Would you turn with me to Hebrews
chapter one? Last week, we considered the
throne of the Lord Jesus Christ, and tonight we're going to consider
the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look with me in Hebrews
chapter one verse eight. But under the sun. He sayeth. Thy throne, O God. Is forever. And ever. A scepter of righteousness. Is the scepter of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness
and hated iniquity. Therefore God, even thy God,
hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness, exuberant joy above
thy fellows. The Lord Jesus Christ. I love his name. The Lord Jesus
Christ. As the king of kings ruling from
his throne has a kingdom. Over 150 times in the New Testament,
we read of the kingdom of heaven and the kingdom of God and the
kingdom of Christ. They are one and the same thing. A scepter of righteousness, a
scepter of rightness is the scepter of thy kingdom. Now, what does
this word kingdom mean? We find it throughout the scriptures.
What is a kingdom? Now, the word kingdom has both
an abstract and a concrete meaning. Its abstract meaning, a kingdom,
is a word that denotes sovereignty, royal power, dominion. And its concrete meaning is the
territory over which a king rules, or the people over which a king
rules. Now both the abstract meaning
and the concrete meaning are found in a very familiar passage
of Scripture. Would you turn with me to Daniel
chapter 4? I love this verse of Scripture. Daniel chapter 4. Beginning in verse 34 of Daniel
chapter 4. And at the end of the days I
Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding
returned unto me." You know, the Lord had turned him into
a beast to teach him a lesson. And he says, my understanding
came back to me. And here's what he understood
when his understanding came back to me. He said, I blessed the
Most High, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever
whose dominion. is an everlasting dominion, and
his kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants
of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he doeth according to his
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and none can stay his hand. No one can prevent him
from doing his will, or no one can say, what are you doing?
Give an account for yourself. You know, he giveth no account
of his matters. He's absolute authority. And I love thinking
about the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not just an
empty name. He is the king of kings and he
reigns over his kingdom and the scepter of his kingdom is utterly
unique. It's called a scepter of righteousness. And my marginal reading says
a sector of rightness or straightness, absolute justice, equity, and
fairness. Now this kingdom is utterly unique.
There's no other kingdom like this kingdom. a kingdom of utter
justice, fairness, and equity. There's a perfectly level playing
field. This king is no respecter of
persons, and this is the only kingdom of its kind, the kingdom
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, where can I see this kingdom?
How can I find this kingdom? Where is it at? Well, turn with
me for a moment to Luke chapter 17. You know, I want to see the kingdom
of God, don't you? I want to see it. You know, we're taught
to pray in the very basic desires of our prayer. What are we taught
to pray? Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as
it is in heaven. I want to see this kingdom. But
look what our Lord says in Luke chapter 17, beginning in verse
20. And when he was demanded of the
Pharisees when the kingdom of God should come, He answered
them and said, the kingdom of God cometh not with observation. It's not something that you can
say, well, there it is. I see it. It can't be seen by
human eyes. Neither should they say low here
or low there for behold, the kingdom of God is within you. And my marginal reading says
it's among you. He wasn't telling these unbelievers
the kingdom of God is on your inside. No, he wasn't saying
that at all. He's saying the kingdom of God is right here,
wherever the king is, there the kingdom is. This kingdom is not
seen with observation. It doesn't come with outward
show, pomp and circumstance. It doesn't come in a way that
can be seen with human eyes. You know, the king of this kingdom
grew up in a home and none of them got it. Except Mary and
Joseph. I'm talking about his brothers
and sisters. They didn't see him as the king of kings. They didn't
realize that this is God living in this house. They didn't get
it. They couldn't see the glory of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And he was right before them
and they couldn't see. You see, the kingdom of God is
not something that can be seen with human eyes. Now, somebody
may say, why? Why is that? You know, you can't
and I can't see the kingdom of God unless God gives me eyes
to see it. Why is that? Because we're spiritually blind.
Unable to see the things of God unless God gives us eyes to see.
