The Gospel of the Kingdom: Part 11

Because the last installment of this series was written seven weeks ago, a review is advisable. It is so important to realize that the Kingdom of God means the divine conquest over His enemies, a conquest which is to be accomplished in three stages. While the world appears little changed (other than to perhaps get worse), the Kingdom of God has already come among men and those who receive it will be prepared to enter the kingdom of Glory when Christ comes to finish the good work He has already begun. This is the Gospel of the Kingdom.

The three stages of the Kingdom, as summarized by Scripture are:

Stage 1 - "For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins" (Colossians 1:13-13).
Stage 2 - "Dear friends, now we are the children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him. For we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2).
Stage 3 - "And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away'" (Revelation 21:3-4).

The fourth chapter of Mark and the thirteenth chapter of Matthew contain a group of parables which set forth the "mystery of the kingdom of God" (Mark 4:11). This is the central truth illustrated in all these parables. However, we must first establish that in the Bible, the term "mystery" does not mean something deep, dark, profound or difficult. The biblical idea of "mystery" is often a technical concept whose meaning is set forth in Romans 16:25-26. Here we find that biblically a mystery is something that has been kept secret throughout time, but is now revealed. In other words, a mystery is a divine purpose, hidden in the counsels of God for long ages, but finally disclosed in a new revelation of God's redemptive work.

The Mark 4 and Matthew 13 parables set forth new truth about the Kingdom of God which was not revealed in the Old Testament. And what is that mystery? A look at a familiar Old Testament prophecy will help. In Daniel 2:31-35 we get to see Nebuchadnezzar's dream, a
and in verses 44 and 45, the interpretation is given. After a series if nations successively dominate the course of world history, we are told that the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed, nor shall its sovereignty be left to another people. From an Old Testament perspective, there is coming a day when God will set up His reign (Kingdom) on the earth, displacing all other kingdoms and authorities. The coming of God's Kingdom, from this perspective, is viewed as a single great event.

When John the Baptist announced (Matthew 3:2) the coming of the Kingdom of God, he understood it to be as foretold in the Old Testament. John understood that the Messiah who would usher in the Kingdom would bring a twofold baptism: with the Holy Spirit for those who would experience salvation and with the fire of judgment for all others (Matthew 3:11-12). John's later doubt from prison was no doubt caused by the fact that Jesus was not acting like the Messiah whom he had announced. Where was the baptism of the Spirit? Where was the judgment of the wicked by fire? How could Jesus be the bearer of the Kingdom while sin and sinful institutions remained unpunished? Troubling questions then - and now.

Jesus said, "Blessed is he who takes no offence at me" (Matthew 11:6). The Kingdom of God had arrived, but here is the mystery - the new revelation - instead of destroying human sovereignty, it had attacked the sovereignty of Satan; instead of making changes in the external, political order of things, it was making changes in the spiritual order and in the hearts of men and women. The Kingdom is yet to come in the form prophesied by Daniel. The world has yet to behold the coming of God's Kingdom with power and glory. The Kingdom is now here with persuasion, quietly working in among men in ways often not seen by the crowds. Yes, there are some exceptions, but for the most part, it is as Jesus said, "....the kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21).

Each of the parables in Matthew 13 illustrates this mystery of the Kingdom, which is yet to come in power and great glory, but is actually present among men in an unexpected form to bring to men in the present evil Age the blessings of the Age to Come. Next time we will look at some of the the specific revelations of the Kingdom. Until then, God bless and keep looking up!

www. endtimesencouragement.com

Birth Pangs and Fig Trees, Part 26

Just for practice, why don't we just give one another a "high-five!" Why? Because I might be wrong in my understanding of when the Rapture occurs, and if I am, I think the worst consequence will be that we all give one another a "high-five" while we're on our way up to meet the Lord in the air. If a generation of Christians is not going to be tested by the first 5 seals of Revelation 6, or the persecution of the Antichrist and the False Prophet of Revelation 13, then having prepared ourselves to face those possibilities will surely have prepared us to be ready for the imminent (any moment/with no preceding signs) return of Christ. On the other hand, if we buy into a "Your Best Life Now," or "Health and Wealth" gospel, we will be ill-prepared to face such tests and trials. If we have embraced a social gospel, which includes the idea of the church having replaced Israel completely in God's plan for the ages, we will miss the signs and again be ill-prepared to be purified as the Bride of Christ. If we embrace a dominion theology, we will be caught up in the Utopian myth that things will just keep getting better and better.

That having been said, I should point out that a few theologian still look at the Book of Revelation as being non-literal or allegorical. Another group, called Preterists, view the book as a record of conflicts of the early church with Judaism and paganism. As such, they view the Revelation as symbolic rather than prophetic. Still others view the Revelation as a symbolic presentation of church history, culminating with the second advent. This last interpretation refutes itself because of the multiplicity of identifications of the personnel of Revelation with a variety of historical characters. (Walvoord, John, The Revelation of Jesus Christ, Moody Press, Chicago, 1966, pgs 16-20). The last approach to the Revelation is the futuristic approach, where everything in Revelation 4 onward is subject to future fulfillment, with the events in chapters 4-19 preceding the Second Coming of Christ. My view of Revelation is futuristic.

For two thousand years, Christians have been following the model of the Lord Jesus Christ in their prayers, saying, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." Here in Revelation 8 we read, "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of the saints,went up before God from the angel's hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake." (v. 3-5) God's Kingdom is about to come to earth in answer to the prayers of the saints, but first the earth must be cleansed.

John is about to give us a brutal, blow by blow description of what this cleansing entails. Peter, on the other hand, gives us just the big picture. "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief [Remember Paul said the same thing, stating that that day would not catch the alert believer by surprise (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5)]. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3;10) And so the destruction (cleansing) begins. The first trumpet is blown and hail and fire mixed with blood burn up 1/3 of all the earth's vegetation. Notice that there is no pause or further explanation, just a rapid transition to the second trumpet. At this judgment, a huge blazing mountain is thrown into the sea, turning it to blood, wherein 1/3 of all the ships and sea creatures are destroyed. Immediately the third trumpet is blown and a blazing star named Wormwood falls from the sky, affecting 1/3 of the earth's fresh water supply, making it bitter and deadly. As an aside, the Ukrainian word for Wormwood is Chernobyl. Also, have you noticed the constant reference to fire in these three judgments, matching up squarely with Peter's big picture?

Please hang in there a little longer; chapter 8 is almost over. Immediately the fourth trumpet is blown and 1/3 of the sun and moon are turned dark and 1/3 of the day and night were without light. I take this to mean that the Sun, Moon and stars did not "shine" for 1/3 of the time that they normally do. Revelation 8:13 continues the rapid progression, John stating, "As I watched, I heard an eagle flying flying in midair call out in a loud voice: 'Woe! Woe! Woe! to the inhabitants of the earth because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded by the other three angels." God in His mercy announces that things are about to get even worse. Unfortunately, we see no signs of man repenting during the outpouring of God's wrath. Brothers and sisters, take comfort and courage in the fact that no matter how difficult things get, we are not appointed to face the wrath of God, but rather to enjoy His salvation.