The Kingdom is at Hand, Part 2

Good afternoon, everyone! Nice to hear from you, nice to see you. I'm sure glad that you're able to brave the elements today and make it here to the Kingdom of God Bible Seminars. Glad to have you with us, especially those of you who are watching on the web as well. Mr. Eddington was reminding me that we are recording the seminars. As I was talking to some of our technical fellows here just on our break, I guess the first session is already posted. So it's already there on the web already. It's like, wow, that is just amazing. So you can go ahead and review that. If you're watching online or if you happen to miss some of it, you can go back and watch that or listen to that on the website, which should be hopefully very helpful for you. As Mr. Fentrell was saying a little bit earlier, God is an amazing God who is the master of timing. I don't know if you've thought about it that way before or not, but imagine God as the master timer. He is a master. So many times there are examples of that in the Bible. If you just think for just a moment, you could probably come up with a couple of examples of how God is the master of timing. Think about that for a second. How about in the life of Noah? When did it rain? Boy, right at the right time. How about Lot?

Getting out of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was destroyed. That was perfect timing, wasn't it?

You can probably think of example after example. Daniel and the lion's den. Boy, they lost their appetite just at the right time, didn't they? That's timing. And of course, the Israelites backed up against the Red Sea, and that opened up right on time. So over and over again, throughout history, throughout the story of the Bible, God shows that He is the master of timing. And of course, as Mr. Fencel mentioned, when it came to Jesus Christ Himself, He came right on time. At the exact right time is when God placed Him on the world scene.

And of course, it's interesting to think about the fact that when Jesus was placed right at the right time in the right spot, the fullness of time is what is said to have come, the exact time. And so when you look back at Mark 1, verse 14, maybe we could look right there as we begin our second seminar this afternoon. Notice when He began His earthly ministry, it says exactly that. It says that God is the master of timing. Now, it doesn't say those exact words, but we can sure see that right here in Mark 1, verse 14.

As Christ began that earthly ministry, what was He doing? It says here, He was preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Verse 15, here's what He said. We have an exact quote here from part of what Christ said. Here's what He said, the time is fulfilled. That's timing. This is now.

It's ready to go. And the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel. So as we just heard, what led to that time that Jesus would appear is something that began then. It began there. It's something that's continuing. It didn't just stop there. It didn't stop at the crucifixion. This fulfillment of time, this time for preaching the gospel, this time that began to be ripe when Christ appeared on the scene is something that's continued now. That was the beginning of the season. And that period, this time, this era of the message of Christ is right now. It continues on. The preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of God is continuing on right here, right now, to this very point in time, to this very moment.

And so that same time that is fulfilled with Christ, that fullness of time is right here. And God intends it for us, for our lives. We have an opportunity to experience the fullness of time of what God intends for our life. So as we think about this message, Christ was pretty clear when He began, wasn't He? Very clear. Now, this kingdom that He talked about, that wasn't just an idea. That wasn't just a metaphor, some kind of story.

It wasn't just a feeling that I might have in my heart. You see, Christ was very specific. It wasn't even just a prophetic event that sometime way in the future would come to be. It wasn't just that. It was something that not only people at that time, but we as well, can begin to experience right now. Because, like we read here in the book of Mark, the kingdom, He said, is at hand.

The kingdom is at hand. So what exactly did He mean by that? What did He mean that the kingdom of God was at hand? Now, was that just something that He began His ministry? He said, yes, the kingdom's at hand. And that's the last time we hear Christ talking about this kingdom and this moment in time or this season? Or was it something that He talked about a lot? Well, when you begin to look at what the Bible says, over and over again through His earthly ministry, He spoke about this. He talked about it. Here we started in Mark 1, verse 14.

He began talking about it. Matthew relays the same event in chapter 4, verse 17. He talks about the same thing. When He began, that was His preaching. That was His message. But it didn't stop there. It continued on. So as He continued to preach, Luke chapter 4, verse 43, He said, I must preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. So He had this commission. This was something that He couldn't get off His mind. And He spoke about the kingdom. And He went on about the kingdom many times, over and over and over again. In fact, in Luke chapter 8, it says He went to every city.

Every city He went to. He was preaching and teaching about the kingdom of God. That's what He talked about. That's what was on His mind. That was His preaching. That was the message. And when it came right down to the end, just before the crucifixion, you know what He was talking about. He was talking about the kingdom.

