What Is The Gospel of Christ

What is the Gospel (literally, “Good News”) that Christ delivered from our Father?

Many of the 2,000 Christian denominations in the U.S. “preach Christ”, saying “Believe in Christ.”, and “Just believe.”. How many of those organizations do you hear repeating all of the words that Christ spoke and saying, “Believe what Christ said.”? Did Christ deliver the message that God gave him? Did Christ mean what he said? A prominent Catholic leader has said that the apostle Paul was the only one who properly understood what Christ was trying to say. And many religious organizations interpret what Christ said through the words of Paul. Does that mean the twelve disciples, including Peter, got it wrong?

Did Christ fail to deliver God’s message so that we can understand it? Was Christ incompetent or incapable of explaining what God told him to say?

Even if we were to believe that Christ failed and that Paul was the only one to understand, why are there 2,000 different denominations with different teachings? If Christ failed and Paul got it right, then there should be only two opinions, not 2,000.

Was Christ just a messenger, just one more human prophet as the Jews and Muslims claim?

Or was he God before he came to earth (Jn. 1:1-3), the Lord of the Old Testament (Lk. 2:11, Eph. 6:23) who knows the end from the beginning (Isa. 46:10, Rev. 21:6, 22:13)?

If he was God before appearing as a human, and if he came directly from the throne of God the Father, with the words that God gave him to speak (Jn. 14:10), perhaps we ought to do more than just believe who and what he was (and is), and think about what he actually said is going to happen and what he said for us to do (Lk. 6:46).

The Gospel of The Kingdom

“Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel.” (Mk. 1:14-15).

Notice that he did not say only, “Believe in me.” He also preached “the gospel of the kingdom of God”, “the time is fulfilled”, “repent”, and he said, “believe the gospel.”

He commanded repentance in the context of entering the kingdom of God. He said that we must be willing to make changes in our lives in order to enter that Kingdom.

We must believe in Christ, and Christ said we must also “believe the gospel”. The gospel is more than just a message about the person of Christ. It is a message from God the Father about the Kingdom of God.

Christ explained the Kingdom of God through the use of parables. Parables, by definition, are “comparisons or examples”. They are short, somewhat “fictional stories” used by Christ to illustrate physical and spiritual truths.

In Lk. 19:11-27, Christ’s parable shows himself as a nobleman who goes far away to “receive a kingdom for himself and to return” (v. 12). At his return, he rewards his faithful servants with rulership over cities (vss. 17, 19).

In Christ’s vision (revealing, revelation) to John, Christ made it plain that the faithful are to become Kings and Priests (Rev. 1:6) and we are to rule with Christ (Rev. 3:21) on this earth (Rev. 5:10). This has been God’s plan from the beginning (“a kingdom of priests” Ex. 19:6).

After Christ came as the Lamb and died for our sins, he returned to the throne of God to act as our High Priest (Heb. 2:17, 4:14-15, 8:1), giving us direct access to the Father, until the time when Christ returns to this earth as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 17:14, 19:16).

Those who are faithful while Christ is absent from earth (Lk. 19:11-27) will become the Kings and Lords under Christ and will rule over cities in the Kingdom of God.

“Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:6).

The first 1,000 years of Christ’s reign as King of Kings (civil government) and Lord of Lords (religious government) will be on the earth. Those who have been faithful and died prior to his return and those who are faithful and alive at his return will become spirit beings when he returns.

At the Last Trump

“Behold, I show you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.” (1Cor. 15:51-53).

No human has become immortal yet and no one will until “the last trumpet” (1Ths. 4:16). Those who have been faithful and have already died, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Sarah, Job, Joseph, King David, Ruth, Esther, the Prophets, John the Baptiser, Peter and the apostles, and all men and women who are dead “in Christ” will all be resurrected to immortality as spirit beings when Christ returns.

“Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” (1Jn. 3:1).

“For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. ” (1Ths. 4:16).

The dead in Christ are resurrected first, then those who are alive and “in Christ” are changed into immortal, spirit beings “like” Christ and we rise up to meet him “in the clouds” (not at God’s throne). Where do we go then? Up or down?

“And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, . . .”

“And the LORD shall be king over all the earth: in that day shall there be one LORD, and his name one.”

And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Zech. 14:1-16, in part).

While we will rise up to meet Christ “in the air” where the clouds are, He is not returning to God’s throne, but coming down to the Mount of Olives just as the angels said he would when he left (Acts 1:9-11). And we are to go where Christ goes (1Ths. 4:16).

Christ comes down to earth at the Mount of Olives (near Jerusalem) and begins his reign as King of Kings over all the earth. Those men and women in “all nations” who survive the events of the Great Tribulation will go up “from year to year” (on God’s annual Holy Days Lev. 23:1-44) to worship Christ as King and Lord.

All this and more is found in the gospel of Christ, the message he brought to us from God the Father.

Good News, Bad News

While Christ’s message is “good news”, he also came to warn about terrible things that will occur before he returns.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?” (Mat. 24:3).

[Note: The word translated here as “world” is aion, which should be translated as “age”. This planet is not completely destroyed at Christ’s return, but the age or time of Satan’s rule over the earth will end when Christ returns to rule as King of Kings.]

In answer to the disciples’ question, Christ warned of false Christs (v.5), wars, famines, pestilence, and earthquakes in different places (vs. 6-7), religious persecution and death for believing Christ (v.9), betrayals by believers, hatred among believers (v. 11), and “many false prophets [who] shall deceive many” (v. 11). Christ said that because iniquity [lawlessness, contempt for the law of God] shall abound [become popular, widespread], “the love of many shall wax cold” [“many” will lose their love for God and for one another].

Christ said “this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (v. 14).

Notice that it is not just a gospel about Christ, but “this” gospel of the kingdom that shall be preached and then the end of this age, Satan’s rule over the earth, will come to an end.

Churches preach “Peace”

“Malta: young Christians working for peace “. . . young people from across Europe joined together on the island of Malta to seek greater understanding and commitment in the search for peace and respect in the world today.

The World Council of Churches is “working for reconciliation and [world] peace . .”. Source: www.wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/peaceandreconcil.html

The National Council of Churches, USA, offers a study guide titled, “For the Peace of the World” with suggestions on how the individual and the churches can help bring world peace. Source: www.ncccusa.org/

“Churches in 40 countries have come together to hold peace vigils, seminars, concerts, festivals and public gatherings, in support of peace in Palestine and Israel.”

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops has a “Department of Justice, Peace and Human Development”. Source:www.usccb.org

Christ says there will be no peace!

Christ as Lord of the Old Testament (Jn. 1:1-3, 10, 14, 18) inspired Ezekiel to write about false and foolish prophets, “And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,. . . say you unto them that prophesy out of their own hearts, Hear you the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord God; Woe unto the foolish prophets, that follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!

