God, have you died for me? God, all of heaven's grace, Thou,
Father, Lord, have died for me. ♪ Though it is not our faith he
hath had ♪ ♪ And the record is well ♪ ♪ In heaven above ♪ ♪
Though Christ be in the clouds ♪ The deep river flows. Those trees that are now in places
for me are trees of gold. There, too, an ocean flows. It's the river itself. I am I, with all else, but I
with God am I. He creates this form of living,
then to death I'll comply. ♪ I bless the Father, his name
is ♪ ♪ The good of the Father's breast ♪ ♪ God is there for his
brethren ♪ ♪ In Emmanuel's breast ♪ ♪ God's righteousness, God's
performance ♪ O'er the ramparts we watched,
were so gallantly streaming? It brings a poor vile sinner
to his house of wine. It turns water into wine. It goes into the highways and
hedges and compels vile sinners to come. Mark chapter 1. Go over there
with me. Mark chapter 1. These verses struck me as I was
reading them. Mark chapter 1 verses 14 and
15. Now after that John was put in
prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God and saying, ìThe time is fulfilled and the kingdom
of God is at hand. Repent ye and believe the gospel.î The Son of God, Jesus Christ. God has one only begotten Son. God manifest in the flesh. When God came to this earth,
He was a preacher. That sure elevates this position,
doesn't it? The world calls it foolishness.
I know that. And most of what goes on is foolishness
spoken by fools. But the Son of God came and He
was a preacher. He came preaching. Preaching
is declaring. Preaching is a man standing up.
with God's Word declaring, thus saith the Lord. It's not sharing.
It's not opening it up to a dialogue. You know that modern so-called
churches are going to that sort of thing. Completely doing away
with preaching. The Son of God came declaring,
preaching, announcing something. Denouncing. Declaring. Now, Scripture says no man spake like
he spake. You preach that sermon on the
mount. Wouldn't you have loved to have heard that? No preacher
ever preached like he did. I'll tell you why. It's his story. It's his Word. Like you, only
you, can tell a story that you have experienced. Well, this
is God who came from heaven to declare unto us heavenly things. He came from there. He can tell
it. He could tell it. He could speak
it as no other. And surely there was no preacher
before Him or since, nor will there ever be. It's His story.
It's His Word. It's His gospel. And you know,
when man first sins in the garden, Who came and told him the good
news? It was the Lord Jesus Christ in the garden. The voice of the
Lord came walking in the cool of the garden. And John, he began
to preach the woman's singing. And he illustrated it by slaying
a lamb. Jesus Christ, to the first sinners,
came preaching the gospel. And here when he became a man
upon this earth, he came walking, declaring the gospel. Preaching
the gospel. What did he preach? Look at it
again. He came preaching the gospel
of the kingdom of God. The gospel, gospel means good
news, glad tidings. When Christ was born, the angels
announced glad tidings of joy, great joy unto all peoples. For unto you is born this day
a Savior. Glad tidings, good news. Christ
preached the good news of the Kingdom of God. All right, that's what we're
going to try to look at. This is what Christ preached.
He says it twice, doesn't he? He said, the time is fulfilled,
the kingdom of God is at hand. That's what Christ preached.
The kingdom. The good news of the kingdom
of God. Now, at this time, when Christ
was preaching, Israel was under Roman rule. Tyrannical rule. Augustus Caesar. was the emperor, a wicked man,
a vile man. A little while later, Nero, who
had Paul's head cut off, he's the one, he read the story about
he lit, burned believers and laughed about it while he fiddled, while Nero
fiddled. Augustus Caesar was the emperor
and men, little men, wicked men like Agrippa, King Agrippa and
others, Pilate, Herod, wicked men, evil, wicked men, unjust
judges. There were no just judges. Cruel tyrants. It was a government
by evil men for evil men. And religion was worse. Religion was, all of it was on
the take. Religion was owned by the Roman
government, John. And they said what the Roman
government told them to say. They were in their pocket. Scribes
and the Pharisees. Our Lord called them, every time
the Lord spoke of the scribes and Pharisees, He said, hypocrites.
