LORD: WE HAVE HEARD A VOICE OF TREMBLING, OF FEAR, AND NOT OF PEACE. ASK NOW, AND SEE, WHETHER A MAN IS EVER IN LABOR WITH CHILD? SO WHY DO I SEE EVERY MAN WITH HIS HANDS ON HIS LOINS LIKE A WOMAN IN LABOR, AND ALL FACES TURNED PALE? ALAS! FOR THAT DAY IS GREAT, SO THAT NONE IS LIKE IT; AND IT IS THE TIME OF JACOB'S TROUBLE, BUT HE SHALL BE SAVED OUT OF IT.
AND TROUBLE SEEMS TO LOVE COMPANY — BECAUSE ALL EARTH’S NATIONS TODAY FACE EXTREME, UNPRECEDENTED, BUT PROPHESIED DIFFICULTIES.
LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT ANOTHER REASON WHY THE WORLD — AND EACH OF US — NEED GOD’S KINGDOM NOW!
2) WHY CAN’T MAN SOLVE HIS OWN PROBLEMS AND BRING WORLD PEACE?
IN MAN’S WORLD — WARFARE IS CHRONIC AND PERVASIVE.
THERE ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE A GREATER WAR ON THE HORIZON.
THE FACT IS PLAIN — HUMANKIND SIMPLY DOES NOT KNOW THE WAY TO PEACE.
ISAIAH 59:7-9 THEIR FEET RUN TO EVIL, AND THEY MAKE HASTE TO SHED INNOCENT BLOOD; THEIR THOUGHTS ARE THOUGHTS OF INIQUITY; WASTING AND DESTRUCTION ARE IN THEIR PATHS. THE WAY OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN, AND THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THEIR WAYS; THEY HAVE MADE THEMSELVES CROOKED PATHS; WHOEVER TAKES THAT WAY SHALL NOT KNOW PEACE. THEREFORE JUSTICE IS FAR FROM US, NOR DOES RIGHTEOUSNESS OVERTAKE US; WE LOOK FOR LIGHT, BUT THERE IS DARKNESS! FOR BRIGHTNESS, BUT WE WALK IN BLACKNESS!
MANKIND HAS A SINFUL NATURE — ONE THAT PREVENTS ANY HUMANLY-DESIGNED UTOPIAN SOCIETY FROM BEING PROPERLY CONSTRUCTED AND MAINTAINED.
BUT WHY HAS MANKIND’S EFFORTS TO DEVISE AND BUILD PEACEFUL SOCIETIES ALWAYS RESULTED IN FAILURE?
BECAUSE OF ONE SIMPLE YET MOMENTOUS PROBLEM — THE OBSTINATE, SELFISH, PROUD HUMAN HEART.
JEREMIAH 17:9-10 THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, AND DESPERATELY WICKED; WHO CAN KNOW IT? 10 I, THE LORD, SEARCH THE HEART, I TEST THE MIND, EVEN TO GIVE EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, ACCORDING TO THE FRUIT OF HIS DOINGS.
BESIDES OUR HUMAN NATURE — THERE IS ANOTHER GREAT PROBLEM AFFLICTING MANKIND.
IT IS SATAN THE DEVIL — WHO CONTINUALLY AND CONSTANTLY FOMENTS TROUBLE IN HUMAN LIVES.
SATAN IS A THE GREAT, HATEFUL DECEIVER AND IS THE CO-PERPETRATOR IN THE SINS OF ALL HUMANITY.
REVELATION 12:9 SO THE GREAT DRAGON WAS CAST OUT, THAT SERPENT OF OLD, CALLED THE DEVIL AND SATAN, WHO DECEIVES THE WHOLE WORLD; HE WAS CAST TO THE EARTH, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM.
EPHESIANS 2:2 IN WHICH YOU ONCE WALKED ACCORDING TO THE COURSE OF THIS WORLD, ACCORDING TO THE PRINCE OF THE POWER OF THE AIR, THE SPIRIT WHO NOW WORKS IN THE SONS OF DISOBEDIENCE…
SO, WHAT IS THE ANSWER TO THE MONUMENTAL PROBLEMS OF OUR AGE — PRECIPITATED BY OUR HUMAN NATURE AND STIRRED TO THE BOILING POINT BY THE DEVIL?