They have seen vanity and lying divination, saying, The Lord says: and the Lord has not sent them: and they have made others to hope that they would confirm the word.

Therefore thus says the Lord God; Because you have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, says the Lord God.

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; . . .

[To wit], the prophets . . . which prophesy concerning Jerusalem, and which see visions of peace for her, and there is no peace, says the Lord God.” Eze. 13:1-16, in part).

Christ himself said, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” (Mat. 10:34).

In spite of Christ’s statement, the world’s churches think they have the power to bring about world peace.

In answering the disciples’ question about the signs of the end of this age, “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4), Christ said there would be wars, suffering, death and destruction worse than anything the world has ever seen since it was created.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved [ “sozo”, spared from death and destruction]: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (Mat. 24:21-22).

Christ also said that except for God’s intervention (cutting short the days) no one on earth would be left alive.

The only reason he will cut short those days, by intervening, is for the elect’s sake, those who are faithful to him. That is why, when he returns, there are some who will be changed from physical life to immortality as spirit beings (1Cor. 1:51-53).

A Very Public Return

Christ continues with warnings about false prophets. If anyone says that Christ is already here, “in the desert”, or “in hiding”, “believe it not” (Mat. 24:23-26). Even though some of the false prophets will show “great signs and wonders”, great miracles, things that cannot be explained physically, real “magic”, Christ still says, do not believe them.

Christ said that he will come “as a thief in the night” (Mat. 24:42-44), which is unexpectedly (1Ths. 5:1-11).

The resurrection of the dead and the changing of the living faithful into spirit beings and their meeting Christ in the air may not be seen by the rest of the world, after all, humans cannot see spirits unless they make themselves visible. But after the meeting in the clouds, Christ’s return to the earth will be seen, “For as the lightning comes out of the east, and shines even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” (Mat. 24:27).

Between the Great Tribulation and Christ’s return will be a period of darkness: “Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:” (v. 29).

“Blow you the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord comes, for it is nigh at hand; A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong; there has not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations.” (Joel 2:1-2). [Note: There will be years and generations (meaning human births) “after” the tribulation.]

A World in Darkness

The events of the tribulation probably mean that many places, if not all, will be without power for lights and fuel for generators. On moonless nights, it can be difficult to see, but not impossible as the stars do give some light. But without starlight, visibility will be the same as being buried in the ground. This is the same darkness that was used as a plague on Egypt (Ex. 10:21-23). Without sunlight, it means that the darkness continues for more than a day. The reference to the “sign” of the son of man (Mat. 24:30) indicates that this darkness will continue for three days and nights (Mat. 12:39-40, 16:4, Lk. 11:29-30).

It is out of this total darkness (which is also symbolic) that Christ suddenly appears to everyone still alive on earth.

“. . . and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” (v. 39).

“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds [the four directions on earth], from one end of heaven to the other [or from one end of the earth to the other, the first heaven, which from the ground up to the clouds, Gen. 1:20].

In Egypt, while the Egyptians were suffering the plague of total darkness, there was light in the camps of the Israelites (Ex. 10:21-23). Therefore, the faithful will probably either have light or be changed and rise to meet Christ during this darkness (Christ comes as a thief in the night). The latter may be more likely, as the darkness would hide the resurrection and the changing of the righteous, and their rising into the clouds. Christ was buried between 3p.m. and sunset, which means that to fulfill the sign he gave of three days and three nights, he had to be resurrected around sunset on the third day. When the women came to the tomb, “very early” on the next day, Christ was already resurrected and gone (Lk. 24:1-7). [If he had been resurrected at sunrise, it would have been three days and four nights and he would have contradicted the only sign that he was the Messiah.] When the period of darkness ends, we shall probably already be with Christ.

“He raises up the poor out of the dust, and lifts up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he has set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the Lord shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.” (1Sam. 2:8-10). [Notice the contrast between the saints, and the wicked in darkness.]

“Rejoice not against me, O my enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be a light unto me.” (Mic. 7:8)

“The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up. From that time Jesus began to preach, . . .” (Mat. 4:16-17, a dual meaning).

“Wherefore he says, Awake you that sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.” (Eph. 5:14).

All of this is part of the message Christ brought from the Father. All of this, and there is still more, is part of the gospel of the Kingdom, the gospel of God, the gospel of Christ.

The World’s Version of the Gospel

What do we hear in the churches and in television ministries? Some say that Christ has already returned. Some say that the Kingdom of God is “within us” (the secret places?). Others say he will not return until “the church is perfected”, or until the church establishes peace on earth, which seems unlikely considering the political history of human organizations that call themselves churches. The number of denominations continues to increase as new organizations are founded and as old ones split and divide repeatedly into smaller groups. The confusion among religious groups and their leaders is not of God because God is not the author of confusion (1Cor. 14:33, Jas. 3:16).

Many, especially church leaders, seem to think that the government that exists in human churches today is “the kingdom of God on earth” and that the authority church leaders claim over the faith of their followers will continue into the Kingdom under Christ. Scripture contradicts this on several levels (Mat. 20:25-28) and so do Christ’s parables (Mat. 18:4, Mk. 10:15). No church or group of churches is going to bring the Kingdom of God or establish it on earth. Only Christ, coming with great power, is going to accomplish that.

Christ said that the world will come so close to total self destruction, that if not for divine intervention, all human life would be wiped out (Mat. 24:22). Man cannot save himself and mankind cannot save the world. Man’s religious organizations cannot even achieve peace within or between themselves, much less with the rest of the world.

Gospel Revealed to Mary

“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. 1:32-33).

Christ is to rule from the throne of David, a physical throne on earth, not a seat next to the Father in heaven. He is to rule over the house of Jacob. Jacob’s house included 12 sons of which Judah was only one. The modern nation called Israel is primarily or entirely from the one tribe of Judah, the “Jews”. The rest of the house of Jacob, the other 11 tribes, now nations, still exist and will be part of the Kingdom ruled by Christ. Christ told the 12 disciples that they would sit on 12 thrones, ruling those 12 nations.

“That you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” (Lk. 22:30, also Mat. 19:28).

[This is why the modern identity of the other 11 tribes/nations is significant to understanding the prophecies of the Bible.]

The disciples understood that Christ was returning to establish his Kingdom on this earth. Thinking it would happen in their lifetimes, they asked him for the signs by which they could recognize that he was coming (Mat. 24:3).

This knowledge was widely understood by the followers of Christ for hundreds of years.