And boy, you might think, well, the crucifixion happened. That was the end of that. And yet, it wasn't, was it? Not at all. In fact, when you start the book of Acts that starts to record the church, the New Testament church began. What was Christ doing? Well, He had been resurrected, and He was with the disciples 40 days. 40 days. And guess what He was talking about for those 40 days? Luke chapter 1, verse 3 says exactly that. After the crucifixion, when He appeared to them, for 40 days, He spoke of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. So you see, that's a consistent message that He spoke over and over and over again. And as we begin to think about that, if you had to say, what was that message? What was that preaching of Christ? If someone asked you, what was the heart and core of what Jesus preached and taught? Well, your answer would have to be, He taught about the kingdom. He taught about the kingdom of God. And so that brings us back to that question then again. How did He mean it was at hand? I mean, He was crucified, He died, He was resurrected, the church began, and here we are almost 2,000 years later, and how is it at hand? Is it only that future thing that He talked about, just a future event? Oftentimes people will think that. Back in Revelation 11, verse 15, sometimes this passage comes to mind when you think about that future kingdom of God, that future government, that future coming of Christ when He returns to earth to establish the kingdom of God. Maybe this passage comes to mind when you imagine that time. Revelation 11, 15 says, 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. Boy, that is a literal event that John was prophesying about, that the governments of this world, the kingdoms of this world, are going to be replaced with the new King, the King of Kings, Jesus Christ the Messiah. He will appear on the scene and establish the kingdom of God, and it's not going to be like man's governments. It's not going to be like man's kingdoms. This is going to last, and it's going to be good, and it's going to be right, it's going to be forever, He says. So no wonder He taught the disciples to pray, thy kingdom come. And where was that kingdom to come? He said, on earth, right? On earth! And He said, it's going to be like it is in heaven now. You're coming back to earth. And so as you begin to imagine that, that's talking about rulership. That's talking about what we'd call it a kingdom, a king with a kingdom. It's talking about not a country, not just a location, not just the United States, or not just Britain, or not just Canada. We're talking about a world government, the world under the reign and rule of Jesus Christ. That's going to be a little different than what it is now, isn't it? It'll be quite different than what we face now.

But if we only think of the kingdom in those terms, are we leaving anything out? If we only think of the kingdom as when Christ does return, and it is a literal government right here on earth, is there anything that we're leaving out if we think of only in those terms?

I think the answer is yes. I was thinking about this a little earlier. It reminded me of a Bible I had heard about. There was a Bible that was printed back in 1653. It was a Cambridge Bible, and it earned an interesting nickname. You know what the nickname of this particular Bible was?

It was called the Unrighteous Bible. And you think, well, how could you call a Bible the Unrighteous Bible? Well, it had a problem. They had a misprint in the Bible. There was a misprint. Now, you can imagine what it might have been. Well, the misprint was in 1 Corinthians 6, 9. That particular passage talks about the kingdom. It talks about the kingdom of God. You'll probably recognize it. See if you can catch the word that's missing. Here's the way that Bible printed in 1 Corinthians 6, 9.

It read, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the kingdom of God. That's why it became known as the Unrighteous Bible. The not was missing! They shall not! No, the unrighteous, they won't be a part of the kingdom. And so it was left out. The word not was left out. And so if we only talk about the kingdom as something in the future, it's only a future prophesied thing that's going to come to pass. If we only think of it in those terms, we're going to be leaving something out because Christ preached, it's at hand. It's at hand. That's talking about something now. That's talking about something immediate. That's talking about an urgency that is about that statement that should impact us. Anyone that hears that message should be impacted by that, meaning, hey, that's something that's near. That's something that's important. That's something that is right now. The kingdom of God is near. And how is it near, though? In what way would He have meant that? Well, certainly the good news, the gospel of the kingdom of God starts with Jesus Christ. It can't go anywhere without Christ. Without Jesus Christ, we are in our sins. We are unforgiven. We are under the penalty of death. We deserve death, eternal death, without the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Christ came to rescue us from our sins, and that's where it begins. Boy, talk about putting us in a different light, in a different kingdom, in a different world from the one we live in, a world that is just under the weight of sin and the penalty of death. Christ says it should be different for us. It should be different for us. So how near is it for us? How at hand is the kingdom of God in our life? A passage in Philippians 3, verse 20, talks about a part of the kingdom, a part of a government, a part of a country, has to have people that live in it, doesn't it? Certainly, if we live in Cincinnati, we are a citizen of the city. In Philippians 3, we find the apostle Paul talking about how our citizenship is related to the kingdom of God. Let's notice that. Philippians chapter 3, verse 20, it says, "...our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ." And so it's not that I'm going to be in heaven. That's not what he's talking about. He says, our citizenship is there. Christ, our Savior is there. And why are we waiting? Because the time's coming. He's coming back to earth. He's coming back to earth. We're looking forward to that. We're waiting for that. We're waiting for what he says next. The fact that Christ will transform our lowly body, that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He's able, even to subdue all things to Himself.

