Why the World Needs the Kingdom of God Now

Well, thank you, Andy. Good afternoon, everyone. It is a pleasure to have all of you with us today.

I'd like to give you a warm welcome and let you know that this is an educational service. We're here to learn more about the Word of God. There's no hard sell. We're not going to have any type of collection for money this afternoon. It is our pleasure to serve you. Jesus said, freely you have received, freely give, and we look at this as an opportunity to give to all of you who have chosen to come here today. Now, if you got through the door, if you're a visitor with us today, and you didn't receive one of our welcome packages, go ahead and raise your hand, and we'll make sure that we get one to you.

This includes the booklet that we mentioned in the mailing that went out. Are we living in the time of the end? And also, a very nice little notebook and a bookmarker. So, again, if you didn't receive one of these, let us know, and we'll be delighted to get one to you. Well, we're here to talk about something very wonderful, something that's going to change the history of humanity forever, and that is the Kingdom of God. This is a Kingdom of God seminar, and this one is entitled, this is our sixth actually, over the last six years, five, six years.

This one is entitled, Why the World Needs the Kingdom of God Now. We're going to talk about some very interesting things today, and hopefully get you thinking more about the Kingdom of God, and making it a priority in your life. So, let's begin by asking ourselves, who owns the Kingdom of God? We might think that that's kind of evident. It's the Kingdom of God, but I think it's very important for us to understand the Scripture. This is the prophecy, Angel talking to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, and here's what was said, and behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus.

He will be great and will be called son of the highest. Indeed, he's the son of God, and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David. Now, Jesus taught us to understand that the Lord God spoken of here, Jesus referred to as the father and taught us to address his father in a close intimate way as a father and a son or a father and a daughter type of relationship.

But it says here, the Lord God will give him the throne of his father, David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end. So, ultimately, the Kingdom of God belongs to God. Jesus taught us to refer to his father spiritually as our father, and the father has given the kingdom, kingship, the ability to rule and the authority to rule to his son, Jesus. So, that is where the ownership of the Kingdom of God comes from. And the reason that's important is if we don't believe God exists, if somewhere in the recesses of our heart we don't believe there is a God or we have doubts about God, then you'll know what his kingdom has no meaning.

If you are unsure about the existence of God, then this information you're going to hear today about the Kingdom of God isn't going to be very relevant to you. So, it's very important that we focus on the fact that God exists, that God has a plan, and part of that plan has always been to establish this Kingdom of God on earth, ultimately to restore that garden paradise that would have lost it even when Adam and Eve sinned, and to restore his government on this earth.

Isaiah chapter 46 and verse 10, this is from the New International version, I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times for what is still to come. So, this very powerful being known as God has authority, and he says, I make known what's going to happen in the world. I create prophecy. I know the beginning of time to the end of time, and everything that happens in between. So, that's a pretty bold statement. He says, I say, my purpose will stand.

Humanity isn't going to thwart the plan of God. Satan is not going to be able to thwart the plan of God. He says, my purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please. So, he's omnipotent, he's omnipresent, he is the creator, and he dogmatically makes that firm proclamation to all of us to understand his existence. Let's take a look at another scripture here from Isaiah chapter 66 and verse 2. This is from the New Century version. My hand made all things.

See, God doesn't say that this is all a result of evolution, that this world is a result of luck, blind chance, just something that no one planned. No, he says, my hand made all things. All things are here because I made them, not because they were the result of some evolutionary process that occurred many, many years ago. I made them, says the Lord, these are the people I am pleased with. Those who are not proud or stubborn, and those who fear my word. So, God says there's a particular attitude, there's a particular mindset that God is pleased with, the kind of people that God can work with, that he can call, that he can use to complete his plan. So, here's the question.

We need to understand the existence of God before the kingdom really makes any sense to us.

Is the world and your life hereby intelligent plan or design? In other words, is your life, your personal individual life, the result of a plan that a supreme creator had from the very beginning of time? Or is it hereby blind chance or evolutionary accident? That's something that I think we need to discuss. So, let's do that. Paul tells us something very powerful in the book of Romans.

