Just What Is the Kingdom of God?

Well, good morning, everyone! It certainly is wonderful to see all of you here today. I know some of you drove as far as McAllister and also Muskogee, so we really appreciate you getting up early and coming to join us today. We're just thrilled to have our guest with us today. And I know I'm looking forward to sharing this series with you, this Kingdom of God series. This is just the beginning, so welcome to the Kingdom of God seminar series. Today we embark on a journey into a bold new world, soon to come to this earth. This is – time is of the essence because our world today is waning. It's coming to an end before that new world begins, before the Kingdom of God is established here on this earth.

We're privileged to live at the turning point of an epic at the crossroads of history. This new world will be carefully governed as one overall kingdom – the Kingdom of God. At that soon-coming time, the whole world will have one great king – or King of Kings – Jesus Christ. All the nations will finally look to Him. But just what is the Kingdom of God and how will it come to earth? That's what this seminar series is all about. Throughout the seminars, we'll also cover much more, including questions such as, how will prophecies of God's Kingdom affect America and other nations as the coming months and years unfold?

We certainly live in a dangerous, troubled time today. We all know that. We live in perilous times, as the Scripture refers to them. Consider that tomorrow, September 11th, is the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the sacrifices of United Flight 93 in Pennsylvania. Let's also consider the many earthquakes, the tornadoes, the floods, the hurricanes, the many natural disasters, the horrendous crimes, the terrorism, the economic uncertainty, and the international tensions that we see around us today.

We really do live in a frightening world to a large degree. We might ask ourselves, just where are we now in Bible prophecy? Additionally, how will fulfilled prophecy about the Kingdom of God affect you and your family? These are important questions to consider. Furthermore, why has modern Christianity not understood the Gospel of the Kingdom of God? Besides that, how can Jesus Christ, the coming King of the Kingdom of God, give us inner peace during these turbulent times? So in this seminar series, we will answer these questions. And we will show from the Bible the wonder and greatness of the Gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God.

Also, we will focus on the prophetic timing and details, plus the profound changes it can make in our individual lives. These series of seminars will last about a year and a half. So we're just getting started. It's exciting to consider that we have a lot to share with all of you. So now specifically, in this first seminar today, we're going to examine this critical time in history.

Where we're living right now, we'll discuss the end of the age of man just before the return of Jesus Christ at the coming of the Kingdom of God. This first segment in the seminar could be termed a welcoming introduction from Jesus Christ to God's Kingdom. I believe Christ is here in spirit today, and this is a message that he wants all of us to hear. We'll discuss the end of the age of man, as I said, just before the return of Christ.

Everything will change at that time, and it will change for the better. We'll show why the Kingdom of God is a missing dimension of knowledge in today's governments, business, education, and its religious systems, including professing Christianity. In Matthew 6, verse 9, we're familiar with this verse. Jesus Christ told us to pray in this manner. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.

Hallowed be thy name. Do you remember what he said next? He said, thy Kingdom come. Thy Kingdom come. What did Jesus have in mind? Why does he want us to go to him in prayer daily, with this being a part of our prayer, thy Kingdom come? What is the Kingdom of God? And most importantly, how can you personally be a part of God's coming Kingdom? Today we're going to cover seven areas regarding the Kingdom of God in this first seminar.

First of all, we're going to talk about the Kingdom that nobody knows. Frankly, very few understand the real truth about the Kingdom of God and what it really means. Did you know that the Kingdom of God is not understood by modern Christianity in large part? In fact, we could take what we might call the Christian Bookstore Test.

Imagine yourself walking down the aisle of the Doctrine section of the Christian Bookstore. You're trying to find books about the Kingdom of God, or books which have the Kingdom of God in the title. Well, there will be plenty of books about heaven, about hell, about the Holy Spirit, about grace, and about other subjects. There will be very few about the Kingdom of God, and those few, frankly, will not go into all that we're going to be going into.

They will not explain what the Kingdom of God really means. So let's get into this in more detail with our next point, our second point. That is that modern Christianity misunderstands the Gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God. What was the very message that Jesus Christ brought when He came to earth? We know that Jesus came preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. That's what the Bible tells us in Mark 1, verses 14 and 15.

