WHY THE WORLD NEEDS GOD’S KINGDOM—NOW! (KOG Seminar #1, Segment II) INTRODUCTION – As we mentioned at the end of the previous segment, our world is in a terrible state of affairs.

• It’s a predicament of our own making with no small help from Satan the devil.

• As the fulfillment of the Bible’s end time prophecies reach their focal point in the months and years immediately ahead of us, it is clear that this present evil world’s time is up.

• But Jesus Christ has a solution—the Kingdom of God that the world desperately and urgently needs! • So since we have to live in this world, we also each need Christ and God’s Kingdom in our personal lives—NOW!

SPS – As we conclude this Kingdom of God seminar today, we will take a glimpse at God’s plan for ushering in a new and wonderful age that will solve all mankind’s problems and lead to eternal life in the Kingdom of God—an age and a Kingdom that we can personally be involved in through Jesus Christ even today.

• What’s ahead for America and all nations?

• Why can’t man solve his own problems and bring world peace?

• How will Christ intervene to prevent humanity from annihilating itself?

• What will the world be like when Jesus Christ rules the world as King of Kings in the Kingdom of God?

• How can you personally connect with the Kingdom of God through its King Jesus Christ today?

BODY 1. What’s ahead in God’s plan for America and all nations?

• For the last century the U.S. has been the main national power holding at bay the forces of world-ruling tyranny of Nazism, Marxism and competing religions.

• The U.S. has been a bastion of freedom and opportunity for the entire world.

• Even with its many faults, America has been described by Abraham Lincoln as “man’s last best hope.”

• However, man’s best hope is Jesus Christ’s righteous rule in the Kingdom of God on earth that is to come. NKJ Isaiah 11:1-9 ¶ There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. 2 The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. 3 His delight is in the fear of the LORD, And He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, Nor decide by the hearing of His ears …. 5 Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, And faithfulness the belt of His waist. 2. Why can’t man solve his own problems and bring world peace? Mankind’s problems are rooted in human nature. NLT Jeremiah 17:9-10 "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? 10 But I, the LORD, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve." NRS Romans 8:7 For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God's law -- indeed it cannot….

NKJ Isaiah 59:7-9 Their feet run to evil, And they make haste to shed innocent blood; Their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; Wasting and destruction are in their paths. 8 The way of peace they have not known, And there is no justice in their ways; They have made themselves crooked paths; Whoever takes that way shall not know peace. 9 Therefore justice is far from us, Nor does righteousness overtake us; We look for light, but there is darkness! For brightness, but we walk in blackness! The Devil is a great deceiver and co-perpetrator in the sins of humanity and the source of man’s hostility to God’s law. NLT John 8:44 says, “He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Revelation 12:9 describes Satan the Devil as the one “who deceives the whole world. Ephesians 2:2 (NRS) refers to him as “the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work among those who are disobedient.” 3. How will God establish His Kingdom on this earth as the solution to man’s problems, and what does this mean for God’s people?

NKJ Matthew 24:29-31 ¶ " Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 "Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 "And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

• Jesus Christ returns to earth at the sound of the seventh prophetic trumpet of Revelation.

• The “elect,” also known as “those who are Christ’s at His coming,” are gathered to Him.

• The resurrection of the dead occurs at Christ’s second coming. NLT 1 Corinthians 15:50-53 What I am saying, dear brothers and sisters, is that our physical bodies cannot inherit the Kingdom of God. These dying bodies cannot inherit what will last forever. 51 ¶ But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! 52 It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. 53 For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.

• One must be changed to spirit to enter or inherit the Kingdom of God.

• The resurrection of the dead—and of the elect still physically living at that time—takes place at the sound of the seventh trumpet at Christ’s return.

• “Sleep” is a reference to being physically dead—because by the resurrection God “awakens” a person to live again. NKJ 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 ¶ But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. • Those who “sleep in Jesus” refers to the “dead in Christ” (God’s people who have lived and died down through the ages) who will not live again until they are resurrected at the return of Jesus Christ to earth.

• Note again the reference to the trumpet (seventh) of God.

• This describes the resurrection of the dead. Christ and the resurrected saints then land on earth. NKJ Zechariah 14:1, 4 ¶ Behold, the day of the LORD is coming, … 4 And in that day His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east.

• Christ does not stay “in the air” or return to heaven—nor do those resurrected at His coming.

• He goes to the Mount of Olives at Jerusalem.

• After resurrecting His saints, Christ will discipline the remaining human powers who oppose Him, His Kingdom and His way.