THIS BRINGS US TO THE NEXT ITEM TO COVER.
3)THE REAL SOLUTION — IS THAT THE WORLD ABSOLUTELY NEEDS GOD’S KINGDOM.
WHAT TREMENDOUS EVENT WILL OCCUR TO INITIATE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF GOD’S KINGDOM TO EARTH?
IT IS THE SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST.
MATTHEW 24:29-31 IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE TRIBULATION OF THOSE DAYS THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED, AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT; THE STARS WILL FALL FROM HEAVEN, AND THE POWERS OF THE HEAVENS WILL BE SHAKEN. THEN THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN WILL APPEAR IN HEAVEN, AND THEN ALL THE TRIBES OF THE EARTH WILL MOURN, AND THEY WILL SEE THE SON OF MAN COMING ON THE CLOUDS OF HEAVEN WITH POWER AND GREAT GLORY. AND HE WILL SEND HIS ANGELS WITH A GREAT SOUND OF A TRUMPET, AND THEY WILL GATHER TOGETHER HIS ELECT FROM THE FOUR WINDS, FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN TO THE OTHER.
JESUS CHRIST WILL LITERALLY RETURN TO EARTH AT THE SOUND OF THE SEVENTH PROPHETIC TRUMPET — WHICH IS DESCRIBED IN THE BIBLICAL BOOK OF REVELATION.
THE “ELECT” — ALSO KNOWN AS “THOSE WHO ARE CHRIST’S AT HIS COMING” — ARE GATHERED TO HIM WHEN HE COMES TO EARTH.
THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD WILL TAKE PLACE AT THAT MARVELOUS TIME.
1 CORINTHIANS 15:50-53 NOW THIS I SAY, BRETHREN, THAT FLESH AND BLOOD CANNOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD; NOR DOES CORRUPTION INHERIT INCORRUPTION. BEHOLD, I TELL YOU A MYSTERY: WE SHALL NOT ALL SLEEP, BUT WE SHALL ALL BE CHANGED -- IN A MOMENT, IN THE TWINKLING OF AN EYE, AT THE LAST TRUMPET. FOR THE TRUMPET WILL SOUND, AND THE DEAD WILL BE RAISED INCORRUPTIBLE, AND WE SHALL BE CHANGED. FOR THIS CORRUPTIBLE MUST PUT ON INCORRUPTION, AND THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY.
WE JUST READ THE TERM “SLEEP” — WHICH IN BIBLICAL PARLANCE REFERS TO BEING PHYSICALLY DEAD.
BUT WHEN THE RESURRECTION OCCURS — GOD “AWAKENS” A PERSON TO LIVE AGAIN.
SO, THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD — OF THE ELECT STILL PHYSICALLY LIVING AT THAT TIME — TAKES PLACE AT THE SOUND OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET — AT CHRIST’S RETURN.
NOW, IT IS CRITICAL TO REALIZE THAT A PERSON MUST BE CHANGED TO SPIRIT IN ORDER TO ENTER OR INHERIT THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
THE RESURRECTED SAINTS NOW — NOW CHANGED TO SPIRIT-COMPOSITION RISE TO MEET CHRIST IN THE AIR.
1 THESSALONIANS 4:13 BUT I DO NOT WANT YOU TO BE IGNORANT, BRETHREN, CONCERNING THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP, LEST YOU SORROW AS OTHERS WHO HAVE NO HOPE. FOR IF WE BELIEVE THAT JESUS DIED AND ROSE AGAIN, EVEN SO GOD WILL BRING WITH HIM THOSE WHO SLEEP IN JESUS. FOR THIS WE SAY TO YOU BY THE WORD OF THE LORD, THAT WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN UNTIL THE COMING OF THE LORD WILL BY NO MEANS PRECEDE THOSE WHO ARE ASLEEP. FOR THE LORD HIMSELF WILL DESCEND FROM HEAVEN WITH A SHOUT, WITH THE VOICE OF AN ARCHANGEL, AND WITH THE TRUMPET OF GOD. AND THE DEAD IN CHRIST WILL RISE FIRST. THEN WE WHO ARE ALIVE AND REMAIN SHALL BE CAUGHT UP TOGETHER WITH THEM IN THE CLOUDS TO MEET THE LORD IN THE AIR. AND THUS WE SHALL ALWAYS BE WITH THE LORD.