He says that if you just look at nature, if you're open-minded and you look at nature, you can understand God's existence. It should be very easy to comprehend and understand that there's a creator.

Here's what he said. This is from the translation God's word for today. From the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. So, God says, I made the universe.

Everything that exists in this earth and beyond this earth, our sun and all the galaxies and everything that exists in the universe, God says, was made by me. So, I'd like to ask a question.

Understanding that, there is a method that scientists use today that's very popular to prove if a theory is valid. It is referred to as the scientific method. At the core of biology and other sciences lies a problem-solving approach that scientists have created called the scientific method. It's a logical problem-solving approach used by biologists and many other scientists.

And it has five basic steps plus one feedback step. This information you can find out more at www.conacademy.org. So, I'm going to ask this question. Considering what Paul said about if you can look at nature, it should be obvious to us that there is a creator. I'm going to ask the question, does the theory of evolution fit the scientific method? Well, here's the steps of the scientific method. You make an observation, then you ask a question from the observation you've made.

You form a hypothesis or a testable explanation. You make a prediction based on that hypothesis, and then here are the key, the next two steps. Number five, you test the prediction. And number six, you iterate. You mean you repeat again. You have to be able, once you come to that theory, to prove that theory is valid, to test it and have the same results over and over again. All right, so you have to repeat testing results. You have to duplicate them. They must be consistent, and you must do it over and over again to prove your theory according to the scientific method.

So that's what we're going to focus on. Number five and number six, according to scientists, their own established scientific method, in order to support a hypothesis like evolution, you must be able to test it. You must be able to repeat it in nature or in a laboratory. If you can't duplicate or repeat it, the hypothesis is invalid. So I want to bring something out here.

What do the brightest and the best evolutionary scientists, physicists, and academic educators believe about the ability to repeat or duplicate macroevolution in the universe? Macroevolution is evolution in the higher level from species to species. Okay? So let's ask that question, and it will allow the scientists to answer. This is from NBCNews.com, an article on the internet.

A study finds the Milky Way is teeming with billions of planets that are about the size of Earth, orbit stars just like our Sun, and exist in the Goldilocks zone, not too hot or not too cold for life. So to them, the Goldilocks zone is where life like ours could exist. It's not so close to its star that it would be cooked, and it's not so far away from its closest star that it would freeze, that life couldn't happen. It's continuous. Astronomers using NASA data have calculated for the first time that in our galaxy alone there are at least 8.8 billion stars with Earth-sized planets in the habitable temperature zone. That's a lot of Goldilocks planets that could be a lot like Earth. They're not too far away from their star. They're not too close to their star. So let's see if the hypothesis, according to those who believe and teach evolution, is something that can be duplicated. This is Professor Brian Cox. He's often on the BBC, which is their version of what we call PBS. He teaches evolution. He does shows on the BBC supporting evolutionary theory. Here's what Dr. Cox has said. He's an English physicist, a professor of particle physics at the School of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Manchester. Again, he believes he teaches evolution. Here's what he said recently.

The biological process which led to intelligent life on Earth was a fluke that is unlikely to have been repeated anywhere else in the universe. Well, how can you support the theory of evolution if you can't repeat it anywhere? If you can't duplicate it in nature? If you can't test it?

If you can't repeat it and duplicate it again and again and again, how can you maintain that theory?

From the website www.physics.org, it says the universe is 100 billion galaxies.

And then from the website, science-blogs.com, it says the universe is filled with 10 to the 24 planets. That's 24 zeros after a one. Or, I can't read a number that large. I'm a product of the Cleveland Public School System, so I won't even try. Or a lot of planets in our observable universe. Okay, Dr. Cox, do make another comment here. There is only one advanced technical civilization in this galaxy, and there has only ever been one, and that's us. We are unique.