• He fights a great final battle with the human armies arrayed against Him. NKJ Revelation 19:11, 14, 15-16 11 Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. 14 And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses. 15 Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. 16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

• Christ will return as a conquering King to rule the nations. He proclaims victory over man’s forces of evil and claims all nations as part of the Kingdom of God under His sovereign rule. NKJ Revelation 11:15 ¶ Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

• He will then begin to actively rule all nations and bring true peace to humanity. 4. Satan will then be bound for a thousand years so he is unable to continue deceiving mankind during the millennium. NKJ Revelation 20:1-3 ¶ Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

• His deceitful, sinful, hateful spirit will have no impact on mankind for 1,000 years! 5. The Millennial rule of Jesus Christ NKJ Revelation 20:4-6 ¶ And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

• The “elect” will rule with Christ as resurrected spirit children of God for 1,000 years.

• Reigning with Christ means that there will still be people to rule over as they repopulate the earth.

• The “rest of the dead” are historical humanity who never understood God’s truth and must physically live again to choose God’s way or not (more about them in next KoG Seminar).

• This is the launch of the Kingdom of God on earth—for the first 1,000 years on the way to forever. NKJ Daniel 7:27 Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.' 6. But what about world peace? The first step is peace with God through Jesus Christ for the elect and ultimately all created beings. NLT Ephesians 1:7-10 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious plan regarding Christ, a plan to fulfill his own good pleasure. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ -- everything in heaven and on earth.

• God’s plan is described as “mysterious” because most of mankind does not yet understand it!

• “The right time” is when this age ends, and the new age of the millennial rule of Christ—the wonderful world tomorrow—begins.

• All “things which are in heaven” include God and the angels—but not man.

• When heaven and earth are both ruled by Jesus Christ, man will be at peace with God—something that has not yet happened and that has never even been understood by the majority of mankind. Let’s look at the millennial pictures of peace. NLT Isaiah 2:3-4 People from many nations will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of Jacob's God. There he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths." For the LORD's teaching will go out from Zion; his word will go out from Jerusalem. 4 The LORD will mediate between nations and will settle international disputes. They will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer fight against nation, nor train for war anymore.

• The universal understanding of, and obedience to God’s law results in worldwide disarmament, as beautifully portrayed by the “beating swords into plowshares” sculpture at the United Nations building, donated by the Soviet Union in the 1950s—what an irony!

• Imagine the cultural changes that that will have on earth during the millennial rule of Christ! NLT Isaiah 11:6-9 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together; the leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the yearling will be safe with the lion, and a little child will lead them all. 7 The cow will graze near the bear. The cub and the calf will lie down together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. 8 The baby will play safely near the hole of a cobra. Yes, a little child will put its hand in a nest of deadly snakes without harm. 9 Nothing will hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, for as the waters fill the sea, so the earth will be filled with people who know the LORD.

• The nature of man and animals is changed • The whole world will know and follow the true God of the Bible.

• There will be no more crime, violence or wars during the Millennium. 7. But what about your personal inner peace in the Kingdom of God now?

• Through our soon-coming King Jesus Christ we need to change our minds and lives now—what the Bible calls “repent and believe.”

• This brings us back to where we began in the scriptures: NIV Mark 1:15 "The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!"

• We need inner peace in a troubled world that comes from personally connecting to the Kingdom of God now.

• The Kingdom of God will come, Jesus Christ as King will rule the whole world, but He will—if we choose to let Him—rule our lives as our King today—we need the Kingdom of God now! CONCLUSION BBE 1 Peter 4:7 ¶ … the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer….

• The time of the world, the age of man, is shortly coming to an end—its time is up.

• The time of Jesus Christ’s return to bring the new world of the Kingdom of God on earth is coming.

• God the Father and Jesus Christ want us to be part of that new world—and to welcome us into the Kingdom of God! In closing, notice the words of our Savior and King Jesus Christ: NKJ Luke 12:32 ¶ "Do not fear, little flock, for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

• Thank you for attending this Kingdom of God seminar.

• Watch for the announcement in The Good News magazine and on Beyond Today television about our next Kingdom of God Seminar in January.

• In the meantime I encourage you to learn more about the Kingdom of God and your part in it from our booklets available to you at no cost, especially The Gospel of the Kingdom, What is Your Destiny?

• You are also invited to attend our church services that feature sermons and Bible studies on topics related to God’s Kingdom and way of life.

• If you have questions or would like to know more, please feel free to ask.

• We look forward to seeing you at the next Kingdom of God Seminar when, in even greater detail, we analyze Jesus’ statement that “the Kingdom of God is at hand.”