As we look at this topic, it is important to remember the words of Jesus in John. Jesus said, John 14:15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth.” Keeping the commands of God is key to truth prevailing and having the kingdom of God come near just as Jesus proclaimed and told His disciples to proclaim. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.” Luke 9:1 “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” Notice the connection between proclaiming the kingdom and healing and casting out demons. Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city. 12 But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” As we see in the Gospels and Acts healing and casting out demons were already taking place. It was only when the church rebelled against God’s word did it stop. So as you see from just these few verses, when the kingdom comes near and it did, sickness and diseases are healed and demons are cast out. Because that is not happening in the church, instead of repenting, the church turned to doctrines of demons, a different Jesus, false teachers and other gospels to explain away the lack of healing and casting out of demons in the church. Today we will be looking at the kingdom that was already here and how the church rejected the word of the Lord to go their own way. This rebellion caused God to turn His face from the church. The teaching that the kingdom has not come near and will come later is another gospel. This is one of the major deceptions in the church today. This will be more about the parts of God’s word that the church has rejected and not about the false doctrines the church has accepted as truth.
If the church had not rebelled against God’s word, there would not be the deception and delusion about the end times. Jesus said, John 16:12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you.” Those words “he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come,” are very important when talking about the end times. As we talked about before, you cannot have all these differing theories and not just different some are ridiculous, about the end times if the Spirit of truth was present and speaking truth. The Spirit of truth will guide us into all truth about these end times we are in. satan distorts and lies about what the Spirit of truth says and there will be many who will participate in his lies and deception and many who will be deceived by false teachers. 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.” The church has not tested the spirits but accepts what false prophets and teachers proclaim to be truth. To make matters even worse, not only will there be deception, but God will also bring delusion upon those who rebel against His word.
We were told that truth would be thrown down because of disobedience. Daniel 8:12 “Because of rebellion, the Lord’s people and the daily sacrifice were given over to it. It prospered in everything it did, and truth was thrown to the ground.” Isaiah 59:15 “Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey.” 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” This time is already here. There seems to always be someone to scratch itchy ears. As Paul was teaching Titus about leaders he said, Titus 1:9 “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. 10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.” Obviously, we are not just talking about circumcision. Sound doctrines have not been taught and whole households have been deceived by a different jesus and other gospels / doctrines of demons. People have accepted them as truth and have died believing what is false. What we have seen from many in the church is the acceptance of Jewish myths as truth.
Today we are talking about the millennial kingdom which is taught to be a thousand-year period where Jesus will return to earth and reign on David’s throne or will He? The quick answer is no He won’t. This distorted teaching and deception comes from Revelation 20:6 “The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.” As far as numbers go, we must be very careful, especially with the apocalyptic books like Daniel and Revelation. Many have been caught up in numerology, which is very dangerous. “Numerology is the study of the occult significance of numbers.” While there are numbers in the bible, we have to be very careful dealing with them such as 666. Revelation 13:15 “The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. 16 It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, 17 so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name. 18 This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.” That number is 666.” Most do not realize this has already happened as they have already been marked. Most spend more time thinking about this based on books and movies like Left Behind and others written by false teachers than they do being marked by the Holy Spirit. Ezekiel 9:4 “and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” People today need to grieve and lament over the detestable things happening in the church. The good news is God has said, Ezekiel 39:7 “I will no longer let my holy name be profaned, and the nations will know that I the Lord am the Holy One in Israel.”
It is interesting how some passages are taken to be literal, not only the 666 and like the 1000 years, while others are not. Revelation 18 talks about the destruction of Babylon in one hour. There are other numbers, like the thousand years that are read literally like Revelation 11:2 “They will trample on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will appoint my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.” Then depending on what end time belief you have been indoctrinated with, meaning will be given to those numbers. And if you look at the extensive charts they have you would think that they have it all figured out, but there is no power, so obviously they do not. But let’s go back to the thousand-year reign of Christ. Yesterday we read from 2 Peter. 2 Peter 3:8 “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” So the millennial kingdom will last one day in Gods eyes or there are a 365,250 days in 1000 year millennial kingdom so for God that could be 365,250,000 days.
So why is the deception around the false teaching of the millennial kingdom so devastating to the church? We will get there, but the short answer is the fact that the church has rejected what is plainly laid out in scripture about the Kingdom of God and the power and authority that goes with it. When the kingdom comes near, the church does as Jesus did with the same power and authority as given by the Holy Spirit. First, we have look at what the Jews believe. This is not antisemitism, but the Jews murdered Jesus their own Messiah and King and have rejected Jesus ever since. It is important to note that not all Jews rejected Jesus and I am not talking here about groups like Jews for Jesus (Messianic Jews). You can’t have both beliefs, so they are also promoting what is false like many other groups. At Pentecost there were Jews. Acts 2:5 “Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.” We see that most rejected and fought against the words Peter spoke, but some repented. Peter said Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” 37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” 41 Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.”
