The Kingdom of God
Matthew 24:14
                                                                                             By Pastor F. M. Riley
                                                                                             May 7, 2019
     "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.
Introduction
     This inspired Scripture is another passage in God's Word which is wrongly "interpreted," even by many who do seriously study God's Word.  I hope in this study to illustrate why this Scripture is often mis-interpreted, and to present the truth that is stated in this Scripture.  Join us for a hopefully enlightening study.......
Who Was Being Spoken To?
     When studying Matthew 24, many make their first mistake by ignoring to whom the Lord Jesus was speaking.   In this chapter, the Lord Jesus was not preaching to a public gathering.  Rather, this chapter records the Lord's private answers to only four of His disciples; Peter, James, John, and Andrew.  Read it for yourself in Matthew 24:1-3 and Mark 13:1-3.  
What Was Being Spoken About?  
     The discourse in this entire chapter, was then spoken to four of the Lord's disciples, all of whom were Jews.  The Lord was answering their questions about the destruction of the Jewish Temple, the "sign" of the Lord's return, and of the end of the world [aion...age], 24:3.  
     Obviously, the Lord gave those four disciples much more information about the future of Israel, than what they had asked for.  This is why God's people today regard Matthew 24 as one of the greatest chapters of  Bible prophecy in the New Testament.
     But if this wonderful chapter of Bible prophecy is to be "rightly divided," then those studying it, should never forget that the Lord was speaking to His Jewish disciples, about future events which would directly concern Israel and the Jewish people, and which would ultimately be of benefit to the Jews.  We could say that Matthew 24 is a prophetic message to the Jews, for the Jews, and about the Jews.   
The Scripture Under Consideration
     I haven't the time, nor the inclination, to give an exposition of this entire chapter in this study.  Therefore, I want to concentrate on only one Scripture in this chapter; Matthew 24:14.  Some of God's people today, ignore both the context and the statements of the Lord preceding this Scripture, and are claiming that 24:14 is an important Scripture in determining the timing of the rapture.  
     Hogwash!   The theory just isn't so!  This Scripture has nothing whatsoever  to do with the rapture of God's people.  And now, by God's grace, I will prove what I have just stated.......  
      Let's begin by carefully examining 24:14, to determine what the Scripture actually and literally says.......
     First, the Lord Jesus in this Scripture explicitly states, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached......."
     Right here is a glaring truth that even most believers today totally overlook or ignore; "the gospel of the kingdom."    
     Dear readers, the Lord's Church and New Covenant believers, DO NOT preach "the gospel of the kingdom."  No one ever gets saved by believing that the Lord is going to establish His Kingdom on the earth.  Such a belief is not God's way or plan of salvation, John 3:36; 14:6.  
     Throughout this present Dispensation of Grace, men of God called into the Lord's ministry have not been preaching "the gospel of the kingdom."  Study the different "gospels" spoken of in the New Testament, and notice the differences in each gospel for yourself.   
     The gospel preached throughout this present dispensation has been "the gospel of God's GRACE in Christ Jesus."  This gospel is used by the Lord to move  lost sinners to call upon the Lord Jesus for salvation, and also to motivate those truly saved, to live Godly, Christ honoring lives, as a "witness" to their unsaved loved ones, friends, and others.  Folks, it is "the gospel of God's grace in Christ," that saves souls; not some other gospel, 1 Corinthians 11:3-4.    
     Oh yes, preachers in their messages, do sometimes refer to the Lord's future Kingdom, but only as a yet future event.  Even "prophecy preachers" today ARE NOT warning people to prepare to enter the Kingdom of Christ.  Rather, faithful "men of God" in the pulpits of the churches, are warning people to be ready for the Lord's  soon coming to resurrect and rapture to glory in Heaven, those who believe in, and receive  Him, as their own personal Savior.  Glory to God!
The Gospel of the Kingdom
     Dear readers, "the gospel of the kingdom" has not been preached by the Lord's Church and people, since the days of John the Baptist, some 2,000 years ago.   John the Baptist preached it, because like many others at the Lord's first coming, John was expecting the Lord Jesus, the long awaited Messiah of Israel, to immediately establish His Kingdom on the earth. John's preaching was then an announcement that the Kingdom promised to Israel was about to be set up. But John, like many of the Jewish people at the first coming of Christ, was wrong about the timing of the Kingdom.   As we today look back, we know that setting up the Kingdom, was not God's plan for the Lord's first coming.  
     When the hope of the Jewish people did not immediately come to pass, "the gospel of the kingdom" was set aside, for the more important preaching of "the gospel of God's GRACE in Christ."  And the "gospel of grace" is what true men of God have been preaching ever since.  
     None of the disciples who followed Christ during His personal ministry,  ever preached "the gospel of the kingdom."  None!  They certainly knew that the kingdom would come, but they also knew that it was to be established in the future, according to God's great Plan of the Ages.  
