Sound The Trumpet : Two Coming Kingdoms and Two coming Rulers

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“Two Coming Kingdoms and Two coming Rulers”
by Art Sadlier
March 10th, 2016

Two Coming Kingdoms and Two Coming Rulers

The Lord had sought to establish the Theocratic Kingdom for Israel. It was God’s purpose to rule over Israel through divinely appointed kings. Because He could not find men in Israel willing and able to reign, He will raise up the Second Adam, Jesus Christ to reign in the future.

“And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:31-33).

Both Israel and Judah and their kings rebelled against God. After Solomon’s reign the kingdom was divided with Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Due to disobedience and rebellion, in 721 BC the Kingdom of Israel was suspended and in 586 BC the Kingdom of Judah was suspended. Israel has had no kings since that time and will have no king until the King of Kings; Messiah comes to sit on the throne of David. That will be the beginning of the “Millennial Kingdom” also referred to as the “Kingdom Heaven.” Understand that the term “Kingdom of Heaven” refers to the ownership of the kingdom and not the location. It will be the “Kingdom of Heaven” on earth.

Matthew records the coming of Messiah to Israel to offer Himself as their King and to restore the Kingdom. Israel rejected their King and cried out, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” The offer to restore the kingdom was withdrawn until Messiah comes to the earth the second time.

The disciples understood the teaching of Jesus, that He would restore the Kingdom to Israel. However they did not understand the timing of the restoration. They asked the Lord in Acts 1:6, “….Lord, wilt thou at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” The Lord did not rebuke them. This was a legitimate question for these Jewish men. They had been taught out of the Old Testament scriptures to look for the Messiah to return to set up the Kingdom of David. I believe in verse 7, Jesus is saying that is not the subject at hand. He goes on to teach that the next thing on the agenda is the purpose of God for them, to be filled with the Spirit and to go into all the world and preach gospel. “And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power”

In other places the return of Christ is the subject and is taught. We are taught that we cannot know the day or the hour but we can know the “times and the seasons” and we can know that it is “near even at the doors.” We are taught that we are to be watching and anticipating His coming.

The writer to the Hebrews stated that there would come a generation that would know that the coming of Christ was near at hand. “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:25).

We are now living in that day. We can now see the “Day of the Lord” approaching and we know that the rapture of the church will precede the “Day of the Lord.”

Today the Lord does not have a kingdom in this world even though He is Lord of all and ruleth over all. He has allowed Satan to be the ruler of this world for a set time. “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not….” (2 Corinthians 4:4). We see this confirmed in Luke 4:6, “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.”

In his capacity as ruler of this world Stan is unwittingly being used by the Lord to accomplish His purposes. Joseph gives us an example of that in Genesis 50:20, “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.”

The Church is not a part of this world system and does not rule in this world. The church is a “called out” people, called out of the world by Christ and to Christ. The believer’s citizenship is in heaven and his home is not in this world but is in heaven. Paul says that the believer’s citizenship is in heaven. Peter says our inheritance is in heaven. The song is right, “This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through.”

There is no such thing as the Kingdom of God on earth at this time. It is serious error to say that the kingdom for Israel has been transferred to the church. God promised a land on this earth to Israel and He promised a kingdom for Israel in this world. God promised that a Son of David would rule over the entire earth from the throne of David in Jerusalem, forever. That promise cannot be broken; if it were it would make God a liar.

God’s promise to the Church is heavenly home and a heavenly blessing.

There are two worldwide earthly kingdoms yet to come in this world.

The second kingdom yet to come is the millennial kingdom in which, as we have said, Christ will rule the world in righteousness forever. Jesus taught about this future kingdom in Luke 11:2, “And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.” That is a yet future day. It has not yet been fulfilled.

The timing of this kingdom is found in Matthew 25:31-34, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

It is important to understand that the Church is not the kingdom of God on earth. At this present time there is no kingdom of God on earth, just watch the news on TV if you have any doubts. Don’t blame God for what the devil is doing in the world today. When Jesus reigns it will be a world of light in contrast to the present kingdom of darkness.

“And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and faithfulness the girdle of his reins. The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:5-9).

This millennial kingdom will ultimately be incorporated into the eternal kingdom.

