Why the World Needs the Kingdom of God Now

Well, thank you again, Mark. We'll give everyone just a few seconds to find a seat, and we'll begin. Let's have a little recap of what we talked about in part one. We took a look at whose kingdom it is, how very important it is to understand that it's actually God the Father's kingdom, that he is bestowed as a gift to his son Jesus Christ to be king of kings and lord of lords and rule over the earth. We took a look at the existence of God. We asked some very candid questions. Are we here because life has a purpose, because there's a planner, there's a creator, sustainer behind the scenes who created this world, or is this world in our existence the result of evolutionary blind chance? We took a look at some of the things that Jesus said about the kingdom of God, how important it was, how it should be something that's first in our lives, how it's so precious. He used analogies like a pearl of great price, hidden treasure, how much we should value it in our own lives.

And we took a look at some of the things that the prophets said, very encouraging prophecies about what that kingdom will be like and some of the things that will occur in it, some of the qualities it will have. So here in part two of why the world needs the kingdom of God now, we're going to take a look at briefly, but very important fact that before there's good news, and the word gospel by the way means good news, and that's the part that I like to emphasize usually in my preaching, is the good news of the kingdom of God.

Before there's good news, there's bad news. Before the kingdom has established this world, unfortunately, according to prophecy, and God's plan must go through some horrendous, claticlismic events unlike anything else that's been experienced in human history. So I think it's important to touch upon those things.

We'll begin with the prophet Daniel, Daniel chapter two and verse one. At that time, a very common phrase talking about the time of the end, shall arise Michael, the great prince, he's an archangel, who has charge of your people, he's kind of a ministering angel over those elect, those saints whom God has called and worked with, and there shall be a time of trouble such as never has been since there was a nation till that time, but at that time your people shall be delivered.

Of course, it's very encouraging and comforting to know that in spite of what's going on and what's going to occur in this world all around us, that God promises his children, his elect, his saints, those who have chosen to become his disciples, he offers them protection. But at that time, your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book, and that book is referred to in the book of Revelation as the book of life.

So your name is written in when you are granted the gift of eternal life. So let's now go to Matthew chapter 24 and 21 and see Jesus says something very similar. He says, for then there will be great tribulation, such as not has been since the beginning of the world until this time known or ever shall be. So what he refers to as this great tribulation is a time of world war, a time of tremendous famine, a time of plague, a time of devastation of hundreds of millions of people who live in this world.

There's going to be nothing like it that ever happened before in humanity's history, and thankfully nothing like it will ever happen again. But this is the time that Jesus is referring to known as the great tribulation. Biblical code for the end time, by the way.

You'll often see these phrases when you read something in the Old Testament, particularly, and it has a phrase like at that time, it's talking about the time just before or the time of the return of Jesus Christ. At that time, other phrases it has, and in the latter days, other phrases are in the last days. Sometimes it says in the time of the end something will happen again. That's biblical code for events that are leading up to the literal return of Jesus Christ.

So again, Jesus in a very powerful way told his disciples, there will be a time of great tribulation. Nothing like it had ever occurred before in human history, and nothing like it will ever occur again. Continuing in verse 22, and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved, but for the elect's sake, those days will be shortened. The encouraging news here is because God has a certain number of people who have decided to make the kingdom of God first in their lives, who have committed their lives to God's way of life, who have been baptized, who have received his Spirit, and are walking God's way of life.

Those are considered, those are called by God, his elect. And what the Scripture says here is for the very sake of those people, God would not allow the earth to destroy itself, because if it weren't for the elect, these events in the great tribulation and also followed by the day of the Lord will be so horrific that all life would be wiped off of the face of this planet.

Every human being would die, our ecology, everything would be destroyed, but God's not going to allow that to happen because of his promise to protect his elect, to protect his people. So again, if God does not intervene and stop these events, humankind would destroy itself from off the planet. Matthew chapter 24 and verse 6, and you will hear of wars and rumors of wars, see that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. So again, in the future, as you read in the newspaper, as you see in the internet, as you observe going around in the world before us, the world going into a proverbial hell in a hand basket, realize that that is part of God's plan.

Don't be alarmed at that. Certainly there would be plenty of time for sorrow and grief for people who are caught into the tragic events of the great tribulation, but realize that these things must come to pass. They are prophecy. They are part of what God has planned of events that lead to the establishment of the kingdom of God. So it says, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. So God has a plan unfolding in human history, and some of that plan includes very tragic events that must come to pass before the kingdom of God is established on earth.

And Jesus wanted his people to know that in advance so that we don't get discouraged, so that we don't say, well, where's God at in all of this? So that we don't lose faith, but we realize that those very tragic events that we're going to see in the future were all part of God's plan and prophesied from the beginning. Let's take a look at Matthew chapter 24 and verse 7, and we'll kind of zero in on some of the phrases of this particular scripture.