The world-famous historian Edward Gibbon wrote in his acclaimed history (c. 1776-87), The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, “The ancient and popular doctrine of the Millennium was intimately connected with the second coming of Christ. As the works of the creation had been finished in six days, their duration in their present state, according to a tradition which was attributed to the prophet Elijah, was fixed to six thousand years. By the same analogy it was inferred that this long period of labor and contention, which was now almost elapsed, would be succeeded by a joyful Sabbath of a thousand years; and that Christ, with the triumphant band of the saints and the elect who had escaped death, or who had been miraculously revived, would reign upon earth till the time appointed for the last and general resurrection.”

Scoffers in the last days

After the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1, one of God’s annual Holy Days), many people were converted. The number of Christ’s followers increased greatly. But Christ inspired Paul to write that there would be a great “falling away” before Christ returns.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” (2Ths. 2:3).

The false prophets, the false gospels and the falling away had already begun in the time of the apostles.

“I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” (Gal. 1:6-7).

“For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 1:4).

False prophets, false gospels and the denial of Christ’s real message are a sign of “the last days”.

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, . . .

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

. . .so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.” (2Tim. 3:1-9, in part).

Peter wrote about scoffers “in the last days” who would say that Christ is not coming anytime soon, perhaps in our children’s lifetimes or our grandchildren’s lifetimes. (2Pet. 3:1-18).

Christ said that he would come unexpectedly, surprising the world, just as the Flood came in Noah’s time when people were preoccupied with personal affairs rather than heeding the warnings (Mat. 24:36-44).

Still More to the Message

Every word that Christ spoke while on earth is part of his gospel message from God the Father, concerning the coming Kingdom of God, how we can be accepted into it, how we can avoid being rejected and kept out, and what life in his Kingdom will be like. About 60 years after Christ left earth, he inspired John to write the book of Revelation, describing the events at the end of the age, Christ’s return and the establishment of his Kingdom on earth. Many of the books written by the prophets also give us information about his coming Kingdom.

From the start, God’s plan was for his followers to be priests in the sense of being teachers of his way of life, the way of peace (Ex. 19:6).

This is our calling. Not to just be in the Kingdom, but to be a teacher of God’s way of peace. What is the value of eternal life if there is no further goal, no specific purpose beyond “getting saved” from death? Christ’s future job is as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Our calling, the job Christ offers us, is to become those Kings and Lords, administering civil and religious government under Christ and over the people who have survived the Great Tribulation (Jn. 14:2-4).

Inspired prophecies describe the beauty, peace and abundance of the world under the rule of Christ. But after the Tribulation, much of the world is going to be in ruins because the world’s nations will assemble an army of 200,000,000 (Rev. 9:16, 16:14) to fight against Christ resulting in 25% of the earth’s population being killed (Rev. 6:1-8). Those who are faithful will be protected (Rev. 7:2-8). One third of all the earth’s trees and all grass will be destroyed by hail and by fire (Rev. 8:7). One third of all ocean fish and sea-life will die, and one third of all ships will be destroyed (v. 9). One third of all fresh water will become undrinkable and many will die for lack of drinking water (v. 11). Light from the sun, moon and stars will be reduced by one third, making the nights darker, the daytime like twilight (v. 12) and significantly reducing the earth’s temperatures. Other events (that appear to be modern warfare) will kill another one third of the earth’s population (Rev. 9:1-18). This is when God intervenes with the announcement, “. . . there should be time no longer:” (Rev. 10:6). This is Christ’s message through John.

One third of the earth is destroyed and at least half of the world’s population will have died. One of the first jobs of the survivors will be to bury the dead.

God said that burying the bodies will take seven months (Eze. 39:1-22, esp. v. 12). It will take seven years to melt down all the weapons and armament (v. 9) turning them in to agricultural equipment (Isa. 2:1-4).

Our jobs as Kings and Priests will be to help the survivors, to teach them the way of peace and to guide them in cleaning up the destruction caused by mankind’s refusal to live God’s way. Our job for the first 1,000 years will be to guide them in “dressing and keeping” the earth (Gen. 2:15), turning it into a Garden. Our job will be to return mankind to Eden. Our job now is to prepare ourselves to be teachers (2Tim. 2:15). The first level of teaching is by example (Mat. 5:16).

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both you and your children may live:” – Christ as Lord (Deu. 30:19, also v. 15-20).

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The scriptures and explanation above are just a summary of this topic. For additional scriptures and further explanation, see Part 2. All scriptures are KJV unless noted otherwise.

Christ’s Kingdom on the Earth

Prophecies throughout the scriptures describe a Kingdom ruled by Christ. If the dead now, immediately go to either heaven, hell, or purgatory, and the living are changed into spirit beings who go to heaven to be with Christ, who is left on the earth and why? And if Satan is “restrained” for 1,000 years, who is in charge on the earth? Why is he restrained for only 1,000 years? Why not forever?

If all dead sinners are already being tortured in hell, why are they resurrected to human beings only to be sent back to hell at a final judgment?

If all those who were righteous and are now dead, are already immortal and in heaven with Christ and our Father, why are they resurrected out of the dirt at Christ’s second coming? How did they get from heaven, back into the ground and why?

If, at the end of the world, all the righteous are in heaven and all sinners are in hell, what is Christ doing on earth that takes 1,000 years? And where does he go after that?

No Secrets Kept From the Prophets

Christ, as the Lord of the Old Testament, said that he did not do anything without revealing it to his prophets first. What did the Lord say about his future Kingdom?

“Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he reveals his secret unto his servants the prophets.” (Amos 3:7).

Everything God is going to do is revealed through the writings of God’s prophets.

“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he has declared to his servants the prophets.” (Rev. 10:7).

The plan of God will be finished, completed, just as he described it to his prophets. This is Christ’s promise through his last public message as recorded by John in the book of Revelation (the revealing).

If everything is revealed, why then, doesn’t everyone understand the same thing?

The answer to that question involves many scriptures and goes beyond the topic at hand.

Briefly, God wants everyone to have salvation (Eze. 18:23, Jn. 3:16-17), but the choice is up to each of us (Deu. 30:15, 19).

When Christ explained that he came down from God’s throne, some of the Jews argued that was not true since they knew his parents and had watched him grow up (Jn. 6:41-42).

Christ told them not to “murmur” (mutter and grumble) about not understanding (v. 43). He explained, “No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him: . . .” (v. 44).

The word “draw”, in Greek, literally means “to unsheathe” (as in drawing a sword), to remove the covering, similar to unveiling or removing a veil (see Temple vail torn in two at Christ’s death).

Spiritual Blindness

Anyone can read the Bible with physical understanding, but not everyone has spiritual understanding:

“But their minds were blinded: for until this day remains the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it [their mind and heart] shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.” (2Cor. 3:14-16).

Note that the “vail” is what was “done away”, the blindness in reading the word of God. The word of God was not “done away”, but the blindness in reading it. When the blindness is taken away, then it becomes possible for us to spiritually understand the word of God given through Moses. The blindness is “done away in Christ” because Christ sent the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth (Jn. 14:17,26, 15:26, 16:13).