Jesus came to Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and saying the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the Gospel. Just in this passage alone, Christ mentions the Gospel, meaning good news of the Kingdom three times. So again, we ask the question, what is the Kingdom of God?

Now, this may be surprising, but it is important to realize that the Kingdom of God is not heaven. That's what many people believe, that the Kingdom of God is all about going to heaven. But 19 centuries ago, traditional Christianity replaced the teaching of the Kingdom of God with the doctrine of going to heaven when a person dies.

In this regard, let's look at what Jesus stated about heaven. In John 3, verse 13, Christ said, No one has ascended to heaven, but he who came down from heaven, that is the Son of Man who is in heaven. It's a pretty clear statement that no one has ascended to heaven, but he, Jesus Christ, who had come down from heaven. Christ was with them at this time, and he was speaking to the disciples, explaining various things to them. And there are other scriptures that we frankly don't have time to go through today that will clearly show that a person doesn't go to heaven immediately upon death.

There are plenty of scriptures that support this. We have a booklet on our table, and you're welcome to pick one up as you leave today. But we go into the various scriptures that point that out. So we see here that people do not go to heaven when they die. They don't go to an ever-burning hellfire upon death. There's much more to it than what you've been taught by many churches of the world. So we see here, again, that Christ and God's kingdom is coming to earth. That is the biblical fact. Christ is returning, and the kingdom of God is coming to this earth. In Luke 11, verse 2, again, Jesus said to his disciples, When you pray, say, our Father in heaven, Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, for we'll be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Again, many people assume that the kingdom of God somehow means that the kingdom is speaking about going to heaven. This is absolutely not the case. Again, what is the kingdom of God? Is it in heaven? We might ask ourselves that. Interestingly, the term kingdom of heaven is found 18 times in the book of Matthew. It's found 18 times, and Matthew, frankly, uses the term kingdom of heaven and kingdom of God interchangeably. In other words, the kingdom of heaven basically equals the kingdom of God when we read it in the Scriptures.

It's important to understand that. The kingdom of God, that is, God the Father and Jesus Christ, are presently in heaven. God the Father is on His throne in the third heaven, and Jesus Christ is at His right hand. So, they are there together in heaven at the throne of God. But the kingdom of God is coming to earth at the return of Jesus Christ.

Christ is coming back, as surely as we are sitting here today. You can count on it. Christ is returning. Now we need to discuss another question. Is the church the kingdom of God? Is the church the kingdom of God? That's a good question. That's been taught as well.

The fact is, the Bible shows us that the true church of God is described only as the forerunner or spiritual diplomatic core of the coming kingdom of God. In other words, as it says in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 20, we are ambassadors for Christ. We who are called now and chosen by God and led by His Spirit, we are to show the way before the return of Jesus Christ. We are His ambassadors.

We're here to do a job before Christ returns. We have a work to do. Another question we might ask is, is the kingdom of God in our hearts? Is the kingdom of God in your heart? Some people assume so when they quickly read this following passage here in Luke chapter 17 verse 20. Now when He was asked by the Pharisees, of course, speaking of Christ, when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and He said, the kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here or see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you.

Now the Pharisees stood in opposition to Christ, and in this particular case, He was asked by the Pharisees, He was talking to the Pharisees. We know that Christ called the Pharisees hypocrites. He wouldn't say that the kingdom of God was within them. He wouldn't mean that. So what did He mean? Again, is it in your heart? A Greek word is used here, entos. It's translated within. A better translation would be, in your midst. Again, in Luke 17, verse 21, according to a couple different translations quoted here.

By the way, most of the Bible quotes will be from the New King James version. That's the version that we normally use and use most of the time. But there are a few other versions used today. One is the New Living Translation, which says, is already among you. And the English Standard version, which translates it, is in the midst of you.

Again, the kingdom of heaven was not in the Pharisees. It simply wasn't. What it's saying is that Jesus, the King of Kings, was in their midst. Christ is coming back as the King of the kingdom. Christ is the Messiah. He came the first time to die for our sins, to be our sacrifice, to lay Himself down for us, to pay the penalty for our sins.