We then see that gift of the Spirit in operation. Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” So while some repented, that were not many who did. We also know that the disciples were Jews and they were sent out with power and authority to other Jews. Matthew 10:5 “These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel.” Paul said Romans 11:1 “I ask then: Did God reject his people? By no means! I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin.” Paul’s life was constantly in danger from other Jews and not only was Paul in danger. 1 Thessalonians 2:14 “For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: You suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews 15 who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone 16 in their effort to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way they always heap up their sins to the limit.” The church is still hostile to those who believe God’s word. You cannot say you believe in Jesus if you reject His word.
The Jews are looking for the Messianic Era. “The focus is on the arrival of the Messiah to usher in this era, which is characterized by the rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem and global acknowledgment of the Creator.” They have very specific criteria for their Mashiach, thus the rejection of Jesus. “The mashiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5). The mashiach is often referred to as "mashiach ben David" (mashiach, son of David). He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5). He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example. He will be a great military leader, who will win battles for Israel. He will be a great judge, who makes righteous decisions (Jeremiah 33:15). But above all, he will be a human being, not a god, demi-god or other supernatural being. The mashiach will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing us back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the land (Jeremiah 33:15).” As you can see from the passages, they accept some of the word of God but not all of it, just like the church. John 10:24 “The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe.”
Again, it is important to remember that the Jews rejected everything Jesus taught and then murdered their own Messiah. They also said they had no king and said crucify Him. Yet many in the church have adopted their beliefs / myths and false teaching and have incorporated them into christianity, which is not Christianity. On a side note, Mormons believe there will also be a millennium. They say, “When we speak of “the Millennium,” we refer to the 1,000 years following the Savior’s Second Coming. During the Millennium, “Christ will reign personally upon the earth.” They are a cult. Back to Christians who have adopted Jewish myths. Those who adopted Zionism have done grave damage to the church like Tim LaHaye / Jerry B Jenkins – Left Behind, Darby -dispensationalism, Hal Lindsey - Late Great Planet Earth to name a few. I said to someone one time that they should not be reading the left behind books, and they were surprised I said this. I hope they listened as this is all false teaching. This is called Christian Zionism. One writer said “The return of the Jews to the Holy Land and the restoration of a physical Israel is in accordance with biblical prophecy. Furthermore, Christian Zionism is motivated by a biblically based religious conviction that the Jewish people are still God’s Chosen people and are entitled to possess the land of Israel for all time.” Another writer talks about the millennial reign and said, “The Bible tells us that when Christ returns to the earth He will establish Himself as king in Jerusalem, sitting on the throne of David (Luke 1:32–33). The unconditional covenants demand a literal, physical return of Christ to establish the kingdom. The Abrahamic covenant promised Israel a land, a posterity and ruler, and a spiritual blessing (Genesis 12:1–3). The Palestinian covenant promised Israel a restoration to the land and occupation of the land (Deuteronomy 30:1–10). The Davidic covenant promised Israel a king from David’s line who would rule forever—giving the nation rest from all their enemies.”
Just to show how widespread and powerful this has become, watch the news. If you want a clear picture of the deception and delusion of the church caused by the abomination that causes desolation at work, we saw a couple weeks ago President Trump being prayed for by so-called Christians. This is a clear and present danger as it is not God who present. When you hear the word Christian it doesn’t mean Christian but christian nationalism. One writer said, “we define Christian nationalism as “a political ideology that seeks to merge Christian and American identities, distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy.” “The United States was never a Christian country. Their own constitution tells us that. “First Amendment - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.” Christianity is not a religion. If the United States was Christian, the document would never have said religion. That means any religion has free exercise and makes them all equal. Jesus never came to rule the government. Jesus said just before He was taken from their sight, Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Just before Jesus said that His disciples who were still confused said, Acts 1:6 “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” Jesus could have taken over and ruled but He didn’t. John 19:8 “When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, 9 and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. 10 “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” 11 Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
What is happening is they are trying to make christian nationalism the most powerful group in the world and at this point are successful. Now we have a war because there are those in the office who believe the myths about the millennial kingdom. Most have been taught that they must support Israel so that they too will be blessed. You have the likes of the false teacher John Hagee who has a very powerful group promoting the support of Israel. “John Hagee is the founder and senior pastor of Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, Texas, a nondenominational evangelical church with more than 22,000 active members. Pastor Hagee began Hagee Ministries’ television and radio outreach in 1978, which now spans America and the world. He is the author of over forty books, including several New York Times Bestsellers, his latest being The End of the Age: The Countdown Has Begun. Pastor Hagee is also the founder and National Chairman of Christians United for Israel (CUFI), the largest pro-Israel organization in the United States, with over 10 million members.” Hagee supports the war with Iran. If you think false teachers are not present and have no power, you may want to rethink that! It is interesting that many do not think there are true prophets around yet false prophets are everywhere?