We are spiritually blind. Our Lord said, except a man be
born again, he cannot see the kingdom of heaven. Spiritually
blind. And you see, this kingdom can
only be known by revelation. You know, our Lord said unto
you, it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom, but
to them, it is not given. If you have some understanding
of the kingdom of God, what a blessing of God's grace. You wouldn't
know it unless God was pleased to make it known to you. And
as far as his kingdom goes, it's not a kingdom of this world.
I love, turn to John 18. I love this passage of scripture.
John 18. Verse 33. Then Pilate entered
into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto
him, Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered him, Sayest
thou this thing of thyself? Or did others tell it thee of
me? Pilate answered, am I Jew? Thine
own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me.
What hast thou done? Jesus answered, my kingdom is
not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered
to the Jews. But now is my kingdom not from hence. Now obviously, not everybody
can see this kingdom, but some can. Let me tell you of at least
two people who see this kingdom. First, the Father. He says to the Son, Thy throne,
O God, is forever. A sector of righteousness is
the sector. of thy kingdom." The Father sees
this kingdom. You know who else sees this kingdom?
I know of at least one person, that thief on the cross. He saw
this kingdom clearly. He said, Lord, remember me when
you come back in your kingdom. He understood that Jesus Christ
was the Lord of this kingdom. How do you understand it? Same
way you understand it, God revealed it to him. He revealed to him
who the Lord Jesus Christ was and he saw the Lord in his weakness. Hanging on a cross, humanly speaking,
in his weakness. And he knew he's the Lord. When you come back, which no
doubt you will. He didn't say if you get out
of this mess. He said when you do, I know you're going to accomplish
whatever it is that you set out to accomplish. And when you come
back, Oh, would you remember me? Oh, if this king remembers
me, what else needs to be said? Now, let's consider some things
the Bible teaches about this kingdom, the kingdom of God,
the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of heaven. First, we read in
1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 20. You can turn there if you
want, but I'm just going to read it. For the kingdom of God is
not in word, but in power. And you repeat that. First Corinthians
4.20, the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. The word power is might, ability. You see, the king of this kingdom
is omnipotent. He's all powerful. He said all
power. is given to me in heaven and
in earth. It's not a kingdom in word, it's
not a kingdom on paper, but in power and might. And it's the power of the king
that enables him to be the sovereign. You see, this is the only sovereign
kingdom. I think it's interesting when
you read about different countries, they'll describe themselves as
a sovereign nation. This is a sovereign nation and
this is a sovereign nation. Well, if one's a sovereign nation,
no other is. There can only be one sovereign.
And He is the absolute sovereign, having all power, His will must
be done. Now I have a will, but do I have
the power to make my will come to pass? No. No. No, I don't have any power to
make my will come to pass when it comes right down to it. I
don't know what's going to happen in the next second. I can plan and intend on doing
things, but I don't know what's going to happen to me. The Lord
might kill me before I can do my will. And if I do do my will,
it's because he caused me to do it. But this king has the
power to make sure his will comes to pass. And his will does come. to pass. Oh, the power of this
kingdom. You see, it's a kingdom that
cannot be moved. We read in Hebrews chapter 12
verse 28, wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved. I love thinking about that. How
many kingdoms have come and gone? How many? You know, right now,
I believe that we are in the most powerful country in the
world. I believe that. And I'm grateful. I'm thankful. But do you know,
unless the Lord returns, it will not stay that way. That's a sobering thought. Kingdoms
come and kingdoms go. And Psalm 75 verses 6 and 7 says,
Promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west,
nor from the south. But God is judge. He puteth one
down. and setteth up another." Who's
going to win this election coming up? Everybody's so concerned
about it. I'll tell you, I know who's going to win. Whoever the
Lord puts into office. That's who is going to win. He
putteth one down and setteth up another. Daniel said of God
in Daniel 2.21, Wisdom and might are His. He changeth the times
and the seasons. He removeth kings and setteth
up kings. And I love Proverbs 21.1, the
king's heart, whoever the king is, the king's heart is in the
hand of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it, whithersoever he will. And no human kingdom will remain,
but this kingdom we're speaking of is an eternal kingdom. It
cannot be moved. And thank God, this kingdom I'm
speaking of is a kingdom of grace. Aren't you thankful for that?