     The true gospel, which true men of God have preached for the past 2,000 years has been, "the gospel of grace."  Praise the Lord!  I was saved by hearing and believing this gospel, and so was every reader of this study who is a true believer.  
     Now let's look again at 24:14.......
"preached in all the world"  
     I have personally heard some TV preachers boast that their "gospel broadcast" was going into every nation on the earth, therefore they were fulfilling Matthew 24:14.  What wicked PRIDE, and Scriptural ignorance!
      The wording in the Greek text from which this Scripture was translated, literally reads, "And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the habitable earth...."  Hello!  
     In other words, "the gospel of the kingdom" is going to be preached in every spot on earth, where there is even one soul to hear it.  The preaching of that particular message won't be half accomplished, like we see in the world today.  When that message is preached again, every living person LEFT BEHIND on the earth is going to hear it.  
     Folks, I am personally aware of "third world" countries today, where the people have never even heard the name of the Lord Jesus.  They don't even know who He is.  There are many places in the world today, where there are no televisions, no radios, no computers, not even electricity, and where the people still live in shacks in heathen darkness.  Yes, it grieves my heart for these people.  Millions of dollars are spent by these multi-million dollar ministries here in America, and in other modern industrial nations, evangelizing those who have heard the gospel preached over and over again, and yet have refused to respond and believe what they hear.    
     Then  to have some addle brained, proud hearted, TV preacher boast that their "gospel broadcast" is going into every nation on earth, and therefore they are fulfilling  Matthew 24:14, makes me sick just listening to them brag.  I grieve over the spiritual ignorance of some today who "profess" to be Christians.  
When and by Whom?  
       But when will "the gospel of the kingdom" be preached again, and who is going to preach it?   A good question, deserving a Scriptural answer.  
     Who will have a better Scriptural reason to preach "the gospel of the kingdom," after the rapture has occurred, and the Tribulation has begun, than the redeemed Jewish people?   Isn't the establishing of the Lord's kingdom of particular importance to Israel and the Jewish people?  Read Deuteronomy 28:1 and 28:13, and see for yourself.    
     The very first event which will happen on the earth following the beginning of the Tribulation is the salvation and sealing of 144,000 Jews, Rev. 7:1-3.     
     Then what will happen to the 144,000 saved and sealed Jews?  I have been asked this question several times over the years.
     Will these 144,000 saved and sealed Jews just sit around twiddling their thumbs during the first half of the Tribulation? Or does the Lord God has something for them to do?  Think about it!    
     There is nothing more said in Revelation about the 144,000 until Rev. 14:1.  There they are seen with the Lord standing on the Heavenly Mount Zion.  Timewise, this is shortly after the middle of the Tribulation Period. How do I know?  Because, according to Daniel 12:1-2, it is  right after mid-Trib that the resurrection of  Old Testament Jewish believers occurs.   Careful Bible students should notice that it is also right after mid-Trib that God's "two witnesses" will be caught up to Heaven, Rev. 11:11-12.  
     I have been asked in past years how the 144,000 would be saved and sealed, since there would be no one left on earth to preach the gospel to them?  Oh yes, there will be!  The instant after the rapture has occurred, God's "two witnesses" will be seen standing in the streets of Jerusalem, and they will be preaching the message of salvation to the Jewish people.  Immediately 144,000 will hear the message and believe, Romans 10:17.  Glory to God!
     And if our readers will pardon my crude expression, "Those 144,000 saved and sealed Jews will "hit the ground running" with "the gospel of the kingdom."   
     The 144,000 will spend the first half of the Tribulation Period carrying "the gospel of the kingdom" to every place on the earth, where there is even one soul to hear it.  It is the 144,000 saved and sealed Jewish evangelists who will fulfill Matthew 24:14 as, like John the Baptist centuries ago, they will preach in the power of the Holy Spirit, announcing the imminent establishment of the long awaited "Kingdom of God."  And will their preaching "the gospel of the kingdom" have any effect on those LEFT BEHIND on the earth after the rapture?  
     The very next thing we read in Rev. 7, after the salvation and sealing of the 144,000, is about "a great multitude" standing before God's throne in Heaven, having "washed their robes , and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," Rev. 7:9-17.  The inspired Word explicitly says that they are people "of all nations, and kindreds, and peoples, and tongues," and that they have come "out of great tribulaion," 7:9; 7:14.   Glory to God!  Yes!  The "remnant" of Israel, as represented by the 144,000 saved and sealed Jews will lead more people to a saving knowledge of Christ in a brief three and one-half years, than most of our Gentile preaching has done in the past 2,000 years.  Give the 144,000 Jews the credit due them, and give God the glory for it all!  
Back to Matthew 24:14
     Notice again in this Scripture, the Lord's statement, ".....and then shall the end come."
     As I have previously stated, this inspired Scripture has nothing to do with the approaching rapture.  It is quite clear in 24:3 that the disciples were asking the Lord Jesus about "the end of the age."  The Greek word translated as "world" in this Scripture is literally "aion...age."  