Well, again, you can't support a theory if you can't duplicate what that theory is anywhere else in the universe. This is from Penn State Science, from their site, science.pdu.edu, educational institution. Quote, after searching 100,000 galaxies for signs of highly advanced extraterrestrial life, a team of scientists using observations from NASA's WISE orbiting laboratory has found no evidence of advanced civilizations in them. We'll allow another professor to make the next comment. This is Professor Jason T. Wright, who's also at Penn State University. Quote, he says, that's interesting because these galaxies are billions of years old, which should have been plenty of time for them to have been filled with alien civilizations if they exist. Either they don't exist or they don't yet use enough energy for us to recognize them. I'll help the professor here. They don't exist. Because what does exist in this planet was the result of divine creative processes, not evolution, not blind chance. So, again, the result is that the theory of macro-evolution does not have a single example in the universe, not one. It has never been duplicated.

Therefore, it is simply a theory and is invalid. The Earth is truly unique for a purpose.

The theory fails the scientific method as it is not repeatable anywhere else. So, I hope that gives you a little bit more assurance about that. Indeed, there is a God. I know we live in a culture that is saturated with evolutionary thought and belief from the television shows that we see, the newspaper articles that we read, it's to a point in our culture where it's just assumed.

If you don't believe in evolution, you are mocked, you're looked upon as someone who's out of touch with reality or out of touch with modern science. So, I hope this has given you a little bit to think about the importance of having a creator and what unique thing he did on the planet that we live on. The bottom line is, in understanding that there is a God, is that there really are only two options. There's an understanding of who and what God is and then there's everything else.

And everything else are man-made religions, as human philosophers, some of them political, some of them social. And here, I would like to just compare and contrast these two for a few minutes to understand the importance of God being part of your life. When you understand and believe and accept that there is of God, you realize that there's a purpose to everything that happens.

There's a purpose to your life. God has a plan for your life. He has a plan for your eternity.

So, your purpose is revealed. This God has consistent values. We call them the Ten Commandments.

They're basically built on two sets of principles, how we should love and react to our creator God, and how we should love and react to the rest of His creation, which are our fellow human beings. So, it's a value of conduct and respect for God and for others. When you understand that there's a God, you understand that He has a written owner's manual. And, of course, we call that the Bible.

We call that the Word of God. And it helps instruct us and helps us to understand the things that please God and the ways that we can become closer to Him and develop more characteristics of God. When you understand there's a God, you have a faith that transcends mere human existence.

You understand that your life and your purpose goes beyond just this physical body, which ages and eventually dies. And you realize that your existence far transcends the 70, 80, 90 years we may be blessed with in this physical life. Also, when you understand that there's a God, your life is filled with meaning and purpose. If you desire to have a deep relationship with that God, then you desire to become more like Him. So, you make it a lifetime of study and growth as a disciple and as a child to learn God's values, to learn to change ourselves, to overcome our weaknesses, and become more like God, more in the image of Jesus Christ, His Son. Now, in contrast to these things, the various human philosophies that exist in the world, the purpose is unknown. They all contradict one another. Many of them who are agnostic or atheistic in their philosophical beliefs don't believe there's a God, so they don't believe that there's really an afterlife or any real purpose to this existence. With human philosophies, you have ever-changing values. What is considered good today is suddenly bad tomorrow. What is bad today is suddenly good tomorrow if a court decides if it is okay. Or if a legislative body agrees and ballots that a value is suddenly changed instantaneously overnight, there are ever-changing values in human philosophy because they're not built on the sure foundation of God's Word. When you accept a human philosophy, you realize that human opinions are there with contradictory ideas. There are various religious philosophies. There are various political philosophies that try to answer all the questions of human existence, and many of them contradict one another. These philosophies usually assume that death means the end of your existence, and they're okay with that. I've had discussions with atheistic people who don't fear death. They're very content. They're very satisfied in their minds of the fact that they're here by accident, that their existence will be composed of 60-70 years, and then they'll die and they'll be oblivion in nothingness for the rest of time. And they're okay with that. That doesn't seem to bother them. I've had those kinds of conversations with people, and that's what human philosophies ultimately lead people to. And then with human philosophies, your life is void of meaning and any real purpose. Usually, it boils down to this as your main purpose. He who dies with the most toys wins. Meaning, if my life has no real value or purpose beyond this 60-70 years I'm in the earth, then my goal is to acquire stuff, get a couple of cars and a bigger home and more clothes and all the things that people tend to seek and desire. Let's take a look at some other options here.