Turn with me to Matthew chapter 20. I suppose, right now at any rate,
this is my favorite parable. Matthew chapter 20. Maybe if
I read a different one tomorrow, that one will be my favorite
tomorrow, but for right now, this is my favorite parable.
Matthew chapter 20. For the kingdom of heaven. Here,
you want to understand something about the kingdom of heaven?
Listen up. For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that's
an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire
laborers into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the
laborers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third
hour, nine o'clock in the morning, and saw others standing idle
in the market. And he said unto them, go ye also into the vineyard,
and whatsoever is right, I'll give you. Remember, the scepter
of his kingdom is a right. Sector whatever's right. That's
exactly what I'm gonna give you And they went their way and he
went out about six hour the ninth hour and did likewise and about
the 11th hour 5 p.m These other fellows have been working 11
hours He went out and found others standing idle and he saith unto
them. Why stand you here all the day idle? They say unto him
because no man hath hired us. He saith unto them go ye also
into the vineyard and whatsoever is right That shall you receive
So when evening was come, the Lord of the vineyard saith unto
his steward, call the labors and give them their hire, beginning
from the last unto the first. First, those fellows come out
that have only worked one hour. When they came, they were hired
about the 11th hour. They received every man a penny. He gave them what was right. But when they first came, when
the first came, they supposed that they should have received
more. Wouldn't you suppose that? Put
yourself in these fellows' place. Wouldn't you suppose that? They
work an hour, I'll work 12 hours. If I get what's right, I'll get
12 times more. And when they had received it,
but verse 10, but when the first came, they suppose that they
should have received more. And they likewise received every
man a penny. Just what he told him, he would
give them. And when they had received it, they murmured against
the good man of the house, saying, These have wrought but one hour,
and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the
burden and heat of the day. Oh, I've given up so many things
and I've sacrificed so much. They didn't sacrifice anything.
You're going to make them equal with me. It's not right. And I think it's interesting.
He says we've borne the burden and heat of the day. They've
proved by that what they really think about working for their
master. It's miserable. I mean, we're putting up with
this, but we're hoping to get something good out of it. And
they're upset. This is not right. This is not
fair. And I can identify with this. I'd be one of those people
murmuring. I know I would. I work 12 hours, and you're working
up. You're going to tell me you're going to get the same thing?
That doesn't seem right. In the kingdom of heaven, it
is. Let's go on reading. But he answered one of them and
said, friend, I do thee no wrong. Didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy
way. I will give unto this last, even
as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do
what I will with mine own? Is thine I evil because I am
good, because I am gracious and merciful to this eleventh hour
worker? Am I evil because of that? Oh no, he's good. He's merciful. I'll tell you
who likes this, the 11th hour workers. Now those other fellows,
they might not, but the 11th hour workers, sheer free grace. So the last shall be first and
the first last for many be called but you are chosen." This is
a kingdom of grace. Don't you like this? I just,
I tell you, I love this. I love being saved by the grace
of God. It's a kingdom of grace. And
notice he said in our text, in Hebrews 1.8, the scepter of thy
kingdom is a scepter of righteousness. It's a scepter of utter strictness,
fairness, and righteousness. Unlike men, he does not rule
arbitrarily or unfairly. His motives are always pure. Everything he does is righteous
and displays his righteous nature. Now, this is true whether we
understand it or not. This is always true. regarding
all that he does. Shall not the judge of the earth
do right? Now, people try to defend God. They say, well, God wasn't behind
that. That cyclone, and I'm not saying this, I'm saying this,
I hope, praying for the people that are going through this difficult
time and everything, but that cyclone in Burma, well, God wasn't
behind that. Well, who was then? Who was? He's in control of everything.
There's no such thing as luck. There's no such thing as, well,
how'd that happen? It's not the devil doing it either. Remember
who the devil is. The devil's God's devil. He's
on God's chain, and he can't make any move past what God allows
him to do. The Lord God is the first cause
behind all things. And whatever he does is right.
