GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM 5/19/11

I know that you all may think that I sound like a broken record but I can’t help it. Israel is surrounded on all sides and our president is standing on the wrong side of this issue. He is the first president in our history to stand against Israel, therefore, America is in for a very rough future for the Bible tells us that God will bless those who bless Israel and will curse them that curse Israel. It is now just a matter of time until this world will change in ways that people will not believe. We know that the Bible tells us that there is a time of lawlessness coming upon the whole earth and out of this lawlessness there will arise one who will be the king of lawlessness, the man of sin, Antichrist. I believe we are now coming into that time and sorry to say that most believers are not ready and have no idea what they should be doing. I have for years been trying to share with many of you the way to prepare for this day and hope that what I have written in the past has not fallen on deaf ears. There is not much time left to get ready but whatever time there is we must be found standing for what the Lord is doing at the end of this age. What is God’s heart for the last days? It is what He has had on His heart all the time, that is, that His kingdom would be established on earth just as it is in heaven. I truly believe that we are coming ever closer to the end of this age and at the end of this age “the church age” there will be the kingdom age. God has already set His heart and eyes on the kingdom and is increasingly giving it more attention. If our understanding of scripture is correct, we believe that what God is anxious to do in these last days is to bring in the kingdom according to His eternal will. God’s call to the church in the last days is to stand with Him to bring in the kingdom. If we can catch this vision of where the kingdom is in God’s predestinated will, our heart will truly yearn for the coming of the kingdom. God longs for His children to cooperate with Him to hasten the coming of the kingdom. The Bible verse that should be impressed upon our heart is Matthew 24:14 which says, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony unto all the nations; and then shall the end come.” In this verse we can see the relationship between the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom and the end of this age. The end of the age in Matthew 24:3 is a phrase that points to the end of this age “the church age.” According to strict interpretation of prophecy it also points to “the hour of trial coming upon the whole earth,” Rev. 3:10, which we understand is the short period of time known as the “the Great Tribulation.” We must clearly see that the church is responsible to cooperate with God to bring in the kingdom, as Matthew 24:14 confirms. We must understand that the kingdom of God can only appear openly after the end of this age. The end of this age has nothing to do with the church herself; it does have much to do with the work of the church. This is why the Lord tells us in Matthew 24:14 that the gospel of the kingdom must be preached first and then the kingdom of the heavens shall come. So what is the kingdom of God? And what is the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens? What is commonly taught is that the kingdom is the age when Christ and the church shall reign, but actually it is much more than this. Many Christians today try to differentiate between the gospel of the kingdom and the gospel of grace. This is really not necessary. But if we must distinguish between them, let us say that the gospel of grace deals principally with blessing and the gospel of the kingdom is directed against the demonic kingdom of Satan. Nowadays there are many concepts about the kingdom, so let us see what the scriptures have to say. In Matthew 12:28 Jesus says, “If I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” No doubt the kingdom means many things, but what the Lord says here may be deemed the most important. The kingdom of God is in direct opposition to Hades. The Lord Jesus declares that the kingdom is the casting out of demons by the Spirit of God. This is an accurate explanation of the kingdom. Today most Bible commentaries have one basic lack, that is, their authors usually forget about Hades. So the church today in its work, position, thought, and speech has in general forgotten her enemy, Satan. They do not see the fact that God has called the church to stand against Satan and bring in His kingdom. We need to take note that the very first time the church is mentioned in the New Testament Hades is also mentioned (Matthew 16:18). We know that the kingdom will last 1000 years but what is the connection between the 1000 years and Satan? Revelation chapter 20 tells us that this will be the time when Satan himself will be chained and cast into the abyss. This will be the most shameful time for him. First Cor. 6:3 ask us this question, “know ye not that we shall judge angels?” In this verse we see that the future of the church includes the judging of sinful angels; these are the principalities and powers of today (Eph. 6:12, Col., 2:15). When will this happen? At the time when