Another prominent name is another false teacher Mike Huckabee a former Baptist pastor and now United States Ambassador to Israel and Christian Zionist. He said, “It would be fine if they took it all,” he said, arguing that the geographical borders of Israel are rooted in the Bible, a belief shared by Christian Zionists.” Then you have Pete Hegseth. If he wasn’t in such a powerful position, he is comical. He is making this war a holy war and treating it like a video game. He said, “death and destruction from the sky all day long” and “This was never meant to be a fair fight, and it is not a fair fight. We are punching them while they’re down, which is exactly how it should be.” Then the other day he prayed, “May almighty God continue to bless our troops in this fight. To the American people, please pray for them every day on bended knee, with your family, in your schools, in your churches, in the name of Jesus Christ.” Obviously he is serving a different Jesus. He too is a Christian Zionist. He also said, “There's no reason why the miracle of the reestablishment of the temple on the Temple Mount is not possible.” “He later recited Psalm 144, a passage of Scripture that Jews and Christians share: "Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." (That should make you cringe) His tattoos are also talked about and seem to be related to the crusades. “Hegseth has a history of defending the Crusades, the brutal medieval wars that pitted Christians against Muslims. In his 2020 book "American Crusade," he wrote that those who enjoy Western civilization should "thank a crusader." Two of his tattoos draw from crusader imagery: the Jerusalem Cross and the phrase "Deus Vult," or "God wills it," which Hegseth has called "the rallying cry of Christian knights as they marched to Jerusalem."
Basically, they are trying to make this a religious war and foolishly think God is on their side. They did not learn a thing from history, especially the crusades. Ephesians 6:10 “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” The Catholics got it wrong, and those who believe this is God leading the charge are still getting it wrong. Turning this war with Iran into a religious crusade will be a disaster. There are also Christians in Iran that they do not talk about. Another issue most do not talk about is that Abraham called on God to bless Ishmael and He did. When Abraham didn’t believe he would have a child at the age of 100 years old, he Genesis 17:17 “Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?” 18 And Abraham said to God, “If only Ishmael might live under your blessing!” 19 Then God said, “Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21 But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year.” 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.
And then you have President Trump who is a crooked, pathological liar and narcissist. Nothing that comes out of his mouth is true unless he is talking about his perceived enemies, then everything he says actually applies to him. John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” It is important to remember that satan is arrogant and lets you know he is present. In this case satan is shouting I am here! Trump would not be in office if it were not for so many gullible people who call themselves Christians and many others who voted for him and then are shocked that he lies, is racist and promotes his own image and is against the very immigrants who supported him. Most just turn a blind eye to his antics but his antics have turned the world upside down. He befriends the enemy and attacks his allies and he is trying to start a civil war with his rhetoric and daily endangers the lives of those who speak against him. The danger is his base is made up of deceived Christians who believe he is God’s servant to make America great again and he knows how to play them. The problem is America never really was great. Slavery, racism that is growing, separation of classes, health care and the United States are the only one to have ever dropped an atomic bomb, not just once but twice, just to name a few reasons. I would hope there are enough voices to prevent him from going nuclear on Iran. As far as a Christian country, the God they trust is not the God of the bible and has never been a Christian nation. Today, Trump continues to prove their whole system is failing. It appears they did not account for someone like Trump to be voted in but that doesn’t say a lot for those who voted or those who are keeping Trump in office.