The wages of sin is death. Christ paid that penalty the first time that He came. He's coming back again as King of Kings. He will again be in our midst at that time, but He was in the midst of the Pharisees when this was said, and this is exactly what He meant.

So what is important about this for you and me today? What did Jesus teach? We need to ask ourselves that. What did Jesus, our Messiah, teach? A third point regarding the kingdom of God is that Jesus Christ constantly taught about His coming kingdom. The words are in the Bible. They're clear. Of course, God has to open up a person's mind to understand the Bible.

It's a miracle. It's a gift that God gives us. Otherwise, we will be confused by the Bible. Christ constantly taught about the kingdom of God. He told His disciples that the kingdom should be the highest priority in their lives. This message is for us today. I'm sure many of us are very familiar with this verse. Matthew 6, verse 33, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

We are to seek first. Christ wants us to seek first the kingdom of God. Are you seeking God's kingdom first and foremost in your life? You should ask yourself that. And be honest with yourself. All of us here today, are we truly seeking first the kingdom of God or is something else more important to us? Jesus wants us to seek God's kingdom today.

The kingdom ought to have the uppermost value in everyone's life. In Matthew 13, beginning in verse 44, the scripture says, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls who when he had found one pearl of great price went and sold all that he had, and he bought that pearl.

That's how precious the kingdom of God should be to you and to me. We should be willing to give up everything for the kingdom of God and for what Christ taught about the kingdom of God. Like the pearl of great price, most of Christ's parables were about the kingdom of God. Another important point is to realize that the kingdom of God can and must be entered.

The kingdom of God must be entered, and that's what this next verse shows us in Matthew 19, verses 23 and 24. Then Jesus said to his disciples, Assuredly I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. It is difficult. It's hard. A rich man has to be willing to give up all of his riches in order to enter the kingdom of God.

So it's difficult. It doesn't say it's impossible, but it's hard. Christ also taught it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Of course, with God, all things are possible. If a rich man is willing to submit himself and surrender himself to God and to Jesus Christ as his Savior, then even a rich man can enter into the kingdom of heaven or the kingdom of God. So we might ask ourselves again, Oh, by the way, before we go any further, here, the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God are interchangeable. They mean the same thing.

They're referring to the exact same thing. The kingdom of heaven means the kingdom of God.

So just what is the kingdom of God? It is God's very government.

God is certainly supreme. God the Father is supreme and Jesus Christ at his right hand.

The kingdom of God is describing God's government. Presently, they are in heaven.

And we'll talk more about what's happening here on earth in a moment.

Let's go to Matthew 19, verse 28. Let me read verse 27 first. Then Peter answered and said to him, See, we have left all and followed you.

Therefore, what shall we have? This was a question that Peter asked.

And this was the answer that Christ gave. Jesus said to them, to Peter and the disciples, In the new world, when the Son of Man will sit on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. This is what Jesus Christ taught. This is from the English Standard Version of the Bible.

Jesus promised the twelve apostles that they would rule the twelve tribes of Israel in the Millennial, that is, the one thousand year reign of the kingdom of God that will be established on the earth at Christ's return. So what are the requirements? We might ask ourselves, what are the requirements of a kingdom? God is going to establish a literal kingdom here on this earth at Christ's return. What are the requirements of a kingdom? First of all, there must be government and the ruling family. Again, God, the Father, and Jesus Christ. And of course, at Christ's return, Christ will be King of Kings. There will be other kings ruling along with Christ.

Those saints, those ambassadors for Christ who have been called chosen and faithful, and have endured to the end, they will be changed to spirit. They will become a part of the family of God. They will be the children of God. And they will rule along with God and Jesus Christ. Now, they will be submissive to the Father and to the Son, but they will rule along with Christ.

Another requirement is territory. There has to be territory for a kingdom.

The entire world and the universe will be the territory. There will be no bounds in the kingdom of God. There will be subjects in the kingdom of God. Mankind, there will be people living on into the millennium. Human beings who will live into the millennium, they will be subject to God and to Jesus Christ, subject to the ruling family of God during the millennium. Angels, of course, will continue to be submissive under God the Father and Christ.