And we'll take a look at some news events, some things that I lifted off the internet. This very week, some articles on the internet and maybe put some of the puzzle pieces together, we need to realize that we are in a very dangerous world, and everything that Jesus said in this scripture is partially fulfilled in coming to pass. And again, I don't want you to take my word for it.

I'll be quoting from a number of news articles that I was able to get off of the internet. He says, for a nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. We'll take a look at that actually last. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. So first, let's take a look at famines. This is from the organization foodaidfoundation.org, and I'm going to quote, some 795 million people in the world do not have enough food to lead a healthy, active life.

That's almost a billion people go to bed hungry at night, either starving or suffering from malnutrition. Of course, we know with children, it permanently stunts their growth for the rest of their life, and the development of their minds and their bodies for the rest of their life. Let's continue. I'll quote, that's about one in nine people on earth. Poor nutrition causes nearly half, or 45 percent, of deaths of children under five years old. 3.1 million children each year die because they don't have enough to eat. So when Jesus said there will be famines, there's already a major famine going on in our world today that's affecting one out of nine people who live on earth, and it certainly can get it a lot worse, and sadly, it most likely will.

Let's take a look at pestilences, or what we might call disease. This is from an article on the internet I found from the Los Angeles Times. Quote, an estimated 5.9 million children under five died in 2015, mostly from preventable causes. Diseases like diarrhea, malaria, measles, just a lot of diseases that exist in the world today. Continuing the same year, 2.1 million people became infected with HIV. Malaria kills one child every 30 seconds. Think about it. Just the time it'll take for this presentation to occur today for you to come here and listen to this Kingdom of God seminar.

By the time it's over, hundreds and hundreds of children will have died of disease, of pestilence. Malaria kills one child every 30 seconds. About 3,000 children every day. Over one million people die from malaria each year, mostly children under five years of age, and estimated 300 to 600 million people suffer from malaria every year. Thankfully, they don't die. They recover.

But children, particularly, are very susceptible to malaria and a lot of these other diseases because their bodies aren't fully developed. So we already live in a world that has pestilence and has disease that takes millions of lives every year. But that's not all. Something that you may or may not be aware of. This is from the National Institute of Health, our own government, on their webpage.

It talks about antibiotic-resistant infections. The fact that antibiotics are no longer useful or as effective as they once were. As a matter of fact, some of the most toxic pathogens, there might be only one or two antibiotics that we can even use on MRSA and some of these other very terrible diseases that exist in the world today. But let's go to the article. Again, this is from the government's site.

Quote, antibiotic-resistant infections are already widespread in the U.S. and across the globe. Many public health organizations have described the rapid emergence of resistant bacteria as a crisis or a nightmare scenario that could have catastrophic consequences. So again, this isn't the National Enquirer. This is the United States government website from the Department of Health making this statement. Continuing, the CDC, Center for Disease Control, declared in 2013 that the human race is now in the post-antibiotic era, meaning many of them don't work anymore.

The post-antibiotic area in 2014, the World Health Organization warned that the antibiotic resistance crisis is becoming dire. So we see that not only does disease already exist in the world, but this old earth is poised for another terrible crisis. I was telling my wife yesterday discussing the Spanish flu, what they called the Spanish flu around the time my mother was born about 1919, and it went around the earth and it killed about 50 million people.

So we are poised as human beings for another very terrible tragic potential of virus or bacteria to develop in which antibiotics have no effect, and it could be cataclysmic.

So Jesus talked about testilences. He also talked about earthquakes. Here is something from NBC News. This was an article I found on the internet yesterday. Quote, The annual number of great earthquakes nearly tripled over the last decade between 2004 and 2014. Eighteen earthquakes with magnitudes of 8.0 or more, rattled subduction zones around the globe. That's an increase of 265 percent. So when Jesus said that there would be earthquakes, he was talking about at the end time there will be an intensity of earthquakes, there will be more earthquakes all over the world in diverse places. Continuing here, that's an increase of 265 percent over the average rate of the previous century, which saw 71 great quakes. According to a report to the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America this week in Vancouver, British Columbia. So we see again an increase even in earthquakes in our world. And he says there, verse 12, and lawlessness will abound. This is from the Institute for Economics and Peace. Here's what they have. It says, quote, violence causes more than 1.6 million deaths worldwide every year.

