Welcome to the Kingdom of God!

Good afternoon, everyone. I'd certainly like to welcome all of you to the Kingdom of God Bible Seminar Series. We are certainly glad that all of you are here today because we all have something in common. We all have something in common. I believe that we are living at the crossroads of history. We live at a unique time in the world. If you look around the world right now, look at the situation if you turn on the news.

What is our world like? And can it continue the way that it has been going? Is it possible? It seems if you really step back and think about it, you really can't keep going this way, can it? Time is of the essence. Now is the time to realize that it just cannot continue. Can we fix it? We're into another political season now, and we're hearing all of the different ways that we can make this work.

But can we? Now, it might sound shocking. It may be surprising to really step back and realize that mankind cannot fix its own problems. The governments of this world don't know the solution. And it can't continue. They're going to come to an end. And something different is on the way. Something right, something good, something that's going to replace these governments that have failed mankind. And it's going to be a different world.

It's going to be the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God, rightly governing the world, one overall kingdom, one government, one administration, and the entire world under one king, one king, not some human being, not some emperor, not some president, but ultimately the king of kings. Jesus Christ is going to rule the earth, govern the kingdom of God right here on earth.

And so it would be fair to ask, what exactly is the kingdom of God? How is that going to be established? How is that going to be set up on this earth? Well, that's what this seminar series is all about. That's why we're here today. We're here to look at that. And you didn't come here to hear my opinion about it. You didn't come here to hear what I've got to say about it, because that's not important at all. You know, we're here because we want to hear what God has to say about it.

God has a lot to say about the kingdom of God. So we don't want to talk about opinions. We don't want to talk about ideas. We don't want to talk about political platforms. That's not what we're all about. We want to know what the Word of God, what does the Bible have to say about it? What does Jesus Christ have to say about His government? What does God the Father have to say about the establishment of the kingdom? We'd like to look at that today and look at that throughout this series. And of course, there's a lot involved in that. There's also Bible prophecy that has a lot to say about the kingdom of God.

The timing of prophecies, the details of prophecy. And here we are in America. How is that going to affect us? How is America going to be affected? And what about all the other nations? If there's going to be a replacement of governments, how is that going to work around the world? Maybe most importantly, what about me? How does all of this affect my life? What does it mean to you? How will it change your life, your job, your family? Those are important things that we need to think about. How can prophecy and the kingdom of God affect you and your family?

Those are important questions that will ultimately change all of our lives. And so as we begin the series, we have to think about the times that we live in. They're stressful times. They're confusing times. They're difficult times. And yet the message of the kingdom of God, the message of Jesus Christ is one that can bring peace.

It can give us encouragement. It can give us inner comfort, even during these very, very difficult times that we live in. And so in this first seminar today, we'd like to take the time to look at this critical time in history that we live in. Because you know as we look at it, you turn on the news, you listen to the different reports.

Have you ever noticed that seems like something's missing? It just doesn't seem to add up. It doesn't seem to fit. There is something missing, isn't there? What is it? What is it that's missing in our government today? What is it? What is it that's missing in our economy?

What is it that's missing in education? What's missing in business? There's something that's missing. We could even say there's something missing in Christianity today. I believe what's missing is God's Kingdom. The message of Jesus Christ Himself, the Kingdom of God, is the missing dimension in knowledge. It's not widely known. The Kingdom is something that it seems not many people really have a grasp on. Not really many people know what the Kingdom of God is all about.

In fact, you might ask people, do you know Jesus? Most people say, sure, I know Jesus. It seems to have an understanding of who Jesus was. But if you phrase it just a little bit differently, if you were to ask, what did Jesus preach?

What did He talk about? What was His message? Now it gets to be a little bit more difficult to really put your finger on. What was it that He talked about? Was it just the fact that He was Savior? Was it just the fact that He was the Messiah? Or was there a specific message that He brought that was very revealing about His purpose? The answer is yes.

His message was the message of the Kingdom of God. That's what He talked about. That's what His whole focus was about as He walked the earth. There's an amazing passage in the Bible over in Luke 4. Verse 43, Christ, in His very own words, described His purpose. Now this isn't somebody's opinion. This is Christ Himself, His very own words, describing what His purpose for preaching, for teaching, for being on the earth was all about.

Luke 4.43, Christ's own words, He said, I must preach the Kingdom of God. That's what Christ was all about. Preaching the Kingdom of God, He said to the other cities also, because for this purpose I have been sent. So why was Christ walking the earth? Why was He here? What was He all about? The purpose was to preach the gospel of the Kingdom of God. You read that and you wonder, well, what was He talking about? What exactly was He talking about?

Most people don't really have an understanding. Most churches wouldn't really be able to identify what exactly is that message that He was talking about. What is it? It's one that has been overlooked. I think one that's been misunderstood, perhaps even ignored in some cases. Because understanding the gospel is what Christ was all about. What He taught, what He preached. In fact, it might be kind of surprising. Do Christ talk about going to heaven when you die? Some people think, well, the Kingdom of God must be about going to heaven.