And then there will be a system of law. And that system of law will be God's law.

And it will go throughout the universe. It will permeate the universe. God's law and God's way of life will reign supreme. Now, what else makes up the kingdom of God? Frankly, eternal life makes up the kingdom of God, living forever without end, and doing so in utter joy, happiness, and fulfillment. You're going to want to be there. I know I want to be there in God's kingdom for eternity. We need to get the vision of the kingdom of God. We need to be moved. We need to be inspired.

We need to be thrilled by what we're hearing today. We need to stir ourselves up.

We need to respond to what God is telling us today. In Matthew 19, beginning in verse 29 and 30, again it shows us a principle that we certainly need to be applying. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake, for Christ's sake, for the Father's sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and they shall inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last shall be first. Those who humble themselves before God will be in the kingdom of God. Additionally, the kingdom of God is God's greatest gift to mankind. There is no greater gift than the gift of the kingdom of God. God's desire is that we seek His kingdom fully and completely. In Luke 12, verses 29 and 30, we read Christ's teaching again. What did Jesus teach?

He said, Do not seek what you should eat or what you should drink, nor have an anxious, worried mind.

For all these things the nations of the world seek after, and your Father knows that you need these things. He goes on to say in verses 31 and 32, but seek first or seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. And He comforts us by saying, Do not fear little flock, and it is a little flock. For it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. That's what God wants to do for each of us here today. He wants to give you, He wants to give all of us the kingdom of God. Now, it's up to us whether or not we will respond and accept His offer. But that is surely what God wants to do. It is His good pleasure to give us the kingdom. Now, what more can we learn about the kingdom of God? There's much more to learn. A fourth area, a fourth subject regarding the kingdom of God is to realize that the biblical prophets greatly anticipated the kingdom of God. The biblical prophets greatly anticipated the kingdom of God. The prophets looked forward to the coming of Jesus Christ. They taught that the Messiah would come. Just as God's true servants teach repentance today, the ancient prophets encourage people to repent of their sins. We see this in Acts 3, verse 19. Repent therefore and be converted that your sins may be blotted out so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom the heavens must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth. Excuse me, I've been fighting a cold for over a week now.

I do have some water here, so I will take a break. It's hard for me to stop once I get going.

Verse 20, We're all familiar with the prophet Daniel.

Again, what did the prophets teach? What did Daniel teach?

Daniel taught about the kingdom of God. In Daniel 2, verse 44, Daniel writes, And in the days of these kings, he's talking about the kings that will rule the earth just before the return of Christ, the presidents, the kings, the rulers of this earth.

The Bible says a lot about end times in the book of Revelation.

In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. That has not yet happened, has it?

That day is coming. It shall never be destroyed.

In fact, I'll just read a little bit more of this verse.

This kingdom shall break in pieces and consume all these worldly kingdoms, worldly nations, and it shall stand forever. It shall stand forever. So if you want to pick the right side, you better pick God's side, because his kingdom will stand.

Everything else is going to crumble.

Now, the prophet Isaiah wrote many famous kingdom of God prophecies.

In Isaiah 2, beginning in verse 2, In the latter days that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow to it.

Many people shall come and say, Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears they will beat into pruning hooks.

Nation shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore.

Now, what a wonderful time it will be in God's Kingdom when there will be no more fighting, no more war, no more killing, no more tears, no more crying. Eventually, that is going to happen in the Kingdom of God. It's going to be a wonderful, glorious Kingdom.

Mountains and hills are biblical symbols of governments. It talks about mountains and hills in these verses I've just read. They are biblical symbols of government.

This passage pictures the time when Christ will rule all nations from Jerusalem.

