Jesus told His followers to pray His Kingdom would come. But, what did He mean? The truth may challenge your long-held beliefs.
Transcript
It seems that just about everyone celebrates Jesus' first coming as a baby at Christmas time. But did you know there's another day that Jesus taught His followers to observe, believe it or not it's much more important than Christmas. No it's not Easter. It's a day intricately link to Jesus' significant teaching for us to pray Thy Kingdom come. Have you ever wondered exactly what He meant? And what about that day? On Beyond Today we'll examine the surprising connection between that special and Jesus' instruction to pray. Stay with us as we discuss Thy Kingdom come.If you ask people about the return of Christ or try to research the topic you'll quickly find that there is almost no end to the opinion it. Some deny that Christ will return to earth while others say He's already returned and is working through the church. Now still others say He'll return secretly some time in the future. Some even teach that Jesus didn't really mean that He'd be returning at all. It can be pretty confusing, so which opinion is right? Will He be returning or was it just a story, a metaphor? Is there a way that you can know the truth on the subject? Yes, the place to begin is by going to the source.You can get much closer to the source by following Jesus' own words. That's where we need to go. So what exactly did Jesus say? First do you know what Jesus preached and what did He teach? The theme of Jesus Christ's message was the good news of the Kingdom of God. At the very beginning of His ministry it says, Jesus came to Galilee preaching the Gospel of the Kingdom of God. Now what does your church say about Jesus? It's interesting that many churches preach about Jesus, take Him into your heart. Now that leaves a very crucial component out of the picture. I mean have you repented? Have you accepted Jesus and been baptized? There is more. Now what goes beyond that? Well it's the Kingdom of God. This is what you're told by Jesus to do. He says your goal needs to be His Kingdom. Make it your main concern, strive for that Kingdom and make sure you never lose sight of that Kingdom. Jesus actually commanded it. He saidMatthew 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.You see, seeking to enter the Kingdom of God should be your top priority. Christ in His very own words described His purpose. He said, I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also because for this purpose I have been sent. Now this is critical, Christ was not teaching an ethereal Kingdom or a Kingdom in your heart. He talked about a literal place. During His earthly ministry Jesus repeatedly spoke about His return to establish the Kingdom of God. In fact its interesting that Jesus made a distinction between His first coming and His second coming.When He was standing before Pontius Pilot just before being crucified he asked Jesus a specific question. He asked Him, are you a king? Now do you know what Jesus answered? He specifically said, you say rightly that I am a king, for this cause I am born and for this cause I have come into the world. So Jesus said Himself, His purpose was to establish the Kingdom of God on earth to be king over that Godly government. In fact He also told Pilot that my kingdom is not of this world, my kingdom is not from here. You see Jesus was showing that His rulership would come but it was for a time in the future.Did you notice that Christ was very specific, very precise in describing His coming Kingdom? When He spoke about the Kingdom of God He was talking about a very real, literal government, a structured one, an organized administration under His own authority as king. In fact Jesus taught about the Kingdom of God and He meant God's government and that it would be established on the earth, led and administered by Jesus Christ Himself. Now will He really come again to bring about that government?There was an interesting survey that was done recently and it found that Americans are divided over whether they believe Jesus Christ will actually return by 2050. The Pew Research Center did this very recent survey and you know what they found? They found that 46% of those that responded, now that's almost half, they said that Jesus' second coming probably or definitely won't happen. Now it's interesting when you divide up the numbers the found that Catholics that were surveyed, you know how many believe that it won't happen? Sixty eight percent! There are scores of religious people who don't believe what their Savior taught. Now you may find it interesting that there are even non-Christians, there's some 20 % in a recent Newsweek poll that believe Jesus will return. Non-Christians believe that Christ will return. Now here's a surprising video clip of Iranian President Ahmadinejad, this speech made very people angry but one section was quite remarkably. Take a look.Now your Bible doesn't teach about a messenger of Islam returning with Christ but it's interesting that some non-believers realize that it is a divine promise that Jesus will return and establish that wonderful age of the Kingdom of God on earth. In fact there's a powerful teaching that is often overlooked. It's Christ's instruction often called the Lord's prayer. Now what did Jesus teach His followers to pray? Right off the bat He told them to pray Thy Kingdom come. Now have you ever wondered exactly what that meant? Well He was reinforcing the idea that He, Jesus, was going to return to earth and set up the government of God. There is a clear and direct statement about His promise to return and it's found over in the book of John. John 14:2, here's where Jesus told the disciplesJohn 14:2 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.Well what was He preparing? The Kingdom of God, He was going to bring it back with Him, He promised, I will come again and receive you to myself that where I am there you may be also. You see Christ spoke unmistakably about a genuine Kingdom, an authentic government that He would establish right here on earth. He taught that He'd return to establish the Kingdom