And it's right because he does it. Now, you see, if I do something,
I don't care what it is. I don't care how right it might
be. I might get a poll, $100,000, and everybody says, man, that's
mag, I can't remember how to say that word, magdomanius or
whatever. But you know what? If I did it, it's no good because of who did
it. That's what makes it sinful,
not because a sinner gave it. That's why the scripture says
the plowing of the wicked is sin. Now, plowing seems to be
a very wholesome activity, doesn't it? But if a wicked man does
it... It's sin. Just so, everything God does
is right, because He does it. Whatever He does is right, whether
I understand it or not. And I find such comfort in that.
Shall not the judge of the earth do right? Yes, he shall, because
he is righteous in his nature. Oh, the righteousness of this
kingdom. Now, righteousness is not a theory.
I love the way he says in our text, thou hast what? Loved righteousness and hated
iniquity. And that's the character of God.
Thou hast loved righteousness and hated iniquity. That is why the Lord hath anointed
thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. Now more on
these fellows in a moment. I've never really much considered
who these fellows are, but let's consider righteousness. In Psalm 71 verse 16, David said,
I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine only. Would you turn with me to Romans
chapter 14, verse 17. For the kingdom of God is not
meat and drink. It's not do's and don'ts and
rules and regulations and so on. Now, that's what most people
make it, but that's not what it is. It's not meat and drink. What is it? It's righteousness. That's the kingdom of God. It's
righteousness. It's peace. It's joy in the Holy
Ghost. It's righteousness. Now, why
did David say, I've made mention of thy righteousness, even thine
only? Why did he say that? I know the answer to that question.
Because there isn't any other righteousness. They're really
hidden. There is how many righteous?
None righteous. No, not one. Only God is righteous. Can you believe that? There's
only one righteousness. That's the righteousness of God. And if I'm saved, I'm saved by
His righteousness being imputed to me, charged to my account,
not just in a legal way, but His righteousness is mine. You know, I dislike the phrase
imputed righteousness. You know why I dislike it? Because
you'll never find it in the Bible. It's not imputed righteousness.
Imputation is not an adjective to describe, well, this is imputed
righteousness and then there's actual righteousness and real
righteousness. No, there's only one righteousness, the righteousness
of God. It's imputed to the believer,
It's imparted to the believer in the new birth, a holy nature. We're called partakers of the
divine nature. This righteousness is not just
a perfect legal standing before the law of God, although it indeed
is that, but it's more than that. Turn with me to 2 Peter. Let
me show you this. Turn to 2 Peter 2. Verse 5. God spared not the old
world, but saved Noah, the eighth person, a preacher of what? Righteousness. Bringing in the flood upon the
world of the ungodly. Now, Noah wasn't getting up and
saying, y'all need to live right. Need to live right. Need to live
righteous or you're going to be in trouble. No, the righteous
God is going to destroy this earth and the only place of safety
is in this ark. And he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes and condemned them with an overthrow, making them
an example unto those that afterwards should live ungodly, and delivered
just Lot, that same one that the angels yanked by the hand
and pulled him out. How is he described in the Word
of God? Just Lot. That's how God describes him.
Just Lot. You know, if I'm a believer,
you know how God describes me? Just Todd. Let's go and read
him. He delivered Just Lot vexed with
the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man
dwelling among them in seeing and hearing vexed his imputed
righteousness from day to day with their unlawful deeds. It
doesn't say that, does it? They vexed his righteous, what? Soul from day to day with their
unlawful deeds. Now, the way I've understood
this, that's helped me, Adam's sin, it was charged to
my account according to the scriptures. And I am guilty of what Adam
did. I sinned. By one man sin entered
the world and death by sin, so that death passed upon all men,
in that all sinned. He didn't say it's just as if
they sinned. No, they sinned. They sinned. I sinned when Adam
sinned. But not only was Adam's sin imputed
to me, I was born into this world with Adam's sinful nature. His evil nature was imparted
to me. That's why I was born a sinner.