So in a sense, we're registered citizens in the kingdom of God. Our citizenship is registered right there at the throne of God. We're registered with Jesus Christ in that sense, aren't we? We are citizens of heaven. And that's a present thing, though. That's not just a future thing. That's something that's talking about right. We're already there, it says. Our citizenship will be in heaven. No, it doesn't say that. It says it is. It's already there. God sees this as though it already is a fact. And so now we're looking forward to the return of Christ from heaven as our Savior. So we're citizens right now. And think about what that would mean. I mean, if we're citizens right now, being citizens of, say, the United States of America, that means we have certain rights and responsibilities for being a citizen of our country, doesn't it? Not really any different when it comes to the kingdom, does it? We're enrolled in what we call it the community of God, the family of God. Right now, in this life, when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, and we live, and we believe, and we obey, well, we're keeping the laws of the community. We're not running stop signs and stealing things. We're not doing the things that would be against the law. So we're following our leader, not just our mayor or not just our president, but we're following our King. We're following our King, Jesus Christ.

And the great part about it is there's benefits that go along with being a citizen of the family of God. We have the benefits that flow from that. So when we live according to His way, when we make His way our way, wow, that brings fantastic benefits. We can look forward to what it says here, the ultimate benefit, eternal life, getting rid of this physical body, these physical pains and hurts that we might have, just the limitations of being flesh and blood. He says one of the benefits is when Christ returns, we can be changed. We can be changed. We can be spirit like He is. And boy, talk about experiencing the fullness of time, the fullness of the kingdom of God forever. That's what He's pointing to. And so that's what He has in mind for us. In fact, it took a supernatural rescue to make that happen, didn't it? What is it that came upon us to change our way of thinking?

Because something's different about us. And what is it? Well, hopefully it's not just the clothes we wear or the odd twang we may have in our voice or whatever it may be. Hopefully it's more than that. Colossians chapter 1 verse 13 gives us a little insight into the thing that should make us different. As citizens, as citizens right now in that kingdom, that should give us a whole different perspective, shouldn't it? Boy, I think the Apostle Paul was certainly speaking to us today as he wrote down this passage in 1 Colossians. Not first, but just Colossians 1.

Colossians 1. Here's what it says. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of His beloved Son. We can see that urgency there, can't we? We can understand that's something that's at hand. That's something that's near. That's something that's now. The time has come. The time is now. It's at hand. He's saying we don't have to be a part of that dark world out there. We don't have to be laden with sin. We don't have to be under the burdens of, why is life so difficult? Why is there so much stress? Why can't I cope? Why do I have to deal with these things? You see, he's saying there's something more. You don't have to live under that threat. You don't have to be in darkness. He's putting in a new light bulb, in a sense, hasn't he? And he's turned it on, and that's shining brightly. So we don't have to live in the dark. We don't have to be afraid of the dark. We don't have to be afraid of the powers of darkness out there. Ephesians 6 sure tells us that we're fighting a spiritual battle of powers of darkness. That's what's against us. And yet, he's rescued us from that. What a blessing. What a wonderful blessing to see that God has rescued us and saved us from that. And he didn't wait until he returns to do that. He's already done that now, and so we can be a part of that. We, right here in this room, can be a part of that. We don't have to wait. Now, others will have that opportunity. God's not willing that any should perish, but he wants all to come to repentance. He wants everyone. And it's such a blessing that we have that opportunity now, that the Father is offering us an opportunity to assist Jesus Christ in serving, serving now and looking forward to that kingdom. That's a privilege. That's a right of citizenship that also demands some responsibility from us as well, doesn't it? Revelation 5, verse 9 shows what was at stake for this kingdom, for you and I, for Jesus Christ, and the Father, what the Father had to do to bring about this wonderful opportunity and privilege that we have. Revelation 5, 9 shows where it all began. He says, with the blood of your death, speaking of Jesus Christ, with the blood of His death, it says, you bought people for God, because we were bought with the price. The price was the blood of Jesus Christ. That's what forgives our sins. That's what transfers us out of this world and places us into a different kingdom, a new world, a different world, under the rulership of Jesus Christ and God the Father. He says, you made them. Let's finish that verse before we go on. You bought a people. What kind of people? God is in a respecter of persons. He says it doesn't matter. It's every tribe, every language, every people, every nation. All of those are included in that. That's what the penalty of sin was. It was on every people, every nation, and yet the death of Christ paid for all of that, for every person, individual, tongue, language, nation, all of it. And so he says, you made them to be a kingdom of priests for our God, and they will rule on the earth.