He didn't. Because they were actors. They
weren't true men, they were actors. That's what hypocrite meant.
They were for hire, they were doing it for pay, and saying
whatever needed to be said, and acting a part. When our Lord
said they're full of extortion and excess, that's what our Lord
said. John said, true preacher. I want
you to turn with me to 2 Kings 17. This is the state of Israel then
and in our Lord's day. Long before him, he came and
when he came. 2 Kings 17. After Solomon. Solomon was a good king. A great
king. After Solomon, Israel became
a divided nation with many different kings. Some good, most bad. Real bad. And religion was divided. There was some truth, but it
was mostly a mixture. Are you with me? 2 Kings 17. Look at this. This is awful. Verse 32. Now, this is speaking
of Israel that was, at this time, carried away in bondage, captivity. It says, "...they feared the
Lord, and made unto themselves of the lowest of them priests."
In other words, the worst fellows were the priests. Luke, over
in 1 Kings, it says anybody that wanted to could be one. In 1 Kings 12 it said they weren't
Levites. It didn't matter. Anybody that
wanted to. Verse 33, they feared the Lord
and served their own gods. And verse 34, and to this day
they do that same thing. They continue to this day doing
the same thing. Fear the Lord and serve. You can't do that. In other words, they seemed to
fear the Lord. They talked about the Lord. They
had a Bible, but they served other gods. They had other gods. Does that sound familiar? Look
at the last verse here. So these nations feared the Lord
and served their graven images, their children, their children's
children, as did their fathers, so do they unto this day. That's the way it was in Israel
of old, and that's the way it is in America today. 2010. Now, you and I know that this
nation, at least said it was founded
under the principle, one nation under God. Doesn't it? I mean, the older people remember
years ago when this nation seemed to have something of the fear
of God. Didn't they? Dad, didn't they
used to call people God-fearing? He's a God-fearing man. He said
that, didn't he, about men and women. It was a compliment. Didn't it, Brother Henry? You remember just 40 or 50 years
ago there seemed to be some fear of God. None anymore. It's gone. One nation under God was supposed
to be under His authority, under His Word, under His fear. Now,
I believe, I'm quite certain of it, it's under His wrath. And the wrath of God is revealed
from heaven every day. And it's not just calamities
and disasters like Egypt of old. Not just those things. Those
things are very obvious, but it's prosperity. Our Lord said,
as in the days of Noah, nobody could believe a disaster
would hit. Things were too good. This is a government full of
corrupt men and women and religion. This is why our day is because
of religion, for the cause of the corruption of religion, because
men have kept God's Word from the people, they're hirelings,
and so God has given them over to a reprobate mind. That's what
the Scripture says. The last verse, and I want you
to turn. I'm not going to have you turn
many places, but I do want you to see this, okay? Judges. The
book of Judges. This is Brother John Sheezy,
one of his favorite books. Judges chapter 21. Judges chapter 21. Now look at this, the very last
verse, this is a sad commentary on Israel then and America today. Look at verse 25. In those days
there was no king in Israel. Every man did that which was
right in his own eyes. Now you and I know what the Scripture
said. There is a way that seemeth right, but it's destruction. The end is destruction and death. Every man did that which was
right in his own eyes, and whatever man thinks is right, whatever
everybody agrees is right, is wrong, dead wrong. So that's
the way it was then, and that's the way it is now. But God. You know what the next book is? Right after it said every man,
there was no king in Israel. There was no king in Israel.