of God. Now some read those words and they think well that all changed after the crucifixion. How could you know that it didn't? Well something remarkable happened. After the crucifixion over a 40 day period immediately after Christ's death and resurrection Christ was seen by scores of His followers over in the book of Acts.Acts 1:3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.So Christ Himself showed that it didn't end with His crucifixion, it didn't change with His crucifixion. Those who taught in Jesus Christ footsteps taught the very same message that He taught. How many writers of the New Testament do you think spoke about Jesus coming back to earth? Everyone of them, everyone of the writers of the New Testament taught and wrote about what Christ taught about. The early church not only believed that Christ would return but they dynamically taught and they anticipated the coming Kingdom of God.So when you put all of it together you see that Jesus clearly mapped out the path to His return. Did you know that He reveals that plan for His second coming through the meaning of a very special day. Now it seems that most celebrate Christmas and what does that focus on? Well it focuses on Christ's first coming as a baby. But there is another day that Jesus taught His followers to keep that embodies the fact that He's returning to earth to establish that Kingdom, your Creator reveals that precise turning point in human history. Christ Himself prophesied about it. But you've got to go to the source for the real story. You've got to go to your Bible. And you know when you go there you may wonder about prophecy and some of things that are said to be coming on the horizon.Well do you know what's going to happen? Are you unsure of those answers? I mean there's no doubt that prophecy reveal critical information about the future but it can be difficult to know where to start. So we have a booklet to help, it's called You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. It'll help you really get a handle on prophecy on the coming Kingdom of God. You can go online to BeyondToday.tv and you can download it right now, you can read it or request your own free copy of You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. In fact you can call us toll free 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting that's 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting . As always all of our publications are provided free of charge as an educational service in the public interest. Prophecy of course is one of the most intriguing subjects in the Bible. It tells us specifically how Jesus will return to intervene in world affairs. Do you understand it? This booklet will help. Get your copy of You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. You might be somewhat acquainted with prophecy but this booklet will help you to truly understand it. Now you can follow us on Twitter and join our Beyond Today Facebook page. In fact I hope you'll log on, leave us a comment or maybe suggest a topic for a future program or ask us a question, we'd love to hear from you.The second coming of Christ will be the decisive turning point in human history. There will be a blast of a supernatural trumpet that's going to tell the whole world the Son of God in coming back and that day is going to turn this world upside down. Did you know that God has a special Holy Day that represents the fact that Jesus is returning to this earth to establish His Kingdom. It's called the Feast of Trumpets.Now most don't understand why this day is so important or why it should be observed. In fact many think this day belongs only to certain religious groups or that it is a Jewish day when in reality it's not. This day foresees an incredible time when God is going to play a much more vivid and real part in the everyday life of human beings. The world will never be the same once this day becomes a full fledged reality. Now why should you observe the Feast of Trumpets?Well today the day is observed as a preview of what's yet to happen. It has prophetic significance for the future. This day in fact pictures the dynamic day of the return of the Son of God coming to fulfill the promises of scripture that are all spoken about Him. The Feast of Trumpets can be found in the Old Testament. Leviticus 23:23-25 God's people are commanded there to come together before God in a holy convocation, that's a special assembly.Now you won't find a command to observe Christmas or Easter in the Bible. But this day, it's to be a memorial., a memorial of the blowing of trumpets. In fact the form of the ceremony comes from the Feast of Trumpets and that's where it gets its name. It means a memorial of triumph or shouting for joy with trumpets. Why? Because it looks forward to the time when Jesus will return with a blast of a trumpet as a king to rule in His kingdom. Jesus Himself taught that there was no doubt He return. Just after the crucifixion He appeared to the disciples. They all saw Him and they asked Him an interesting question over in the book of Acts. The question was Lord will you at this time restore Kingdom to Israel? Now they understood the Old Testament prophecies. In fact the Jews at the time were aware of it and they were expecting a conquering king to come and over throw the Roman occupation. But the first time Christ came as a suffering servant. He gave His life a sacrifice for the sin of all mankind. Now to the religious authorities of the day that was unacceptable. They wanted Him as a conquering king. Now when He returns, when He comes back it won't be as a babe in the manger. It won't be as a suffering servant but this time He's coming as a conquering king. Now this isn't just some Old Testament thing. There is a description in I. Thessalonians 4:16. Here's what it says, lets notice it.1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of GodYou see in ancient times the trumpet was used as an alarm of war. The sound filled those who heard it with fear because they knew the horror of war was immanent. It was also used by God's servants to blast warnings out to His people. So today it's a warning of an