Of course, we heard earlier that Jesus Christ is high priest. And like the temple in ancient days, there were many priests that served God, served the people. And so by extension, he's saying, that's the way it's going to be with us. And it says, they'll rule on earth.

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth. Right? That time is coming that God plans to extend the kingdom of God to all mankind. That's what Christ is doing. John 12, 32, you don't have to turn there. I think it's in the little brochure there, but Christ talked about the fact when he would be lifted up, he would draw all people to himself. All. Now it's interesting though, it doesn't look that way right now. You look out in the world, you know what it's like to go to your jobs, you know what it's like to be out there, you know what it's just like to drive on the freeway sometimes. Not everybody's on the same page of striving to be a loving person, a caring person, a how could you cut me off kind of person, right? It's a whole different world out there. And so we can't say that everyone has this opportunity right now. The evidence is not there for that. And in fact, they're not. They're not. God's salvation plan, it's a mystery to most people. Most, they don't understand. They don't get it. And it's almost surprising to say, but they can't understand it. They can't understand it. Now, why do I say that?

It's not that God is a respecter of persons because He wants all to come to repentance. Christ just got done saying there, we quoted in John 12, that He's going to draw all people. But remember we said God's a God of timing. There's a certain time for certain people.

And that's not a bad thing. He says that's a very good thing. Because who's the master of timing?

God's a master of time. So you think He knows when I should work with you? You think He knows when He should work with somebody out there? Or that guy that's giving me hand signals on the freeway? He knows when to work with people. He knows just the right time. So 2 Timothy 1, verse 9, there is a distinction. It doesn't mean anything better. It doesn't mean an upper-crossed, upper-class, oh boy, I understand this and you don't kind of thing. It's not that at all. It's not that at all. It all goes back to God's mercy and His grace and His love.

And He's going to extend that to all mankind. But in 2 Timothy chapter 1, it zeroes in a little bit on those that are understanding now. Those where the kingdom of God is at hand right now, the timing for us right now. 2 Timothy 1.9, by extension, He's saying, God has saved us. He's called us with a holy calling, not according to our works. Do we deserve it? No, our works deserve death, right? Our righteousness is as filthy right? It's because of Him, not because of what we've done. It's His calling. He's done it. He says, according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. You see, God had that plan before time, and He said Christ would come and die for our sins. But for us to understand that, for us to react to that, for us to understand that, we have to have God's calling. We have to be chosen. We have to be, in a sense, pulled out of this world and be shown a different way and begin to have our minds open to that truth. Otherwise, it won't make any sense. It won't make any sense. John 6, verse 65, you don't have to turn there, but it says, No one can come to Me, that's Christ talking, unless it's been granted to Him by My Father.

See, the Father works through Jesus Christ, and in a sense, what does He do? Well, He initiates the call. He's initiating the call. So if you were to pick up your phone, I hope nobody's calling. Okay, I can't talk to anybody because it's not ringing. Well, who initiates that call? You see, you pick up your phone and you go, Oh, God the Father, I better answer it. I better answer that call. God's the one that initiates the phone call. He starts the process. Now, that sounds a little unusual. You mean He's not calling? Their phone's not working out? No, they're out of cell range. You know, they're not in range. And who's choosing is that? It wasn't my choosing. It wasn't your choosing.

That was God. God not only is initiating the call, He owns the phone company, doesn't He?

He owns the phone company. So you think He can do what He wills? Can He do what He wants?

No wonder some, and in fact most, don't understand at this time. You might say, well, why do I? Why am I getting this? Why do I see this? And you know, my neighbor, we've talked about this, and they don't seem to see things the way that I... I mean, it's so clear right here in the Bible.

Well, that phone's not ringing for them. And Christ talked about it very specifically.

Matthew 13, verse 10, must have been a little confusing for the disciples as well, because they were getting it. They were seeing this. They were understanding it. They spent, you know, three years with Him, and they could see and understand that message to some degree, and then of course would really come on fire after God's Spirit was poured out at the beginning of the book of Acts. But the disciples wondered about it, and they asked Him. Matthew 13, verse 10.