That must be what it is, isn't it? But that's not what Christ was talking about. That was not His message. When you get to the real heart, you get to the core of what He was talking about, His teaching was this coming Kingdom. The good news, the gospel, doesn't have to be a religious-sounding kind of thing. When you say the gospel, it sounds very religious. And yet, it was about the message, the gospel, the good news. What was the encouraging gospel message was the Kingdom of God and the fact that Jesus said it was going to be established on earth.

And that's how He started. That's how He began. When He began His ministry, He began by preaching that gospel of the Kingdom. Over in Mark 1, verse 14, as Christ is beginning His ministry, we see that purpose that He talked about come to life. Notice this in Mark 1, verse 14 and 15.

It identifies how Jesus began His ministry. It says, after John was put in prison, that's John the Baptist, Jesus came to Galilee. Now, what was He doing? It says He was preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God. And He said in verse 15, the time is fulfilled. The Kingdom of God is at hand, repent, and believe in the gospel. Was this something that was on Christ's mind? Was He saying that this Kingdom of God is in heaven? Is that what He was talking about?

It wasn't. It wasn't. When you begin to see what Christ was preaching, it was something totally different than what traditional Christianity talks about.

You see, it was 100 years after Christ that the gospel of the Kingdom of God was replaced with this concept of going to heaven when you die. It wasn't something that Christ talked about. I mean, Christ said an amazing thing about this whole concept of going to heaven.

Over in the book of John, John 3.13, Christ really said a shocking statement.

If you were to think you go to heaven after you die, Christ Himself said, John 3.13, no one has ascended to heaven.

No exceptions, He says. But, okay, well, what's the exception? What's the exception? But He who came down from heaven, that is the Son of man who is in heaven.

So after the crucifixion and resurrection, Christ took His place at the right hand of the Father. He's in heaven with God the Father. But that's it. That's it. He said, no one else.

No one else. And the interesting part about this passage in the book of John, this wasn't recorded the moment after Jesus said it. This was written down decades after the crucifixion, decades after the resurrection. This would have been decades after many Christians who believed in God, who accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, had lived and died.

Long after many had died in the faith and yet recorded for us here that no one, no one was in heaven other than God the Father and Jesus Christ.

So no wonder Christ's teachings were overlooked. And yet, many pray about it. Many pray every day for that kingdom, maybe even unwittingly pray about the kingdom because they pray, our Father, our Father who art in heaven. Hallowed be thy name. Thy your kingdom come, thy will be done. They pray about God's kingdom and don't even realize that kingdom is coming to earth. That was the message of Jesus Christ. It's not a kingdom that's off up there in heaven, but it's a kingdom that Christ is going to establish right here on this earth.

And that was Christ's message. And so when you see such a misunderstanding about Christ's preaching, we realize that sometimes people forget to see exactly what Christ said. What did He actually preach? What did He actually talk about? We have tremendous records that show exactly what Christ said, exactly what He talked about. And so when you begin to see those things, they just start to jump out at you. And suddenly you can't open your Bible and look at the Gospels, for example, without seeing these amazing passages that just show so clearly this whole concept of the kingdom of God and what Jesus Christ Himself preached. In fact, a favorite section of Scripture for much of Christianity is a section of Scripture that's in the Gospels that's called the Sermon on the Mount. And a lot of Christians are familiar with the Sermon on the Mount because that's that section of Scripture that talks about the blessings. Blessed are the meek. Blessed are those that mourn. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are the merciful. And Christ talked about examples for each of those different types of individuals. So many are familiar with that.

But you know what Christ emphasized in that message? You know what the object of that lesson was all about? It was actually about the kingdom of God. It was about the kingdom of God. We could look at an example of that in that section of Scripture, Matthew 5, verse 3.

Matthew 5, verse 3, at the beginning of what's recorded for us of the Sermon on the Mount, these quotes from Jesus Christ, notice how He began. Matthew 5, verse 3, Christ Himself said, blessed are the poor in spirit. Or in other words, those who are humble, those that rely on God for their strength. They don't have any spiritual strength on their own. They look to God for their spiritual strength. Christ said, blessed are they. Why? He says, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

In fact, we skip down a little bit further in verse 10. He said, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Now you might think, aha, I knew He talked about heaven somewhere. Isn't that what He's talking about here?

Well, it's interesting that the kingdom of heaven is the kingdom of God. It's not a different thing. Those aren't two different things. It's kind of interesting if you were to look up that phrase, kingdom of heaven. Do you know how many books in the Bible have that phrase kingdom of heaven?

One.

One. Just one. Just this book of Matthew. Matthew is the only book in the Bible that has the kingdom of heaven mentioned. So is that something different? Is that talking about going to heaven when you die? In fact, Matthew mentions it 32 times, so he uses it often.