His Kingdom on earth will last for 1,000 years. According to Revelation chapter 20, it's going to last for 1,000 years. This is what the Bible teaches. The Kingdom of God on earth will have what people and nations have never had in our age. They will have genuine world peace for the very first time. Also, it will be a spectacular time of spiritual awakening to God's truth for all nations, for all people everywhere. What more do the Scriptures tell us, especially about the time preceding the coming Kingdom of God? Let's talk about a fifth area regarding the Kingdom of God. Many Bible prophecies focus on man's troubles at the end of this current age. The first thing that they prophesy is trouble for man. And we've seen a lot of trouble, haven't we, in our lifetimes and throughout history.

6,000 years, nearly 6,000 years of history of mankind, we've seen lots of turmoil, lots of sorrow. Daniel 12 talks about troubled times ahead.

At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people.

And there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. It's talking about the time coming very soon now.

But at that time your people shall be delivered. Everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, written in the book of life. Those who have their names there certainly need not fear.

They shall be delivered into the Kingdom of God. They will enter the Kingdom of God.

Another important passage describes the coming terrible times that are ahead of us.

In Matthew 24, beginning in verse 21, For the trouble at that time will be far more terrible than any there has ever been.

There's been a lot of terrible times on the earth, but this is going to be worse than anything from the beginning of the world to this very day.

Nor will there ever be anything like it again.

That's from today's English version. It just makes it a little more readable and understandable. The New King James is fine, though, and as I said, we typically use it, but I thought this would be effective as well.

Let's continue on in Matthew 24.

It says, Unless that time of calamity is shortened, not a single person will survive.

Not a single person will survive, but it will be shortened for the sake of God's chosen ones.

It will be shortened for the sake of the elect, those who are the ambassadors for Christ today.

It will be shortened for them.

This passage tells us that there is a dangerous potential for humanity to completely be wiped off the face of the earth.

Obviously, the world needs the kingdom of God.

Throughout the Bible, we'll find scriptural phrases that describe the time of the end.

These include such expressions as, at that time, in the latter days, in the last days, the time of the end, the day of the Lord. So when you're reading the Bible, look for those markers that will tell you what's going to happen in the last days, just prior to the return of Jesus Christ.

Let's go on to a sixth area here regarding the kingdom, and that is that Jesus Christ reveals signs of the end of this age. He has not left us alone. He has given us signs.

He's showing us what's going to happen. We can know what is going to happen in the days ahead.

Let's review a pivotal prophecy. This is called the Olivet prophecy, as it was given on the Mount of Olives.

My wife and I were privileged to go to Jerusalem a year ago this summer, and we were on the Mount of Olives. It was very, very inspiring to be in Jerusalem, the city of the Great King.

I'm looking forward to returning one day, especially in spirit.

Matthew 24, verse 3, Now, as he said on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Christ privately, saying, tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? What is going to happen at this time? Please let us know. Jesus then went on to describe the signs preceding his second coming. Now, let's review these important signs.

First of all, there will be religious deception. There will be false teachers and Messiahs. Now, we have seen that for many years, frankly. This is the beginning of sorrows, the Scripture tells us.

In verses 4 and 5 of Matthew 24, Jesus answered and said to his disciples, Take heed that no one deceives you, for many will come in my name, saying, I am the Christ, and they will deceive many. In fact, this whole world has been deceived.

We'll show you a Scripture that says that in a while.

So, there will be religious deception. There will be false teachers. There will also be wars and rumors of wars. Matthew 24, verse 6, And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. Yes, we've seen lots of warring going on throughout history. Again, these are the beginning of sorrows, but they're leading to something far greater and more intense in the days ahead.

There will be international tensions. There will be famines. There will be pestilences, and there will be earthquakes. And we see all of these things happening today.

In Matthew 24, verse 7, the Scripture says, For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines, there will be pestilences, and there will be earthquakes in various places around the world.

That is certainly true. We realize that. We might ask ourselves, What kind of international tensions and crises do we see in the world today?

Frankly, we currently have a significant worldwide financial crisis.

Where will it lead? We can't say for sure. We know eventually, we know what's going to happen.

It's going to get very, very, very bad. Now, whether that happens in the next four or five years, we can't really say that. But we know it's coming, and we're ever closer to that day occurring.

