THE KINGDOM, THE POWER AND THE GLORY - Pt.2

Part Two: The Coming Kingdom

David's Prayer: Riches and Honour Come of God

When Jesus taught his disciples to close their prayer with the words "For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever," he was echoing something the Spirit of God had already placed in the heart of David a thousand years before. In 1 Chronicles 29, King David stood before all the congregation of Israel and prayed with an extraordinary revelation of God's sovereign greatness:

"Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel our father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name."

1 Chronicles 29:10-13

What a mentality. What a way of thinking about God. David understood that riches and honour do not come from the devil — they come from God. He knew that it is God's prerogative to make great, to give strength, to exalt and to establish. This is the theology of the kingdom: all things are his, all power is his, all glory is his — and he exercises that sovereignty in the affairs of men, exalting those who walk in his ways and bringing to nothing every power that opposes him.

Jesus reaffirmed the same reality. Thine is the kingdom. Thine is the power. Thine is the glory — forever.

The Two Kingdoms: A Reminder

To understand what God is doing in the earth today, and what he intends to bring to pass, we must keep clear the distinction between the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God.

The kingdom of God is spiritual and moral — it is governed by God the Father, and has always existed. It controls the spiritual and moral life of its members, and it is entered only through the new birth. The kingdom of heaven, headed by Jesus Christ, is God's political structure whose present purpose is to establish the kingdom of God in the hearts of men through the preaching of the gospel.

When you were born again, you became a member of the kingdom of God. But God also calls you to function actively in the structure of the kingdom of heaven — to be a working participant in the great mission of advancing the gospel and transforming the world. Going to heaven is not the whole of the Christian calling. There are souls to win, cities to be discipled, and a world to be brought under the reign of Jesus Christ. Hear the words of the prayer again: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6:10).

This was the vision that burned in the heart of the Master. He wanted to see things happen in the earth as they happen in heaven — no trouble, no sickness, no war, no poverty of soul. Everything functioning in its rightful order under God. And he looks for men and women who will catch that vision and work it with him.

Signs of the Second Coming

In Matthew 24, Jesus laid out for his disciples the unmistakable signs of his Second Coming. Among those signs, several remain to be fulfilled. The world is moving rapidly toward the moment described in Scripture, and those who know their Bibles can read the times with clarity.

Among the final signs that will precede the Second Coming of Christ are: the invasion of Israel by hostile nations; a major peace accord guaranteeing Israel's safety for seven years; the Rapture of the church; and the great tribulation under the Antichrist. The stage for all of these is being set before our eyes.

The world, through the mechanisms of global media and political discourse, is quietly shifting the language it uses to describe Christians who hold firmly to Biblical truth. What was once called "religious fanaticism" — going beyond the teachings of one's faith — has been replaced by a more insidious term: "religious fundamentalism." A fundamentalist is one who holds dearly and tenaciously to the foundational tenets of his faith. When the world begins to condemn fundamentalism, it condemns every believer who will not compromise the word of God.

The agenda is plain to those who have understanding. There are those who seek to bring in a one-world religion — merging all faiths into a single system in which no one holds absolutely to the teachings of his own tradition. Fundamentalists of every faith who refuse this merger are being positioned as the enemy of world peace. The Bible identifies this coming global religious system as Mystery Babylon. And the stage is being set for exactly that.

Get wisdom, and with all your getting, get understanding (Proverbs 4:7). Know your Bible, and you will be able to read the world. Jesus said himself, "Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?" (Matthew 16:3).

The Rapture: Occupy Till He Comes

Before the full weight of the great tribulation falls upon the earth, the church will be taken. The Rapture — the sudden, glorious gathering of all born-again believers — will catch the world entirely unprepared. The Apostle Paul describes it:

"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."

1 Corinthians 15:52-53

The dead in Christ shall rise first. Then those who are alive and ready — those who have been occupying themselves faithfully with the work of the kingdom — shall be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air. It will happen in a moment: not a minute, not sixty seconds, but a split second. Two friends will be together and one will be taken; the other left. A man will discover that his wife is gone. Children born again will have vanished from their homes. The world will scramble to explain it, but those who knew their Bibles will know exactly what happened.

Jesus gave one simple instruction to his servants concerning his return: "Occupy till I come" (Luke 19:13). Keep working for the kingdom until he returns. Be found busy — not idle, not distracted, not consumed by the fashions and vanities of this world — but invested in souls, in the gospel, and in the work of the kingdom of God. One day the last sermon will have been preached. One day the last Sunday service will have ended. And men will not know that they just had the last one. Be ready.