I was born in unbelief. The wicked are estranged from
the womb. They go about as soon as they be born, speaking lies. That's a description of you and
I. Now, they're not able to, well, they can't talk. I mean,
as soon as you're born, I've never, there's no, as soon as
he comes out, but that evil nature is there. That's what he is.
Now, just as truly, just as really, Adam's sin was imputed to me
and his evil nature is imparted to me. The righteousness of the
Lord Jesus Christ is imputed to me. I'm saved by his righteousness. And that righteous nature is
imparted to me in the new birth. That's what the seed of God is,
the seed of God. It's a holy seed. It's a righteous
seed. And every believer has this righteousness,
the righteousness of God. You see, he that doeth righteousness
is righteous, even as he is righteous. So you see, the key of this kingdom
is righteousness, a sector of righteousness, God's righteousness.
Isn't it wonderful? I am the very righteousness of
God in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's hard to say that, isn't
it? But isn't it what the scripture teaches? Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness.
I don't have anything to do with that. I don't want to stand before
God on my own in any way. No, not me. Oh, that I may win
Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is through the faithfulness
of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. the kingdom of his righteousness. Now do you remember his fellows?
Thou hast anointed him, the Lord Jesus Christ, with the oil of
gladness above thy fellows. Who are these fellows? Now this
word, fellows, is generally translated partakers or partners. These are the subjects of his
kingdom. You see, a king has subjects
and these fellows are the subjects of his kingdom and they're called
partakers. They're called partners. Revelation
chapter 17 verse 4, it speaks of he's the Lord of lords and
the king of kings and they that are with him are called and chosen
and faithful at every one of his people called chosen and
thankful. Now, while they are partners
or partakers in this kingdom, he is still the one anointed
with the oil of gladness above them. You know, we're partakers
of this kingdom. We're made partakers of Christ.
The scripture says, if same word, if we hold the beginning of the
confidence, steadfast to the end. I'm a sharer in the divine
nature is what the scripture says, but who's the one who gets
off? Are they going to, are me and him going to be on the same
level? Not in any way. He is anointed with the oil of
gladness, exuberant joy above his fellows. Now I think that's
a reference to his anointing of the spirit of God. As a man,
I don't understand all this, I just believe it. As a man,
he was anointed with the Spirit of God without measure. Now,
you and I have a measure of the Spirit. Not him. He had the Spirit of God without
measure. It was the Holy Spirit who begat
him in the womb of the Virgin. It was the Spirit who descended
upon him in the form of a dove when he was baptized. He was
truly filled with the Spirit of God. But we are partakers,
sharers, his fellows. Now, how is it that we're partakers
in this great kingdom that we're brought into? Because I'm talking
about this kingdom, this kingdom of grace, this kingdom of righteousness,
this kingdom of power. I'm in this kingdom. Every believer
is in this kingdom. It's a kingdom the world can't
see. I mean, a natural man will hear this and That's stupid. I don't believe that. That's
ridiculous. Well, that's all right. You know, it doesn't bother
me a bit when somebody doesn't believe the truth in the sense that it
doesn't shake me. I don't expect natural men to
believe. I expect believers to believe,
though. A believer is going to believe the truth. I mean, they
all do. That's what the believers do. They believe. It really is that simple. They
believe. Now, what is it that brings one into this kingdom?
Well, in Matthew 5, verse 20, our Lord said, except your righteousness
exceed, your righteousness, except it exceed the righteousness of
the scribes and Pharisees, you shall in no case enter the kingdom
of heaven. Well, we've already talked about
his righteousness. His righteousness is my righteousness. That's my
confidence. That's my joy. In Matthew chapter
5 verse 3, the Lord said, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven. Now, I've been talking about
having righteousness. I have the very righteousness of God,
and yet I'm poor in spirit. That means I realize that in
and of myself, I am nothing but a sinner. Thought you were saved. I can't explain that to you. Everybody that the Lord saves
is poor in spirit. They know they're bankrupt before
God and are totally dependent upon his charity. Our Lord said in John chapter
three, verse three and verse five, that we cannot enter the
kingdom of God without being born again. born from above. That's what regeneration is.