“For the law was given by Moses, [but] grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” (Jn. 1:17).

[Note: The KJV translators added the word “but” in the middle of this statement making it an “either, or” statement. The Lord did not give un-truth through Moses (Jn. 17:17) and then truth through Christ. In the Greek, Jn. 1:17 reads, “For the law was given by Moses, grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” Grace is unmerited kindness and the understanding of God’s truth comes by Christ’s words and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (Jn. 16:13). The Lord sent his law through Moses, and Christ sent the Holy Spirit to give us the understanding of it.]

God knows what is in our hearts and he knows what we are thinking (1Chrn. 38:9, Rev. 2:23). He knows that some people, if they understood spiritual truth, would reject it. Since he does not want to lose even one person (1Tim. 2:4), he allows them to remain blinded to his truth until they are more likely to accept it. (Mat. 13:10-17). This is why his plan involves more than one resurrection (Rev. 20:5).

Christ’s Kingdom Revealed to the Prophets

As God explained through the prophet Amos, he does not intervene in world affairs without first revealing it to his Prophets (Amos 3:7).

[Note: Because there are so many scriptures regarding Christ’s Kingdom, to copy them all here would take considerable space. Therefore, parts of this series will be in the form of questions and scriptures where the answers can be found. All scriptures are KJV unless otherwise noted.]

Will the teaching include “his ways”, “the law” and “the word of the Lord”?

Would that eliminate the need for all military forces, police, courts, judges, lawyers, prisons and all related jobs and facilities?

2.What did God reveal to his prophet Daniel regarding a Kingdom that would never be destroyed?

Was there to be a succession of kingdoms on earth (symbolized by humanly processed metals), beginning with Nebuchadnezzar, the King of Babylon and the Babylonian Empire (605-562 BC, modern Iraq), the last of which would be destroyed and replaced by a “stone cut without hands” (a divine ruler)?

[Note: The image included four different metals not counting the feet. Nebuchadnezzer, who later acknowledged the supremacy of God (Dan. 2:47, 4:34-36), was symbolized by gold. The other kingdoms, in order, were the Medo-Persian Empire (559-330 BC), the Macedonian Empire under Alexander the Great (330-323 BC), and its minor successors, which were absorbed into the growing, Holy Roman Empire (c. 753 BC – 476 AD). The Roman Empire broke up into a number of nations symbolized by the feet and toes of the image [which are now the modern nations of Europe, North Africa, the Mideast, and Asia Minor]. God explained, in advance, the succession of most of the world’s most powerful governments from Nebuchadnezzar until the Return of Christ, a period of more than 2,600 years.]

[Notice that Micah received the same message from God that Isaiah received (Isa. 2:1-4) See No. 1, above. God said truth was to be established by the testimony of two or more witnesses (Deu. 19:15)].

Will all of the nations of the earth look to the throne of the Lord at Jerusalem for guidance rather than to their own human “wisdom”?

Christ as a Special Messenger

1. According to the Apostle John, was Christ sent with a message? Jn. 12:49-50, 14:24.

4. In Acts 10, we see that God inspired Peter to understand that the Gospel was to be preached to the Gentiles so that they could become converted (Acts 10:1-48, esp. v. 35). According to verses 36-37:

Note that Acts 10, written by Luke, and Mark 1 are two witnesses to the same facts.

6. Was the “gospel of Christ” (Mk. 1:1) only about the man, Jesus Christ, and the events of his life, or was it primarily a gospel about the coming “kingdom of God”?

7. When Christ preached, saying, “the kingdom of God is at hand” (v. 15), many thought that he meant that the Kingdom would be established at that time. Some were ready to crown Christ as King of Kings immediately. What was Christ’s response?

8. When the disciples asked if he was going to restore the kingdom “at this time”, what did he say?

9. In Mk. 1:15, the phrase “is at hand” is translated from the Greek “eggizo” which means “to bring near”, “to join (one thing to another)”, “to draw, come near, to approach” and “is at hand”. Since Christ had no intention of establishing a physical kingdom at that time, how are we to understand his statement?

“And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent you, and believe the gospel.” (Mk. 1:15).

a. Christ, who’s coming was prophesied by “all the law and the prophets” (Mat. 11:13, Lk. 22:44), had now come to them in person.

c. Human lifetimes are short and death can come sooner than we expect therefore the time to repent is “at hand”, not something to postpone until the end of our life because we don’t know when that will be (Psa. 22:29, Jas. 4:14).

d. There will be a time when the gospel will not be preached, therefore the time to repent is now (Amos 8:11, Jn. 9:4).

e. Christ’s sacrifice, the only means to salvation and entry into the kingdom of God, was now “at hand” as opposed to being a future event for the first 4,000 years of human history.

Christ’s statement here could also be understood as, “The time that all the prophets and the law spoke of, my first coming, is now fulfilled. To qualify to enter the Kingdom of God, the time is at hand to repent and believe the gospel of the Kingdom of God.”

A Kingdom consists of at least four elements: 1) a place, land or territory, in which 2) a King, rules over 3) citizens, subjects, people, with 4) rules of conduct or behavior (in order to maintain peace and harmony).

The true gospel, the complete gospel of Christ includes information about the King and his life, but also about how we can become citizens in his Kingdom (Eph. 2:13, 19), how he will rule over all the nations of the earth, and about the laws that he will use to rule that Kingdom.

The Apostles Repeated Christ’s Gospel

1. Did Christ send the twelve disciples to preach only about himself or “all things” about the Kingdom?

2. Did the Evangelist Phillip preach only Christ, or did he also preach about the Kingdom to the people of Samaria? Acts 8:4-5, 12.

False Gospels Being Preached

1. Were there false ministers preaching false gospels in the time of the apostles?

Were these false gospels, perversions of the gospel of Christ? Gal. 1:7, 2Cor. 11:26.

4. Did he indicate that all but a few would be deceived by false prophets doing great miracles? Mat. 24:24, Mk.13:22.

5. Did Paul talk about false prophets and false ministers (“ministers of Satan”) working in his time? 2Cor. 11:13-15.

6. Did Peter say there would be false prophets and false teachers in our time, “denying Christ”, denying what he said? 2Pet.2:1.

Note: All the references to false prophets, false ministers, false doctrines (2Pet. 2:1), and false brethren (2Cor. 11:26), which combined, constitute false churches (Rev. 2:9, 3:9) are in the context of what is today called “Christianity”. Christ said the “many” would be calling upon “the Lord”, but “few” would be accepted into his Kingdom (Mat. 7:13-23).

Non-christian religions, and atheists do not call Jesus Christ, Lord. Religious Jews and Muslims, while they accept Jesus as a prophet, do not accept him as the Messiah and do not call him, Lord. The “many” whom Christ will reject, are among those calling themselves “Christians”.