Possible options of belief. Once again, focusing on God. When you understand and have a relationship with God, you experience divine intervention. You begin to see things happen in your life that should not have happened, most of them for the good. Sometimes you get challenges that you didn't expect, but usually blessings and opportunities and doors open in your life. That should not have happened. And you understand that there is a God, that He is in your life, that He's directing and guiding your purpose and He makes things happen. He intervenes in your life. You also experience answered prayer. Not all the time. Sometimes our prayer has to be according to God's will, and sometimes His will, His answer is weight. Not yet. But you begin to experience the power of prayer, and you pray for someone's health, or you pray for a situation, and it is remarkably satisfying when God intervenes, and He answers that prayer and strengthens your faith. When you have a relationship with God, life is planned and meaningful. You get up each day with a purpose.

You get up even facing trials and problems in your life. You know that those too will make you stronger, depending on how you approach them and how you live your life. And, perhaps most importantly, of all of these things we've discussed, when you have a relationship with God, when you believe in God and you accept God, you have an added spiritual dimension in life. You begin thinking beyond the physical. You begin seeing things more deeply, the purpose of life, more richly. You get a greater sense of fulfillment about your existence because you're now seeing the world through the lens of not just physical eyes, but a spiritual dimension, and all of the purpose that is behind that. Again, in contrast with human philosophies, life is nothing but time and chance, much like they believe evolution was. Everything is chalked up to mere coincidence or luck. Life is chaotic and hopeless. If you don't believe it's chaotic and hopeless, just think of all the poor individuals who are dying every day due to opiate addictions and who have lost all hope for their existence and whose lives have been chaotic and are unhappy and unsatisfied and unfulfilled, leading people to make the wrong kind of choices that hurt themselves and the people that they love. So life becomes chaotic, it becomes hopeless. And, as I alluded to earlier, it becomes very materialistic and secular. So if you don't have a spiritual dimension, the only thing that you can really live for that gives you any temporary joy is to acquire more stuff in your life with the delusion that it will make us happy. And it may for a very short period of time, but just acquiring things doesn't bring happiness. It doesn't bring personal fulfillment.

So let's talk about what is the kingdom of God. It is not just heaven. Many people think the kingdom of God is heaven, and oftentimes the kingdom of God is referred to in the New Testament as the kingdom of heaven, because right now the kingdom of God is in heaven, and it's coming to earth upon the return of Jesus Christ, who's bringing the kingdom of God with Him. Once again, to this earth, to restore that garden of paradise that was lost at Eden. Jesus said in John chapter 3 and verse 13, no one has ever gone to heaven except the one who came from heaven, the Son of Man. So the kingdom of God was never intended to be in heaven for humanity. Adam and Eve were created on the earth.

The earth is where the problems are, and the earth is where God is going to establish the literal, physical kingdom of God upon the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus taught His disciples to pray at Luke chapter 11 and verse 2, your kingdom come. Meaning, it isn't just something that exists in heaven.

The kingdom of God is not just some heavenly kingdom. The kingdom of God that the Old Testament prophets spoke about, the kingdom of God that Jesus emphasized is coming to this earth as a real, literal kingdom to be established on this planet. So is it in heaven? Well, as I said, the kingdom of heaven is another name for the kingdom of God, and the kingdom of God is presently in heaven, because it is where Jesus Christ is, who right now is a great high priest at the right-hand side of the Father, advocating on behalf of His elect on those whom have been called the God's way of life.

