Dr. David Jeremiah: END TIMES - BE THE GOOD NEWS | David Jeremiah Sermons [10:11-15:19]

The gospel of the kingdom isn't any different really than the gospel that we know, the gospel of Jesus Christ. It was preached during Jesus' life, and the answer sounds complicated but I'll keep it simple. The word kingdom is short for the king's domain. Jesus is the king, and we are part of his kingdom. When we accept Jesus Christ, he sets up his throne in our hearts. He becomes king of our lives. So when he came to bring the gospel, he brought his kingdom. We are now part of his kingdom because he lives in our heart. Now most of you know that's not the end of the story, because one day after the rapture, after the tribulation, he's going to return to this earth, will be with him and the angels, and he's going to set up his earthly kingdom on this earth. And for 1,000 years he will literally reign as king without any sin or jealousy or any of the other things that happen in earthly kingdoms. It will be a perfect kingdom and it will be the best time the earth has ever seen. That is what we call the millennium. That's the kingdom. So get this straight. The kingdom of God is in your heart now, but the kingdom of God will also be in the world on the earth during the period of millennium. There's a famous theological phrase for this. It goes like this. God's kingdom is already but not yet. It's already but not yet. When Jesus came to our world the first time he planted the kingdom on this planet and filtering the nations and making the church a part of his kingdom as he came into our hearts. Colossians says it this way, he has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of his son of love. When we became Christians we became members of the kingdom of God. And when he comes again he will establish his theocratic kingdom in Israel and reign there for a thousand years. So there you have it. That's the kingdom. And so in one sense Jesus kingdom is already here in another sense it is still to be established. In Mark's version of the Olivet this course Jesus was recorded as simply saying and the gospel must first be preached to all the nations. That's the key point. Both the current kingdom of the church and the coming kingdom of the millennial age come from the historic fact of Jesus' death and resurrection. The same gospel that makes you and me instant members of God's kingdom right now will be the powerhouse that allows Christ to rule the world after his return when he sets up his kingdom. There's not more than one gospel men and women. There's only one gospel. It's the gospel of Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of his domain. It's the gospel of our heart. It's the gospel of the millennium. It's the gospel of God. So as we study Matthew 24 we'll see how this works out of a kind of double fulfillment. Let me tell you what I mean. The message of the gospel first of all will be preached before the rapture. We're living in what we might call the gospel age. The gospel is being preached all over the world in ways that many of us are quite unaware of. There is a flourishing of the gospel in the midst of the decadence of our culture. Hard to understand but the darker the night becomes and the more desperate people become the more they grab for anything that offers hope and the gospel of Jesus Christ is eternal hope. We live in a terrible time culturally and in a wonderful time for the opportunities that we have to share Christ with our loved ones and friends. The first verses of the Olivet Discords carry on and already but not yet flavor. They describe the days leading up to the rapture of the church. And then we have to rewind those words because after the rapture those things that we're beginning to see little pieces of now they develop into a full orbed experience when the rapture happens what happens when the rapture comes the Holy Spirit is removed. You know what his second name is he's called the restrainer. Can you imagine this world without the restrainer when the Holy Spirit is removed all the people in whom he exists are gone all of the impetus for good is taken away no wonder the tribulation happens no wonder the world becomes the most awful place it has ever been. So when Jesus said the kingdom is going to be preached to the end of the world he was predicting that it would be preached during our lifetime and afterwards during our lifetime he was predicting that during the deterioration of world events during the epics leading up to his return there would be the preaching of the gospel the gospel is being preached now I am preaching the gospel. And the one positive trend amidst the signs that we have discussed so far is that the gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all of the world as a witness to all the nations and then the end will come.