The Gospel of Christ, the Gospel of the Kingdom, and the Gospel of the Kingdom of God are all names of the same Gospel, the Gospel that Christ preached and his disciples preached after him. That Gospel involves the prophecies contained in “the law and the prophets” from Genesis to Malachi, the life and events of Jesus Christ while he was on the earth (Mat. – John), the testimony of his disciples (Matthew to Jude) and Christ’s revelation through John (book of Revelation).

This Gospel is the same Gospel that “God has spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:21).

The “many” Christians who Christ says he will reject from being in his Kingdom are only hearing and teaching parts of that Gospel, the part about Christ the man, and the events of his life.

They are not hearing and teaching about his World Kingdom that to be established on this earth, the terrible world events that are going to lead up to that Kingdom, what we shall be doing in that Kingdom, and how we can prepare ourselves to be Kings and Priests to serve the citizens of that Kingdom.

The “many” Christians are hearing pleas for money to build buildings and to send missionaries to foreign countries, where “christian” churches there are sending their missionaries back to this country. They are hearing about efforts and meetings and conferences to “unite” all churches, so that “the church” can bring about world peace. A peace that Christ said is not going to happen until after he returns and uses a “rod of iron” to take and maintain control over “all nations”. “All nations” includes those who claim to be Christian nations. Notice in the prophecies that there are no nations that fight on Christ’s side when he returns.

The “many” Christians are hearing “there are many roads to Christ”, but Christ said the road is “straight and narrow” and “few”, out of all those calling upon the name of the Lord, will find it.

The term Gospel means “good news”. The Good News is that the world will not be allowed to destroy itself. God is going to intervene, at the last minute, to stop the nations from destroying all human life on the earth. Christ is coming back as King of Kings to enforce peace upon the world. The Good News is there will finally be World Peace. The Gospel is the message that Christ is bringing World Peace and the details of how he is going to accomplish that and the part that we can have in it.

Millennium Promised (Paradise Promised)

“In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” (Jn. 14:2-3).

Notice that Christ went from the earth to the Father and is coming back to earth again and we are to be where Christ is at that time, not where he is now.

“And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,

. . . that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: . . . and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.

. . . but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,” (Rev. 20:2-7, in part).

Millennium Denied (Paradise Lost?)

“The assurance of such a Millennium was carefully inculcated [taught by frequent repetition and admonition] by a succession of fathers from Justin Martyr and Irenæus, who conversed with the immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lactantius, who was preceptor to the son of Constantine. Though it might not be universally received, it appears to have been the reigning sentiment of the orthodox believers; and it seems so well adapted to the desires and apprehensions of mankind that it must have contributed, in a very considerable degree, to the progress of the Christian faith. But, when the edifice of the church was almost completed, the temporary support was laid aside. The doctrine of Christ’s reign upon earth was at first treated as a profound allegory, was considered by degrees as a doubtful and useless opinion, and was at length rejected as the absurd invention of heresy and fanaticism. A mysterious prophecy, which still forms a part of the sacred canon [Bible], but which was thought to favor the exploded sentiment, has very narrowly escaped the proscription of [prohibition by] the church.”

“The duration of this glorious reign of Christ and His saints on earth, is frequently given as one thousand years. Hence it is commonly known as the "millennium", while the belief in the future realization of the kingdom is called "millenarianism" (or "chiliasm", from the Greek chilia . . .).”

“There is no trace of chiliasm to be found in the Gospels or in the Epistles of St. Paul; . . . ; everything moves in the spiritual and religious sphere;” [In other words, the Millennium is allegorical, not reality.]

“Though it is difficult to focus sharply the pictures used in the Apocalypse [Revelation] and the things expressed by them, yet there can be no doubt that the whole description refers to the spiritual combat between Christ and the Church on the one hand and the malignant powers of hell and the world on the other.”

“The most powerful adversary of millenarianism was Origen of Alexandria. In view of the Neo-Platonism on which his doctrines were founded and of his spiritual-allegorical method of explaining the Holy Scripture, he could not side with the millenarians. He combated them expressly, and, owing to the great influence which his writings exerted on ecclesiastical theology especially in Oriental countries, millenarianism gradually disappeared from the idea of Oriental Christians.”

“Jerome [c. 340-420] also adds that many Christians of that time shared the same belief; but after that millenarianism found no outspoken champion among the theologians of the Greek Church.”

“In the West, the millenarian expectations of a glorious kingdom of Christ and His just, found adherents for a long time.”

“St. Augustine finally held to the conviction that there will be no millennium. The struggle between Christ and His saints on the one hand and the wicked world and Satan on the other, is waged in the Church on earth; so the great Doctor describes it in his work De Civitate Dei. In the same book he gives us an allegorical explanation of Chapter 20 of the Apocalypse. The first resurrection, of which this chapter treats, he tells us, refers to the spiritual rebirth in baptism; the sabbath of one thousand years after the six thousand years of history is the whole of eternal life -- or in other words, the number one thousand is intended to express perfection, and the last space of one thousand years must be understood as referring to the end of the world; at all events, the kingdom of Christ, of which the Apocalypse speaks, can only be applied to the Church (De Civitate Dei, XX 5-7).”

“This explanation of the illustrious Doctor was adopted by succeeding Western theologians, and millenarianism in its earlier shape no longer received support.”

[Notice that while many of the ordinary people believed in the Millennium and some church leaders supported it, a few of the more prominent Catholic leaders succeeded in stamping out this belief within the Catholic Church and among its followers.]

“Chiliastic views disappeared all the more rapidly, because, as was remarked above, in spite of their wide diffusion even among sincere Christians, and in spite of their defense by prominent Fathers of the early [Catholic] Church, millenarianism was never held in the universal [Catholic] Church as an article of faith based on Apostolic traditions*.”

*Note: “Apostolic” defined. “Since the [Roman Catholic] Church is infallible in its teaching, it follows that if the Church of Christ still exists it must be teaching His doctrine. Hence Apostolicity of mission is a guarantee of Apostolicity of doctrine. Apostolicity of mission means that the [Catholic] Church is one moral body, possessing the mission entrusted by Jesus Christ to the Apostles, and transmitted through them and their lawful successors in an unbroken chain to the present representatives of Christ upon earth [Catholic leadership].” Source: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10307a.htm

In other words, (according to the Catholic Encyclopedia) the Catholic Church claims to be infallible, therefore whatever it teaches must be truth. Also, the Catholic Church claims an unbroken line of authority from the Apostle Peter down to the current pope.

Today there are many ideas about the return of Christ and whether the Great Tribulation and the Millennium Rule of Christ are literal or allegorical. There are many different opinions about the sequence of events. Does Christ return before, during or after the Tribulation? Is the Tribulation before, during or after the Millennium? Is the Millennium established before the return of Christ? Does the second coming of Christ refer only to Christ “living in our hearts”?