And violence certainly is just one small portion of lawlessness. Lawlessness is an attitude and a mindset in which people no longer respect the rule of law. They decide they're a law unto themselves. They decide to reject or rebel the commonly understood and respected laws of peoples that usually guarantee liberty and dignity and respect for others, and they decide to abandon those. Continuing, violence is one of the leading causes of death in all parts of the world for persons ages 15 to 44. That quote was from the World Health Organization. Now the quote from the Institute for Economics and Peace. How much does it cost us in the United States every year to have a judicial system, to have police and judges and prisons and all the things that we have to do because lawlessness is abounding in our world today? Quote, on average, the cost of violence related only to paying for police, justice, corrections, and the productivity effect of violent crime, homicide, and robbery is $3,250 for each U.S. taxpayer or $460 billion for the United States economy. Almost half a trillion dollars every year we spend as a result of reacting to violence that exists in the world to have police and to have a judicial system and have corrections facilities and all of these things. So certainly, lawlessness is abounding and the United States, by the way, has one of the highest incarceration rates of any civilized nation on earth. So this is particularly true, unfortunately, in our modern American culture. It says, the love of many will grow cold. This is a survey. This was from the NBC News site, a survey called, Civility in America, Part 7, the State of Civility. That's what the survey was called. It's a new survey from Weber, Shadwick, and Paul Tate with KRC Research. They found that 75 percent of Americans see in civility as having reached crisis levels and 73 percent feel that the U.S. is, quote, losing stature as a civil nation. These stats are both record highs for the annual report now in its seventh year.

And does that surprise any of us? Have you noticed even the political discourse in our nation today?

People don't compromise. People don't work with each other. They're so entrenched in their own narrow views that we can't even get our politicians to work with one another. They're shouting over each other. They're constantly making accusations. It is unfortunately that is having an influence in our entire culture. I'm always amazed at times when I look at an internet blog how usually I'll look at an internet blog and maybe the first two or three comments are someone commenting on the blog. But soon after that, people start tearing each other apart. Oh, you don't know what you're talking about. You're an idiot. And then it goes on and on and on. And the rest of the 8,000 comments on that blog have nothing to do with the article. It's people taking pot shots at one another. And again, that's an indication of the lack of civility that exists in our world today. So indeed, when Jesus said the love of many will grow cold, we see that in our American culture here in the 21st century. Now let's focus on, we're going to go back a verse where he said, for nations shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. We live in a very fragile world. And my point here is that I believe that we are living in end-time events. Now what does that mean? It's going to be five years, seven years, ten years, twenty years. You know what I've learned through over 40 years of living God's way of life? Not to set dates.

Not to make predictions. But I can tell you this, and we'll see, again, quoting from some articles, we live in a very, very fragile world. There are numerous ways that World War III could break out in our world today, and some of them are quite frightening. So we're going to look at some real examples, again, taken from the news. We're going to take a few minutes to look at the present condition of the world and its potential for war. Again, I'm not making it stuff. These are all from the web. These are all from articles that you can find on the web. First, we're going to talk about Iran. We, of course, know that there was a famous treaty that was signed in 2015 in which Iran agreed to give up its nuclear ambitions. This was taken from the website express.co.uk, which is an English newspaper. It says here, quote, German intelligence agencies claim that Iran tried to obtain missiles and nuclear technology in breach of a groundbreaking international agreement. The German Federal Intelligence Service, their version of the FBI, accuses Tehran of making 32 procurement attempts in 2016. That was just last year. In a report on the findings, German officials said Iran used shell companies in China, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates to sidestep restrictions.

So do we really believe that Iran is serious about keeping their treaty obligations when they're going under the radar and trying to procure nuclear technology and missiles in violation of the agreement that they signed? Quote, Iran's weapons developments were curbed, supposedly, by the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, a deal that froze the Iranian nuclear weapons program in exchange for sanctions from January of 2016. So here we have a rogue nation that, one way or another, whether there's a treaty or not, is determined to have nuclear weapons so that they can have a great influence in the Middle East. The nations of the Middle East, they'll give them dominance if they have nuclear weapons. Also in Iran, this is an article from Reuters, Reuters News Agency, quote, Israel will resort to military action to ensure Iran never acquires nuclear weapons, Israel cats the intelligence minister said on Thursday in Japan. Continuing, quote, we will not allow Iran to transform Syria into a forward-based sea harbors, air bases, and Shia militias. He said, we will act together with the United States and other countries in the world until they stop the ballistic missiles that threaten Israel. So think what a tinderbox this is. You've got Iran trying to develop nuclear weapons. Israel determined that they're not going to develop nuclear weapons because Israel personally feels threatened since the Iranians have declared they want to annihilate the nation of Israel and all the people who live there. This is a tinderbox, and this could blow up at any time. Take a look at China, a tremendously growing nation, fast-growing nation. This is from a Wikipedia article, the People's Liberation Army, quote, military spending in the People's Liberation Army has grown about 10% annually over the last 15 years. China's military budget for 2014, according to IHS Janes, a defense industry consulting and analysis company, will be 148 billion dollars. That's one year. U.S. dollars, which is the second largest in the world. Now, the United States spends far more money on the military than any other nation on Earth. No one even comes close to us. But second now is China. Continuing, the PLA, which again is the People's Liberation Army, is the world's largest military force with a strength of approximately 2,285,000 personnel. Now, that's a very large army. Continuing, quote, it's the fastest growing and modernizing military power in the world with significant defense and global power projection capabilities. So, China is determined to have a greater influence in Asia, particularly the South China Sea, where it has built artificial islands in order to declare its hegemony among nations. They violated long-standing borders among other nations in the South China Sea. They built these artificial islands to create a military presence. Let's read about that. Let's take a look at that. This is from Reuters again, which is a news company. China appears to have installed weapons, including anti-aircraft and anti-missile systems, on all seven of the artificial islands it has built in the South China Sea. A U.S. think tank reported citing new satellite imagery. Continuing, Singapore-based South China Sea expert Ian Story said he believed the move would help ready the facilities for the probable next step of China flying jet fighters and military transport planes to its new runways. So, it is determined to project its power beyond the mainland of China into these artificial islands, into these areas of the world.