Sadly, what the Christian nationalist mean is a return to a country that is mostly white with no immigrants or Muslims. Yes, God has put Trump in place and as we have seen, the crimes he commits do not seem to stick. Many people scratch their heads and wonder how it is even possible for someone like Trump to get into office and become the most powerful man in the world, not once but twice and keep getting away with his abuse and crimes. God is keeping track. One of the false teachers that led the group of pastors to pray for Trump was Greg Laurie. He said, “I believe God has placed Donald Trump in office “for such a time as this,” in the same way Esther was placed in an influential position to make a difference. He has faced incredible challenges on the way to this presidency, including two assassination attempts. He himself has said he believes God spared him, including in his inaugural address yesterday, where he said, “An assassin’s bullet ripped through my ear. But I felt then, and believe even more so now, that my life was saved for a reason. I was saved by God to make America great again.” Here is the problem with that. Esther and Mordecai were faithful followers of God, Trump is not. Is he in office for such a time as this? Yes, but not for the reason many think. Is God using him? Yes, but God’s servant was also Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Jeremiah 25:8 Therefore the Lord Almighty says this: “Because you have not listened to my words, 9 I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. 10 I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole country will become a desolate wasteland, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon seventy years.” Donald trump is definitely anti-Christ and many have been deceived. Even the king of Babylon humbled himself before God, but the king’s son did not. Daniel 5:22 “But you, Belshazzar, his son, have not humbled yourself, though you knew all this. 23 Instead, you have set yourself up against the Lord of heaven. You had the goblets from his temple brought to you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines drank wine from them. You praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood and stone, which cannot see or hear or understand. But you did not honor the God who holds in his hand your life and all your ways.” Though the United States seems all powerful and probably could take any country they wanted; they are not more powerful than God. Jeremiah 51:24 “Before your eyes I will repay Babylon and all who live in Babylonia for all the wrong they have done in Zion,” declares the Lord.”
Today very serious decisions are being made based on the deception and delusion of Christians who believe that Jesus will come and reign on earth for a thousand years. Israel is not the Israel of the Old Testament, and the prophecies apply to what is now called the church. The promised land is now the world, but it is not taken by force but by the power of God. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Most in the church spend all their time on all the false doctrines all the while ignoring scripture that tells us Jesus already is King and reigning on David’s throne. By adhering to these false teachings, they do not repent. Earlier I quoted someone who used Luke to affirm their doctrine of the millennium. They said, “The Bible tells us that when Christ returns to the earth He will establish Himself as king in Jerusalem, sitting on the throne of David (Luke 1:32–33).” Yes, it does say Jesus will be king but not the way they distort it. This was said to Mary before the birth of Jesus. Luke 1:28 “The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”
This is where they are deceived. Jesus is already King and His kingdom will never be destroyed. Having said that, as we saw with Israel and Judah, there would only be a remnant of survivors because the church has rebelled. When Jesus warned us about deception, He told us how devastating the abomination that causes desolation would be. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. 23 At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time.” Even king Nebuchadnezzar said, Daniel 4:3 “How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom; his dominion endures from generation to generation.” Jesus is not coming to earth again to be king; He is already King. Luke 2:28 “Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations: 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.” Matthew 2:1 “After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem 2 and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” 3 When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written: 6 “‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.” Just because the Jews rejected their king, the church should not have done the same.
Sometimes things are so ridiculous, it is easy to see the deception and delusion of the church at work. One teaching is about the prophets of the Old Testament they say could not see what was ahead. Stop and ponder that for a moment. God’s servants could not see? Basically, they are saying God cannot see. What they are really saying is their belief system is not found in scripture. This teaching is called the Mountain Peaks of Prophecy. In a nutshell and I stress the “nuts” part of the word, they are saying that the prophets of old could not see that between the mountain peaks was the valley of the church age. “The Old Testament prophet saw the future as separate peaks of one mountain. He did not see that these peaks assembled themselves groups, with a valley, the "Valley of the church," between. In the first group is the "Birth of Jesus," "Calvary," and "Pentecost." In the second group is "Antichrist," the "Revelation of Christ," and the "Kingship of Christ." The funny part of this is that they saw the birth of Jesus, the resurrection and Pentecost which is the church. This is dispensational false teaching. Dispensationalism is where much of this deception comes from. “Dispensationalism is a theological system that emphasizes the literal interpretation of Bible prophecy, recognizes a distinction between Israel and the Church, and organizes the Bible into different dispensations or administrations.” The demonic doctrine of the rapture and the millennial kingdom are emphasized here. A lot could be said about this but just know that the millennial kingdom is part of this teaching. This is one of the deceptive and delusional teaching that has infiltrated the church and many have been infected by it. I saw a cartoon one time where there is a trojan horse outside the walls of the church. They said what would the harm be by letting it in. The answer is death and destruction with millions deceived.