Everybody did that which was right in their own eyes. And
it was a mess. It was a mess. Israel was in a mess. They were
in bondage. They were in corruption. It was a perverted society. The
priests, the prophets were all profane, Jeremiah said. They
were all no good from the top to the bottom, the sole of their
feet to the top of their head. There was no soundness anywhere
to be found. The next book is Ruth. God wrote
this book about a little Moabite woman, little insignificant woman. And a great man named Boaz. God brought them together. And
born of that little woman in an insignificant town in Israel
was a man named, a child, a boy named Obed. And his son was named
Jesse. And his son was king. Good news. Everything looks bad. The King is born! What's his
name? David. Boy, things are going
to be right now. That's what this gospel of the
Kingdom is. Christ came at a time when there
couldn't be more perverted. And Christ Himself came and said,
Good news! The King is here! The King is here. Isaiah chapter
32 said, Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness. The king
is here. That's what Christ came. He came
preaching Himself. Good news. He said this. He said the kingdom of heaven,
the kingdom of God doesn't come with observation. It's revelation. The Jews, you know, they were
looking for a king. And Scripture says he'll be born
in Bethlehem. Oh, Bethlehem, Ephrathath, though
thou be smallest among the nations, out of thee shall he come who
will be ruler in Israel. Well, that's where he was born.
When he came and they said, he can't be a king born in a stable.
Can't be a king riding on a donkey. Zechariah said that. Behold,
thy king cometh meek and lowly, having salvation just and having
salvation riding on the foal of an ass. Your king's here. No, that's not our king. He's
going to come and sit on a throne in Jerusalem, in the middle of
Jerusalem, and set up a nation of Israel and wear a crown. No,
he's not. No, he's not. It doesn't come
with observation like that. Pomp and show. Look, they're
building the temple. Well, let them build it. Christ
is not going to come to that. Look, they're building the throne
of David for the Messiah to sit on. He's not going to sit on
that. No. It doesn't come with observation.
Christ said, the kingdom of God is among you. Where? Where? I know my brother will rise again
in the resurrection. He said, I am. I am that I am. This is God.
This is the King. comes by revelation. He makes
himself known to his subject. I'm getting way ahead of myself.
The kingdom of God. To have a kingdom, you've got
to have a king, don't you? Very plain. The kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and boy,
do we have a king. Listen to this. Psalm 145. There
are so many scriptures. Sammy, I started looking in the
verses and scriptures to read about the king. I wrote down
scores of them. I just had to choose one. I wanted
to read them all. There's so many. That's what this book is
about. Listen to this. Psalm 145. He says, I will extol
thee, my God, O my King. He says, verse 13, Thy kingdom
is an everlasting kingdom. Your glorious majesty of your
kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. And thy dominion endureth throughout
all generations. King. We have a King. Though
men can't see Him, though men don't acknowledge Him, we do
have a King. Meaning? Now, people don't know
much about a king today, because there are none. They're little
figureheads. One of these days they're going
to put a crown on that fellow named William over in England. Prince William. They're going
to put a crown on him. There's going to be a big pomp
and show. The biggest, most elaborate ceremony you'll ever see of crowning
the monarch. rule anything. He won't be able
to tell anybody anything. He's just a figurehead, isn't
he? Not this king. There is a king. Absolute authority. Absolute sovereign. Meaning overall. Absolute monarch. Listen to Daniel. Listen to this. This is wonderful.
In Daniel chapter 4, there was a king named Nebuchadnezzar. And he thought he was something.
He thought he was something. He had his little kingdom. And
he said, look what I've done. And God said, I'm going to bring
you down and turn you into an animal. He said, you're going
to know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and He
giveth it to whomsoever He will. He setteth up, He casts down.