As a result of growing fear, uncertainty, and instability, there are increasing political tensions inside nations and between nations. There is tremendous greed that's driving the stock market today. It could crash at just about any time. There are revolutions that are occurring just as the Muslim Spring, as it's referred to, which will possibly lead to the rise of more Muslim fundamentalist governments in a number of Middle Eastern nations.

The whole complexion of the Middle East is changing. Qaddafi is on the run. He's hiding.

Many things are happening. There are famines as a result of strange weather patterns and other climactic conditions. For example, the state of Texas desperately needs rain. I would say the state of Oklahoma needs rain pretty badly as well. About 25 percent of the United States right now is currently beset by a drought that experts compare to the dustbowl years of the 1930s.

It's getting bad. Now, will it get better? For a while, it may. But eventually, it will get worse.

Also, dramatic multi-year droughts continue in southern and western Africa, with people from famine-racked Somalia seeking refuge in neighboring Kenya. One of our ministers that serves in Kenya wrote that they're having to manage things carefully in Kenya. They're having to manage because of the drought. And he said that it's amazing, but God is taking care of His people.

God is protecting His people. God is providing for His people. God will continue to do that for those who humble themselves and yield to God the Father and Jesus Christ. Additionally, in parts of Australia, in Queensland, New South Wales, and Victoria, they've had way too much rain.

This represents a landmass amounting to the combined size of France, Germany, and South Africa.

It was all underwater back in January. You may remember hearing about that. Heavily damaging crops in the region. We've had serious flooding and the threat of catastrophic flooding in the Missouri-Mississippi River drainage area that has continued throughout the summer.

We've got hurricane problems, don't we, up in the northeast. Flooding that has probably affected even some of you and your families who may live up in that area.

Pestilence and disease epidemics are a perennial concern. They are a problem in many nations.

And there are some frightening diseases that we just wonder, will they one day cut loose?

Also, earthquakes, which when translated from the Greek word for two mults that is used in the Bible, they mean various kinds of environmental or human disasters.

Consider the earthquake in New Zealand in February 2011 and the massive earthquake, the tsunami, and the nuclear plant crisis in Japan that took place in March 2011. It was pretty scary.

And we probably don't know the whole story about what's happening over in Japan as a result of it.

And don't forget the tsunami that killed over 200,000 people just a few years ago. 200,000, that's half the size of Tulsa. Killed all of them. They were swept away.

Truly, we are in the beginning of sorrows. We have been for a long time now.

What else did Jesus warn about? Again, he warns about religious persecution. He warns about betrayal.

He warns about offense. In verses 9 and 10 of Matthew 24, Christ said to His disciples, then they will deliver you up to tribulation and kill you. And you will be hated by all nations for My name's sake. Some who hold fast to their Messiah will suffer and be persecuted.

That's what the Scripture tells us. And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and they will hate one another. Times are going to get worse on this earth.

False prophets, again, are prophesied. It says here in verse 11, then many false prophets will rise up and will deceive many in these last days.

But remember this, Matthew 24, verse 36, of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.

So if someone tells you they know the day, they don't know the day.

When this was written, certainly only the Father knew. Perhaps the Son knows today.

It may have been revealed to Him since then, but no one knows the day or the hour of Christ's return, according to the Scriptures. Here in Matthew 24, verse 36, it says, now we, in light of this, we might consider the recent example of radio evangelist Harold Camping, who unwisely predicted that Christ would return on May 21st, the day and the hour. Well, he didn't give, maybe he didn't give the hour, but he gave certainly the day. May 21st, 2011. That didn't happen, did it? Now he's revised it to October. It's not going to happen then either.

Because these things haven't yet come to pass. We've got some time left, but now is the time to prepare ourselves. We must not be lulled asleep. We must wake up, for the time is short.

We might consider the other professing Christian leaders who say that Christ is going to return in the year 2012, or there are climatic things are going to happen in 2012. Now they very well may, but Christ is not going to return in 2012. Things still have to happen. This is the latest Good News magazine. Will the world end in 2012? The world needs to know the truth, because there are false teachers, false prophets, false apostles out there. We needn't be concerned that Christ is returning in 2012. Now it may not be many years after 2012, but we can know with certainty that that's not going to happen. Christ also predicted that there would be lawlessness and lack of love in society. Certainly we've seen that, but it's going to get worse. And because lawlessness will abound—lawbreaking, sinfulness, commandment breaking—it will abound, then the love of many will grow cold. We see many cold-hearted people today on the earth.