Here's what they said. His disciples came and asked Him, why do you use parables when you talk to the people? Now, this is from the New Living Translation. It might be just a little bit different than your New King James or your King James. So why do you talk to the people in parables? Verse 11. Christ replied, You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not. Wow! That must have been kind of startling to them. You know, if somebody said, well, you can understand, but they can't. Why not? Why not? Well, verse 12. He says, To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they'll have an abundance of knowledge. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. That's why I use these parables. For they look, but they don't really see. They hear, but they don't really listen or understand. Verse 14. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah. We heard a little bit about Isaiah a little bit earlier, didn't we? When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you won't comprehend. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear. They've closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see, and their ears so they cannot hear. Their hearts so they cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.

That's big, isn't it? It's huge. When you look at how he deals with us, as we turn to God and we look to him, and we have an opportunity to understand, are we in the frame of mind that we want to hear, that we want to listen? We want to know more. I want a deeper understanding of the sacrifice of Christ. I want Jesus Christ not to just be my Savior, but I want him to be living his life in me and through me. I need God's Holy Spirit so I can understand, so I can turn to him, so he will heal my sin and make me right. You see, that's what he's posing here. Verse 16, he says, blessed are your eyes. As you understand, he says, blessed because they see, your ears because they hear. I tell you the truth. Here's what he said, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but they didn't see it. They longed to hear what you hear, but they didn't hear it. So if we think about it in a little bit different sense, God is extending an invitation to us, to those who will listen, for those who will hear, for those who will turn, for those who want to understand right now. That's that calling. That's that drawing, an opportunity to listen and comprehend the plan of God, the kingdom of God, and what that truly means in our life. And God has permitted us. He's permitted me, despite my sins and despite my shortcomings, despite my bad attitudes. As I repent and turn to him, he has permitted me, he's permitted all of us to come and become part of Christ's disciples right now.

Right now we have that opportunity. And of course, we know that's got to happen through the Father. John 644. Maybe we should turn to John 644. It's very similar to John 645 that we didn't turn to. But John 644, he makes it clear and makes it even, I think, more evident in a way. Well, no wonder some aren't getting it right now. No wonder the majority of the world isn't understanding right now. No wonder they can't understand and turn and heal. Their eyes aren't opened right now. John 644, Christ said, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.

Draws him. Then he jumps to the end of the story and I will raise him up at that last day. We can look forward to that. So we have this drawing that the Father is doing. It's almost like a magnet.

We've got this magnet of God that is drawing and attracting and moving us and impelling us toward the kingdom, toward the understanding of Jesus Christ. See, it's not just a complacent kind of a thing, is it? If we're being drawn and we're being pulled and we're being motivated to understand more deeply, God is working with our hearts and our minds to respond to that calling. And so I think that's when we have to step back. And it's so important to ask ourselves, is God drawing me? Of course, how close does God want you? If you hold up that magnet to a piece of metal, it hangs out here. It comes right up to that magnet. God wants us close. He's calling us to action. He's giving us the ability to understand what His kingdom and His family are all about. And then that brings us to not only the rights of the kingdom, but also the responsibilities of that kingdom. If we claim to be a part of the family of God following His way, we are drawn to action and responsibility and have that urgency and immediacy that moves us to become more like Christ. 2 Corinthians 6, verse 1 talks about that important urgency that we all should have as it comes to gaining a deeper understanding of the way that God works and this awesome plan that He has to establish His kingdom, yes, in the future, but that we can live as a part of that kingdom and a part of that way right now. Let's notice that. 2 Corinthians 6, right at the very beginning of that chapter, He says, we then as workers together with Him. Here's the apostle Paul talking. He's talking to us. We are workers together. We should be. He says, we plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. Don't turn away. That magnet is drawing you. Don't resist it. Let God lead you, in other words. For He says, in an acceptable time I've heard you in the day of salvation I have helped you behold now is the accepted time behold now is the day of salvation. There's that timing thing again, isn't it? Now is our opportunity at just the right time God has heard us at just the right time for you and me God calls us and draws us. And so that brings us to the responsibility of realizing this is our opportunity. This is our opportunity. Now is that accepted time. And boy, what a blessing if God says it's our accepted time. Who's going to help us to live that way? Who's going to help us to be a part of that kingdom? Who's going to give us the tools that we need to succeed? Well, we don't want to neglect it. We don't want to turn away because He's telling us here, listen up! Listen up. Pay attention. This is important. Take note. This is the right time. Isaiah said, seek the Lord while He may be found.