Well, it's interesting. Luke recorded the same event for us. He recorded the exact same talk that Jesus gave. Luke 6, verse 20. Luke records it a little bit differently. Notice what Luke says in Luke 6, verse 20. He starts out by saying, blessed are you poor. So same category of people, those who are humble, those who are reliant on God. He says they're blessed. Why? For yours is the kingdom of God. So either there's a big problem here, or they're the same thing.

And there they are. They're the exact same thing. This Scripture records, by inspiration, I'm sure. So there's no misunderstanding. There's no misunderstanding. The kingdom of heaven means exactly the same thing as the kingdom of God. And Christ said He was going to establish that kingdom as He returns to earth the second time. So it's not going to heaven, but the meek will inherit the earth. The earth, Christ will establish His kingdom on the earth. Now, as you think about that a little bit, sometimes you might have what I call these, what about Scriptures come to mind.

What about? Those are the kind of Scriptures that say, yeah, okay, I see what you're saying, but what about this one over here? You ever run into Scriptures like that? Sometimes there's passages like that. Well, what about that? And one of those Scriptures that I call a what about Scripture is over in Luke, Luke 17, verse 20. If you're still there in Luke, flip over a little bit farther to Luke 17, 20, because this presents a little bit of what seems to be a problem. And what is this passage about? And how does it fit into that message of the coming kingdom of God? In Luke 17, 20, here Christ is talking with the Pharisees. The Pharisees were those religious rulers in Judaism of the day. Those were high up on the scale of the Jewish leaders at the time of Christ.

And so we join the middle of the story here in verse 20. It says, when He was asked by the Pharisees, that's Christ, being asked by these religious leaders, they asked Him when the kingdom of God would come. What did Christ answer? He answered them and 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. All right, what about that? Within you? Does that mean you take Jesus in your heart, you accept Him, and that's the kingdom of God? Is that all there is to it? Is that what this is referring to? Some try to interpret it that way, that it must be there in your heart, and that's all there is to it. Well, is the kingdom of God in people's hearts? Is that what Christ was trying to say here? Well, you have an immediate problem, if that's the case. You see what the problem would be? These Pharisees, were these people that were encouraging Jesus Christ? Were these people that couldn't wait for Him and His message to show that He was the Messiah, that He was Savior? Were they backing Him 100%? No, they weren't. These were the Pharisees. These were the religious leaders. They were trying to protect their power. They were trying to protect their authority. They tried to discount Christ every step of the way. They were the ones that contributed to His death. They didn't want to see Christ have any effect on the people. They didn't want this message to go out. So there was no way that Christ was saying that the Kingdom of God was in their hearts. It was in their within them. It couldn't have been possible. They fought against Christ. So what was Christ getting at then, if that wasn't the case? Well, if you were to look up that word in the original Greek, the word really means in your midst or among you, or among you. So here is Jesus Christ telling these rebel leaders, if you want to call them that, those that opposed Him, that here I am. I am the King of the Kingdom of God. I will establish God's Kingdom when I return. And I am among you. I am in your midst. But they rejected the Gospel. They rejected the Kingdom. They rejected Jesus Christ. But yet when He returns, He's going to be right in the midst.

He will be the center of the Kingdom of God. It could be the center of our life today as well.

So it's no wonder that Christ continued to talk about this and continue to preach about the Kingdom of God. Boy, it's hard to find a section of Scripture where He doesn't refer to it in one way or another because it was constantly on His mind. He was constantly preaching and teaching the Kingdom of God, correcting people and their misunderstandings like the Pharisees.

He pointed them to the right direction. He pointed them to a right understanding, even though they refused to see it. But that didn't deter Christ. He continued to preach it. He continued to teach it. In fact, if we flip back just a little bit to Luke 8 and verse 1, notice how much this was on Christ's mind. This wasn't just some fleeting thing. This wasn't just a minor sermon topic that He had. This was something that He constantly taught about. It was constantly on His mind. Luke 8, verse 1 says, After this, Jesus traveled about from one town and village to another.

So as He traveled around, what was on His mind? He was proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. Or maybe your translation says, the glad tidings. Other translations say, the Gospel. This is the message of Christ, the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. And as He traveled, those towns He went to, those villages He went to, heard the good news. They heard about God's plan.

So if it was that important to Christ, I wonder how important it should be to us.

How important should it be to us? If Christ was speaking about it all the time, what kind of priority should that take then in our life? How important should that be to us?

Well, God didn't want to leave us wondering how important it should be.

He tells us straight out. Christ tells us exactly how important it should be.

In Matthew 6, verse 33, here's Christ Himself telling us about that Kingdom of God and how valuable, how precious, how important should it be to every one of us? Well, He tells us.