Satan has been given permission by God to rule this present world. Prior to the millennial kingdom, Satan will seek to consolidate his earthly kingdom and seek to bring it to a climax under the rule of Antichrist. This will be Satan’s climactic final attempt to establish his kingdom in the place of God’s kingdom. It will be his attempt to fulfill his boast in Isaiah 14:13-14, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

We learn in Revelation 17 that this Kingdom of Antichrist will arise in union with a world church called the harlot.

Those today who are talking about building the Kingdom of God are really building the Kingdom of Antichrist. They are deceived, not realizing that the move toward “one world,” a “one world government” and a “one world church” is nothing less than participating in the establishment of the Kingdom of Antichrist.

Replacement Theology erroneously declares that God has permanently set Israel aside when they rejected Christ. The Lord declared in Jeremiah that He would never cast Israel off and that He will forgive Israel sins. Speaking about Israel’s future the Lord said, “And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34).

The Lord then goes on to assure the world that He will never break His promises to Israel. “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 31:34-37).

“And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee” (Genesis 17:7).

Replacement Theology claims that Israel has been replaced in the program of God by the church. It is a lie from Satan who wants to replace Israel with His own “Kingdom of Antichrist.” Those who accept Replacement Theology are deceived into working toward building Antichrist’s Kingdom of Darkness. Satan wants his man to rule the world in place of Christ the rightful ruler of the world. A false church will receive a false Christ.

Dominion Theology declares the same lie. It teaches that the church is to gain dominion over the earth and set up the Kingdom of Heaven on earth at which time Christ will come to rule over the earth. Christ will judge the earthlings for their sin and rebellion against Him prior to His coming to reign on David’s throne. Christ will not come to reign over a wicked unrepentant world.

This judgment will take place after the church is raptured and prior to His coming to reign. This judgement is referred as the tribulation period.

Here again we see these deceived ones working to build the Kingdom of Antichrist. A false Christ will indeed come and set up his kingdom for a deceived church and a deceived world.

The Harlot is Now Casting Her Shadow over the World

The prophetic scriptures tell of a coming World Government in union with a coming World Church.

The fulfilment of Bible prophecy is accelerating, especially in the area of the ecumenical movement and the rise of the harlot church. For years we have been conscious of the fact that the harlot must begin to appear on the scene before the stage is fully set for the end time events to unfold. Though we have seen foreshadows of the coming harlot it has not been until the last few months that the campaign to bring forward the harlot has exploded. This is one of the most significant developments in end time prophecy that I have witnessed.

I believe that our Lord is standing at the doors of heaven awaiting the Father’s signal to return for us.

That which frustrates us the most is the realization that as the rapture draws nearer and nearer; the more voices are falling silent. As the drama of man’s last day is unfolding the sound of the trumpet seems to be muffled. There are fewer and fewer who seem to be able to discern what is taking place. The deception of Satan seems to be blinding so many. Many churches and pastors are succumbing to Satan’s deceptive siren song of Peace and Safety. Many are buying into the one world government and the hope for some kind of religious unity. Great forces are at work to unify our world. Many are going back to Rome. Some are seemingly intimidated by the fact the premillennial message is now very unpopular.

A recent survey indicated that great numbers of protestant and evangelical pastors are now accepting Catholics as brothers in the faith. Many are expressing a favorable attitude toward the pope. Apparently they are unaware of the damnable doctrines of Catholicism. We are in the midst of a seismic shift in eschatology that is nothing less that the great Apostasy.

In a recent Video Pope Frances made an extraordinary move to unite the religions of the world. This move shouts the acceleration of the program of the harlot church. This scenario cries out that the coming of Christ is drawing very near.

The pope called for dialogue and collaboration among the various world religions. He stated that all are simply “seeking or meeting God in different ways.”

The pope went on to say “Most of the planet’s inhabitants declare themselves believers.” He continued, “This should lead to dialogue among religions. We should not stop praying for it and collaborating with those who think differently.”