     Those disciples knew that the Lord's bodily, visible,  "coming" back to the earth again, would be immediately followed by the end of this present "age," and the beginning of an entirely new "age."  
The Distinction
     I would point out that I am not speaking here of a "dispensation."  A dispensation is a certain amount of time within an "age."  "Ages" are marked in the Scriptures by great earth changes, such as Noah's flood.  The inspired Word plainly states that when the Lord bodily and visibly returns to the earth at His Second Coming, there is going to be a great
shaking of the whole earth, at which time "every island fled away,  and the mountains were not found," Rev. 16:17-21.  
     I suspect this means that God is going to restore one great land mass back on the earth, just like it was in the beginning, and also after the flood for a time.
     Remember that after the flood, all of the descendants of Shem, Ham, and Japheth were living together as one people, and all speaking the same language, Genesis 11:1-2.  Then they built the Tower of Babel, resulting in God confusing their tongues.  The result of their speaking different languages caused them to scatter "abroad upon the face of all the earth," Genesis 11:9.  
     Then AFTER they had been scattered over the face of the whole earth, God broke up the one great land mass during the lifetime of Peleg, Genesis 10:25; 11:16-19.  
     So when the Lord comes again, another world catastrophe is going to occur.  The entire earth will be shaken, to the extent that the islands [tops of undersea mountains] will disappear beneath the oceans, and the mountains on the surface of the earth will literally be shaken down, possibly leaving one gigantic continent again with a surface more or less of gentle rolling hills.  Ideal for farming and raising the crops redeemed
natural mankind will need in "the ages to come."  Glory to God!  
What We Have Discerned About Matthew 24:14
     [1]   "the gospel of the kingdom" and "the gospel of the grace of God" are two different gospels.  
     [2]    "the gospel of the grace of God" is God's merciful offer of His saving grace to the Gentile peoples of the earth, being preached during this present Dispensation of Grace.
      [3]    "the gospel of the kingdom" is the announcement to Israel and to mankind upon the whole "habitable earth,"  that the Kingdom of Christ is to be shortly established upon the earth.  
     [4]    "the gospel of the kingdom" will be preached during the still future Tribulation Period.  
     [5]    "the gospel of the kingdom" will be preached  by the 144,000 saved and sealed Jews, and not by anyone in this present dispensation.    
     [6]      "the end" in Matthew 24:14 refers to the end of this present "age" which corresponds with the end of the Tribulation Period, and the bodily, visible, return of Christ Jesus back to the earth.      
     [7]     Only when every living person on earth has heard "the gospel of the kingdom" will "the end" come.
Without Excuse.....
     This means that every person LEFT BEHIND at the rapture,;  will be totally without excuse for rejecting the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they will pay with their lives for doing so, Roman 6:23; Matthew 3:12.  
     Read Luke 17:26-27.  When Noah and his family came out of the Ark, following the flood, there was not one unbelieving, lost person on the face of the earth.  None!   And when Christ Jesus sets up His Kingdom on the earth following the Tribulation, there will not be one unbelieving, lost person who will enter His Kingdom.  The Lord's Kingdom will be a Kingdom of absolute "righteousness."  Glory to God!  
Conclusion...Still Time
     Dear readers, the resurrection and rapture have not yet taken place.  Both will occur before the terrible Tribulation begins.  There is still time for any reader to seek the Lord and be saved.  But remember the words of the precious Lord Jesus, "These things saith He that is holy, He that is true, He that hath the key of David, He that openeth, and no man shutteth; and He that shutteth, and no man openeth," Rev. 3:7.  
     If any reader is unsaved, NOW is the time for you to seek the Lord as your Savior.  Tomorrow may be just one day too late!  Yes, I know that there will be a great multitude of people saved during the Tribulation Period.  But their salvation will not remove them out of the Tribulation, and they will die martyr's deaths.  And what makes any reader think they will be one of those saved during the Trib?   
     "For He saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee:  behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation," 2 Corinthians 6:2.   
     Yes!  I am pleading with any unsaved reader, to seek the Lord as your Savior right now while you still have the time and opportunity to receive Christ.  This also applies to any reader who has doubts about their salvation.  Settle those doubts with the Lord NOW.  
      May God grant His grace and His blessings to every reader is my prayer, Ephesians 2:8-10.
<<<<<<<       O       >>>>>>>
     My personal contact information:
POSTAL.......Pastor F. M. Riley, 14275 Co. Rd. 8120, Rolla, MO 65401
EMAIL.........francismriley34@gmail.com
PHONE.......573-202-6493
<<<<<<<       O       >>>>>>>
     My son-in-law, Pastor Larry Henbest, is to undergo brain surgery this coming week, to remove a cancerous tumour.  I am asking our readers to please pray for him, for the doctors who will be doing the operation, and for the Lord's will to be done.  Thank you and God bless you all.