All your life, you have heard a message about the person of Jesus Christ, but you are not told about the MESSAGE HE BROUGHT to this earth! The very first words he spoke were, “REPENT ye, and believe the gospel!”
But what does it mean to repent? And what about all the preachers who say you need only BELIEVE on Jesus to be saved?
The devil believes on the Lord Jesus Christ! Is HE saved? James wrote, “Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble.
“But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?” (James 2:19- 20).
Is Simple “Belief” Enough?
If I were to write about the Kingdom of Great Britain, or the Kingdom of Holland, or the Kingdom of Jordan, you would know immediately that I am writing about a GOVERNMENT; a specific country, or empire; a king or queen; a system of law; subjects who live in that kingdom, and who are subject to that royal throne.
But instantly, when I speak of the “Kingdom of God,” it is as if the mind goes “tilt”! Suddenly, all is ethereal, vague, nebulous, “other-worldly,” spiritual, mystical, UNREAL! To most, the expression “Kingdom of [not “in”] Heaven,” –– as Matthew alone, among the gospel writers, expressed it, or the “Kingdom of God,” as Mark, Luke and John expressed it –– is not real, but imaginary; fantastic; something that belongs in the realm of the surreal.
Not one out of ten thousand church-going professing Christians truly believe in, or expect, the establishment of a new world order under Jesus Christ right on this good, green earth!
Instead, they think of “going to heaven.” But such is sheer nonsense, and will not stand the test of inspired scripture. To constitute a kingdom, there must be a KING. The KING of His Kingdom, soon to be established on this earth, is Jesus Christ of Nazareth!
Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”
Now, notice what Christ said to Pilate when He was on trial for His life: “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
“Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.
“Pilate saith unto him, ‘What is truth?’” (John 18:36-38).
The Greek word “world” comes from the word cosmos, meaning “society,” or the worldly system. Notice Christ said His kingdom was not a part of “this world” THEN!
Now, notice John’s description of Christ at His second coming, as He vanquishes the armies of the Beast power which will fight His return: “These [the armies of the Beast] shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful” (Revelation 17:14).
This is reiterated a couple chapters later, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war.
“His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself.
“And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God.
“And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean.
“And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
“And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Revelation 19:11-16).
How can ANY professing Christian doubt the plain meaning of this tumultuous, awesome prophecy? Christ is COMING BACK TO EARTH to RULE it with a rod of iron!
The KING of His Kingdom is Jesus Christ! The “good news of the coming government of God” is the same thing as “The gospel of the Kingdom of God.” It is not vague, nebulous, ethereal nonsense, but a powerful advance message about a super, world-ruling government!
Millions have heard a gospel “about” Jesus Christ, but they have NEVER HEARD the gospel HE BROUGHT to this earth, and delivered to His disciples! Jesus Christ came preaching the “Gospel of the Kingdom of God.” Few know WHAT He preached! As shocking as it may sound, as INCREDIBLE as it may seem, millions of professing Christians have NEVER HEARD the real Gospel!
The true GOSPEL; that is, the announcement that Christ is coming to this earth to CONQUER it; to RULE it with a rod of iron for a thousand years HAS NOT REACHED THE MASSES to any great degree!
But a FALSE “gospel;” a sanctimonious, smarmy, sentimental story “about” Jesus has! Millions “believe” in “another Jesus,” and in an entirely different “gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9). They know NOTHING about the REAL Jesus Christ of history; the Christ of the Bible!
They do not know WHEN He was born! Millions suppose He was born on December 25th, when He was actually born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, in the autumn. They do not know the circumstances of His birth! Millions suppose Mary was “immaculately conceived,” and very, very few know that Jesus Christ was the “Logos” or the “Spokesman” of Divine Elohim Who said “Let there be light,” and said “Let US make man in OUR image” (Genesis 1:26; John, 1st chapter). They know nothing of the pre-human existence of Christ.
They do not know to which RACE He belonged! The Bible says several times He was a Jew; both in His genealogies, and in plain statements! They do not know what He looked like! Millions have pictures they bought in Bible book stores which are pure conjecture of artists! The “Jesus” of fanciful, mythological nominal “Christianity” is a complete fake, a farce, who never lived! The REAL Jesus looked like any ordinary Jewish young man of His day, and had “no form nor comeliness that, when we see Him, we would desire Him.”
They do not know why He came! He did NOT come to bring the world a “new religion.” He did NOT come to reform the synagogue. He did NOT come to abrogate God’s laws. Millions suppose His primary purpose was to “nail the Ten Commandments to the Cross.” He did not die on a “cross,” which is a PAGAN symbol, but died while nailed to an upright pale, called a “stauros” in the original Greek of your Bible. His arms were pinioned over His head, which was why the soldiers broke the sufferers’ legs, to prevent them from heaving themselves up to get a breath! See Bullinger’s Companion Bible for the proof.
They do not know what He taught! Millions have swallowed the “only believe” theory, thinking salvation is so easy it only requires you to “come forward” in an evangelistic campaign, or to “confess Jesus publicly.” Millions think the formula for salvation is, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved!” But Jesus Christ said to REPENT! Peter said “REPENT, and be baptized, and you shall receive the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38).
Millions do not know Christ was the greatest PROPHET who ever lived; that His powerful prophecies lay before us a step-by-step series of events leading to the destruction of civilization as we know it, and the CONQUERING of this evil, Satan-led world by Christ at His second coming!”
They do not know WHY He died or HOW He died! Millions suppose He died of a broken heart. Some have blasphemously suggested He was STONED to death! Many think His death was a hoax; that He was merely in a “swoon,” and that His disciples plotted with Him to fake His death! Millions do not know He died because they have sinned and have broken the Ten Commandments! Millions do not believe He was really DEAD, but was ALIVE, “preaching to spirits in hell!”
Millions do not know HE IS ALIVE today, and on a COUNTDOWN from heaven, planning to come back to this earth at the exact moment when, IF He did not intervene, mankind would destroy himself, and there would not be a man, woman or child left alive!
When you DON’T know that much about someone, can you honestly say you KNOW Him?
