entitled Christ, the Kingdom, the Future Manifestation. It's Article 20. I want to read this. I'll read it first and we'll have a word of prayer and we'll begin. It's entitled The Kingdom, Future Manifestation. The kingdom shall be more fully manifested when Christ shall come in his glory to reign among his saints, when he shall put down all rule and authority under his feet, that the glory of the Father may be perfectly manifested in his Son, and the glory of the Father and the Son in all his people. Let's pray and we'll begin our lesson tonight. Our Heavenly Father, we bow before you in our thankful hearts, Lord, to tell you how much we give thanks that we're able to gather together as your people again We ask you now tonight that you guide us as we speak your words to this people. Help us, Lord, that we might say things that are right and correct. Help us all that we might pay attention and we all might grow in grace. And we ask you, Lord, that you would bless those that cannot be with us tonight. And I want to thank you for your watch and care over Bobby. Martin, I ask you to continue to help him and strengthen him in the next step. Now guide us tonight and be glorified, we pray in Jesus' name, amen. The first scripture we want to read is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 and verses 22 through 28. 1 Corinthians chapter 15 verses 22 through 28. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order, Christ the firstfruits, afterward they that are Christ's at his coming, then cometh the end. when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father, when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For he hath put all things under his feet, but when he saith all things are put under him, it is manifest that he is accepted, which did put all things under him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, then shall the Son also himself be subject unto him, that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. This is, I think, a summary of what is ahead of us leading to the kingdom and the eternal age. What exactly is a kingdom? It's defined as the territory or country subject to a king or an area subject to a king. Any undivided territory under the dominion of a king or monarch. So there is a king and there are the subjects that makes the kingdom. I want to remind you tonight that John the Baptist, Jesus, the apostles, and the Lord's churches preached and shall continue to preach what's called the gospel of the kingdom until the end of the age. In Matthew 3, one and two, we read, in those days came John the Baptist preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and say, repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And in Mark 17, from that time, Jesus began to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. In Matthew chapter 10, when the 12 were sent forth to go to find the lost sheep of the house of Israel, we read this in verses 5 and 7 of chapter 10. These 12 Jesus sent forth and commanded them saying, go not into the way of the Gentiles or into any city of the Samaritans, enter ye not. but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. And as you go, preach saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then I want you to notice Paul in Acts chapter 28, verse 30 through 31. Acts 28, verse 30 through 31. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no man forbidding him. And then finally, notice the Lord's prediction in the Matthew 24, verse 14, as he spoke about the things of the end times, he said this, and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations, and then shall the end come. It's thrilling to me to talk about the kingdom because it gives us a great expectation and anticipation. If you're like me, you can almost, with the eye of faith, see the things that are going to unfold till finally the Lord descends as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Now, this kingdom was predicted long ago, and I want you to read this passage with me about that prediction from Daniel chapter two, verse 41 through 44. Daniel chapter two, verse 41 through 44. Daniel is explaining the image which Nebuchadnezzar saw Verse 41 says, and whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter's clay, part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron. For as much as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay, and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, So the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with margary clay, they shall mingle themselves together with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. Now, let me stop here for just a minute. I want to say this. I assume that you all know what this is talking about, but I think I need to say it. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and he didn't understand any of it. Daniel came to interpret the dream, to tell him what the dream was and what it meant. Nebuchadnezzar saw a great image. It had a head of gold, shoulders and arms of brass. And the thighs and belly of a lesser material. No, down to the legs. And all of these represented four kingdoms. He told Nebuchadnezzar, he said, you're this head of gold. Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, which was the first worldwide kingdom. And he said, after you, there's gonna be three kingdoms. The next kingdom that succeeded Babylon was the Medes and the Persians. Then Alexander the Great from Greece conquered Persia and became the third world empire. Then Alexander died and his four generals kind of took part of the broken kingdom. And then Rome arose, which he said was the strongest of all those kingdoms and had teeth of iron. The Roman Empire lasted for a great long time and actually just kind of dissipated about 500 AD. What we read here is what's after the Roman Empire. Kingdoms divided, part of iron strong, part of clay weak, cannot mingle together. That's the age in which you and I are now living. No nation rules over the whole earth, but some nations are strong while other nations are weak. Now, notice verse 44. And in the days of these kings, these people that rule over this last part, the toes, shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed, and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Now, today, the kingdom of heaven already exists. And it is seen in the Lord's New Testament churches. We're not ruling over the world, but may I say to you that we're going to. In 1 Corinthians 6, Paul said, do you not know that the saints will judge the world? Don't you know we're going to judge angels? And we are. So the setting up of this visible kingdom with Christ as King over all the earth will soon occur. It's ahead of us. Now talking about This scripture in 1 Corinthians 15, if you just turn there and follow with me a minute, verse 22 through 28, I wanna point out some notes, some things you need to remember about it. First of