If you believe it's because he birthed you into the kingdom.
And in Matthew chapter 18, verse three, you know, the disciples
were arguing over who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom
of heaven. I love the way the Lord dealt with this. And I understand
this. I'm not getting down on them
because flesh is going to do that. I want to be exalted. It's evil. It's sinful. But they were arguing
over who's going to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And
you know what the Lord said? He said, you fellas don't have to
worry about being there if you go on in this direction. except
ye be converted and become as little children, you shall in
no case enter the kingdom of heaven. Don't you love the humility
of this kingdom? Humility is so beautiful. I love
humility. Now, don't miss this. He has
anointed thee with the oil of gladness. exuberant joy. Now we think of righteousness
as something stern and unsmiling. We can change the tone. Righteousness. It's good, but it's not joyous. It's certainly not fun. Righteousness,
wicked people. represent sin as being fun and
enjoyable and righteousness as being dull. That's just not so. The kingdom of God, Romans 14,
17, I've already quoted this. The kingdom of God is not meat
and drink, but righteousness. Peace. If the righteousness of Jesus
Christ is my righteousness before God, I have peace with God. He's not mad at me. He doesn't
have a reason to be mad. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus.
What peace. It gives me peace to know that
my salvation was accomplished by what my Redeemer did. When
He said it is finished, all my debt was paid. My salvation was
accomplished. I'm so saved. And this is true of every believer
that I'm already glorified. Nothing to worry about. Peace. You know what else that
makes me? Happy. That's a joy that this world
doesn't understand. Turn with me to Romans 15. Verse 13. Now. The God of. I love that name of our God.
A confident expectation with regard to the future. And I do
have a confident expectation with regard to the future because
God's God. The God of hope. Fill you with all joy and peace
in believing. believing. Those two blind fellas came up
to the Lord, groped their way in. He said, what do you want? What do you want me to do for
you? And they said, Lord, that we
might receive our sight. We're blind. We can't see. He
said, do you believe that I'm able to do this? They said, yeah,
Lord. He said, according to your faith,
be it unto you. Do you believe that he is able
to do this? That's what faith is. And what
joy there is in believing he is able. What peace there is
in believing that he is able. And one last thing I'd like to
say about this kingdom. We read in Revelation chapter 1 verse
9 of the kingdom and the patience. The patience of Jesus Christ. You know the Lord's patient.
He's patient. He never worries. He's never
stressed. He's patient. He's all-powerful. Everything that happens is because
He decreed it. He already knows the end. It's not like He's worried
about the outcome. The outcome's already been determined. The outcome's actually been taken
care of. We know the last chapter of the
book. I already know the end of the story. Jesus Christ wins. His enemies are defeated. Every
believer is perfectly justified, conformed to the image of Christ.
I already know the end. And you know what? When God gives
me grace to believe that, I'm patient. I'm not worried. Like watching a ball game after
it's already been won and you're just watching the tape. You're
patient. You're not upset about what's
going to happen. You already know the outcome. The Kingdom
and the Patience of our Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't it wonderful
to be in the Kingdom of God? The keys to this Kingdom. Remember
where the Lord said, Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man,
am? And they said, well, some say you're John the Baptist,
others Jeremiah, one of the prophets. They put you in some high continent.
They give you an impressive resume. They compare you to some very
great men. I'm not real sure if they knew how derogatory that
was. But then he said, Whom say ye
that I the Son of Man am? Peter said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God. And he said, Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jonah. Flesh and blood hadn't revealed
this to thee, but my Father which is in heaven, and thou art Peter. And upon this rock, this confession
of me, I'll build my church, and the gates of hell shall not
prevail against it. You see, the simple proclamation
of the gospel will knock down the gates of hell and deliver
everybody that Christ intends to save, even all of God's elect. And he said, and I've given to
you the keys of the kingdom. What are the keys of the kingdom?
This confession of him. Thou art the Christ, God's anointed,
God's anointed prophet, priest, and king, the Son of the living
God. And you know what? I say with
you, the Lord says, who do you say that I am? You know what
I say? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Let's pray together.