He tells us, Matthew 6, 33, seek first. Priority number one, what should be most important in our life, seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. That's the righteousness of Jesus Christ. And then all these things will be added to you. So that should be our priority. That should be important to us. That should be something that we're seeking at, not just hoping for, not just wishing for, just not some, I wonder if it's going to come along, or I sure hope it gets better. I hope things work out. No, this is something we should go after. This is something we should dedicate our lives to. This should be something that takes ultimate importance in every one of our lives. So He says, seek God's Kingdom now. Do it today. Don't wait. So I think it'd be fair to say, in a way, Christ is saying, you know, who's in charge of your Kingdom?

And who's the head of your life? Who's the head of your Kingdom right at this moment? Ultimately, there's a Kingdom that's coming to this earth. But for each of us, we need to be seeking His Kingdom. Christ's effect in our life, His influence, His direction. In fact, just over a couple of pages in Matthew 13, 44, He gives us even more details about the importance of it and how valuable this whole concept of the truth of God, the gospel of Jesus Christ, the gospel of the Kingdom of God, the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven, all of those things meaning the same thing. How important, how precious should it be? How valuable? Well, here in verse 44 of Matthew 13, Christ gives a parable. He gives a story. Here's a little example. You might call it an object lesson. You know, if you look at this, there's something of deep meaning, something significant here in this story that should teach us an important spiritual lesson. So notice what He compares the Kingdom of God to. Matthew 13, 44. He says the Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. Boy, we'd all love to have some treasure, wouldn't we? What is it then? Well, treasure is valuable. That's something important. That's something that we'd love to put in the bank. We'd love to have that in our account, wouldn't we? So He says it's like a hidden treasure which a man found and hid. And for joy over it, He goes and sells all that He has and buys that field. How important was it? Well, if it takes everything we've got, it's worth it. It is worth it. There's nothing more important than this. Christ said, this is a valuable treasure. This is something you don't want to live without. This is something you would give everything you own if you could only possess it. That's what the kingdom of God is like. And remember, kingdom of heaven, kingdom of God, same thing. Same thing that He's talking about. In fact, He gives us another example. Verse 45, again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. Boy, if you're into jewelry, pearls are a wonderful thing. Real pearls, right? Those are the kinds of bite and you chip your tooth on. The real ones He's talking about, those valuable ones, those beautiful ones. They're just fantastic, a beautiful necklace of pearls.

He says, it's like that, a merchant who's seeking beautiful pearls. And when He found one pearl of great price, He went and sold all that He had, and He bought it. This is one I just can't let go. I've got to have this one. And so Christ used these stories. He used these examples. He used these parables to talk about God's kingdom. In fact, it's interesting. When you look at the stories that Christ told, more often than not, they related back to the kingdom of God. They give us some insight, some truth about the kingdom of God. And of course, here He's telling us, this is not something you want to pass up. This is not just some fleeting idea. This isn't just some political government that's going to come along. This is a world-changing government that's going to be established on earth. And it can change your life. It will change your life. It'll change what's most important to you, because I used to think this was important. But now, this awesome pearl representing the truth of God takes precedence in my life. This tremendous treasure that I never even knew existed before suddenly means everything.

The spiritual truth, the spiritual understanding as God opens our minds to His truth, something that we can't forget about, something that we can't set on the shelf any longer, something that we cannot put aside. It's something that I've got to learn more about. It's something that I've got to base my life on. I want to learn to be more like Christ and make Him the head of my life, of my kingdom. And I can't wait until He returns to establish that kingdom globally on this earth.

So all mankind can come to understand the truth of God.

Well, that's something that has just become so important. That's something that Christ continually talked about. He talked about that government, a real government, not some political system, praying for Thy kingdom come. His will to be done on earth, they're not just idle words. They're not just words we're just supposed to repeat in some vain prayer, not just idle words at all. They're specific words about a specific government, a kingdom that is going to be brought to this earth. In fact, there's an amazing prophecy back in the book of Isaiah that had to be on Christ's mind as He preached and as He taught. It's in Isaiah 9, verse 6. Isaiah 9, verse 6. In fact, this passage, it might surprise you, is probably most often read at Christmastime.

It's kind of a Christmas scripture for most religions. It's a Christmas scripture. Why? Because it talks about the birth of Christ. And so oftentimes this scripture is read at Christmastime.

But there's such a vital aspect of this passage that describes so much more than the birth of Christ. An amazing prophecy. Isaiah 9, verse 6. Notice what it says. For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. Yeah, certainly that's talking about Jesus Christ being born.

But what was more important than that? Not just the fact that He was born, but that birth led to something tremendous so that His purpose could be fulfilled in giving His life for all mankind and then ultimately establishing that kingdom. So notice what it says. This prophecy from Isaiah. Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government will be upon His shoulder. Now did that happen at His birth? Did that happen during His human lifetime? Did not. They murdered Christ. They crucified Him. This did not happen. This is a future prophecy. This is something that's coming. The government will be on His shoulder. Skipping down just a little bit farther, it says the increase of His government. It's talking about the kingdom of God. It says, and His peace. There'll be no end. Now that's that world-changing kingdom that Christ spoke about. That's not talking about some babe in a manger. Most don't realize He's coming back to earth, and He's coming back in a far different way than He came the first time. He's coming back to establish the kingdom. He proclaimed it the first time, and now He's going to establish that all-powerful, ruling King in Jesus Christ will establish the kingdom of God. The government will be on His shoulder and over the entire earth.