The last paragraph from the onset has been quite obvious that the artificial islands were designed to serve as military outposts in the South China Sea, said Story. If you think about the relationship between the United States and China, we purchase a lot from China. Frankly, a large part of their economy depends on what the United States buys. There are possibilities of a future trade war. The president has threatened taxes and tariffs on some goods coming from China. China is growing, they're thriving, they're projecting their power in the South China Sea. Again, this is another potential tinderbox. If we have an international trade war with China, or if we have something that occurs to cause conflict that could easily lead to the next world war. North Korea.

This is from Newsweek.com. North Korea has advanced its missile development program to the point where it could strike the US mainland, not an island out in the Pacific, the US mainland. With an intercontinental ballistic missile, a top US general has confirmed the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Joseph Dunford, made the claim as he appeared before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday as part of his reappointment process. So here we have an individual, shall we say an unstable individual. Can I make that bold statement in North Korea?

We don't know what he's going to do, but he is fully capable of snapping, in my opinion. He's fully capable of going off the deep end and launching an intercontinental ballistic missile either to Japan, which would be very easy for him to reach, or to Guam, or all the way across the United States mainland. And that would leave the United States no other recourse but to respond in kind. So again, this again is another tinderbox that could easily result in a world war.

How about the European Union? You know, the European Union was always looked upon as the stable part of the Western world. He had all of these European countries together in a democracy that provided stability against the influence of the Soviet Union and its former nations. Europe was always someone that you could look to in respect because of its wealth and its culture, and because of all of the benefits that the European Union created. But the European Union, in reality, is going through some real struggles. First, there was Brexit. You may have heard of that. That's when the United Kingdom decided to withdraw from the European Union. And then afterward, there are many rising political parties in a number of nations that are part of the European Union that have a populist bent. They want to leave the European Union. They feel that there's too much control from Brussels, which is their form of a federal government, that's taking away their own nation rights and individuality. So there are a lot of political agitators and movement going on in the European Union right now with other nations who want to follow the example of the United Kingdom and want to leave the European Union. This is from express.co.uk, which is a newspaper in the United Kingdom. Quote, Germany's contributions to the European Union are set to rocket as the bloc counts the cost of life without Britain after Brexit. A bombshell report is revealed. Angela Merkel's nation will have to increase funding to about a third. The wealthy nations within the European Union have to donate huge amounts of money to take care of the poorer nations. So they provide subsidies, in essence, for the poorer nations to be able to remain part of the European Union and to receive the benefits of being within it. So continuing, a bombshell report has revealed Angela Merkel's nation will have to increase funding to about a third from 15 billion euros in 2015 to around 20 billion once the UK leaves. The damning report records the true cost of Brexit for Brussels, with Germany set to become the world's largest cash machine in a bid to prop up the ailing bloc. So Germany is going to have to step out and even give more subsidy money to the European Union in order to hold it together and to keep those weaker, smaller nations getting their subsidies from Brussels in order to remain part of the European Union.