He raiseth up, He brings down. By me, kings rule," the king
said. He's the king of kings and Lord
of lords. Listen to this. And old Nebuchadnezzar
found out, didn't he? He found out. He's reduced to
an animal until he finally said, now my reason returned unto me. Now I know. That it is Him that
liveth forever and ever. I praise the Most High that liveth
forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion. His
kingdom is from generation to generation. All inhabitants of
the earth to Him are reputed as nothing. He doeth according
to His will. Man talks about free will. They
don't know that there is a kingdom. And he is not running for king. He doeth according to his will
in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest
thou? That's a king, Brother Henry. Absolute. Oh, listen. You know, Wednesday night, David
said, My heart and that's a good matter. Bubbling up. He said,
I'm speaking about things touching the king. Let me tell you about
the king. David said, he that ruleth among
men must be just, ruling in the fear of the Lord. We have a just
king, a fair king, a righteous king. Scripture calls him holy
and righteous. A king shall reign in righteousness. Scripture says mercy and truth
are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other in a person. He came to this earth. And He
reigned and ruling right now is reigning and ruling in righteousness. A just God and a Savior. Jesus
Christ. We do have a King. Just and righteous. Just and holy is His name. I
thought about this. Can you imagine America being
under a just and holy and righteous King right now? Wouldn't that
be wonderful? Wouldn't you love that? For your
sake, for your children's sake, your grandchildren. Wouldn't
you love that? I mean a believer sitting on the throne. A real
godly man who consults God's will, John. A man who actually
consults God before he does anything. And
everything he said, he does it in the fear of God. In honor
of God. A merciful man, a kind man, a
gracious man, a loving, a Christ-like man. Can you imagine what it
would be like? Someone asked me one time, if
you could live in any generation throughout history, at any point
in time, when would it be? And I would have loved to have
actually be right there with the Lord Jesus Christ when He
came. Hear His voice. But those were horrible times.
Horrible. But I thought about it and I
thought, I'd like to live when Solomon reigns. And I'll show you why. First Kings, go over there with
me. First Kings. is a great type
of the Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Kings chapter 4. Solomon is the son of David. David was a great king, a wonderful
man, a godly man. Solomon, his son, was even greater
than him. God said there was none like
him. And God called his son the son of David. Because Solomon
is such a wonderful type. And I wish we had another hour,
but we don't. But just look at some of this
concerning Solomon. In verse 21, 1 Kings 4, it says,
Solomon reigned over all kingdoms from the river of the lands of
the Philistines unto the border of Egypt. Look at verse 24. He had dominion over all the
region on this side of the river, over all kings. He had dominion
over all kings. He was the king of kings. The
Lord Jesus Christ, Irene, is king of kings. He said, all authority
is given unto me in heaven and earth. That's the good news,
Irene, that nothing, nobody reigns over anything. Nobody's in control
of anything but Jesus Christ. Isn't that good news? There's
not an Adam on this earth that Jesus Christ doesn't give orders
to. Did you hear that? It's good
news. Christ said, King's here to save
you. Now come, say good news. Kingdom of God is among you.
Kingdom of God. Some people are subjects in this
King. If you're a subject of this King, you've got it made. If He's your King. Look at this. Verse 24 said, He had peace on
all sides round about Him. While Solomon reigned, not one
arrow flew through the air, ever. Everybody feared Solomon. And
God through Solomon said, let there be absolute peace in your
kingdom. There's not an arrow going to
fly by day or by night. Look at this, read on. In verse
25 it says, Judah and Israel dwelt safely. Those that were
divided were united. And it says, every man was under
his vine and under his fig tree all the days of Solomon. Never
lacked for anything. Peace, prosperity. Wouldn't you
like to live then, Sam? No? We really do. We do. There's not one thing
that can happen to you or your family unless Jesus Christ gives
the order. That's the good news, Sam. And
he said, I'll never leave you nor forsake you. He said, you'll
never be without. He said, I'll give you a vine
and a fig tree. Peace that no man can take away by order of the King. And none
can stay His hand. And He giveth His angels charge
over you. over your children? Good news! Good news! A king reigns. A greater than Solomon. John
is here. Much greater than Solomon. You
read, go back and read this chapter, Solomon's provisions for one
day. The table of Solomon. I love to think about that. Solomon
was so, it goes on down. Look at that, down in verse 29. God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding
exceeding much and largeness of heart as the sand of the seashore. In other words, he was so generous,
so kind, so good and merciful to everybody. Come one, come
all, as the sands of the sea. Let the whole world come. Solomon
said, Come all, you can eat at my table. Is there enough? Is
there enough? Read about it. The whole place
was at his dominion. Killed the fatted thousand calves. Let everyone come. Solomon had largeness of heart
like the sand of the seashore. Jesus Christ came. Jesus Christ came. He said, A
greater than Solomon is here. Good news! All reign, Christ
said, over all. And I've come to save you, my
people. I'm your King and I've come for
you. And come hell or high water, it can't touch you because I
reign." See, that's the good news in the game. That's the
good news. We have a God who is God. God
who reigns and rules. Say unto the heathen, your God
reigns. And God has given all things
into the hands of His beloved Son. It's called the Kingdom
of His dear Son. and put His people in Him. Oh
my. Kept by Him. This is my next
point. He came, He was born. I had so
many points. Born a king. Lived a king. Died a king. Came riding into
Jerusalem on a donkey. Triumphed. Ascended His throne.