Christ said “You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” (Jn. 8:32).

Therefore the truth, along with the answers to all these questions must be available in scripture and the understanding is available with the help of the Holy Spirit.

A. Christ established the Church in 30AD as the Kingdom. The Millennium is allegorical or refers to eternity.

B. The Millennium will not come until humans, acting as the Church, bring about world peace.

C. Christ will establish his Kingdom over all the kings of the earth and that will begin the Millennium on earth.

1. One major assumption is that Christ’s second coming was in the form of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (Acts 2).

Was the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, or something that Jesus would “send” back to the disciples from Christ who sits at God’s right hand?

2. Since it is Christ who establishes his Kingdom on the earth and he is still at God’s throne, can his Kingdom be here now? Jn. 18:36.

3. Exactly when is his Kingdom to be established in place of the kingdoms that now exist on the earth? Rev. 11:15.

For over 1,000 years the Catholic Church claimed to be both the spiritual and civil Kingdom of God on earth. Forced to abandon the claim to civil authority by the secular government of Italy in 1929, it currently claims only to be the spiritual Kingdom of God on earth.

1) In 756, the “Donation of Peppin” granted temporal power to the Roman Catholic Papacy. Temporal means political and civil government authority over nations, which is different from religious or spiritual authority. The rule of Peppin’s son, Charlemagne the Great, is considered the beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.

2) G. S. Godkin wrote the following about [Pope] Leo XII, who succeeded [Pope] Pius VII in 1823.

"He was a ferocious fanatic, whose object was to destroy all the improvements of modern times, and force society back to the government, customs, and ideas of mediaeval days. In his insensate rage against progress he stopped vaccination; consequently, small-pox devastated the Roman provinces during his reign, along with many other curses which his brutal ignorance brought upon the inhabitants of those beautiful and fertile regions. He curtailed the old privileges of the municipalities, granted new privileges to the religious communities, and enlarged the power of the clergy to the extent that bishops and cardinals had the power of life and death in their hands. He set the Inquisition to work with new vigour; and though torture had been nominally abolished in 1815, new kinds of torment were invented, quite as effectual as the cord, the thumbscrew, and the rack of old times. He renewed the persecution of the Jews; drove them back into the Ghetto from whence they had begun to emerge, rebuilt its walls, and had them locked in at night; and issued an edict ordering all Israelites to sell their goods within a given time on pain of confiscation." [G. S. Godkin, Life of Victor Emmanuel II, Macmillan, (1880), pp. xiii-xiv]

3) “The temporal dominion of the Pope is most ancient in point of time. He commenced, as we have seen, to enjoy full sovereignty about the middle of the eighth century. The Pope was, consequently, a temporal ruler for upwards of 1,100 years. The Papal dynasty is, therefore, the oldest in Europe, and probably the world. The Pope was the temporal ruler of Rome four hundred years before England subjugated Ireland, and seven hundred before the first European pressed his foot on the American continent.”

“For our part we have every confidence that ere long the clouds which now overshadow the civil throne of the Pope will be removed by the breath of a righteous God, and that his temporal power will be re-established on a more permanent basis than ever.”

Source: “The Faith of our Fathers”, James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, 1876

4) “For practical purposes, the temporal power of the popes ended on 20 September 1870, when the Italian Army . . .” took Rome by force from Pope Pius IX (and his force of Swiss guard and 14,000 foreign troops).

“Formally, the temporal power ended in 1929 with the treaty between the Vatican State and Italy (Concordat), when the papacy accepted to have no more interests on Italy, its closest neighbour, and therefore on any other country.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temporal_power

5) “He [Christ] proclaimed and established the Kingdom of God . . .”.From: “The Credo of the People of God”, Pope Paul VI, June 30,1968. http://www.newadvent.org/library/docs_pa06cr.htm

4. Who controls and influences the human governments of the world today? Lk. 4:5-8. Notice that Christ did not contradict Satan’s statements.

Notice also that the controlling authority has not changed since the time of Christ and will continue until Christ returns (Rev. 11:15). This includes the time of the Holy Roman Empire.

6. Did Christ give Peter and the other apostles the authority to rule over kingdoms or nations? Acts 1:6-8.

8. Did Christ give Peter or the disciples authority, or rulership, or “dominion” over others? Mat. 20:20-27.

Note: Since Christ could not give the disciples civil authority until he assumes his position as King of Kings, then Mat. 20 can only be referring to spiritual authority, the authority over the faith of others.

9. Did Paul understand that the apostles did not have authority over anyone’s faith? 2Cor. 1:24.

NLT, “But that does not mean we want to tell you exactly how to put your faith into practice. . . .”

10. Were the disciples told by Christ to “rule”, or to teach and preach? Mat. 28:19-20.

Note: An ambassador is a representative of a foreign government. They have no authority in their host country. They are guests (pilgrims and strangers, Heb. 11:13, 1Pet. 1:1, 2:11).

12. How long is the teaching and preaching (without ruling) to continue? Mat. 24:14.

Christ did not establish his Kingdom at his first coming, but he established the teaching and preaching about his Kingdom to prepare the way for that Kingdom to be established at his second coming (Rev. 20:4-5).

1. When will “all things be restituted” (restored to the way they were before the disobedience of Adam and Eve)?

2. What did Christ say would happen if he did not return? Mat. 24:22, Mk. 13:20.

4. When the saints rule for the 1,000 years of the Millennium, who is ruling with them? Rev. 20:4.

This was the teaching and belief of the followers of Christ for 300-400 years after Christ, until certain Church leaders began teaching against it.

This is the teaching about “the end” that Christ, as Lord, has been announcing since “the beginning” (Isa. 46:9-10).

Christ told the disciples about a fixed sequence of events that would occur before his second coming, a very visible coming (Mat. 24, Mk. 13, Lk. 21). About 60 years later, Christ gave John a vision, a revealing, of more specific world events to occur shortly before his second coming (Rev. [all]).

Jesus stressed that we should “watch” for these events (Mat. 24:32-33, 42-43, 25:1-13, Mk. 13:34-35, 37, Lk. 12:35-48, Rev. 3:3).

1. Did the people think that Christ was going to establish his Kingdom at that time?

A. Who is the nobleman who goes away to receive power and authority? Mat. 25:13-15, 26:64, Mk. 16:19, Jn. 16:5, Acts 5:31, 1Pet. 3:22.

Does Lk. 19:12-15 describe a period of time between Christ’s leaving to receive his authority and his return?

This would be the current time in which we live, between Christ’s first and second coming.