The pope is saying that all the world’s religions just represent the diversity of mankind in seeking God. He is declaring that despite of different beliefs we are all children of the same God. He states, “Many think differently, feel differently, seeking God or meeting God in different ways. In this crowd, in this range of religions, there is only one certainty that we have for all: we are all children of God,”

The pope is giving a clarion call for all the religions of the world to come together. It would appear to me that we are in the final stages of the forming of the harlot of Revelation 17.

There is a full-court press right now to unify all Christian denominations under the banner of the Roman Catholic Church.

Some charismatic leaders have made no secret of the fact that they have discussed coming together with Rome.

Rick Warren has declared that the pope is the world’s spiritual leader and that he is the pope for all Christians world-wide. Warren’s Peace Plan is an attempt to bring the world together to work for peace and social justice. This is diametrically opposed to the message of the gospel. Our world needs redemption not transformation.

There is a video of the pope meeting with and embracing those of various religions, including Buddhists, Islamists and Orthodox Jews.

“I have confidence in Buddha,” a female lama announces.

“I believe in God,” a rabbi affirms.

“I believe in Jesus Christ,” a priest states.

“I believe in Allah,” an Islamic leader declares.

I repeat - Frances contends that all the religions of the world simply represent mankind’s diversity in seeking God. He says that despite the differing beliefs, everyone is a child of the same God.

To representatives of the world’s religions, Frances declared: “I believe in love.” The call is to unite on the basis of love not on doctrine.

Frances states, “I hope you will spread my prayer request this month: that sincere dialogue among men and women of different faiths may produce fruits of peace and justice, I have confidence in your prayers.”

In another staggering move, Pope Francis will attend the celebration of the 500 anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. Protestant leaders are declaring the reformation is over. Rick Warren has stated that a new reformation is now underway. The first reformation divided, the second reformation is now uniting.

Like an avalanche the beat goes on. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill, is to meet his Roman Catholic counterpart, Pope Frances, during a historic visit to Latin America. This ground breaking meeting is to happen in mid-February in Cuba.

The meeting between heads the two major Christian churches would be an unprecedented move to mend a millennium-long rift between the Western and Eastern branches of the religion, which started with the Great Schism of 1054.

The union of all religions is like a freight train coming down the track.

Dialogue between the Church of Rome and the Church of England has been carried on with the agreement to move toward union.

Some time ago 138 Muslim scholars signed a letter addressing the pope, the Patriarch of the Orthodox Church and all Christian Churches. The letter invited dialogue on how these groups could come together to promote world peace.

At the time the pope responded by inviting senior Muslims to the Vatican to consider their proposed dialogue.

Another example of the growing coming together of all religions was revealed on February 1^st as 100 people gathered on the border of the Golan Heights The gathering was a remarkable mix of Muslims, Druze, Christians, and Jews.

Others, including a few Gazans, joined the synchronized prayer from around the world, to pray for the welfare of the Syrian people. There were one million people who signed in to the website and via Facebook as participants . This is a growing phenomenon.

It seems that the log jam has been broken and that we are headed at breakneck speed toward the harlot church.

We know that the world is headed toward a great false peace treaty under Antichrist. We know that the harlot will be the force that brings this peace and it will be the force that brings Antichrist to power.

In the light of these facts it is interesting to hear the statement by Vladimor Putin, “The world is headed for a clash of cultures (Islam vs Christianity) and only the unification of religious leaders can prevent a disaster.” That is the unwitting invitation for the World Church to come together and work with governments to achieve world peace.

Such a prospect is foretold in Revelation 17:3, “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.”

This drive toward a one world church is connected with the drive toward one world government.

As we see this accelerating move to the world church we know that this world church will not come to full fruition until after the rapture takes place. Therefore, what we see happening is a sure sign that the rapture of the Bride of Christ is near at hand.

The writer to the Hebrews said in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

Luke said in chapter 21, verse 28, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”

As we see the signs all around us multiplying we are to be looking up in expectation of our redemption from this wicked world.

We have another exhortation from scripture for this hour, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (1 Thessalonians 2:3). We are now witnessing a great falling away from the faith by Evangelicals.

We are also warned to disassociate ourselves from the falling away, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

There is only one thing worth living for; that is to live to please our wonderful Lord and Saviour. Can you say with me, Lord, help me, by your Spirit, to do that which pleases you each day for the rest of my life.

Art Sadlier

Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13