That's what we have to look forward to. His kingdom over the entire earth. That's the good news. That's the good news. Do politicians have the good news? Do they have the solutions? Do they know how to solve man's problems? Well, they sound like they can in some of the political speeches, but we know after the political season's over, after the new politicians take office, it gets to be the same old, same old, doesn't it? Same old thing. We can't seem to solve our own problems. So the good news, the gospel, is what Christ came to announce. That's what it was all about. It's not a temporary government either. It's not just for four years. We're not just going to set up Him as king as four years and then hope it's going to work from there on up. No! It's not some election. Christ will establish the kingdom on His own. He will be king. He will return and establish that kingdom. Matthew 19, verse 29, He says it's not some temporary thing. It's not an interim government. That's not what it is at all. This is not a temporary thing. This is an eternal thing. It's an eternal government, an eternal kingdom, and it involves mankind.

Because we can be a part of God's plan for eternity. Matthew 19, verse 29, it says everyone who's left houses or brothers, sisters or father or mother, wife or children or lands for my namesake. See, those who have gone out and bought that precious pearl, those who have given everything to buy that piece of land with that awesome treasure in it, those who have made Christ the king of their life. He says those who have done these things for His sake, what will happen to them? He says they shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. Eternal life. That's an eternal kingdom. Not some temporary government. Not some election. Not some four-year term.

None of that. And so He says that should be our goal. That should be our main concern. That should be what's first and foremost. That's what we should strive for. That should be the priority in our life. That's something that we should never lose sight of. That we want Jesus Christ not only a part of our life, but to be our life. To be what our life is all about so that we can participate in His kingdom when He comes. Because what an awesome blessing that will be. Fantastic blessing. Just an amazing blessing when you think about it. In Luke 12, verse 29, He compares it, in this sense, to the things that we normally worry about.

We worry about our jobs. We worry about the economy. We worry about paying the rent, making the mortgage payment. We worry about what are we going to eat? What if I lose my job? Or I did lose my job? What's going to happen? You know, God thought of that. God's amazing. He thought of that. He has a plan for that type of thing. He says, make sure you get your priorities straight. Put first things first. In Luke 12, 29, He tells us, don't seek what you should eat or what you should drink or have an anxious mind. Don't be overly concerned about those things. Yes, they are a concern. Yes, we certainly have to feed our family. We should do our best in all these things.

But ultimately, where's our confidence? Where's our hope? Who do we trust, in other words? Do we trust our own means? Do we take it in our own hands? Or do we put it in God's hands? Can God guide and direct us in those things? Can we ask God and seek His effect, His influence, His guidance in our lives? You see, that's what Christ was talking about here. He says in verse 30, all these things the nations of the world seek after. Those that aren't Christians, those that don't understand God's way, that's what they're so overly concerned about. That's what they're worried about. He says, but for you, for true Christians, He says, your father knows that you need these things. That's whose hands we need to put them in. And the evidence that we have done that, the evidence that we have placed our life in God's hands, He says in verse 31, we seek the kingdom of God. And then He says, these things shall be added to you. He says, don't fear, don't worry, don't be overly anxious. He says, don't fear, little flock. He says, oh, you're a little precious little lamb to God. He says, don't worry. He says, it's your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. What a great God we have. He wants to give it to us.

He wants us to be there. He wants us to be a part of His kingdom forever. He wants us to share eternal life with Jesus Christ and with the Father and be a part of His family forever, forever. So it's interesting when you begin to see how the gospel of the kingdom of God was just everywhere throughout Christ's teachings. You might begin to think, well, is Christ the only one that talked about it? Is He the only one that mentioned the kingdom of God?

Nope. It's all over the Bible. All over the Bible. The prophets talked about the kingdom of God. They looked forward to the kingdom of God thousands of years ago, thousands and thousands of years ago. People like the prophet Daniel. Do we remember Daniel? Do you remember Daniel in the lion's den? And God protected him in that lion's den? Daniel put his faith in God.

Even Daniel, those centuries and centuries ago, looked forward to Christ coming to this earth to establish the kingdom. He even prophesied about it. There's an amazing prophecy in Daniel 2, verse 44.

In Daniel 2, verse 44, here's a prophecy about governments, about world-ruling systems, about political systems that governed the entire earth at that time. And Daniel was making predictions about them. Not predictions on his own, but inspired by God, Daniel anticipated the time when Christ would return to establish the kingdom. Look at Daniel 2, verse 44.