This world is suffering because of the hard-heartedness of mankind.

You may recall the recent tragic bombing and mass murder in Norway. These things happen around the world. What else do the Scriptures tell us about the time preceding the coming of God's kingdom?

Let's move on to a seventh area. We need to have a personal and family strategy to build up our spiritual endurance. You need to have a personal and family strategy to build up your spiritual endurance. There is a duty of the faithful, and that is to endure, to hang in there, to not give up, but to hold the line as we wait for the return of Jesus Christ. The duty of the faithful is in Matthew 24, verse 13, but he who endures to the end shall be saved. He who endures to the end shall be saved.

We need to be preparing ourselves for our role in God's kingdom. It is vital that we are preparing ourselves for what God has in store for us in the future. Enduring the troubles ahead requires spiritual strength. It requires endurance. In Matthew 24, it tells us about another job. It tells us the job of the faithful. We have a job to do. Matthew 24, verse 14, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come. This gospel of the kingdom of the good news of God needs to be preached as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come.

That's why we're having these seminars. We believe it is our role to go to the world.

In the Good News magazine, in our booklets, we go to the world. We're on the internet, and millions and millions of people come to our website. And there will be a time when all people will come to know what we're teaching and what we're saying.

That day isn't here yet, but it's coming. We have to be diligently doing our part as a little flock.

We mustn't give up. We must continue. We must endure.

And again, that's the reason for the good news, for vertical thought, which reaches teenagers, and world news and prophecy magazines. That's why we want to go to the world with this message. We believe it is our commission to go to the world. And we have many instructive booklets, and you're welcome to take whatever booklets you would like out on the display table that we have in the hallway, take as many as you would like. I'm sure you will learn a great deal. If you haven't read those booklets yet, then pick them up. Take them home with you. We have Bible study courses that you can be a part of. We have Beyond Today television. We have WGN. It goes out to millions of people every Sunday morning early. Not that early, 7.30 in the morning. That's not bad here.

You can tune into our Beyond Today television program. The world absolutely needs to be warned of the coming kingdom of God and the coming world troubled before God's kingdom is established.

People need to be encouraged by the wonderful gospel of the kingdom. And again, that's what we are here trying to do. Finally, and as we discussed today, the kingdom of God has been misunderstood or ignored even though Jesus Christ continually taught about it. We saw it in the scriptures that we looked at today. Jesus Christ taught the gospel of the kingdom of God, the good news of the kingdom. It explains to the world exactly why it's facing such deep trouble and what are the real solutions. The kingdom of God seminar series unfolds for you these incredible truths from the Bible. And again, we're just beginning. This is just the first segment. We have, I think, eight segments altogether.

So we have quite a bit yet to go. We have a lot to cover. Jesus said the kingdom of God is at hand.

We'll continue to explore the grand design of the kingdom of God and how it will be so wonderfully different from our age or any age in past history. Jesus told his followers and all people to repent.

This seminar series will show you what the kingdom of God has to offer each of us personally and what we need to do to seek the kingdom of God. Also, Jesus said, believe the gospel. He said, believe it. He wants us to avoid the pitfalls that many people will fall into in our faithless age.

We can learn that God's kingdom inspires the true faith once delivered by Jesus Christ. Additionally, Jesus said the time is fulfilled. We're going to look at that in great depth in the next segment.

Why is the kingdom of God so intensely relevant and vital to our time and our lives right now?

When we come back from our break, we're going to have a little break for refreshments.

We have coffee and a number of refreshments. Then we'll have some refreshments again at the end of the second segment. In the second part, we will address a very important subject.

We're going to talk about why our world needs the kingdom of God now. We're going to go into more depth in the next segment. So let's take a short break at this time and we'll get back together in 10 or 15 minutes. We'll let you know when to gather back in here together.