I want to talk about, very briefly, because I'm going to talk about two major prophetic events that have to occur before the Kingdom of God is established. And I'm not going to spend a tremendous amount of time on this, but I will recommend if you want to know more about these two very traumatic events, we have a booklet called The Book of Revelation Unveiled. We may have copies of it in that brochure rack in the back. If we're out of them, you certainly can write into the UCG, or just let us know and we'll drop one in the mail to you. But there are two major prophetic events, and again, I like to emphasize the good news of the coming Kingdom of God, which is the gospel, but we always have to understand that biblical prophecy does say that there are some very tragic times in the world ahead. And we just took a look at the state of the world today and the nations that exist within this world, and how it is a tinderbox, how there are so many ways that everything could unravel and that we could go into this very first event here that Jesus Christ himself spoke about. We read from Matthew 24 earlier, the Great Tribulation is the first of those major prophetic events. It refers to a time of crisis at the close of the age of man. Jesus spoke of it in Matthew 24 and verse 21, and told John to write of it in Revelation 7 and verse 14, and it will last three and a half years, and it is going to be a very difficult time on the peoples and the ecology of the earth. So that is the first of two major prophetic events. The second is called the Day of the Lord. The Day of the Lord is actually when God decides just before the time of Jesus Christ that it's time for him to pass judgment and punish the nations who have been involved in the Great Tribulation who have caused so much tragedy and turmoil. So the Day of the Lord includes a series of cataclysmic events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ and his forceful suppression of humanity's rebellion against God. This includes the seven trumpets in Revelation chapters 8 through 11. The Day of the Lord pictures terrible plagues, catastrophic war, and a time when all nations will be brought together to be judged by God. Again, another horrific time in biblical prophecy, and if you'd like more information on that, I would again recommend our booklet, The Book of Revelation Unveiled. I thought it was important to mention these, even though for the sake of time today you can only say so much in two 45-minute portions on the kingdom that I would just mention this briefly. Well, now I'd like to talk about the kingdom of God. What does it have to do with you? Well, what it has to do with you, basically, in all fairness, is a choice that each and every one of us have to make. Let's take a look, first of all, just look throughout history from the time when Jesus Christ established His church.

God called a few people in the time of Paul, and when we use the word calling, we mean someone who gets to the point in their life when they say, you know what? I want to make the kingdom first in my life. This is more to me than just a hobby. This is more to me than just a general interest. I am passionate about this kingdom, being part of this kingdom, being involved in preparation for this kingdom, and being in that kingdom, and sharing eternity with God. God called a few in the time of Paul to understand that. Here's what he wrote to this congregation in Thessalonica, chapter 2 and verse 12, walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

So Paul is saying that, walk a different way. Adopt the values of that kingdom now in your lifestyle, in your thought process, how you live your life. So again, walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. He said to the young evangelist Timothy in 2 Timothy, chapter 1 and verse 9, he says, God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. So when you understand that calling that comes deep within and you say, I need to respond. I need to make this kingdom first in my life.

I need to start living the values of this kingdom. That is a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose. Remember, I said earlier that none of this is by accident that God has a plan. He's been working a plan since the beginning of time, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before the world began. So there were a few called in that early church in Paul's time.

We read those scriptures. A few have been called in every generation since that time for the last 2,000 years. Acts chapter 2 and verse 39 was a promise, for the promise is to you and your children. See, so it was more than just the people who were hearing that message.

It was also for their children and their grandchildren and those in generations that would follow who would respond to the calling of God. For the promise is to you and to your children and to all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call. And when you sense that calling, again, it changes your life. It gives you new direction, gives you a new purpose. It becomes something that's passionate to you and very important. Jesus said in John chapter 6 and verse 65, I've said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted to him by my Father.

So it's the Father that generates that passion. It's that Father who calls, another biblical term, draws an individual to say, hey, this is important to me. I get it. I want to be part of this kingdom. I want to prepare to serve in this kingdom when my time comes.

I want the values of this kingdom to be part of my life right now. That's what Jesus is talking about. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 10. A few were being called now. Matthew chapter 13 and verse 10. His disciples came to him and asked him, why do you use parables when you talk to people? And he replied, you are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not.

Again, it's like most people have spiritual blinders on, and they may hear the message, and it's interesting. They may want to study into it, but that's only a certain level of understanding. When God calls one, then you have a passion. You have a whole different level of a desire to know more, a desire to be part of the process and part of the team that God is building to prepare for his kingdom. You are permitted to understand the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but others are not.

Those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. So he says, to those who get it, to those who say, this is more than just a fad to me, this is more than just an interesting little side note as a Bible study, to those people who truly get the message of the good news of the coming kingdom of God. And all that that means, he says, they will have an abundance of knowledge.

But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them. So God, throughout each generation, has called certain individuals to be his elect, to be his saints, and to say, I'll be part of that. I want to be part of this kingdom. I want to be part of the knowledge of what this is all about. Matthew 13, verse 15, For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes, so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me, and let me heal them.

So Jesus said there were people in his day who were fine people. It's just that they didn't get it. The message had no meaning. Yes, they heard it audibly, but it didn't connect emotionally with them. It didn't connect in their hearts. So therefore, for that period of time, they were blinded.

They didn't get it. They didn't want to believe in the gospel, the good news of the coming kingdom, and therefore God couldn't work with them. Verse 16, but he says something very encouraging to those who are being called now. But blessed are your eyes, because they see and your ears, because they hear. In other words, blessed are you because you get it.