It says, in the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And Daniel prophesied about all these various kingdoms that would come about. You know, if you're a student of history, it's an amazing study on how each of those came to be in so many different ways. He predicted Babylon would be a great world-ruling empire. He predicted that the Persians would rule the earth. He predicted Alexander the Great. You can read your history books and you can read Daniel, and they fit right together. And he said at the end of it all, at the end of the age, he says God will set up His kingdom. And what's going to happen to man's systems? What's going to happen to the things that we've tried to accomplish with our own power? Not looking to God, ignoring Him, trying to do things on our own, thinking we've got the best way to do things. Here Daniel predicts it. He says it straight out. He says this kingdom will not be left to other people. God's kingdom, it says, shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. That's the kingdom of God. That's God's kingdom. The prophets look forward to this time when Christ would return. They looked forward to godly government. They looked forward to real peace, to true happiness. They looked forward to the time when people could get along with each other, when you could trust each other, when you didn't have to make sure you pulled the bars and locked the doors at night. You didn't have to worry about them. They looked forward to that. In fact, we talked about that Christmas scripture a little bit ago. You know, the prophet Isaiah talked a lot about the kingdom of God over and over and over again. He mentioned different prophecies about that coming kingdom. And there's an inspirational one. One of my favorite passages in the Bible, it's over in Isaiah 2, verse 2. Isaiah 2, 2. In fact, it's kind of a significant scripture even in the United States today. You'll notice why when we read through it. Isaiah 2, verse 2, this prophecy of God that Isaiah recorded for us, it says, Now it shall come to pass in the latter days. That's the end times. That the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains. And of course, when Isaiah is talking about mountains here, he's not talking about hills and the Alps or the Rocky Mountains or things like that. He's talking about governments. He's talking about governments. He's saying that there's coming a time that God's government, God's mountain, the rulership of God will be at the very top.

It will be the Mount Everest of the world, the kingdom of God at the top. And what's going to happen? He said it's going to be exalted above the hills, even those lesser little kingdoms.

And all nations shall flow to it. Not some people, not a few people, not a couple of different nationalities. But he says, all nations. It'll be above every single other mountain, country, nation, kingdom of this world. And so he says, many, verse 3, shall come and say, come, let's go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He'll teach us His ways. We'll walk in His path. For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. He's going to have to do some correcting because we thought we could do it ourselves. But He's going to show us the right way to govern, the right way to rule, what should be most important with government, how to rightly govern people's lives so it brings peace, true happiness, true love, those kinds of issues He's going to bring to this earth. And then in verse 4, He says, they shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. Now, this is one of those passages that, at least in my mind, an immediate image comes to mind. If you've ever been to the United Nations in New York City, there is a tremendous sculpture that are on the grounds there. And it pictures a man who has this huge sword and he's got a giant hammer in his hand and he is beating on this sword and underneath you see this plowshare that's being formed by it. It was placed there because that was the goal of the United Nations. That as a people, as the world, we should be able to come together and rid ourselves of war and produce agricultural crops for people so that mankind could solve its problems and there could be good government on the earth. And there it is right there at the United Nations. Yet, we haven't lived up to that, have we? We haven't lived up to this scripture in Isaiah.

We haven't been able to do it ourselves. We haven't been able to bring about world peace. Governments align themselves against other governments. We have the Security Council on the United Nations.

How much security do we have in our world today? Not very much. We haven't been able to fix our own problems. And so Isaiah predicted this time of true world peace when this will become a reality.

And it's not just about peace, but it's also about a real spiritual awakening that people will then begin to understand what real truth, what real Christianity is all about. Minds are going to be opened. It's not a question of asking, do we need it? Do we need this kingdom? Do we need Christ to return? I think the United Nations is a witness of that. How badly do we need it? It's not hard to see.

I mean, we just ask ourselves, have difficulties increased lately? Or have they decreased? Have things gotten better? Are things looking up? Well, what has it been like lately in our country?

Mankind's troubles seem to be all around us, don't they? And that's another one of those things that were predicted in the Bible. Daniel was one of those that talked about the difficulties and the troubles that would come before Christ returns. He spoke about it. He predicted it to Daniel 12 and verse 1, really a startling section of Scripture, where he talked about our troubles, mankind's troubles and difficulties and challenges that would face the earth at the time of the end. Daniel 12.1, he records for us, "'At that time, Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people.' At that time." What time is that?

Well, that's one of those phrases in the Bible. Sometimes it's translated in the latter times, or in the last days, or at that time. Those are all phrases that point to the end of this age, to the end of mankind's rule on this earth. That's what that's talking about. At the end of man's rule, at this time, what's going to happen? He says, it shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation, a time never, ever like it before. And he says, even to that time and at that time, your people shall be delivered. Everyone who's found written in the book.

It's going to be a difficult time. And are we already seeing some of those challenges?

Yeah, I think we are. I think we are. And if we look around ourselves, it's pretty plain.