But it's coming to earth in the personal return of Jesus Christ. So He is bringing that kingdom, and all that that means, the government, the laws, and everything surrounding the establishment of that kingdom with Him when He comes to earth. Is it the church? Some people speculate, ah, the kingdom of God is the church. Well, as Paul said in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 50, we are ambassadors for Christ, meaning we're diplomats for that kingdom. The church isn't that kingdom. We certainly try to develop within the church some of the values and characteristics of that kingdom, and hopefully in our private lives we try to establish the kingdom of God in a small way between our two ears in the way that we think and how we relate to others and use the fruit of the Spirit. But the church is not the kingdom of God. The church is only a type or a forerunner of the kingdom. As I said, hopefully the church always reflects some of those positive characteristics that will exist when the kingdom of God is established on this earth. But the church is not the fulfillment. This is a statement that confuses a lot of people. Luke chapter 17 and verse 20. Is the kingdom of God something in your heart? Is it just some kind of sentimental feeling of peace and goodness that resides only in the human heart? Luke chapter 17 and verse 20. Now when he was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, he answered and said to them, the kingdom of God does not come with observation. What he was saying was, you're looking for something to happen and you're not listening to the messenger. Jesus Christ was there. He was present. He was trying to preach the good news of the coming kingdom of God.

They would not listen. They would not comprehend. They would not give him the time with open minds to hear him out and hear what he was saying. The kingdom of God does not come with observation, nor will they say, see here, see there, for indeed the kingdom of God is within you. And that translation oftentimes confuses a lot of people to think that the kingdom of God is just some thought or feeling, some warm feeling that resides in the human heart. Well, the Greek word for within is the Greek word entos, and it's better translated in your midst. As a matter of fact, some very common translations, modern translations, translate it that way. For example, one translation, the kingdom of God is already among you. Another one, the English Standard Version, is in the midst of you. The New American Standard Bible says the kingdom of God is in your midst.

Well, it certainly was not in the Pharisees. They were contrary to what Jesus was teaching. They were stubborn. They were self-righteous. The answer is, is that Jesus Christ was in their midst. He was basically saying to them, if you would please just stop talking for a minute and stop looking for signs and listen to my message. The representative of that kingdom and the personage of Jesus Christ was right there at that time in their midst. That was their time of salvation, and unfortunately, they were ignoring him. They weren't listening to what he had to say. So what did Jesus teach?

Here's what he told his disciples in Matthew chapter 6 and verse 33. He said, but seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That means the righteousness of God. And all of these things shall be added to you. Now, the discourse before this was he was telling them, look, God wants you to have good things in life. He wants you to have nice clothes.

He wants you to have good food to eat. He wants you to have material possessions. But understand that it's important to have the correct priority, is what Jesus was saying. Our priority should be to seek first with passion, with zeal, with enthusiasm, the kingdom of God and the values that God will have in that kingdom. We can begin to acquire those values now, right now in our lives.

Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things, the good food and the nice clothes and the cars and the homes and the things that so many people strive for continually.

These things shall be added to you. So Christ said that our priority must be seeking the kingdom and its values. Now, how important was this to Jesus Christ? What analogies could he give us to help us to understand that it needs to be a priority in our life, that it is something precious, that it is something wonderful? Well, let's see what he says here. Matthew 13, verses 44 through 46. The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. It's like hidden treasure, something that when you discover, it's exciting. It's of great value to you. Let's see what else he says here. Verse 45. The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls. Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, he went and sold all that he had, and he bought it. Jesus Christ is saying, this is how precious the kingdom of God should be to us.

It should be a passion. It should be a priority. It should go beyond just an interest. It should go beyond a hobby. It should be far beyond just something that's fun to study. It should be a passion, something deeply embedded in our lives. Matthew 19, verse 28. This is from the New Century version. Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth. When the age to come has arrived, that's just another way of saying the kingdom of God. He words it a little differently.