AGAIN, TO “SLEEP IN JESUS” IS TO WAIT IN THE GRAVE UNTIL HE RETURNS TO EARTH TO RESURRECT HIS ELECT.
NOTE AGAIN — THE REFERENCE TO THE SOUNDING OF THE SEVENTH TRUMPET OF GOD — WHICH DESCRIBES THE RESURRECTION FROM THE DEAD.
THE FAITHFUL SAINTS WILL RISE INTO THE CLOUDS TO MEET CHRIST — AND THEN THEY WILL RETURN TO EARTH.
AS IS MENTIONED IN THIS NEXT PASSAGE — JESUS WILL STAND ON THE EARTH — ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES IN JERUSALEM.
ZECHARIAH 14:1-4 BEHOLD, THE DAY OF THE LORD IS COMING, AND YOUR SPOIL WILL BE DIVIDED IN YOUR MIDST. FOR I WILL GATHER ALL THE NATIONS TO BATTLE AGAINST JERUSALEM; THE CITY SHALL BE TAKEN, THE HOUSES RIFLED, AND THE WOMEN RAVISHED. HALF OF THE CITY SHALL GO INTO CAPTIVITY, BUT THE REMNANT OF THE PEOPLE SHALL NOT BE CUT OFF FROM THE CITY. THEN THE LORD WILL GO FORTH AND FIGHT AGAINST THOSE NATIONS, AS HE FIGHTS IN THE DAY OF BATTLE. AND IN THAT DAY HIS FEET WILL STAND ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES, WHICH FACES JERUSALEM ON THE EAST. AND THE MOUNT OF OLIVES SHALL BE SPLIT IN TWO, FROM EAST TO WEST, MAKING A VERY LARGE VALLEY; HALF OF THE MOUNTAIN SHALL MOVE TOWARD THE NORTH AND HALF OF IT TOWARD THE SOUTH.
AGAIN, CHRIST DOES NOT STAY IN THE AIR AT HIS RETURN — NOR DO THOSE RESURRECTED AT THE TIME OF HIS COMING.
HE GOES TO THE MOUNT OF OLIVES AT JERUSALEM AND THERE FIGHTS A GREAT FINAL BATTLE WITH THE HUMAN ARMIES ARRAYED AGAINST HIM.
CHRIST PROCLAIMS VICTORY OVER MAN’S FORCES OF EVIL — AND CLAIMS THE NATIONS AS PART OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
REVELATION 11:15 THEN THE SEVENTH ANGEL SOUNDED: AND THERE WERE LOUD VOICES IN HEAVEN, SAYING, THE KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD HAVE BECOME THE KINGDOMS OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS CHRIST, AND HE SHALL REIGN FOREVER AND EVER!
IN THIS NEXT PASSAGE — WE READ OF THE APOSTLE JOHN’S VISION — ABOUT CHRIST’S COMING AS KING OF KINGS OF GOD’S — TO GOVERN ON EARTH.
REVELATION 19:11-16 NOW I SAW HEAVEN OPENED, AND BEHOLD, A WHITE HORSE. AND HE WHO SAT ON HIM WAS CALLED FAITHFUL AND TRUE, AND IN RIGHTEOUSNESS HE JUDGES AND MAKES WAR. HIS EYES WERE LIKE A FLAME OF FIRE, AND ON HIS HEAD WERE MANY CROWNS. HE HAD A NAME WRITTEN THAT NO ONE KNEW EXCEPT HIMSELF. HE WAS CLOTHED WITH A ROBE DIPPED IN BLOOD, AND HIS NAME IS CALLED THE WORD OF GOD. AND THE ARMIES IN HEAVEN, CLOTHED IN FINE LINEN, WHITE AND CLEAN, FOLLOWED HIM ON WHITE HORSES. NOW OUT OF HIS MOUTH GOES A SHARP SWORD, THAT WITH IT HE SHOULD STRIKE THE NATIONS. AND HE HIMSELF WILL RULE THEM WITH A ROD OF IRON. HE HIMSELF TREADS THE WINEPRESS OF THE FIERCENESS AND WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD.AND HE HAS ON HIS ROBE AND ON HIS THIGH A NAME WRITTEN: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.