You know, the potential for destruction seems to be around every corner, every corner. WMDs, weapons of mass destruction. They're more easily accessible now than ever before. Is it fair to say there's a real potential that we could destroy ourselves?

You know, somebody put their finger on that button. Could it be set off?

Christ Himself said, unless the days were shortened, unless God shortened those days, no flesh would be saved alive. Unless God would intervene, unless He would intervene in the affairs of mankind. There's no doubt we need God's kingdom. We need that kingdom now, because we're on the verge of this time. Christ talked about it, and He specifically mentioned things that would point the way to the time of His return. Famous prophecy in Matthew 24.

If you'd like to turn over to Matthew 24, Christ revealed pivotal prophecies that were going to occur right before He returned. Let's notice these, and let's see if we can get an indication of where we're at right now. Where are we today? Jesus revealed these signs, and He pointed the way.

He didn't want to leave us clueless as we came to this time of the end of mankind's rule. So in Matthew 24, He discusses these. In fact, He talked about these things with His disciples.

And here He is. He's sitting on the Mount of Olives in verse 3, Matthew 24.

The disciples came to Him privately, saying, Tell us, when will these things be? When will these things that Isaiah talked about? What about these things that Daniel prophesied about? What about the prophecies that you've spoken yourself? When will these things be? What will be the sign of your coming and the end of the age? It's interesting. Where did He start? Where did Christ start when they asked that question? Well, the first thing He said here is, Take heed, no one deceives you. He says, Many will come in My name, saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many.

He talked about religious deception. He said there would be false messiahs. There would be phony Jesus' who would claim to be the Messiah. Then there would also be people that would point to the real Christ, but not the real teachings of Christ. Not His real instruction. Not His real guidance. They would falsify the gospel. They wouldn't preach the true gospel of God. Oh, they'd say Jesus was the Christ, but they'd miss what He taught, what He was all about. So Christ said, Look out. Be careful. Beware. Don't be deceived. If we're not watching, if we're not taking heed, we could be fooled. We could be taken in. So He says, Be careful. He's talking to His disciples. He's talking to the Twelve. You could be fooled. So beware. Be careful. Be sure this is about most importance on your mind. Be right with God, He's telling them, because there's a lot of phony messiahs. There's a lot of people pointing to Christ, but they don't know what I've taught. That's what Christ began with. That was one of the signs. Is that evident in the world today? Is that out there today? Then He went on. Verse 6, He said, You'll hear of wars and rumors of war. See, you're not troubled. These things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

But the end is not yet. All right. Has that been happening? Have there been more and more of rumors of wars? Turn on the news this morning. What's happening in the Middle East?

We've seen these things right before our eyes. We don't have to go back very far. We could talk about Iraq. We could talk about Iran. We could talk about the challenges and the difficulties and nuclear weapons that they have. We could look more recently at what's going on in Egypt.

What's going to happen in Egypt? They talk about a Muslim Spring.

The rise of the Muslim nations over there. Is there going to be some kind of coalition that will come about? What's happening in Libya? We don't know yet. But boy, are things stirred up over there. What's going to happen in Syria? You see, those are tremendous issues that are unresolved at the moment. Is it going to lead to peace? Is it going to lead to prosperity? Is it going to lead to the good of the nations? How is it going to play out? Christ said, you're going to hear about revolutions. You're going to hear about wars. You're going to hear about rumors of these things. Seems to me they're on the rise, aren't they? He says, that's one of those signs. Of course, you look at other things that tie in with the rumors of things.

How about the financial crisis we're in right now? The president just gave a speech on Thursday night. The Dow just went down 300 points yesterday, and it's been fluctuating all over the place. The U.S.'s credit downgraded. The Greeks they're worried about is going to default.

People are saying, we're not in a recession. We're in a depression.

Talk about the rumors that are out there. Does that bring confidence? Does that bring encouragement?

Where are we when it comes to where the world is at today?

Of course, here we are. We're the day before 9-11. The terrorist attacks on the United States.

And what's in the news? Peace? Oh, turn on the TV! Specific, incredible, terror threat!

That was the headlines on the news. Specific, incredible. Have we created a world of peace?

A world where we can get along with each other? Or is Christ right? Is Christ right? You're going to hear about wars. You're going to hear about terrorism. You're going to hear about these things.

He says, that's signs of what's coming. And then he goes on. He goes on and talks about even other things. Nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom. There'll be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places. And it doesn't take much to think about, are these things happening? Have they increased more recently? Absolutely they have. You think about what's going on in East Africa. Most people don't even realize there's an unbelievable famine going on in the Sudan, in Ethiopia, in Kenya. In all of those East African nations, Uganda, Tanzania, millions upon millions of people are being affected by unbelievable starvation. It's happening right before our eyes. We don't even realize it's happening. Then there's the weather. The weather, there were massive floods in Australia in the spring. Landmass that was just an unbelievable size was just covered with water. I mean, here in Ohio, just saw in the news last night, we have had the wettest spring, the wettest year they've said ever, ever recorded, not only for Ohio, but New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, all of those things. The wettest ever on record.