The Son of Man will sit on his great throne, and all of you who followed me will also sit in 12 thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel. What Jesus is saying to that generation and to ours is he promises a reward of future leadership in his kingdom for those who follow him as disciples.

Now, in the case of the original 12, they will have rulership judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

For us and our generation, our rewards will be different. But what I just want to point out the fact that Jesus says that there is a reward for those who seek first the kingdom of God and make it the ultimate priority in their lives. Here in Matthew 19, verse 29, And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my name's sake shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life.

So Jesus is saying, if for some reason you go through some difficult challenges in your walk of discipleship and you lose a job, or maybe you're thrown out of someone's house, maybe your own spouse abandons you because of your priority of making the kingdom first in your life, he says, if you do that for for my name's sake, you shall receive a hundredfold and inherit eternal life. Luke chapter 12, in verse 31, But seek the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added to you. We read that, and he adds this in verse 32, Do not fear, little flock, for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom. We need to understand that the father for millennia has desired to give his children the kingdom of God. He doesn't do it out of obligation. He does it because it brings him great pleasure. It has been part of his plan since the beginning of time to give the kingdom of God as a gift to those who accept God's calling and those who accept in their lifetimes, in their generations, the opportunity to become a disciple and to prepare to serve in that kingdom in their physical lifetimes, whenever they may have lived throughout human history. So the kingdom of God is God's greatest gift to humanity. He will restore the garden paradise that he created in Eden and was lost because of disobedience and lost because of sin. Here's what it says in Revelation chapter 2 and verse 7, to him who overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God. To that person that puts their hand to the plow and says, I'm going to make the kingdom of God first a priority in my life and never looks back. And throughout the rest of their physical lives overcomes whatever obstacles may be thrown at them, whatever challenges they may face in life, whether it be financial or health or relationship or whatever it may be, that kind of person with that commitment and that dedication, he says, I will give to eat from the tree of life. That's eternal life. I will give them eternal life. They will live forever, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. So let's talk about just a few minutes the requirements of a kingdom, what we would expect the requirements of the kingdom of God to be like. First, there would be government, and the government will be a ruling family. It will be God whom Jesus taught us as his father, God the Father, Jesus Christ, his son, and his saints. We'll learn more about the important role that his saints play in part two, in the second part of our discussion today at the seminar.

Then you have to have territory, and at first it will be the earth. We know that Jesus taught his disciples to pray, thy kingdom come, but the interesting thing about what the Bible reveals, I don't have time to go into today, is that God gives every indication that his kingdom will first be established on earth, but will also spread to remember those hundreds of thousands of galaxies, hundreds of thousands of Goldilocks stars that are sitting out there uninhabited.

They're like pieces of unfinished furniture. They're like something that was created, but not finished. And there's every indication that God's plan is beyond the earth to ultimately go to all of these potmarked, unfinished, desolate planets throughout the universe and continue to expand the kingdom of God. Now, a little bit of that is speculation, and again, if I had time, I could tie in a few scriptures with this, but I just wanted to give you a little bit of food for thought. And then there are the subjects that will be mankind, those human beings who live through some very difficult times ahead that again we'll be talking about at the second portion of our discussion today. Be human beings. It'll be mankind who survive some very tragic world war, some very tragic events, catastrophes on the earth, and they will live into that kingdom. And of course, they themselves will have children, and their children will have children. So the subjects will be those who are physical human beings who live through the great tribulation in the day of the Lord into that time when Jesus Christ returns and establishes His kingdom. And it also, the scriptures reveal that the subjects will be angels. That the saints of God, the ruling family, will even have rulership over the angels.

And even though we are mere physical beings now, that God's ultimate destiny is for His children when they are transformed into immortal beings to literally even have rulership over the angels.