5. Was a specific gospel to be preached in all of the world before the end comes?

8. Did Paul preach only about Christ the person, or did he preach about the Kingdom of God? Acts 28:30-31.

9. Which gospel must be preached in all of the world before the end comes? Mat. 24:14?

The NKJV has, “Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers, not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy, report or letter supposed to have come from us, saying that the day of the Lord has already come.”

12. Was there to come a “falling away” from the true Gospel, a major apostasy from the truth before the return of Christ? Mat. 24:10, 12.

Compare Mat. 24:5-7 with Rev. 6:2-8. Both speak of false prophets (white horse), war (red horse), famine (black horse) and death (pale horse). This is a natural sequence. Wars are often started over religious differences and they usually result in famine, pestilence and death.

Christ comes riding a white horse and leading the armies of heaven on white horses (Rev. 19:11-16), but he, the true Christ, comes after the events of the Tribulation. The false Christ of Mat. 24, which is also the horseman on a white horse in Rev. 6, appears as a result of “the Lamb” opening one of the seals (Rev. 6:1) at the start of the Tribulation.

Notice that there are two sequences of these events. One began in the first century and included the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in 70 AD. In Mat. 24:6, Christ said the “end is not yet”. The elements of false gospels, wars, famine and death have continuously existed throughout the world for the past 2,000 years.

But Christ described another sequence of these events on a worldwide scale, “in all the world” (v. 14). This final, global series of events will result in the Great Tribulation.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.

And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.” (Mat. 24:21-22).

2. To what previous and great world event did Christ compare his second coming? Mat. 24:37-39.

How long was that warning preached? 1Pet. 3:20, Heb. 11:7. Compare Gen. 6:10-14, 5:32, and Gen. 7:11. Noah is called a preacher (2Pet. 2:5). But even if he had not preached a warning, his public construction of the ark for about 100 years was testimony to what was coming.

Christ said the people would behave in the same way before his second coming as the people did before the Flood. They heard that it was going to happen but they refused to believe until it was too late for them to do anything to save themselves (Mat. 24:37-39).

4. Did Christ mean that only the original apostles would not know the time of his return, or did he mean that we, today, would also not know the time?

In Lk. 12:43, notice Christ’s reference to the servant being blessed “when he comes”.

The apostles did not have the benefit of the information given through John in Revelation until 90 AD and many or most of them were dead by then. The events of Mat. 24, that Christ gave in answer to the time of the end, had already started in their time.

Christ clearly said, no man will know the day or the hour (except the Father, Mat. 24:36), but he told us to “watch” (v. 42) and that those in Jerusalem could recognize the time to flee out of Jerusalem (v. 16) which would indicate that, if we are watching world events, we can recognize the year and perhaps the month or week. He gave specific signs by which we would know that “it is near, even at the doors” (vs.32-33).

5. If Noah’s building the ark was a warning to the pre-Flood world, isn’t the preaching of this gospel of the Kingdom and the events leading up to it a warning to the world that the end of this age is near? Mat. 24:14.

6. Some religious groups are teaching that the Kingdom of God is the Church (although there are thousands of contradictory and mutually condemning groups). Others are teaching that the Kingdom is merely and only “within us”, in our hearts.

Note: Lk. 17:21 is translated in the KJV to say “the kingdom of God is within you” and, depending on the punctuation used, could be read two different ways:

1) Neither shall they say, “Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you”. (KJV)

2) Neither shall they say, ‘See here!’ or, ‘See there!’ For, behold, the kingdom of God is within you. (NKJV, NLT, NASB, by use of capitals) (NIV, ESV, RSV, ASV, Young, Darby, Webster, HNV accomplish the same effect using quotation marks).

[In the original Greek manuscripts, there was no punctuation, capitalization, verse breaks, or chapters.]

In the first version, Christ is negating the statement that the kingdom is within us. In the second version, Christ is making the statement.

The word translated here as “within” is entos, which can mean either “among” or “within”.

Both of these concepts are being taught today, that the Kingdom is already among us in the form of the Church, or that it only exists within us, in our hearts.

While Christ, who is to become the King of a world Kingdom at his return, was certainly “among” them at that time, he was not yet King and his Kingdom over all the earth was not yet established.

He did not address the disciples until verse 22. In verse 21, he is answering the Pharisees and the Kingdom was certainly not “within” them as they were continuing to reject Christ as the Lamb and as the coming King.

In verse 20, the Pharisees are “demanding” an answer from Christ about when the Kingdom is coming. To this, Christ answers that it does not come by watching for it. In other words, neither the Jewish authorities of that time or any other, nor mankind in whole, can facilitate or establish that Kingdom.

In verse 23, Christ emphasizes that we are to ignore anyone who says “The Kingdom is here.”(within us) or “The Kingdom is there.” (among us).

In verse 24, Christ says the arrival of his Kingdom will be like lightening from one part of the sky to another, in other words, highly visible with bright lights and lots of noise. Christ paints quite a different picture from that of a warm fuzzy feeling in our hearts or some kind of consensus among conflicting groups.

7. Some groups are teaching that the Kingdom is only allegorical or that it is eternity, or that it is far off in the future. What was Peter’s inspired response to these teachings? 2Pet. 3:3-13.

1. God’s prophet Daniel revealed the understanding of a dream, of the King of Babylon, that revealed a sequence of temporary world kingdoms followed by a permanent “forever” kingdom (Dan. 2:36-45, esp. v. 44).

The kingdoms were the Assyrian/Babylonian Empire under King Nebuchadnezzer, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Macedonian Empire and the fourth kingdom (symbolized by the legs, feet and toes) was the Holy Roman Empire, which split into the Eastern and Western Empires before further disintegrating into multiple nations of Europe, North Africa, Asia Minor and the Mid East (v. 43).

The eternal Kingdom will destroy the united forces of these multiple kingdoms at one time (v.44).

2. Did God’s prophet Joel wrote about these nations uniting against Christ? Joel 3:2.

5. Did Daniel have another dream in which the first four kingdoms are symbolized by four beasts? Dan. 7:1-7, 17-18.

6. Is this fourth beast or kingdom destroyed when the “Ancient of days” takes the throne as King? Dan. 7:9-11.

Note: This fourth beast is described as different from all the beasts before it and having ten horns. In the dream of Nebuchadnezzer, the image or statue had ten toes. At the Fall of the Holy Roman Empire, the “kingdom” broke into many smaller kingdoms, the forerunners of the modern nations of eastern and western Europe. Through his prophets, God reveals that the modern descendants of these same nations will reunite to fight against Christ at his return.

7. Is the restored fourth kingdom, a kingdom that rules the whole earth? Dan. 7:23.

8. Is the restored fourth kingdom one that brings peace or destruction upon the earth?

9. Is it the fourth kingdom that Christ destroys to establish his Kingdom on the earth? Dan. 2:44.

The fourth kingdom from the Babylonian Empire was the Holy Roman Empire. It disintegrated into multiple, smaller kingdoms starting about 396 AD with the loss of Greece and the eastern parts of the empire. This empire disintegrated into separate nations without the return of Christ as King. And those nations were not destroyed.