Right? That's talking about now. Call on Him while He's near or while He's at hand.

There's that Mark 1.14 again, right? While He's at hand, He's near. He's making Himself available to us. How critical is that? How important is that drawing, that calling?

It's the most important invitation we could ever have. That's the summons that calls us to the great courtroom of God, that we can be a part of God's way. And so, in a sense, He's saying here, how are you going to respond? How are you going to respond to that draw, to that call of God? Do you want to be a part of the kingdom now? Do you want to have the blessings that come with the kingdom of God, with His way?

As I thought about that, the great American philosopher came to mind, writer, poet, humorist, Mark Twain. He said something very interesting at one point. He said, it ain't those parts of the Bible that I can't understand that bother me.

He said, it's the parts I do understand that bother me.

In some ways, it's like, wow, this is amazing. God's opening our mind to His truth. Are we going to let us bother us, or are we going to do something about it? You see, God doesn't want to bother you. He wants to bless you. He wants to bless you with the abundance that comes from living a part of His way and choosing that way now. He wants us to respond to that calling. He wants to draw us near to us. He's, like Paul says here in Corinthians, He's pleading with us. This is the best way. Let's do this. Let's go this way together. So what's our answer?

How do we respond to that? 1 Thessalonians 2, we see more of that urging come to mind here in 1 Thessalonians 2.12.

1 Thessalonians 2.12 here, it's not just a letter to the church in Corinth. It's not just a letter to the Thessalonians, but it's also a message for us. 1 Thessalonians 2.12 here, it says, we pleaded with you. We encouraged you. We urged you. Boy, you can't get much more urgent than that. How important is it? This is vital. This is critical. This is important. This is something we've got to listen up and respond to. What's He urging us? To live your lives in a way that God would consider worthy. Well, that's living under the laws of the kingdom of God, right? Living by those laws. That law of love, that law of responsibility. Why, He says, for He called you to share in His kingdom and glory. We can have a taste of that now. Verse 13, therefore, we never stopped thanking God that when you received His message from us, you didn't think our words were mere human ideas. You accepted what we said as the very word of God, which of course it is. And this word continues to work in you who believe. So when we accept God's calling, we commit ourselves to it. We put it into practice in our lives. We live God's way. We make a choice. And it's a daily choice. It's a choice to live by faith. Faith of the Son of God, we live by it. Not just when we're at church, not just when we're at a Bible seminar, but when we walk out those doors and we're out there in that world and we're going to work and we're shopping at the store and we're doing everything in our daily life. We choose to live by faith and we live a changed life. We live a life from a whole different perspective because we are under a different government. We're under our King, Jesus Christ. And when we hear the message of the kingdom of God and that gospel that Jesus Christ Himself preached, we do something about it. We do something about it. And we know that when we do something about it, there is a blessing that God has in store right now. Right now, Revelation 1, verse 3. Revelation 1, verse 3, just reading His Word holds a blessing for us. And right at the very beginning of the book of Revelation, it's interesting, the official title of this book is the Revelation or the Revealing of Jesus Christ. The King of the Kingdom is revealed here in this last book in the Bible.

And it begins in verse 3 by saying, blessed is He, blessed is He who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things that are written in it, for the time is near.

Or we could say at hand. The time is at hand. You're blessed when you read. We've got to turn that reading into really listening and hearing and understanding. And then that understanding, it's not just a hearing, it's not just an understanding, but he says right here in verse 3, that turns into a doing, into a keeping of the things that are written in the book. So here we find in the book of Revelation, it's pointing to that ultimate kingdom that's going to come to earth, and we need that kingdom. But you know, He's opened our minds to His truth, and so we need that kingdom now. And that's the gospel, that's the good news, that we can be a part of the kingdom of God right now. Yes, Christ is going to return and establish that ultimate kingdom on this earth, and we can reign and rule with Him.

But the time is fulfilled. The time is now for those that He is calling, and He wants us to be a part of that plan. He wants us to be a part of His family. He wants us to live a part of that kingdom, because He gave His Son that we could have eternal life and ultimately live in the kingdom forever. And that's the Master Timer. That's God as using that timing in a masterful way for each of us individually. Yeah, and those out there, they will have an opportunity. He's going to give everyone who ever lived and died an opportunity to come to this great understanding that He's opening our minds to right now. And so, here we are. We're right here, right now, at this very point in time. We've got that opportunity to experience the fullness of what God intends for our lives and ultimately for everyone. So, no wonder, He says, the time is fulfilled. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe the gospel.