Christ comes again to set up His kingdom. This is the kingdom, a time when all principalities shall be judged. Satan will be chained and cast into the abyss and all of the power of Hades is destroyed and the beast and false prophet will be cast into the lake of fire. This is the time when Satan and his whole household of evil shall be completely defeated and destroyed. During this time the children of God will be vindicated and the victory of the cross of Christ will be experienced completely. In the kingdom age Satan will have no influence at all. So the preaching of the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens is nothing less than declaring that God who rules in heaven today will tomorrow rule the earth by casting out completely the god of this world with all of his followers and evil spirits. Then the new man, Christ and the church, will reign instead. The gospel of the kingdom is thus directed against the powers of darkness. When the Lord Jesus first proclaimed this gospel, all His works dealt with the powers of darkness. First John 3:8 says, “to this end was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” During His ministry on earth, Jesus went about casting out demons and healing all that were oppressed of the devil. His ministry was always to destroy the works of darkness; consequently, Jesus' work on earth had far greater effect on demons than on man. Now the Lord Jesus tells us that at the end of this age His children will rise up to bear a similar testimony. In order for the kingdom to come we must stand up and bear witness concerning the gospel of the kingdom. In other words, we need to testify to the victory of the cross of Christ. We should declare that Christ has already judged the prince of this world and that He has gained total victory. Now the kingdom and glory and power are all His for eternity and Satan has no place in this age, he is merely usurping time. Everyone who has received the Lord Jesus has been delivered from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of Light. We must preach the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens; which is the casting out of demons, proclaiming the fact that Satan is defeated and will be cast into the lake of fire along with Hades and Death. If we carry such a testimony it will bring an end to this age. Yes, we are now living in a faithless and perverse generation but the purpose of God is to bring this age to a quick end. The children of God must cooperate with Him and do their duty; prayer is one way but testimony is also required. We must stand up for the majesty of the Lord Jesus as never before. We know that the kingdom of the Antichrist must come before the kingdom of Christ, nevertheless, we must testify to the coming of the kingdom of the heavens no matter the cost. After Jesus was resurrected (according to Acts 1:3) He preached to them, “the things concerning the kingdom of God.” Today if we want to continue the work of the apostles we need to testify what they testified. The church today has all but forgotten the victory that Christ won on the cross, the authority that He has given us, and the fact that He now sits on the throne with all things under His feet. If we desire to preach that Christ alone is king and that Satan is totally defeated then we will truly be preaching the gospel of the kingdom of the heavens. Today’s need is for Christians who know the time in which they are living. God is looking for ones who will cooperate with Him to bring this age to an end and bring in His kingdom. If we believe that our greatest responsibility is the saving of people for their souls then we will fail to accomplish the highest will of God. We have a much greater responsibility, that is, to bring this age to an end and bring in the kingdom of God. Saving souls is not just to save people; it is for the building up of the kingdom of God and to plunder Satan’s kingdom and bring it to an end. This is the chief object of any work that we do, so we can witness the total destruction of Satan’s kingdom. Our prayer is not just for prayer but also to bring down the strong holds of Satan and to bind him. We do not witness just to witness but to kick open the gates of hell and to bring those held captive out of darkness into the kingdom of Light. O how we need to see what God wants to do here at the end of this age. God desires to see His Son exalted and His enemy defeated and cast into the lake of fire. As the body of Christ, the Church, we must be of one mind and accord with God and one another on this matter that God may bring this age to an end and establish His kingdom here on earth. Let us never assume that the kingdom will come automatically, no, if we as believers do not cooperate with Him and move with His hearts’ desire we will hinder the coming of the kingdom. God has been patiently waiting for over two thousand years seeking for those who will be of one mind with Him and willing to cooperate with Him in the work of bringing in the kingdom and the end of this age. Are we willing to do this great work with Him? Who among us is willing to pay the cost? May the Lord give us all the grace to answer His call.

He is coming
Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Harry