What was it? A cross! That's where He ascended
His throne. That's where He gave the orders,
death to death. Captivity to him who leads captive. The end of sin, the purging of
sin. On Calvary, on the throne, he
gave his mandate. Thus saith the king, sins are
gone. That was his throne on this earth.
Then he arose. God raised him from the dead.
It says, he sat him down on the right hand of the majesty on
high. And the earth, he sitteth on
the circle of the earth. He's not coming to some little
throne in Jerusalem. He's right now on the throne.
It's called the throne of grace. My, my. Reigning, ruling. King of kings. Lord of lords.
He's now king and he's coming again as a king. And he has subjects. Let me close
with this. He has subjects. I've only been
thirty minutes. But the king has subjects. To
have a kingdom, you've got to have a king. There's a king,
a true king. The world can't see him, they
didn't see him when he came, and they don't see him now. They
didn't believe him when he came, they don't believe him now. Who
does? All that he reveals himself to.
He wasn't coming to try to get people to elect him king. He's
coming calling out his subjects. He said, I know my own and will
be known of mine. He said, I have come, you have
I chosen, that you might know me. I am he. The Lord and Savior,
King, Kings, Lord, your righteousness, the Just One. He came and He
has subject, true servants, true subject, loyal subject, who bow
and worship Him and Him alone. That's how you know Him. They're
like Hananiah, Mashiel, and Azariah. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.
Who said, we will not bow to that image of Nebuchadnezzar. We will not do that. So Nebuchadnezzar
said, okay, I'll put you in a furnace of fire. They said, okay, we'll
go. And so he cast them in there.
But lo and behold, their king was in the furnace. John, their
king was in the furnace. He said, the flame shall not
consume you. Consume me. And they came out
of that furnace. So shall we. This fiery trial. There's a king in there with
you, Bonnie. Yes, sir, he said, I'll never leave you. You might
go through a fiery trial, but you're not alone. He's right
there with you. They have a King who's touched
to the feet of our infirmities at all points. And He's able
to succor them that come to Him, to help them. He went through
it. King of kings, through the furnace,
fiery trials. He has subjects that bow to Him
and Him alone. They don't give Him lip service.
They love Him from the heart. They don't just say in their
head, Oh, He's Lord. Oh, they know it. They believe
in their hearts. They serve Him. Loyal subjects
are true to the King's honor and glory. Oh yeah, they'll die
defending the King's honor and glory. That's how you know them.
Patrick, that's how you know them. True servants. They stand
up for the honor and the glory of the King. Christ has such
servants. His cause. They are obedient. They believe His Word. They receive
His Word. They say, like David, I esteem
all thy precepts concerning all things to be right, and I hate
every other false way. Let God my King, Christ my King
be true. He is true. The way, the truth,
and the lie. Everybody else is a liar. That's
his subject. They're loyal subjects. True
subjects. I love the story of David. type of Christ as well. David
one time made a decree. And it cost the people something.