You grasp the potential. You grasp the excitement. You grasp the joy of understanding that pearl of great price, that hidden treasure, what it can mean to you, and what it can mean to literally transform in your life and giving you a new and additional purpose for being, and a passion that you can't compare with anything else. Many people will be called later. In all fairness, there have been billions and billions of people, for example, who have lived their entire lifetimes in Asia and in parts of Africa that never even heard the name Jesus Christ.

They were born. They died 60, 70 years old, never saw a missionary, never even heard the name of Jesus Christ mentioned. So would a loving God condemn them to hellfire because they lived their entire lives and never even heard the good news that we're talking about today? Of course, a loving God wouldn't do that. So many will be called later. John 12, 32, and I, when I'm lifted up from the earth, she's talking about the fact when he is there ready to return to earth to establish the kingdom, will draw all people to myself.

So there will come a time when everyone will have a chance for salvation, even if they lived an entire human lifetime without hearing the name Jesus Christ, without understanding the gospel. They will be given life once again and given a fair opportunity to accept their calling. 1 Timothy 2, verses 3 and 4. This is good and please is God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth.

So it's God's desire that whatever time an individual that those blinders are taken off that I spoke about earlier, and they grasp and understand God's way of life, that's what God wants. In their right appointed time, he desires all men to be saved and come to a true knowledge of the truth. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, verse 22, in Christ, all shall be made alive.

That's God's hope. That's his desire. But each one in his own order. So Paul acknowledges here that there are some in every generation whom God calls and they say, yeah, I get it. I want this kingdom to be part of my life. I want it to be a priority. I want it to be first. I'm passionate about it.

I want to live it. And those individuals in their lifetimes are called at that time. Others may not feel that way. But there will come a time when God will open their minds, will take away those spiritual blinders and they'll get it. And that'll be their order, their time to understand what the gospel message is all about. John chapter 6 in verse 44, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up at the last day. So again, it shows the Father's connection into being part of the saints of God, being one of his children, being one of his disciples in this age, being an elect in this age, it all has to do with the Father saying, I want you. Will you respond? Matthew chapter 22 in verse 14. Jesus said, for many are called, but few are chosen. What did he mean by that phrase? Many hear the message of the gospel, but few choose to respond and make it a priority. You know, we probably sent out over the last 50 years, millions of booklets on the gospel of the kingdom of God. So we've sent the message of the gospel out to millions who have requested and wanted to know more. But of those millions, only a very few have ever responded. Only a very few said, you know what? I get it. I understand, Father, that you're calling me. I'm chosen. I want to be part of the kingdom now. I want to prepare to serve in that kingdom right now in this lifetime, using this as an opportunity. So how will you respond to God's calling? Take a look at some scriptures. Second Corinthians chapter 6, verses 1 and 2. Paul said, we plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. The grace of God is God's favor. God's pardon. His love for us as a free gift. He says, in an acceptable time I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. Behold, now is the accepted time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. So if you're hearing this message today and it's connecting with you, and you're saying, I'm passionate about this topic, I understand why it was so important to Jesus that he preached the good news of the coming kingdom of God throughout his ministry. Why it was so important to Paul that he talked about the gospel message. And if you understand that, then perhaps right now is your day of salvation. You're connecting the dots. You're beginning to see it. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 12, he said, walk worthy of God who calls you into his own kingdom and glory. So God the Father is involved in that process. He does the calling and he says, will you respond? This could be your time if you respond. If not, your time may be another time. It may be later on. But God wants to know about our level of desire, our level of sincerity in understanding what the kingdom of God is and being part of it now. Not just waiting later and waiting for our lifetimes to expire and learning about more at another time.

Prophet Isaiah said, seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near. How many seminars like this have you attended? This may be a time when God is calling you to his way of life. And if you sense that, if you understand that, he's near. This may be an opportunity for you.

Luke 6, verse 46, Jesus said, so why do you keep calling me Lord, Lord, and don't do what I say?

