The Kingdom of God is Coming

Make no mistake! With world conditions nearing the final crisis, no human could ever bring about a single, world-ruling government that would work. Jesus Christ will soon return and establish HIS kingdom.

The disciples did not understand when Christ would do this. He had to explain to them through use of a parable: “And as they heard these things, He added and spake a parable, because He was nigh to Jerusalem, and because they thought that the KINGDOM OF GOD should immediately appear” (Luke 19:11). This long parable explains that much time would pass before it came.

Before His ascension into heaven, in Acts 1:1-26, after a series of meetings with His disciples, Christ met one last time with them. Until the very end, He continued to expound the kingdom of God to them. But they remained confused about when it would be established: “Until the day in which He was taken up…[He was] speaking of the things pertaining to the KINGDOM OF GOD…When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying, Lord, will You at this time restore again the KINGDOM to Israel?” (Ac 1:2-3, 6). Christ explained, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons…” (Ac 1:7). We cannot today know exactly when it will come, but we can know that it is close.

Now notice Daniel 7:18: “But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.” Then, Dan 7:22 states, “Until the Ancient of Days [Christ here, and the Father in Dan 7:13] came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.”

Finally, notice Dan 7:27: “And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions [rulers] shall serve and obey Him.”

Daniel knew that the saints will one day reign on earth with Christ!

Jesus’ first recorded sermon, called “The Sermon on the Mount,” states that “the meek shall inherit the earth” (Matt. 5:5). Actually, Christ was quoting David, who recorded this in Psalm 37:11—another place where David proclaimed the gospel. The statement there is precisely the same. Other prophecies also demonstrate that David himself will one day rule over all the tribes of Israel, within the kingdom of God.

Notice three separate verses in Revelation. Christ is quoted through John, saying, “To him that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My Father in His throne” (Rev 3:21). Also Rev 2:26-27: “And he that overcomes…to him will I give power over the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron.” Finally, “and has made us unto our God KINGS and PRIESTS: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev 5:10).

Has organized religion told you about any of these verses? Almost certainly not. Yet they have been in the Bible for thousands of years.

No wonder that when Christ was on trial for His life, He said, “My KINGDOM is not of this world: if My KINGDOM were of this world, then would My servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is My KINGDOM not from here” (John 18:36). In this exchange, Pilate had asked Him, “Are you a king then?” Christ answered, “To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world…” (Jn 18:37).

Jesus fully understood that He was born to be a King.

Christ To Be a King

Christ’s First Coming was to be a great event. Isaiah prophesied of His birth to a virgin: “Therefore the LORD Himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isa 7:14).

Before Jesus’ birth, an angel appeared to Mary to explain God’s purpose and what was about to happen to her: “And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin…Mary” (Luke 1:26-27).

Beginning in Lk 1:30, Gabriel explains more about Christ and how He would eventually rule from the throne of David. Notice: “And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for you have found favour with God. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the THRONE of his father David: And He shall REIGN over the house of Jacob for ever; and of His KINGDOM there shall be no end” (Lk 1:30-33).

Christ was never in doubt about His life’s mission and purpose. This is why He continually preached the kingdom of God everywhere He went.

Isaiah spoke in more detail about how God’s kingdom would spread around the earth, eventually encompassing all nations: “And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD’S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say, Come you, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us of His ways, and we will walk in His paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa 2:2-4).

This identical prophecy is found in Micah 4:1-3. These passages foretell that God’s kingdom will spread around the world. This is why one of Christ’s parables likened the kingdom to leaven (Luke 13:20-21), which always spreads until it fills its host. The overarching purpose for your life is to participate in the future spreading of God’s GOVERNMENT.

In front of the United Nations Building is the sculptured image of a large man forging a plough from a sword. I have seen it hundreds of times, because I conducted church services across the street from that spot for several years. But no one seems to any longer take notice of, or even believe, the amazing prophecy depicted by this famous sculpture.

Jesus Christ came to be a KING who will one day REIGN on the earth. When He returns, suffering, misery, unhappiness and all the world’s troubles and evils will disappear—and world peace will literally “break out,” along with supreme happiness, harmony, prosperity and abundance for all nations. No human government has ever been able to bring these things to even one country on earth. This is the core of the very gospel that Jesus brought.

Do you believe it? Will you believe it?

The Kingdom of God Must Still be Preached Today

In the Matthew 24:1-51 (and Mt 25:1-46) Olivet Prophecy, Christ was asked about those events that would be the signs of His Second Coming and the end of the world (age). He answered that a number of different trends and conditions would occur first.

One event preceding Christ’s Return is described in Mt 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” The true gospel was foretold to be preached until “the end come.” This plainly means that someone will be preaching it now, in our present age, because the end has not yet come.

Some history: The knowledge of the true gospel was restored by Herbert W. Armstrong (1892-1986). It had not been preached to the world for almost 19 centuries until Mr. Armstrong began preaching it in January 1934, as the Matthew 24:14 prophecy began to unfold. Understand! Not since the first century had the world as a whole heard this message. Throughout a 52-year ministry, until his death in 1986, God used Mr. Armstrong to reach hundreds of millions with this understanding. It was this man who taught me the true gospel and under whom I was trained to be able to take this same message to the world.

Remember, the end has not yet come. Therefore, The Restored Church of God is continuing this commission, boldly preaching this greatest of prophetic truths. The arrival of God’s kingdom is sure—it is certain! When it comes, you too can be a part of it.

7,000-year Plan

Cut off from God by sin (Isa. 59:1-2), mankind has believed the lies of the god of this world for 6,000 years. The span of God’s plan with men encompasses 7,000 years. Few have understood this. Many have correctly understood at least some little of the verses describing Christ’s coming 1,000-year Reign, to begin at His Return (Rev. 20:4-6). But they know nothing of God allotting 6,000 years, or six millennial days of a “seven-day week,” to man’s rule, under Satan, prior to the seventh 1,000-year “day.” We are very near the end of the “sixth day.”

Let’s understand! The Bible states, “But, beloved, be not IGNORANT of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day” (II Pet. 3:8; Psa. 90:4). Of course, most are “ignorant” of almost EVERYTHING that the Bible teaches.

Will you comprehend?

Man (under the invisible sway of Satan) has been given six “days,” or 6,000 years, to try his own ways, governments, religions, philosophies, value systems and forms of education. Under the influence of Satan, he has practiced sin and disobedience to God commands for all this time. He has then tried to treat all of the ill effects this has brought on, instead of the cause, which is the breaking of God’s commandments. God is allowing humanity to learn hard, bitter lessons. The masses, who have never known the precious truth of God, must learn that their own ways do not work!

Soon the whole world will see the fulfilment of Revelation 11:15: “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.” Just as there is no doubt that countries today represent real, literal, physical kingdoms (nations with governments), there can be no doubt, from this verse, that God’s coming government is also real and literal, ruling over actual nations on earth.

Jesus Christ was born to be a King who will rule all nations of the earth forever with the help of other spirit-composed kings: “And out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should smite the nations: and He shall rule them with a rod of iron…and on His thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19:15-16).

Has anyone ever told you of these passages? I never learned of them or even heard of them in the church of my youth—and yet, here they are, written with unmistakable clarity of meaning for all who will heed.