And then there's the system of law. Again, it's God's law and His values. And the quickest way to sum those up, of course, is, as I mentioned already, is the spiritual application of what we call the Ten Commandments. The first part was God's value system and how we should love and respect and idolize our God. How we should put Him first in our lives and that we should not be disrespectful to Him, that we should worship Him in a certain way. And then the latter part of the Ten Commandments, again, are His value system and how we should love other people. How we should care for them, how we should not take what is not ours, we shouldn't lie to them, we shouldn't do violence to God's creation in any way. And all of those laws and principles that radiate from what we commonly call the Ten Commandments. Again, His value system. So let's take a look at a few very encouraging scriptures. What did the prophets teach? Start with Daniel chapter 2 in verse 44, and it says, "...in the days of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed." Going back into context here, you may recall that there were four kingdoms prophesied in the book of Daniel. The fourth one was the Roman, the influence of the Roman Empire, and the last vestige of that was ten toes, a combination of iron and clay mixed together, and it was very weak. And ultimately, that all collapses and comes down as it's struck by a large stone. So that's what just precedes what Daniel says here. And in the days of those kings, those final kings who rule over the earth, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed. And that, of course, is the kingdom of God, the very same kingdom that we are talking about today. Isaiah chapter 2 verses 2 through 4, "...in the latter days the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on the top of the mountains and shall be exalted above the hills and all nations shall flow to it." In biblical prophecy, mountains and hills are symbols of governments. And what the prophet Isaiah is saying here is that the government of God's house will be above all other governments, all over other ethnicities, and all other nations that will exist on the earth, that the mountain of God will be exalted and will be above in rulership and authority any other kingdom, any other ethnicity, any other nation that exists on the earth at that time. "...and all nations shall flow to it." They will be attracted to that God who heals. They will be attracted to a way of life that brings peace and has literally outlawed war.

They'll be attracted to a way of life in which people feel a sense of fulfillment and accomplishment for the things that they do. It'll be a totally different world transformed from the sad, pathetic world that we live in today, a very encouraging scripture. Here in verse 3, many people will come and say, come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways. They will want to learn the ways of God, and that is so different today because people today resist the Word of God. They want to do what they want to do. They want to live their lives under their own conditions. They don't want to yield to God's law. They don't want to respect the Ten Commandments, and because of that, we have the kind of troubles that we see in the world today all around us. But it says, then He will teach us of His ways, and we shall walk in His paths. People will actually want to know the value system of God, and the law of God, and will desire to live by it. So, God, again, this is a time of spiritual awakening for all nations, not just for Israel, but from one corner of this earth, every continent that is known on this earth ultimately will come to understand and want to desire the knowledge of God's kingdom and His way of life.

Verse 4, and He shall judge between the nations and rebuke many people. So, early on in that kingdom, God will say, no, you can't go to war. No, your culture is dysfunctional. You cannot be married to six people. So, God will rebuke the nations. He will rebuke the dysfunctional cultures that have been established on the earth that are so deeply embedded and cause so much pain and violence towards others and so much dysfunction that it says that God, for a while, will have to very strongly judge between the nations, not allow them to go to war, not allow them to do terrible things. And He will rebuke many people, and they will beat their swords in the plowshares. What a beautiful picture, metaphor, taking all of these armaments that we have created and refashioning that steel for peaceful purposes, like to grow crops or to do things that are positive, that support human life rather than destroy human life. Nations shall not lift up sword against nation. Neither shall they learn war anymore. People have to be taught to hate little children born in this world. They don't naturally hate. People have to be taught.

They have to learn the way of hate. They have to learn the way of war. So it's acceptable in their minds that it's okay to just kill that other person. It's okay to just take that person's life if I desire to do so. That's something that you learn. That's something that you come to a point in your life that you just accept is okay. And God said it isn't okay, so neither will they learn war anymore. They will be in a society that teaches peace, that teaches reconciliation.

It'll be a true time of world peace and re-education. Isaiah chapter 35 verse 1, it says, "...the wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them. The desert shall rejoice and blossom as a rose." Picture all of the deserts of the earth, and there are a massive percentage of our earth, our deserts. Think of all of those as going from sand to something that's green and lush, beautiful plants and trees and flowers and grasses growing in all of those areas of the world.

