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NEWSLETTERS
When Will the Kingdom of God Come? 
GWEA Monthly Message - September 2021
REVEREND GORDON WILLIAMS

Every generation keeps asking, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” There will always be people who like to make us think they know when Jesus is coming back, as though God has given them a special peek into the future.

Interestingly God is not going to tell anyone - not even Jesus. Anyone who says they know when He is coming back is wrong – period. “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only” (Matt. 24:36).

Anyone who claims he knows is a “false prophet”. In Revelation 7:9, we are told it will only happen after the total number of people are saved. Jesus’ house will be filled as He described (Lk. 14:23) in the “Parable of the Great Banquet/Marriage Feast” (Matt. 22:1-14; Lk.15:23). The total number saved is “a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues” (Rev. 7:9). 

I have figured that the approximate capacity for the New Jerusalem is 10,062,038,469,466,665,620,000 people (Rev. 21:16)! Try to imagine that! That translates into 10 sextillion, 062 quintillion, 038 quadrillion, 469 trillion, 446 billion, 665 million, 620 thousand people! Until today, the total of people who have ever lived on earth is only about 8 billion people. Meaning there are many more Salvations to be had and every Salvation brings Jesus’ arrival one step closer. And when Jesus returns it will be like a flash of lightning – “the twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor 15:51,52) – so fast that no one will be able to think fast enough to repent. 

The Lord is not in a hurry to return. He wants to save as many people as possible. He is “not wishing that any should perish but that all should reach repentance” (2 Pet. 3:9). If we had God’s attitude, we would be saying, “Please wait a little longer Jesus, my mother, father, brother, sister, relatives and neighbours are not yet saved.” When Jesus returns, the world as we know it will be destroyed by fire and be replaced with new Heavens and a new earth. When this happens, the only things that will be of any value are the lives of holiness and Godliness, which are products of the Holy Spirit being allowed to change us. We become holy, through forgiveness, and walking with God in the Power of the Holy Spirit. On “the day of the Lord,” the only thing that will matter is whether we are living righteous lives. 

Jesus said that “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Lk. 17:21). He didn’t mean that it was naturally inside a person. His answer was in reply to a Pharisee’s question asking when the Kingdom would come. The word, Kingdom, in Greek does not refer to a place, but rather an exercising of authority or a ruling or governing over people. The Holy Spirit comes to put the Kingdom of God into place and into operation in people’s hearts.

The Kingdom of God can’t be seen coming since the Holy Spirit can’t be seen. He is like the wind, you can’t see Him coming, but you can see the results after He has come (Jn. 3:7, 8). When people are born again and filled with the Power of the Holy Spirit, great changes are visible through their attitudes, values, speech, demeanor, goals and even appearance. So on one hand, you cannot say, “here it is,” or there it is,” but if you have the eyes to see and ears to hear, you can identify the Kingdom of God in people’s lives by both their “witness” (Acts 1:8) and the “signs following” them (Mk. 16:17, 18).

Let us “seek first the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will provide for us everything we need” (Matt. 6:33) in this life and for eternity (Jn. 10:28-30; Lk. 10:20).  If you, a family member, friend, colleague, etc., have not yet received Salvation, the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the "signs following” (Mk. 16:17–18), healing, deliverance, and/or need prayer for a specific need, I encourage you to come to one of our weekly worship meetings or contact us for prayer. Let’s make 2021 a revival year! 

 
Copyright © 2021. The Gordon Williams Evangelistic Association. All rights reserved.
 
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