immanent coming crisis that sets apart the observance of the Feast of Trumpets. Let's notice what it says. For then there will be great tribulation such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time. No nor ever shall be and unless those day's were shortened no flesh would be saved. But for the elects sake those days will be shortened. You see Jesus that before God's government before His kingdom is brought to this earth there will first come great false teachings to begin with in religion, religious persecution and it will all end in the most terrifying world war this earth has ever experienced. Now observing the Feast of Trumpets, keeping that day is a reminder that man can't solve his own problems. We need Jesus to supernaturally intervene in world affairs. In fact the book of Revelation shows the blowing of trumpets in preparing for Jesus' return. The fulfillment of that feast of that day we should be keeping. The Feast of Trumpets is loudly sound in Revelation. Look at chapters 8-11, read them. That's where seven trumpets of God warn of major cataclysmic events. In fact these trumpet blasts serve as a prelude to Jesus' second coming. Notice Revelation 11:15.Revelation 11:15 Then the seventh angel sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!”You see Christ taught that He would come again and establish God's government on earth. In fact celebrating the Feast of Trumpets is your reminder to look forward to the end of the difficulties of mans rule and look to the founding of God's Kingdom of righteousness. Are you ready for that? Jesus said behold I am coming quickly, blessed is he who keeps the word of prophecy of this book. It's interesting to notice the last quote of Jesus Christ in the Bible is “Surely I come quickly”. The book of Revelation ends with this comment, “Amen, even so come Lord Jesus”. Are you looking forward to His return? Don't get caught up in observing counterfeit days. You can rehearse the incredible symbolism of His return by observing the Feast of Trumpets, the time when He comes again to rule and reign on earth. In fact the Feast of Trumpets usually falls in the month of September. Jesus set the example by observing this holy day Himself. In fact it's interesting if you knew your studies you'll find that long after Jesus' death and resurrection the New Testament church continued to celebrate it and taught believers to keep it. So today faithful followers of Jesus Christ copy His example and they observe that day. So you can start now by celebrating the Feast of Trumpets and remember to continue to pray, Thy Kingdom come.There's so much more to discuss on this topic so we hope you stay with us because up next we're going to talk to the Beyond Today panel. But first you've got to get our special offer today. It's the Good News magazine. This magazine contains important articles to help you understand the second coming of Christ. What does the Bible teach about future prophecy and how do you make sense of it? What about observing God's holy days? The Good News magazine will help give you insight into those very issues. That's why you need your own subscription to the Good News magazine. It will help you with answers. Now the call is free 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting that's 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting . You know all of our publications are provided free of charge as an educational service in the public interest and remember you can visit us on the web at BeyondToday.tv that's where you can search online for hundreds of articles that are related to the second coming of Christ that are right there in our literature archives. So you can go behind the scenes as well. You can join our Beyond Today Facebook page or you can follow us on Twitter. Go online, leave us a comment, maybe you can ask us a question. Type it right in there or maybe even suggest a topic for a future program. Get behind the scenes at BeyondToday.tv or on our Facebook page. God has an amazing plan for mankind and for you personally. Understand it better. Get your free subscription to the Good News magazine.(Steve Myers)
Now our topic has been the second coming of Christ. We've just barely touched on the amazing significance of the return of Christ and that connection to observing the Feast of Trumpets. I want to talk about this a little bit more. We are joined by fellow Beyond Today hosts, Darris McNeely and Gary Petty. You guys probably one of the biggest arguments in the religious world is whether Christ is really going to return is it a real thing, is it just a story a metaphor? And the fight goes back and forth between those things. Now how can you specifically understand whether or not Christ promises to literally return?(Gary Petty)
You know Steve if you go back to the Old Testament there are literally dozens of prophecies concerning a Messianic kingdom, the coming of the Christ of God to establish a kingdom on this earth and unfortunately many Christians have divorced the New Testament from the Old Testament and in doing so they missed the real meaning of passages like Matthew 24 or the book of Revelation because of this divorcing of the Bible. And when you put them together it is clearly prophesied that the Messiah is coming to establish God's Kingdom on this earth.(Steve Myers)
So there's a consistent message between the Old and New as far as…(Darris McNeely)
You cannot read the Old and the New Testament without coming to that conclusion Steve. There are many prophecies as Gary said. Christ's clear teaching build on those teachings that there is a coming a day that when the Kingdom of God, a different world order is going to be established under the rule of Jesus Christ on this earth, the Messiah.(Steve Myers)
So He's not coming back to take people off to heaven?(Darris McNeely)