The eyes of the blind shall be opened. With all of our modern medical advances today, we still haven't done a very good job with healing blindness in our world today. But it says in that world that the healer is going to make sure that the eyes of the blind are open, the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer. Imagine being in a wheelchair. We have some people here today who are in wheelchairs, came in and walkers. Imagine the tremendous joy of throwing that thing away, leaping up three feet in the air like a deer or a gazelle, ready to run through the woods or run through the forest. Then the lame shall leap like a deer and the tongue of the dumb will sing. So there will be universal healing. The earth will be healed. The deserts, all the scars that are upon the earth right now, and the new scars that will be acquired through terrible end-time events, will be healed. And not only will the earth be healed and the environment be healed, but its people are healed. This is the good news. This is the encouraging news of this kingdom. This is what the prophets taught. Acts chapter 3 and verse 21, it says, and he will send Jesus, the one he chose to be the Christ, talking about when Jesus Christ will return to earth, but Jesus must stay in heaven until the time comes when all things will be made right again. So he's saying, Jesus Christ is coming back to this earth when the time is right because that's his destiny.

But right now he has to stay in heaven. He ascended to heaven, and I think we understand that. He ascended to heaven. He has to stay in heaven, continue to be a great advocate and high priest for his brothers and sisters. And that will happen until the time comes when all things will be made right again. When the Father says, Christ, now is the time. Go back now. This is the time that I have designated for this kingdom to be established. God told about this time long ago when he spoke through his holy prophets. And think about the prophets that we just looked at.

Micah and Isaiah, the prophets in the beautiful word pictures that they give us about the kingdom of God. So we need to seek the kingdom of God today. As I mentioned earlier, Jesus himself said, seek first the kingdom of God and all those other things that we desire as human beings will be given to us as a byproduct of having our priorities straight. We have people in our congregation who seek first the kingdom of God and God has blessed them with great lives, good homes, lots of material blessings as a byproduct of their faith in him and having their priorities right in their lives. So you may know Jesus Christ as Lord and Master, Teacher, Savior, Messiah, maybe even a high priest. But you can be preparing for God's kingdom now. And I want to kind of leave you with this thought as we get ready for a little break here. That in each generation, God calls certain individuals to prepare for that kingdom now in their physical lifetimes. Because when that kingdom is established, it needs lots and lots of loving administrators to serve the people, mankind, who are left on this earth. It needs people who will know how to love them, people who will know how to teach them, people who will have a desire to serve them. The Bible refers to those individuals sometimes as the saints, sometimes as the elect, and may use a few other terms. But I want you to think about the fact that you can be preparing for God's kingdom now. We don't have to just sit back and wait for it to happen. There are things that we can begin doing in our lives right now to be part of that kingdom. When we come back, we're going to have a short beverage break. And when we come back, here's some of the things we're going to discuss.

We're going to discuss, are we living in the end time? We're going to take a look at some news events. We're going to take a look at some key signs that the kingdom of God is near. We're going to discuss what the kingdom means to your salvation, your own personal life, and vital ways to develop a relationship with God. And by understanding that, perhaps what your next step should be or could be. Before we have a little 15-minute beverage break, we're going to have a musical interlude here. I'm going to ask Art to come on up. Art Blakey. Come on up here, Art. He thinks I'm going to bring up the fact that he owes me money. I'm not going to. What's a few hundred thousand dollars among friends? I bring Art up here because Art and I have known each other and been friends for about 42 years. Now, I was only two years old when I met him. You're not falling for that one, are you? But I wanted to bring Art up here because he's a longtime friend, and he's also a member of the Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame, a group that he was with going back to the 1960s called The Hesitations, had a number of hits, and we've been blessed, the congregation, to have him sing for us for many years. And he's going to be singing a song that Ray Bolts, a contemporary artist, made famous called I Pledge Allegiance to the Lambs. So, Mr. Art Blakey, and then we'll have a 15-minute break.