Remember, we saw what he said earlier. He said, seek you first, the kingdom of God. And all these things, all the material things that we usually strive and struggle for, will be added in the right way at the right time as a byproduct, as a result of having our priorities straight and seeking that kingdom first. He says, I will show you what it's like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. He says, I want the values of that kingdom to be part of my value system today. I want to be preparing to serve in that kingdom today. It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. It's stable. It'll never be shaken. It'll never be moved. You're building something beautiful. You're building an eternity with the knowledge that you're receiving about the kingdom of God and responding to that opportunity. Verse 22 here, and unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved for the elect's sake. Those days will be shortened. We read this from the book of Matthew a little bit earlier. I want to emphasize again that God has disciples in every age who serve him in their lifetimes going all the way back to 4050 AD when Paul began his ministry and the church in Jerusalem was growing through the direction of the Apostle James. From that time all the way till today, generation after generation, there are some whom God calls, and God makes them his children spiritually speaking, and they become his saints and his elect, and they have a very special calling, and that is to do something about the kingdom of God now and to make it part of their lives. He has a special role for his end-time elect. The Greek word ekleptos means those who are specially chosen. Remember, it's those who are specially chosen are the only reason that God doesn't allow just the entire world to destroy itself and to consume itself in world war and in devastation. They are also called the saints. Let's take a look now at Romans chapter 8 and verse 33. Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. They're again the same Greek word. When we have a personal relationship with God, when we become part of his family, when we make a commitment to be his disciples, he gives us the gift of his Holy Spirit, and as his child we are freed from the shame and guilt of the past. No one, as a matter of fact, even has a right to judge us or condemn us. It is God who justifies, and he forgives and justifies us of our sins and of our past. So God may be giving you an invitation to become part of God's ruling family at the return of Jesus Christ. It's an invitation now, if you sense the calling, if you understand the power behind this topic and this message today, it's an invitation now to train and prepare to assist Jesus Christ as priests and leaders and teachers in the coming kingdom of God.

Let's take a look at some of the roles that the saints will play. Zachariah chapter 14 verse 4.

And in that day, again phraseology about the end time, his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, which faces Jerusalem on the east. Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley. Thus, the Lord my God will come and all the saints with you.

Notice the team. Notice this is Jesus Christ arriving to change the history of the world forever, but he's not alone. He comes with those throughout many generations who have been resurrected and met him in the air and join him and come back to earth with him in order to establish the kingdom of God. The saints or the elect of God are those called in their lifetimes to prepare to serve in the kingdom with Jesus Christ. They understand that, so they spend the rest of their physical lifetimes, however long that may be, to develop the values of that kingdom, to develop a personal, intimate relationship with God, to become the children of God, the disciples of Jesus Christ, and that's how they determine to live out the rest of their lives in preparation of serving in this kingdom. Daniel chapter 7 and verse 18, but the saints, the Most High, shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever. So again, notice the important role that the saints play in the kingdom of God. Revelation chapter 5 verses 9 through 10, this is from the new revised standard version, they sang a new song. You were worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals. They're singing to Jesus Christ. For you were slaughtered and by your blood you ransomed for God's saints from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priest, serving our God, and they shall reign on earth. What a beautiful reward and message for those who decide to become part of the elect of God. Notice that God's saints are an important part of the kingdom of God, an essential part, because they prepared themselves in their lifetimes throughout those generations, and the time that they were called, they made that preparation to serve as religious teachers and leaders within that kingdom when it's established on the earth.

Mark chapter 1 and verse 14, a seminal statement of Jesus Christ, and then he says, if you get it, then there are two things you need to think about doing.

And I want to bring this up in thinking about, as we conclude today, your next possible step.

Mark chapter 1 and verse 14, Jesus came to Galilee, reaching the gospel. Again, that's short for good news. The gospel, the good news of the kingdom of God, and saying the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand. So he tells them about two things that are very important. If you get that point, he says, repent and believe the gospel. So let's talk about what is repentance.

Repentance is when an individual forsakes their past and asks for God's forgiveness and chooses to seek first the kingdom of God. They make a complete turnaround. It means, repent, to change and go in another direction that you were going in. They choose to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness. Paul referred to this as becoming a new creature in Christ, meaning you create a new being through the power of God's Spirit, through baptism and the reception of the Holy Spirit. You literally are transformed from the mere physical people we are today into being spiritual beings and developing the values, the fruit of the Spirit, and the things that God wants us to change in our lives in order to serve forever. So again, he refers to this as a new creature in Christ. That's 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 17. Repentance is very powerful and it's an important part, early step in becoming part of God's elect, God's way of life. So, in conclusion today, depending on which path you take, there are a couple of things that you can do. And after hearing this message, how passionate you are, how excited you are about being part of God's elect and being part of the kingdom of God now. A couple of options you can make. First of all, the first one is what I call a fundamental personal growth program. Number one, and I strongly encourage all of you, continue in your journey of discovery about God. And the way that you do that is to develop a daily habit of prayer, a daily habit of taking some time to do some Bible study, ask God for guidance and intervention, occasionally take some time out for fasting, a very important tool for spiritual growth, and of course, take time out for reflection and meditation, as David did, anciently spoke about in the book of Psalms. Build a personal relationship with God and make Him a priority in your life. That's very important. And then I also encourage you under this fundamental personal growth program to supplement your study. I encourage you first and foremost, certainly study your Bibles. Get to know your Bibles and supplement your study with the Beyond Today magazine. Most of you who are visiting with us today should have it because we sent out invitations to about 1900 subscribers in Greater Cleveland. So, hopefully you get it. If you don't get the magazine, let us know. We'll make sure you're on the subscription list. It's free. And also encourage you to watch Beyond Today TV. If you don't get it locally, you have internet access. You can find it on the internet. You can watch all the episodes. And we have a number of incredibly informative and educational booklets that you're welcome to take with you today from our literature rack in the back. Or we have some laid out on a white table in the little vestibule in there. These are all ways that I encourage you, at least, to continue your journey of discovery about God. Very important.