He's not coming back to take people to heaven, He's coming back and people will be here on this earth and this earth will be remade. When you look at the central prophecy perhaps in the Old Testament is Isaiah 2 it talks about this where it talks about the nations coming up to Jerusalem. People coming up to Jerusalem to learn the way of the Lord and the nations being judged from Jerusalem and that famous passage which has been modeled in the very plaza of the United Nations in New York City where it shows a man beating a sword into a plowshare and people not learning war anymore will come to pass. You cannot read that without coming to the firm belief and conclusion that either it is real or it is not. And Jesus Christ built on that with His parables, with His prophecies with His teaching that that is the reality and we should not be surprised at that because Jesus Christ was God in the flesh and He was God who gave those prophecies and revealed them to men like Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea and other prophets. He built on what He had given in the New Testament that is very plain very clear. You cannot walk away from a study of those scriptures with any other conclusion other than that is a reality of a world to come. Otherwise you might as well throw out the entire story and certainly the entire story of Jesus Christ as our Savior. Nothing else can stand if you want to throw that out as something that is not literal or merely a metaphor. It doesn't work.(Steve Myers)
And then it's the same story when you follow the disciples, what they taught after the crucifixion in the New Testament they taught that very same thing that this was a literal government that Christ would establish.(Gary Petty)
Oh yes in fact the Apostle Paul was driven you can tell when you read his writings that He believed that Jesus was coming back in his lifetime. He was driven by that.(Darris McNeely)
And the first question it seems that the Apostles asked Christ or actually the last question in Acts 1 before His final ascension to heaven was will you now at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? This is what they expected and believed from their reading of the scriptures and His own teaching in person.(Steve Myers)
That's interesting you mentioned His teaching because many people focus on Christ as an individual but they really miss what He actually taught. And probably some of His most significant teachings are the stories He told, the parables that He used and probably many of our viewers might not really realize how much of those parables focused on the Kingdom.(Gary Petty)
Oh many, many of them do. In fact one of the favorite things that Jesus would use is that a nobleman who would give talent or land to some people and leave and then come back to interact with those people.(Steve Myers)
It kind of representing what Christ will do.(Gary Petty)
That's right and if you look at Matthew 24 and Matthew 25 a famous Olivet prophecy at the end of Matthew 24 Jesus launches into four parables that clearly show a teaching that He is going to return and He is going to establish that kingdom on this earth.(Darris McNeely)
Christ used those parables and He drew from everyday life to illustrate this one central theme of the Kingdom of God as a reality that was going to replace the kingdoms of this world. Look at Matthew 13 where He gave the parable of the sower and the seed. A sower went out to sow and was talking about sewing the knowledge of the gospel, that seed was the gospel of the kingdom. Some of it fell on the waysides, some of it fell on good ground.(Steve Myers)
Alright not quickly Christ is going to return, what should I be doing now? What does the information as far as impact on people what should they do because of these things?(Darris McNeely)
The reality is that we should be doing what Christ said in several occasions He said to watch. And watching involves not only understanding our times, not only understanding the Bible and it's application to our life but understanding our own world and the times and where we are in prophecy, where we are in our own life in connection to our relationship to God. It's a matter of watching our world, our times and watching ourselves that we be prepared spiritually for that time to step into that role that God is preparing us for, for all eternity. None of us have the guarantee of living forever in the flesh, we don't know how long our lives are going to go on since once you come to the knowledge of the Kingdom of God and you commit your life to that it is a matter of watching ourselves, watching our life and within this world and making sure that our lives are modeled after the righteousness of the Kingdom of God. The sermon on the mount the constitution of that kingdom and all of those teachings so that we are ready to assume the role that God has prepared us for in that coming Kingdom.(Steve)
So our lives need to reflect the standards of Christ?(Darris McNeely)
Every single day.(Steve Myers)
In fact one of the things we talked about earlier is understanding and celebrating the Feast of Trumpets because it has an intricate connection to the return of Jesus Christ. It illustrates God's plan. Now you can find out more about this special holy day, it's been ordained by God for all Christians. So think about that, find out about it, in fact remember our free offers today? They are going to help you study. In fact the book, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy will help you grasp the truth about Jesus' return. It doesn't have to be a mystery. This booklet is written to help you know the facts so read it online, go to BeyondToday.tv download it, request your free copy, You Can Understand Bible Prophecy or you can even call us toll free 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting request your free booklet. In fact we don't want you to forget your subscription to the Good News magazine. This magazine will help you understand Bible prophecy and how it applies to what's going on in the world today. In fact not only will the Good News help you get to know your God even better it will help you with all kind of articles that are relevant to your life. So remember these publications, they're provided free charge. It's an educational service provided in the public interests. So call us toll free 1-888-886-8632 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-888-886-8632 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or