But the prophecies of Daniel show only one “image” with four sections (Dan. 2:31-33), before the return of Christ, who destroys the nations represented by the feet (Dan. 2:44). For Christ to destroy the “feet” of that image means that the nations that formerly separated from the Holy Roman Empire must unite again to form a single world government (Dan. 7:23) that causes destruction on the earth (Rev. 11:18) until Christ’s intervention.

Since the end of World War One, nations have attempted to form a political organization that holds world power. The League of Nations failed. The United Nations has little power. But the nations of western and eastern Europe have been making progress toward a European Union with a united economy and ultimately, a united military force.

However it forms, there will be a group of nations that are united and whose power is destroyed by Christ at his return.

10. Dan. 2, Dan 7 and Luke 19 are all references to one eternal Kingdom, the Kingdom of Christ. Will it be another human government like we have today or will it be directly ruled by Christ? Dan. 2:44, 7:13-14.

11. Compare the sequence of events in Mark 13 with Luke 21. (See all of both chapters.)

12. Does the resurrection occur at or immediately after the sound of a great trumpet? 1Cor. 15:52-53.

13. Seven angels with seven trumpets are described in Rev. 8:2. At the sound of which of those trumpets, does Christ return? Rev. 10:7, Rev. 11:15.

14. Is the resurrection of those who receive a “reward” at the seventh trumpet? Rev. 11:15, 18.

Notice that 1Cor. 15:52-53 and Rev. 11:15, 18 are both describing the same event since this is when the first resurrection, the resurrection of the righteous, takes place. Some evangelicals teach that these are two separate events separated by a seven-year tribulation.

When that seventh trumpet blasts, everyone on earth who has spiritual understanding, will know that Christ has returned.

Some teach that Christ’s second coming will be a “secret rapture”, during which the righteous will simply disappear, perhaps leaving behind only the clothes they were wearing. Scenarios have been proposed that cars on the freeways will suddenly be driverless, airplanes full of people suddenly without a pilot. Two people will be talking and suddenly, one will disappear. According to this concept, the world will not see Christ.

“The idea of a rapture is said to have originated with a Spanish Catholic Jesuit named Ribera, in 1580 A.D. (See "The Rapture of the Wicked", by Stephen E. Jones and "The Rapture of the Saints", by Duncan McDougall.) During a time of much bloodshed in Europe as Catholics persecuted and killed their opponents, this doctrine said that Christ was going to come and secretly snatch away the Church before a great seven-year tribulation, when the "anti-Christ" would rule the world. This futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation, along with the future coming of the Antichrist, was designed to take the pressure off the Pope, who was universally regarded as being the antichrist by His opponents.”

“In fundamentalist Christian eschatology [future events], the Rapture is the name given to the future event in which it is believed that Jesus will descend from heaven, accompanied by the spirits of all the saints of God, both from the pre-incarnation period and after, who have passed on prior to the rapture, and then the bodies of the saints are joined with their spirits in a resurrection - the First Resurrection - to meet the Lord. Immediately after this, all true Christians alive on the earth are simultaneously transported to meet the Lord and those who have preceded them in the air as well, all, having been transformed into immortal bodies like Jesus' body, often referred to as the "resurrection body". This doctrine gained popularity in the 1830s, and more recently in the 1970s, with proponents of the premillennialist, and in particular the dispensationalist [different rules for different people or different times], interpretations of scripture.” Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rapture

More recently, it was popular in the 1990’s due to a number of rapture themed movies and also, a book series titled “Left Behind”.

9. Some say that Jn. 14:19 shows that Christ will come secretly and invisibly. Was Christ talking about his future second coming or about his imminent departure? Jn. 14:19, 25, 28-31, 16:5, 16, 18:1, 12-13.

Christ kept the Passover with his disciples. He spoke to them that evening, during the Passover meal, and probably while leading them to a garden near the Cedron stream. This is where he left them to pray privately and kept returning to find them asleep. This is where he was arrested. The next day he was crucified. He later appeared to them, in small groups or all together, several times over the next several weeks, fulfilling Jn. 16:16.

Note: Rev. 1:7 says that “every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him”. While it was only one Roman soldier that pierced him to make sure he was dead, that soldier was not the only one responsible for his death.

Zech. 12:10 shows that everyone who has sinned, all mankind (Rom. 3:23) is responsible for the death of Christ. Since there is a distinction between “every (one)” and “they (who are responsible for his death)”, it would appear that both the righteous (who are “watching” for his return) and the unrighteous (unrepentant) will all see him at his return.

10. Does Christ come secretly, invisibly, or with a “shout, the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God”? 1Ths. 4:16-17.

11. Is everyone resurrected at this time or only those who are “dead in Christ”? v. 16.

12. Is everyone who is alive at that time to be changed to spirit then or only those who have overcome sin? Rev. 2:26, 3:21.

13. Who is it that comes with Christ from the third heaven, the heaven of God’s throne?

The saints, or the angels? Mk. 8:38, Rev. 19:14, Mat. 26:53, 24:31, 25:31, 2Ths. 1:7, Heb. 12:22, 1Pet. 3:22, Rev. 5:11.

Through his prophets, God has revealed the sequence of events leading up to the return of Jesus Christ as King of Kings.

Christ preached a gospel (good news) about himself and about his coming world kingdom that will bring peace to the whole world.

Christ explained that mankind will not achieve world peace, either through political unity of world governments or through the efforts of the world’s churches. In fact, mankind will destroy all life off the face of the earth unless God intervenes to stop it (Mat. 24:22).

It is impossible for mankind to achieve peace (Rom.3:17). Human history has proven this and continues to prove it daily. Church organizations cannot achieve peace among themselves, much less among the rest of the world.

God has allowed mankind 6,000 years to prove that mankind does not know the way to peace or happiness apart from God and his way of life, his laws of love toward God and love toward neighbor.

The world is not happy. The world is full of unhappiness, greed, lust, envy, misery, suffering, and wars.

“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Pro. 14:12).

“. . . I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (Jn. 10:10).

People will learn how to live happy lives, how to live peacefully with everyone else. There will be no war, no crime, no injustice. There will be peace, safety and happiness.

“. . . and you shall call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” (Mat. 1:21).

The whole world will resist Christ as King but he will take control by force and the dead will be buried and their weapons will be remanufactured into farm tools.

The “waste places” will be renewed. The earth will be cleaned up of its pollution and destruction. It will become a fruitful garden.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts; There shall yet old men and old women dwell in the streets of Jerusalem, and every man with his staff in his hand for very age. And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in the streets thereof.

And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness.” (Zech. 8:4-5, 8).