As John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, stepped into public proclamation, he was a voice crying out in the wilderness saying “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  After Jesus was baptized and defeated the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus began to preach saying, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  Their message is referred to as the “gospel of the kingdom” in Matthew 4:23. Matthew 3:2, 4:17, 23; 24:14