What does all this have to do with the kingdom of God? It is the deception and delusion we have been talking about. Many in the church adopted Jewish myths as truth like the millennial era and then made it into doctrines. We could spend all day talking about all the doctrines, like historic / premillennialism, post millennialism and amillennialism and all kinds of varying degrees of each but since there is no millennium, that is a waste of time. Here is a quote to show how ridiculous it is to say we agree to disagree, but we all serve the same Jesus. One writer wrote, “Please note, this article is written from an amillennial perspective. As a ministry we reject amillennialism. We truly and fully believe in premillennialism, that Christ will return to establish His kingdom, over which He will reign for 1,000 years. However, we believe that genuine Christians can hold an amillennialist viewpoint. In no sense is amillennialism heresy. We thought it worthwhile to have an article that positively presents amillennialism, as it is always good for our viewpoints to be challenged, motivating us to further search the Scriptures to make sure our beliefs are biblically sound.” Notice they said we reject amillennialism and then say they search scripture. They have no intention of changing. Take the time to test the spirits and find out what you have really committed to at your church as your eternal destination depends on it.
There is a lot of nonsense that we could spend time on but what most in the church do not spend time on is the kingdom of God and the power and authority and peace that goes with it that started in the Gospels and continued in Acts. But that all changed because of unbelief of which was present even during the life of Jesus. Mark 1:14 “Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” But as we saw in Jesus’ hometown, they rejected Him. Luke 4:21 “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ And you will tell me, ‘Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “Truly I tell you,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.”
Even the disciples did not believe what was before their eyes. Mark 16:12 “Afterward Jesus appeared in a different form to two of them while they were walking in the country. 13 These returned and reported it to the rest; but they did not believe them either. 14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen. 15 He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” Just something to ponder. Why do so many in the church rebel against the healing power God gives His disciples who believes. The answer is satan’s deception and delusion.
What you read in Mark is the power and authority of the kingdom of God. When the kingdom of God comes near, there is power to do as Jesus did. Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Because of deception and delusion, most do not believe this power is still available to the church. Some say it is, but even though there is no power they do not repent, nor do they seek God to turn His face back to the church so that the power returns. They just keep operating in the flesh. Since that power and authority is missing, that means the church needs to repent and not make up ridiculous doctrines to cover their unbelief. Here is why the belief in the millennial kingdom is so detrimental to the church. Because they believe that Jesus will come back and restore all things, that means until He does, we just have to get by. That means there is nothing wrong with the church and there is nothing to repent for. Being powerless is just how it is supposed to be. The deception and delusion around the end times prevent repentance but repentance brings the kingdom of God near. Here is the Baptist side of things, but not all Baptists believe the same. In these circles, usually if you say you believe in the millennial kingdom you are saying you do not believe there is power available to heal or cast out demons in the church. In their beliefs, you will see the word imminent return and usually you will see that they believe in the rapture and they do not believe in power given to a disciple to heal. But having said that the Pentecostals also believe in the rapture and millennial kingdom but do believe in healing but have not tested the spirits. As one person described it, they believe in the already but not yet which doesn’t make any sense. Again, not every Pentecostal believes the same. The reality is that the power of God is not present in either group. There are also groups who do not believe in the millennial kingdom that have their own false teachers and teaching.
I found it interesting when doing some research that there are many speaking about the falseness of for example dispensationalism, one of the millennialism’s or charismatics or non-charismatics, yet when you look they also believe false gospels. They say the other ignores scripture but in the same breath they are ignoring scripture. A lot of these people are very gifted in debate, but they are still missing what scripture clearly states. One example was interesting. He was raised with strong dispensational teaching and was one of those terrified by the ridiculous movie “A Thief in the Night.” If you saw it like me as a ten-year-old, you will know what I mean. It appears he jumped out of one frying pan into another. He was very articulate on one subject but rejected God’s very clear word on homosexuality.
The bottom line is the church needs to turn from its wicked ways. 2 Chronicles 7:3 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” There is hope even though the church has been decimated because it chose to follow other gospels instead of the truth. Daniel told us this would happen. Daniel 7:21 “As I watched, this horn was waging war against the holy people and defeating them, 22 until the Ancient of Days came and pronounced judgment in favor of the holy people of the Most High, and the time came when they possessed the kingdom. 6 “‘But the court will sit, and his power will be taken away and completely destroyed forever. 27 Then the sovereignty, power and greatness of all the kingdoms under heaven will be handed over to the holy people of the Most High. His kingdom will be an everlasting kingdom, and all rulers will worship and obey him.” Daniel also saw the power of Jesus, so we have hope. Daniel 7:13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 4:34 “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
Jesus said Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” Ezekiel 18:30 “Therefore, you Israelites / church, I will judge each of you according to your own ways, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. 31 Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel? 32 For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live!” The kingdom will still come near, repent and live eternally.