The Battle of Armageddon and the Return of Christ

After the church is raptured, after seven years of tribulation under the Antichrist, the nations of the world will gather to make war against Israel. This is the Battle of Armageddon — the final, cataclysmic confrontation of world powers against the nation God has chosen. In the midst of that desperate hour, Israel — convicted by the preaching of the 144,000 Jewish witnesses — will cry out to the God of their fathers. And the heavens will open.

"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: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: 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."

Matthew 24:29-30

The prophet Zechariah saw the same glorious moment from afar:

"Then shall the Lord go forth, and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, and there shall be a very great valley... and the Lord my God shall come, and all the saints with thee."

Zechariah 14:3-5

He is coming with all his saints — those who were taken at the Rapture and spent those seven years in heaven with him. They return with him now. The kingdom is to be established. And when Jesus steps onto the Mount of Olives, it will split in two. Satan will be arrested and cast into the bottomless pit. And the governments of this world will bow before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The Clouds of His Coming: The Saints of Old

When Daniel saw this event in the night visions, he wrote:

"I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."

Daniel 7:13-14

These clouds are not the atmospheric clouds of earth. They are the cloud of witnesses spoken of in Hebrews 12 — the great company of the redeemed. When Jesus arose from the dead, many of the Old Testament saints arose with him. The Bible tells us that many graves were opened, and saints came out and appeared to people in Jerusalem. These were the ones who had waited for the Redeemer through the ages — Isaac, Jacob, David, Job, Elijah, Joshua — all who had trusted in God's promise of a Messiah.

When Jesus ascended, this great company ascended with him. They were the cloud that received him at his ascension, as recorded in Acts 1. He went up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. And when Jesus reached the gates of heaven, the cry went up:

"Lift up your heads, O ye gates; and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. He is the King of glory."

Psalm 24:7-8, 10

He entered as the first man ever to be born again — the firstborn from the dead — leading a great triumphal procession of the saints into glory. And now, at his Second Coming, he descends again: this time not to the grave, but to the earth, with power and great glory, with every saint who went up with him, to reign as King over all the earth. Hallelujah!

The Millennial Kingdom: Thy Will Be Done in Earth

When Jesus establishes his kingdom in the earth, his headquarters will be in Jerusalem. The saints who return with him will be distributed across the world as governors, reigning with Christ. Nations will make annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The law will go forth from Zion. The word of the Lord will flow from Jerusalem. Micah the prophet saw this day with unmistakable clarity:

"But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it."

Micah 4:1-4

No more wars. No more terrorism. No more fear. Nations beating their weapons into tools of agriculture. Every man sitting in peace under his own vine and fig tree. This is what the prayer means — "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." This is not poetry. This is prophecy. And it will come to pass, because the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken it.

On that day, the light of the stars will diminish because Jesus will be the light. And those of us who are with him — the saints returning from heaven — will shine all around the world, covering it with the glory of his coming. Heaven is a perfect place. There is no trouble in heaven. Everything works in heaven. Jesus comes to make it that way in the earth. And he is looking for men and women to share that vision and work it with him.

Your Responsibility in the Kingdom

Brothers and sisters, we are closer to these things now than they were in Bible days. We are the generation watching the world run headlong toward the fulfilment of these prophecies. The signs are converging. The stage is being set. And in the midst of it all, Jesus is calling for men and women who will take their place in the kingdom of heaven — who will give themselves fully to the work of the gospel, who will understand that their lives are not their own, and who will stand before the judgement seat of Christ with something to show for the time they had.

We are not just citizens of heaven waiting to depart. We are ambassadors of the coming kingdom, working to advance its influence in the earth today. Every soul won is a victory for the kingdom. Every act of generosity toward the gospel is an investment in eternity. Every sacrifice made so that the word of God can reach further is recorded in heaven.

There will be those who arrive at the judgement seat of Christ having spent their resources on themselves — on luxuries, on keeping up appearances, on things that had nothing to do with the kingdom — while the Spirit of God was speaking to them about giving, about serving, about going. And there will be those who arrive having denied themselves and poured their lives into the kingdom, and God will call up their names with great joy.

Which will you be? Make up your mind. Be decisive. Understand your personal responsibility in the kingdom of God. Be passionate about Jesus and his coming. Let the cry of your life be the cry of the Master: "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven."

For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory — forever. Amen.