The King and His Coming Kingdom!
The second coming of Jesus was never meant to be about the “anti-Christ,” “judgment,” “signs,” and “prophecies,” but rather it was and will forever be about the establishing of God’s Kingdom upon the earth through the person of Jesus Christ.
The final place for God’s people was never heaven, but rather it is on the earth, ruling and reigning with Jesus (Revelation 5:10). Today’s message is aimed at setting your focus on Jesus, the King and His coming Kingdom!
SERIES TEXT
Matthew 6:9b-13 (KJV), “9 Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.”
THE KINGDOM OF GOD DEFINED
The Kingdom of God is the Father’s dominion over all creation ruled by His Son and our King, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit.
SERMON TEXT
Matthew 24:1-14, “1 Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” 3 As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains.
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
- FALSE CHRISTS (vs.4-5): Hundreds all over the world, with Apollo Quiboloy in the Philippines and the “Mother-god cult” in South Korea being the largest.
- WARS & RUMORS OF WARS (vs. 6-7a): Over 120 major wars and uprisings since World War II.
- FAMINES (v. 7b): 850 million people starving with 1.2 billion living in extreme poverty.
- EARTHQUAKES (v. 7b): “Between 1900 and 2004, the average yearly rate of quakes of magnitude 8 and larger was 0.65, Lay told Live Science. In the past 10 years, that rate jumped to 1.8 — an increase of almost a factor of 3, he said.”
- CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION (v. 9): Each month on average 322 Christians are martyred (3,864 a year), 214 churches and properties are destroyed, and 772 acts of violence against are done against Christians (abuse, arrest, rape, etc.).
- TURNING AWAY (v. 10): The numbers of Christians and churches is reaching record lows in both Europe and America.
- INCREASE OF WICKEDNESS (v. 12): Abortion, homosexuality, and violence.
- GOSPEL PREACHED TO ALL NATIONS (v. 14): The gospel is reaching the 10/40 window with missionaries, TV, and the internet!
For more details and the “End Times Sermon Series,” click here.
TIMES OF REFRESHING
Acts 3:19-21, “19 Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20 and that he may send the Messiah, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21 Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”