And if you're ready to go to the next level, then there's an advanced personal growth program. If you really feel passionate, if you've heard this message today and you say, you know, I feel that God may be calling me. I want to know more. I want to learn more. I want to take my spiritual understanding to a whole new level of growth, of development.

I want to take my life and reprioritize it to be more kingdom-oriented. Begin to worship God on His Sabbath day. You're welcome to attend here. We worship and fellowship every Saturday right here at 1230. Services last about an hour and a half. The beauty of that is that you get to fellowship with people of like mind. And that strengthens us spiritually.

Also, if you happen to come here for worship services, you will hear a live message each week, similar to what we had today. Our sermon format is a little bit different. It's not as long as we went today, but you'll be able to be energized and inspired and motivated, encouraged by a live sermon and sermon that you'll hear every week. You'll be able to share your life, your joys, your sorrows with others who in time will grow to love you because they'll get to know you.

It's helpful if you can share your joys and sorrows with other people who love you in return and share with you what they're going through. That's an additional benefit of being on an advanced personal growth program and being part of a congregation. And you'll learn about important biblical topics live, like baptism, obedience, faith, forgiveness, and grace.

So you might say to yourself, well, how do I know if God's calling me? Well, perhaps Psalm chapter 42 verses 1 and 2 will help you to understand the level of passion that God puts within us when he's calling us to be one of his saints, one of his elect.

David was inspired to write, As the dear pants for the water books, so pants my soul for you. You know, Lord, I just can't get enough. I want to know you so intimately, so personally. I want my life to have added meaning. I want to go beyond just this physical existence and the things that I do every day, be doing something spiritually that takes my life, my purpose, my level of fulfillment to a much higher level than I'm at right now, than I'm at today.

A message that has meaning to me and that excites me. So pants my soul for you, O God, my soul thirst for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? So excited about worship. When's the next opportunity that I can get together with people of like mind and worship God and spend time with God in worship and spend time with a family, a spiritual family who loves me and who cares for me? Revelation chapter 1 and verse 3, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy. We've been talking about prophecy today. We've been talking about the kingdom of God. Have we heard those words?

And keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. We saw earlier how world events could explode at any moment. There's a tinderbox of problems going on in this earth today. So the choice is yours to make. I'm reminded of the scripture in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 20, because everything in life ultimately is a choice. We have opportunities that are laid before us throughout our lives, and if we take advantage of those opportunities, they really don't go away. They just go to someone else. So when those opportunities are presented for us throughout life, we have a choice to make. As Moses was inspired to write in Deuteronomy chapter 30 and verse 20, to choose life is to love the Lord your God, obey Him, and stay close to Him.

And being part of that elect, those disciples, those faithful, the children of God who are working each and every day to be part of the kingdom of God and serve in it, are those who have chosen life, spiritual life, something far greater than what we experience now.

They have learned to love God, and reflect on that in their lifestyles, in their daily commitment of prayer and Bible study. They obey Him. They desire to transform themselves into the mind of Jesus Christ, to become less carnal and less human, less selfish, and to grow to become more like Jesus Christ Himself. And they have decided to make the kingdom of God first in their lives and make it a priority. And in that way, they stay close to Him.

Well, thank you for attending the seminar today. I hope you found it educational. I hope you found it inspiring and interesting. I'll be here to answer any questions you might have when the seminar is over. I want to thank all of you for attending. It is, again, our honor to serve you and give back to our community, to give back to the subscribers of the Beyond Today mailing list. I want to encourage you, when this is over, to please stay for snacks and fellowship. We have real food that we'll be serving now that this is over. And we want to encourage you to stay, meet some great people, spend some time with us. In conclusion of this second half, we're going to have a musical performance by someone I've also known over 40 years.

As a matter of fact, in 1977, when I attended college, he was the teacher's aide of a class that I took, and he gave me a C on a paper that I turned in that I still want to talk to him about.

I still haven't dealt with that very well. But all kidding aside, Mr. Mark Graham is an internationally respected composer. He's written some wonderful music that's in our hymnal and the hymnal of other fellowships. Very talented. He has been a gift to the Church of God for many, many years. And we're very pleased to have his talents and to have his presence with us today. He's going to perform a very beautiful song called, It Won't Be Long Now, and then when he's done, I'll just conclude with a closing prayer, and then we can be on to our food and fellowship. Mr. Graham.