all, those that are Christ, those that belong to Christ, shall be made alive at Christ's coming, at the resurrection. Let's be clear. There is no rapture as it's taught today, generally. It's just not true. Those that are Christ will be made alive at His coming, and that's the resurrection. This passage tells us, then the end comes, when Christ shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father. when he shall have put down all rule and all power and authority. That's future perfect, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God. But first he puts down all rule and all authority and all power. When does that happen? That happens in Revelation 19 when the Lord descends from heaven riding a white horse and the armies of heaven following him on white horses and the beast and all of his armies are gathered together there around Jerusalem and the Lord destroys them with the sword of his mouth. These are his enemies. I won't go back and read the scripture, but it's in Matthew 25. We talked about it many times. The Lord will sever out of his kingdom all things that offend, and the reign will begin. He must reign until all enemies are put under his feet. Now it says, the last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. When is that? Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15, the Bible says, and death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is when death is destroyed. It's after the thousand years reign on earth. So when all things are subdued, Then shall the Son also be subject unto him that put all things under him, that God may be all in all. This, to me, is when eternity begins. Now let's read the other scriptures that are associated with this article. Hebrews chapter nine, verse 28. Hebrews chapter nine, verse 28. So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. And unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Are you looking for him tonight? I'd be thrilled. I would be ecstatic if it were today. What a blessing! Our Lord once offered Himself to bear the sin of many, that is, His elect, His people. That means He died for all those the Father gave Him, and these, I believe, are looking for Him. They want Him to come, and they will be praying as John prayed. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. and to them that are looking for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. Now, notice 2 Thessalonians chapter one, verse seven through 10. 1 Thessalonians chapter one, verse seven through 10. And to you who are troubled, rest with us. when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints and to be admired in all them that believe, because our testimony among you was believed in that day. New Testament times were troubled times. I have never seen trouble like I see today in my whole life. I've never seen anything like it. Men are vile, absolutely horribly wicked. But we expect trials, and because I want you to remember Maybe we ought to tell this to people that think they're gonna make a profession of faith in Christ. What can you expect as a Christian? You can expect the forgiveness of sins, but you can expect with that trials and tribulations. You can expect that even members of your family are going to become enemies and oppose you. They're going to curse you, and men are gonna despise you. Why? Because you're naming the name of Christ, because you believe God's word. Philippians 128 says, and nothing terrified by your adversaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation and that of God, for unto you It is given in the behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake. You're called to it. You're going to do it. You're going to suffer in many ways, like he suffered, to fill up that which is behind of the suffering of Christ. Notice, please, 1 Thessalonians 4, 13 through 18. But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that you saw not, even as others which have no hope. Now notice this carefully. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent, that word means to go before, them which are asleep For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words. Watch this. Them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. What happens when a person dies? His soul is separated from his body. What happens to his body? It's either buried in the ground or cast in the sea or burnt to ashes in any way, it totally decomposes. The soul to be absent from the body is present with the Lord. Those souls are in heaven tonight who have died in Christ. When Christ comes, he'll bring those souls with him. Now watch this. There's some going to be alive when he comes back on the earth that are his, but they won't go before the ones that are asleep. Their bodies are sleeping in the earth. But a new body will come when the trump sounds. And that new body will be joined with a soul to be perfection, just like Christ is. Caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So shall we ever be with the Lord. But brothers and sisters, we're going to go with him. And we're going to rule and reign on this earth with him. A thousand years and then in eternity forever. Who is this written to? It's written to the Church of God at Thessalonica. So it has an application to that church first and all of the Lord's churches in all ages. Our being gathered together with Him in the resurrection of the dead saints is a huge step toward the visible kingdom. He that washed us from our sins in his own blood made us kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth, Revelation 5, verses 8 through 10. So that kingdom is soon coming. Notice, please, John 17, verse 20 through 26. This is our last scripture. This is part of Jesus' high priestly prayer. Verse 20 says, neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe only through their word. Boy, that's us, that's us. That they all may be one as thou, Father, art in me and I in thee. And they also may be one in us, that the world may believe thou sent me, and the glory which thou gavest me I've given them, that they may be one even as we're one, I in them and thou in me, that they may be perfect in one, and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved me, and hast loved them, and hast loved me. Father, I will, that they also whom thou hast given me be with me where I am. that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee, but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me, and I declare unto them thy name, and I will declare it, that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them. What a joyous prayer this is, to be one and to be with me where I am that they may see my glory. You talk about a magnificent kingdom. This is it. The world has never seen such. And so shall we be when the full manifestation of his kingdom comes. Until then, we keep on praying every day, thy kingdom come, thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Thank you.