The Church of Christ
God prophesied about The Kingdom of God many
hundred years before it came into existence. Consider the following:
Da 2:31-44 ¶ Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32 This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33 His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34 Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35 Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36 This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37 Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38 And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39 And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40 And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41 And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters' clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42 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. 43 And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44 And in the days of these kings 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 for ever.
God tells us here that there are to be four Kingdoms.
1.
Babylon
2. Media - Persia
3. Greece
4. Rome
He tells us again about four Kingdoms and identifies them more clearly for us.
Da 7:2 Daniel spake and said, I saw in my vision by night, and, behold, the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings: I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man's heart was given to it. 5 And behold another beast, a second, like to a bear, and it raised up itself on one side, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it between the teeth of it: and they said thus unto it, Arise, devour much flesh. 6 After this I beheld, and lo another, like a leopard, which had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl; the beast had also four heads; and dominion was given to it. 7 After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.
Again, we see four kingdoms - Babylon,Media Persia, Greece, and Rome. It is the fourth Kingdom in which he is up the Kingdom of God.
Da 8:19 And he said, Behold, I will make thee know what shall be in the last end of the indignation: for at the time appointed the end shall be. 20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media and Persia. 21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king. 22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power. 23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up. 24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. 25 And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand. 26 And the vision of the evening and the morning which was told is true: wherefore shut thou up the vision; for it shall be for many days.
He makes it as plain as day. He actually names 3 of the four nations. He clearly identifies Alexander the Great of Greece hundreds of years before he is born. During the time of the Roman Empire shall the Prince of princes be on the earth and in the days of the Roman Empire shall he establish his Kingdom, the Kingdom of God.
Now that we know in general the time that God established the Kingdom of God. Let us look closer at the time. We can pinpoint the exact day.
Mt 16:13 ¶ When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? 14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. 15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. 17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. 18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
Notice that as Jesus speaks of building his church, he speaks of the future. The Church is not in existence at this time. He also uses the word "Church" and "Kingdom of heaven" interchangeability. They have the same meaning.
John the Baptist and Jesus both came preaching "repent the Kingdom of heaven is at hand". (Mat. 3:2; Mat. 4:17; Mat.10:7) This means that it was close by. In fact many would not die till they see the Kingdom in existence.
Mr 9:1 ¶ And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.
Lu 24:46 And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: 47 And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 And ye are witnesses of these things. 49 And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.
It is clear from the above scriptures, the Church did not begin with John the Baptist. All of these speak of it as being in the future. If we follow the arrival of the "power" we will see when and where the Kingdom or Church began.
Ac 1:7 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. 8 But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto
the uttermost part of the earth. 9 And when he had spoken these things, while
they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight.
Ac 2:1 ¶ And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all
with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. 3
And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon
each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak
with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Kingdom of heaven, the Kingdom of God, the Church begin with the out pouring of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in Acts Chapter 2. Every passage before Acts 2 speaks of the Church, the Kingdom as in the future while every passage after Acts chapter 2 speaks of it in the present. Consider the following passages.
Ac 2:47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people.
And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Col 1:13
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into
the kingdom of his dear Son:
Ac 20:28 Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you
overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own
blood.
The Church that Jesus built, the Kingdom of heaven, the
Kingdom of God, began (was started) in the year AD 33 on the day of Pentecost in
the city of Jerusalem.
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