Look at the floods in the Northeast happening right now. Right now they're happening.

And then, of course, it's not wet everywhere. We just have to go a little bit farther west and south. And what do we've got? We've got Texas being burned by more than 200 fires at this very moment, this very moment. They've had some amazing weather lately, too. It's not wet there. They've had the hottest summer ever on record in Texas, ever, ever on record. So are we approaching these things that Christ was talking about? We often don't think about pestilences and diseases, but I know that you've got the bird flu and the swine flu and all these other things that have been in the news. But you know that pestilence affects us here in the United States as well.

And we don't even realize.

Bed bugs.

Bed bugs. 27 diseases they carry. And guess what? The number one infested city in America is...

if you don't know the answer, you don't live in Cincinnati. It is Cincinnati. Columbus is also on the list. Dayton is on the top 10 list of infested cities in the United States. Are these things that can grow and develop and get out of hand? They can't find the pesticides that kill these things. You see, are those some of the signs that Christ talked about? Obviously, those things are being fulfilled right before our very eyes. And he goes on. He says, true Christians will be delivered up to tribulation. They'll kill you. You'll be hated by nations for my namesake. He talks about religious persecution. And he talks again about false prophets. Many, verse 11, false prophets will rise up and deceive many. People will be fooled. Has that happened right recently? But wasn't the end of the world supposed to be May 21st, 2011?

Saw billboards all over the place saying that was the end of the world. It didn't happen. Now it's supposed to be in October. Or other people believe it's 2012. 2012 is the end of the world.

Are there false prophets that are out there today? Absolutely there. Christ's very words are being fulfilled right in front of our eyes. And so he said that it's going to be such an amazing world that we live in. We already live in this kind of a world. He says, lawlessness, verse 12, lawlessness will abound and the love of many will grow cold.

Where do you find real love? Where do you find true happiness? We live in such an amazing society. We have everything we could ever want. We can get our phones out. They're not dumb phones. They're smartphones. And we can go up to some satellite and we can send a text message instantly to somebody else and they can send me a YouTube video and I can watch it right there on my phone.

And then I gripe and complain because it takes two seconds for it to load.

Does that make you happy? Do those things make you happy? They don't make you happy. We're still unhappy. Even though we have a microwave that will cook us something within a minute, we're tapping our foot because it's taking more than 30 seconds to finish. It hasn't helped us in our happiness. We don't know where to find real peace and real happiness. And Christ said, we've missed the boat. We've missed the boat. And yet He tells us the answer. He tells us what we need to do. What should we do about all that? We're on the verge of all these things. They're coming to a head. What do we need to be doing? Christ said, verse 13, He who endures to the end shall be saved. We have to prepare. We have to make sure we're living our life by God's standards. If we're going to endure these challenges that are right before us, and we've just seen the tip of the iceberg, to endure the challenges, the struggles, the tribulation and trials that are right ahead of us, we need spiritual strength. We need a godly perspective in our life. We need to develop a deep spiritual relationship with God. That's where our strength is going to come from. We need to have that relationship with Jesus Christ, the real source of our strength. We need that kingdom right in our midst right now. That's what we need to do. And that's what we're about.

If we read verse 14, it says, This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all nations, and then the end will come. So that's what we're about. That's what the United Church of God is all about. That's why there's a Good News magazine. That's why there's a Vertical Thought magazine. That's why we have world news and prophecy. That's why we print booklets, and that's why we distribute them for free so that the gospel may go out. That's why we have the Beyond Today program. It's there so that this gospel would be preached to the entire world. And it's not just to warn people. Yes, that's part of it, to warn and to witness. But it's also to encourage people to turn to God, to look to the truth, to allow God to open their minds to His truth so that we can be encouraged, so that we can understand how we need to live our lives today.

Because the gospel is about changed lives. Changed lives for the better. That's the message of Jesus Christ. That's what He constantly taught. And yet so many misunderstand and so many ignore it. Yet that's the message. That's the key that holds the answer for our world today. It's the key that holds the answer to each of our personal questions today. So Christ said, repent. He said, believe the gospel. The kingdom of God is at hand. There is hope. There is encouragement. There is comfort. So let's take Jesus' words to heart. Let's believe His gospel. Let's be sure that we seek it.

Let's be dedicated to following Jesus Christ. And let's put that kingdom of God in the place that God would have it be. First, number one priority in our life.

All right, that will do it for our first seminar this afternoon. We're going to have a very short refreshment break. We have some coffee and some juices back in the back. So if you'd like to make your way back there, you certainly can do that. We're going to try to keep it to just 10 minutes. 10 minutes is our goal. And we'll be back with our second half, our second seminar, and that will be entitled, Why Our World Needs the Kingdom of God Now.