It was a sacrifice. He said, let nobody eat anything
or drink anything for such and such a time. And we're going
to pray about that. This is the way it's going to
be. And it said all the people, they agreed. And it went on to
say, because everything the king did pleased them. Everything
he said was well, altogether pleasing to them, because they
loved him. They didn't understand. It was a sacrifice, but it must
be good. Oh, we have a glorious king. The king and everything he does,
his subject, whatsoever the king does, pleases his people. Lastly,
there's a king. Capital K. He has some subjects. He has a kingdom. He has his
people. How? Why are they his subjects? Well, they're born in this kingdom. They're born in this kingdom.
They, like Christ, as he is, so are
they. They're born of his spirit. washed
in His blood. Just like brothers are loyal
to one another more than anybody else, aren't the same. Stick
by one another through thick and thin, got the same blood.
Die defending one another. That's this kingdom. They're
all born into this kingdom. They're brothers. They're brothers. Blood brothers. And they all
die defending their Lord. They're born in this kingdom.
And He comes calling and they're born. And it's a spiritual kingdom. It's a spiritual kingdom. Our
Lord said this one time. He said, My kingdom is not of
this world. That, if men would just stop
and think about that. That's all revealing. My kingdom
is not of this world. If it were, we'd fight. We would
fight for all the causes and so forth. But there's one cause.
God's glory. Christ's glory. The cause of
God and truth. The gospel. For Christ's sake. The cause of Christ. It's a spiritual
kingdom and it is a peaceable kingdom. It is. Our Lord has
peace in his church, peace among his people. And he, someday, all enemies will be put away. It's a rich kingdom. It's a rich
kingdom. Right now, his people may not
have much of this worldly good, but they're rich in faith. They're
rich in fruit. Fruit, fruitful, love, joy, peace. You can't find it like this anywhere
else, can you? If you read with me, there's
a scattering of corn on a mountain. Hear a little letter, but if
you find the true church of Christ, where Christ reigns and is preached,
you'll find peace. You'll find love. Gabe said,
thank the Lord for these brethren. He thanked the Lord for us. for one another, don't you? Peace,
peace in the kingdom. I had a little kingdom out there
on the farm one time and had horses and every kind, almost,
except pigs, but horses and chickens and ducks and cats and dogs and
all that and I insisted that everybody get along. The horses
would kick and bite and that didn't sit well with me, Kelly.
And the dogs and the cats, eventually even the dogs and the cats got
along. That's right. My dog, whose dogs are bloody,
carnivorous animals, he would lie down with the chickens. One time, one time when he was
very young, He got one of those chickens and killed it. And Rod,
it was the last chicken he ever killed. And from that day forward,
he loved chickens. When I got through with him,
he loved chickens, Brandon. Oh, I said, I was like, they're
my buddies. Our Lord is King. He reigns. He rules in His kingdom. He said,
let there be peace. There is peace. A little spite
here and there, some schisms and divisions, but it won't last.
Our Lord, it won't last. His kingdom will last. And He
said there's going to be peace and love and joy, and He'll remove
everyone that is a problem. Oh, let me not be a problem. It's a peaceable kingdom. It's
a glorious kingdom. We've seen a little bit of His
glory. a little bit, gospel preached. It's a glorious thing if you
see Christ in it. And, oh my, I haven't been there,
I haven't seen or heard, so I can't, it's going to be, and it's an
everlasting King. Good news! Christ came preaching
good news. The King reigns. I'm here. I've come to make peace for you
by the blood of my cross, to ascend my throne and give the
order for your sins to be gone. And I'll ascend unto glory and
sit down. This is going to happen. He told
his disciples that over and over again. It's going to happen.
Because me and my Father planned it, purposed it before the world
began in a covenant. And it will come to pass. And
he said, I will finish the work given me. I will ascend my throne. And he did. And he said, and
I will come again to receive you unto myself. I'm king. Good
news. Kingdom of God. Are you a member? Are you a subject? If you are,
then smile. Okay, Brother Gabe.